The Spiritualized Travel Thread

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Stuart X.Hunter
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The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by Stuart X.Hunter »

Hello...not sure if there's one of these on here but...

...where you been, what you seen?

I like hearing peoples stories, seeing there snapshots and I'm a sucker for transport infrastructure chat!

I've been to Berlin & Amsterdam so far this year...planning a trip in May to either Oslo or the Baltic States so hopefully some natives or travellers can provide insight for me...

Sx
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nickh
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by nickh »

I love Berlin and was there last weekend. I went there on a stag do a few years ago and did the inevitable straight off the plane - cab to the pub - stay in the pub till closing time with suitcase. I felt horrible the next morning but it seemed pointless going all that way and not taking a look around at least at the more obvious places.

I have been twice to Berlin and have barely even scratched the surface, but will certainly go again.

Can recommend Dubrovnik for a week of sunshine, I had planned to do a bit of sight-seeing but the heat made it difficult to do much at all, interesting place though.
Last edited by nickh on Sat Apr 05, 2014 9:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
olan
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by olan »

Went to Chester yesterday. It was ace.... :D
spzretent
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by spzretent »

I tend to go where I have friends or family.
Phoenix, Los Angeles three times in last 6 months.
Been to Leeds & Manchester loads. Going next month.
Belgium too for a friends BIG birthday. Westvleterren Brewery stop and huge Begian beer festival.
Amsterdam for a a day and half too.
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Stuart X.Hunter
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by Stuart X.Hunter »

nickh wrote:I love Berlin

I have been twice to Berlin and have barely even scratched the surface, but will certainly go again.

Can recommend Dubrovnik for a week of sunshine, I had planned to do a bit of sight-seeing but the heat made it difficult to do much at all, interesting place though.
I agree it's a city that asks more questions than provides answers.
I'd like to get back there before Christmas this year.

Hadn't considered that area for a bit of sunshine...I'm sadly very fond of the beach at Alcudia so that's where summer hols takes the kids and I.

Has anyone done the Oslo to Bergen train journey. I'm thinking of making it priority when I go but as it takes up a chunk of a three day trip...I need convincing.

Best,

Sx
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jack white
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by jack white »

heading to Iceland over Easter..
don't really think i've enough time now to learn the language.. :roll:

looking forward to it. been listening to bjork a bit recently..
any tips??
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James T
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by James T »

Bergen to Oslo can be quite an incredible trip if you do it the right way. I recommend you take a boat from Bergen round to Flam, then a train to Oslo from there. This site gives you lots of great options for seeing more of Norway in the easiest way possible...
http://www.norwaynutshell.com/en/explor ... ll/prices/
It isn't cheap, but Norway isn't cheap. I've been to Oslo many times, I like the city, but for me it isn't real norway like Geiranger and Bergen and Olden. So much to see, amazing country.

My favourite place for a city break is Brussels, I plan to move there once my other half finishes studying. Belgium really appeals to me, it seems to be a really nice way of life. I've been a lot recently, and I hope to get back out there a few times this year.

Budapest is brilliant for a nice long weekend too, really great; beautiful buildings and great museums and plenty to admire. Berlin is the best for a party but also for history and stuff to do.

I did spend a bit of time in NYC and loved it, but that's not a place I expect to get back to any year soon.
Mustard
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by Mustard »

I had a week in Berlin in '93 and even though that was a few years after the fall of the wall, you could still feel the weight of the previous 50 years. We stayed in the West near the 'Ku'dam' (?) but it was the Eastern side that was the most interesting. Walking around seemingly normal looking streets with bullet holes in buildings was a sobering time. Never been to that sort of place before. Loved the place though.

Prague has been a favourite though. Took the wife for a Valentine trip once and was the most beautiful city. The cold just added to the charm and gave us good reason for regular coffees and bar breaks.
James T
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by James T »

I just booked to go to Bilbao later in the year. Always wanted to go there, so looking forward to it. Been losing the plot a bit recently, so its good to have a nice trip to look forward to. Cause of where I work I managed to get a 5* for just £50 per night! Looking to go on somewhere from there before coming back to Manchester, not sure where though.
runcible
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by runcible »

I spent the weekend in Amsterdam. Was meant to be at Roadburn of course but I flogged my tickets.

