Travel Stories and Advice

[Haiz]

Haha, I just love how this thread became a series of posts on Wales. We don't usually get a lot of attention when people outside the UK consider holidays, so gotta admit that all of this really warms my heart ^_^ (there was a point where I'd carry a map of Europe with me when travelling so that when people would inevitably go "Wales?", or the worse "isn't that a part of England" I'd be prepared to explain)

Glad you're having a good time there Haiz, and that you're dealing with the rain and muck in good spirits. It rains quite a lot in Wales but I've always liked the rain, and never really understood why it made some people act so soggy! Anyway, it looks like you've been having an amazing time there and I hope that the rest of your holiday is super-duper-mega-awesome as well

ahahaha the wales spam is my fault for posting pics from each day's adventure. there are some in the general thread from before this thread happened

whenever walisians ask what brings us to wales I'm just plainly answering "the nice weather"

i can deal with being wet and muddy for a while. do you know what they've made us do in school? I've slept over in a snow cave. i've squeezed myself through dark mountain passages. ok i refused to roll around on that kayak but teCHNICALLY

also yo japan that sounds awesome!!

[Haiz]

heyo it's time for part five of WALES ADVENTURES
not gonna be a very exciting post today, sorry. but the weather was super nice today and the day in general was also very nice

- we went to a castle....... Kidwelly castle i think. it was the castlest of castles. it had wallwalks, dungeons, towers, the works.


- we then went on the beach. the tide was super low so we just walked and walked for eternity.
we found several things:
1) lots of shells and crabs
2) a tiny dead shark of all things
3) a pair of boots that were left buried in the sand. a lot of footprints around it

- then we went to some harboury place and there were three small planes practising tricks and loops above us!!

- and yeah yeah i did spark a longwinded conversation in the general thread when I said I'm gonna be eating garbage for a week.......... but i did eat a cup of noodles instead of joining my parents for the super fancy gourmet restaurant so i wasn't exactly lying

- the sunset was!! really glorious!!!

we're leaving tomorrow in the evening. i'm gonna miss wales a lot. i love this unicorn land (technically dragon land but i am a unicorn and i feel like i belong here)

[Haiz]

ok wow, I'm triple posting now, please forgive me

our last day in wales was spent mostly on the road (or in the air, heh), but we stopped at Rhaglan Castle which is. the castliest. I know I said that about Kidwelly but this one had a moat AND a medieval fair at the time, so yeah



I miss wales already


ANYWAY, to stop myself from making a FOURTH post in a row, I wanna. show off the possibly strangest place I've ever visited:



the hill of crosses in lithuania, ft. baby haiz (from 2009)

[starfallz]

Native of the US, I've been to a few places although there are still many I haven't seen. L.A., San Francisco, Seattle, Grand Canyon, Memphis, Santa Fe, as well as many others.

My first trip outside the country was actually a two-year move to Japan as part of the JET Programme (Japan Exchange Teaching). I lived in Akita prefecture although I visited Tokyo quite a bit, and made some other trips to Kyoto (my favorite place), Kobe, Hiroshima, and Sapporo.

I've made a few trips to Canada, although only Ontario. Lived in Toronto for a month and visited friends in Ottawa, Orillia, and Peterboro.

I went to Australia for a friend's wedding and stayed to travel around for two weeks. Visited Brisbane, Alice Springs and the Red Center, and Sydney. I seem to visit zoos and animal parks when left to my own devices.

The last international trip I had was to Brazil. I spent a month with family in Rio de Janeiro, and traveled a little outside to go to Itaipava and Saquarema. I didn't do all the tourist things due to there being a lot of rain which caused mudslides. I did go up Pão de Acucar, as well as jump off a mountain and hang glide.

[Chizu]

I have been to a few places all within Europe, so I haven't left the old continent, but it is in my plans to do so. I think my last trip was to Malta in September 2014 still quite hot even though it was Autumn)  and Bulgaria (where I used to live till 2013) in December.

Malta is quite the place, it has everything for everyone. It is beautiful and the water is nice and warm, I finally learned to swim there, so I was able to really enjoy my stay. It is also safe to say that the country has the best ice-cream shop in the existence of the universe! Me and my boyfriend both agreed that the chocolate ice-cream they were selling was out of this world. I really don't know how else to describe the place so I will just share some photos.





this one is perhaps a personal favourite purely for meme-able reasons...

And some from Bulgaria
my most evil creation!!!! He feasts on souls!!



I can't wait to see if I will get to go anywhere interesting this summer. I might post some pictures from my current place when it is not Silent Hill misty and you can actually see something...

[Sigrid Marie]

I don't have time to dig up pictures from any of my travels right now, but I can at least compile a list of the places I've been. So:

• Sweden (Mostly Gotland)
• Denmark. I've been to Denmark so many times you have no idea. We used to go to Denmark every summer vacation when I was younger
• Finland. We went there when I was 5 years old and the only thing I remember is Moominvalley. Snorkmaiden was scary.
• Germany. We took the Kiel ferry there with my mum's boyfriend's family. Which was kind of awkward. Anyway we only spent a few hours in the city before going back (I am to this day still trying to figure out the point of the Kiel ferry), so I'm not sure if it counts
• Poland. As a gift for our confirmation (Christian tradition. I am not chrisitan, but yeah. Tradition) me and my best friend got to go to Krakow with our mothers. It was awesome. We also went to Auschwitz, which was not awesome, but still quite an experience.
• England. We went there with my dad when I was 14(?). Stayed in London for 3 nights and in Bristol for 4. We also had a day trip to Bath, which was an absolutely amazing town and I want to go there again
• Ireland, also with my dad. We stayed in Dublin for a week last summer, and also had several day trips to smaller towns
• Spain. I don't remember all the places we visited, but I'm pretty sure we stayed in San Pedro. We also visited Marbella, Gibraltar and several other places
• Turkey, although I'm not sure if this counts because we barely left the hotel at all XD
• Croatia. This was the first place outside of Scandinavia that I visited
• Greece, more specifically Crete. We've been there twice, the most recent trip last summer

I'm pretty sure that's all (but not 110% sure because I'm a bit forgetful). In addition to this there's a ton of places in Norway, which I won't list unless someone is interested

[Fen Shen]

So, I'm back from my trip to Göteborg and it was pretty great.
I loved the market hall (Saluhallen) and the food that we had there; we climbed up to Skansen Kronan and I had lots of fun ordering and shopping in Swedish. The people were all so nice and obviously appreciated my efforts to speak their language (not like some French snobs I met at Paris airport...).
Unfortunately, the weather wasn't nice, it was very misty and cold (and at home, they had over 20°C, so it was even worse for us). To warm up, a café is always a good place, and the huge cinnamon buns were also great.

The ferry ride was also a nice experience. I love being on a ship, and I got to take some pretty sunset pictures on our way to Göteborg (when the weather wasn't that bad yet).

And this is what geeky me took home: two Swedish books (I so hope I'll read them some day, but my current Swedish level isn't even sufficient for the children's book on the right side, let alone for the Brothers Lionheart...), a dalahästen pin (I'm collecting pins) and a postcard which made me laugh - "Kram" means "stuff" in German. I found out it means "hugs" in Swedish which definetly makes more sense together with the hearts in the background.


6th Edit: Photo problems now hopefully all fixed.

[P__]

I'm opening a thread, woo!

This thread shall be for answering such question as "where is a nice place to go hiking around *area*?", "I'm going to *place* what should I visit?", and any travel and/or visiting related questions.
The "travel stories thread" was kinda intended for both stories and tips, but let's have a specific thread for each Also, there's still the "minnion meetup" thread for meeting people: this one is more for general information/advice/tips/etc.

[P__]

and I shall reply to myself and inaugurate the thread

I didn't see any Turks in the reader map, but maybe someone knows the place?
In the end of June I'm going to Turkey! More specifically, I'll be spending five days in Istambul and three in Izmir. I haven't yet looked much into it or bought a travel guide, but if anyone knows the most best places to go in these cities (or nearby) or where's a reasonably priced and decent place to stay, It'll be appreciated

And then, right after that, I'm off to the United States of America, visiting New York City for a week with brother and grandmother. First week of July. I know there's a lot of things to do there, and we probably won't have time for everything. I'll come back to this in a few days, as I'll discuss it with my travelling companions over the weekend; but if you know the places that *must* be visited (including the lesser-known ones), or those that might not be worth the trouble, please tell


(edit so as not to triple-post: here's Penelope Bagieu's blog, in French, which contains nice travel-logs with advice to many places around the world)

[Fen Shen]

I liked Istanbul a lot when we visited it in early 2013 (that is, when Taksim place was just a normal place and not yet symbol of anti-gouvernment protests...).
I don't know what you consider as a cheap place to stay - we stayed at a small hotel, so I can't give any advice on hostels or the like.
As for what to do and see, hmm... We visited the big bazar (Kapalı Çarşı), but I liked the Egyptian bazar (Mısır Çarşısı) better - they only sell (good!) spices and sweets and some other food, but it wasn't as crowded and full with tourist stuff. I can also recommend a ferry ride to the Asian side of the city.
There are so many great buildings to visit - Hagia Sofia, the Topkapı palace, many many mosques, Galata tower by night... And the archaeological museum is worth a long visit if you are interested in these things (we spent half a day there). I hope that helps as a first overview, don't hesitate to ask if you are interested in details.

[urbicande]

I'm looking for bar/pub recommendations in Turku, Finland, especially ones with good local beer (terva snapsi is a big plus)

[snotra]

And then, right after that, I'm off to the United States of America, visiting New York City for a week with brother and grandmother. First week of July. I know there's a lot of things to do there, and we probably won't have time for everything. I'll come back to this in a few days, as I'll discuss it with my travelling companions over the weekend; but if you know the places that *must* be visited (including the lesser-known ones), or those that might not be worth the trouble, please tell

When visiting New York City, as for Manhattan, take your time, there's interesting stuff around every corner. Also, note that you'll be walking around a film set for the better part of your journey. Either some crew is filming somewhere, or you'll find yourself standing in the place where actor X kissed actor Y goodbye, event A of film B took place and so on. In the ten-odd days I was in Manhattan I went to the Stuart Little boat racing pond, the various romcom settings of central park, the Home Alone 2: lost in New York bits of central park and while on the Staten Island ferry I looked back to the skyline and there was a glaring piece of architecture missing: Stark Tower.
The food is going to kill you regardless. Corn syrup is a special kind of evil made to slowly kill your arteries unless you try to avoid it as much as possible, by mostly frequenting 'healthy' eating venues.
And take along ear plugs. Metro's are noisy.

[urbicande]

And then, right after that, I'm off to the United States of America, visiting New York City for a week with brother and grandmother. First week of July. I know there's a lot of things to do there, and we probably won't have time for everything. I'll come back to this in a few days, as I'll discuss it with my travelling companions over the weekend; but if you know the places that *must* be visited (including the lesser-known ones), or those that might not be worth the trouble, please tell

OK.  In the list of places that you MUST see when you're in NYC:  The main room of Grand Central.  It's one of the great train stations in the world and since the renovation a few years back it's spectacular. I'm a New York native and I go there and look.

If the weather is nice, take a ride on the Staten Island ferry and back.  You'll get a great view of lower Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty.

Walk in Central Park.

Chinatown!  Especially for late-night food.  Cheap dumplings after you've been drinking are great.

Although I've never had the desire to go there myself, Ground Zero.

Times Square.  Nobody but tourists really goes there, but you're a tourist!

Greenwhich Village and the East Village.  Soho. NoLiTa.  Chelsea.  The Lower East Side.  There are plenty of outdoor markets as well (although Hester Street is the only one I can recall offhand)

The NY subways and buses run 24/7 -- a weekly Metrocard will be worth and can get you most places in the city.


What kind of food do you like?  You can probably get it in NYC and almost certainly 24 hours a day.

[Piney]

And then, right after that, I'm off to the United States of America, visiting New York City for a week with brother and grandmother. First week of July. I know there's a lot of things to do there, and we probably won't have time for everything. I'll come back to this in a few days, as I'll discuss it with my travelling companions over the weekend; but if you know the places that *must* be visited (including the lesser-known ones), or those that might not be worth the trouble, please tell

I can probably help! I don't know how much I can since I rarely got out of the building, but I feel compelled to help since I have lived in New York for eight months.

As for must-sees, the first thing that came to my mind was the Empire State Building. Rockefeller Center ("Top of the Rock") would also work if you couldn't do the Empire State Building for any reason.

Dunno what I can say about lesser-known places, but I'm personally a real sucker for museums and parks. If you're not going to tour the Statue of Liberty (I'll admit that I haven't), then I'd recommend a trip to Battery Park, or a ride on the Staten Island Ferry (they're right next to each other).
And Central Park, absolutely - I've only been there a few times, but it's a really nice place to go to after spending most of your time on sidewalks surrounded by big buildings, y'know, the "hustle and bustle of the city". I know you will be a tourist, but just a heads up that the area around Central Park, especially near 5th Avenue/the MoMA is really crowded (with tourists) and tourist-oriented. There are always people asking you if you want to take sightseeing tours/carriage rides/etc., and it's really annoying.

If you can make the trip, I definitely recommend Governor's Island - it's just really nice there, and it's completely away from the city.

For museums, definitely the Met, I love the Met. The Museum of Natural History is cool too, but y'know, I'm an art buff.

Umm... urbicande mentioned Ground Zero, but it really... is not that interesting to me unless you're interested in 9/11 or whatever. I had a work-study in a World Trade Center building, so I saw the place regularly - I'm just really "meh" about it. Downtown Manhattan also kind of sucks and it's easy to get lost in.
He also mentioned Chelsea - my school's near there/is there and it's a super nice (and chill) area with a lot of art galleries. Maybe not the best place for tourists, but if you go there, go to the High Line - it's a park that was built on what used to be an elevated railroad

I personally hate Times Square but I'm also not a tourist, so... if it's an absolute must-see I can't stop you from going.

Oh, and the Brooklyn Bridge!

Also don't know if this means anything, but I haven't actually experienced the stuff snotra was talking about (the only time I've seen a film crew in NY was on a field trip in high school), and the trains aren't that loud (only a few I've ridden) and bringing ear plugs just sounds like a very touristy thing to do; people might look at you weirdly. But DO bring hand sanitizer.

I'd like to hear where you were already planning to go though!

[urbicande]

Downtown Manhattan also kind of sucks and it's easy to get lost in.

Getting lost in Manhattan is a feature, not a bug