I know Amsterdam pretty well - a few favourite haunts tend to be the first places to hit. Encountering some violence in the Greenhouse coffeeshop was a surprise, but then you are going to get dickheads in a city like that and they dealt with this twat pretty quickly and booted him out.

One thing was a little different this time though. Around the square in Leidseplein the bars have a new element that makes them somewhat unattractive. You may well now find a vicious dragon of a woman camped beside the toilets demanding 50c for you to use the facilities. I first came across one of these beasts at the McDonald's in Leidseplein, then there was another by the toilets on the Bulldog Palace. We asked some of the people we knew in bars at the bottom of the red light district and they confirmed that this is a relatively recent thing in that area but that these women are trying the same set up all over the city. I've seen it in toilets elsewhere in Europe and always wondered why people tolerate it. It's not dissimilar to those bozos who used to pretend to clean your windscreen with a dirty cloth at traffic lights - i.e. pointless and an unwelcome intrusion. Anyway, after an afternoon bumping into these battleaxes we decided that we wouldn't frequent the Leidseplein area at all. I bet many other tourists have made the same decision so it's Leidseplein which will lose out in the long run.

Saw Sleepy Sun at the Paradiso which was a great little venue. Not quite at the elevel of the Melkweg which is a brilliant place, but the sound was excellent for Sleepy Sun. Although they were on stge by 7 p.m. which kind of took us by surprise so we missed a chunk of it.

The refurbished Van Gogh Museum is better than ever - there is no other way to see those pictures as they are practically 3D when you see them in the flesh. We saw an astonishing exhibition of Felix Valloton at the same time which I can't recommend enough if you are passing through.
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by spzretent »

Started the week in Brussels. Hoo doggie Brussels is a lively town.
Hit the Westvleteren Trappist Monk brewery on Saturday. For you uber beer geeks you undoubtedly know of Westvleteren.
Voted best beer in the world and crazy limited distribution. Spent the entire afternoon there.
http://www.sintsixtus.be/eng/brouwerij.htm
Sunday was the Zythos Belgian Beer Festival in Leuven.
http://www.zbf.be/index.php?lang=UK&page=2a
Unlike US beer festivals these breweries dont mess around. You get the entire 330cl bottle. I blew thru my ten tokens(one beer per token) and wound up drinking something like 12-14 Belgian beers. This was over 5 hours but it still made Monday an uncomfortable day of high speed train travel back to Amsterdam. Amsterdam gets more confusing every time I go. The coffee shops and bars dont help this. Nor do the crooked streets, canals and constantly dodging bikes.
Now in Leeds for a week and Manchester after that.
Ahh.....the Yorkshire countryside. Could well be my favorite place on earth.
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semisynthetic
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The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by semisynthetic »

runcible wrote:I spent the weekend in Amsterdam. Was meant to be at Roadburn of course but I flogged my tickets.


One thing was a little different this time though. Around the square in Leidseplein the bars have a new element that makes them somewhat unattractive. You may well now find a vicious dragon of a woman camped beside the toilets demanding 50c for you to use the facilities. I first came across one of these beasts at the McDonald's in Leidseplein, then there was another by the toilets on the Bulldog Palace. We asked some of the people we knew in bars at the bottom of the red light district and they confirmed that this is a relatively recent thing in that area but that these women are trying the same set up all over the city. I've seen it in toilets elsewhere in Europe and always wondered why people tolerate it.
Visiting in Rome MANY years ago, I was VERY surprised to have what sounds like a clone of the vicious dragon lady you described SITTING AT A DESK IN THE MIDDLE of the Men's Room! She kept yelling about something, but since I was "on vacation", it was a bit blurred, but I thought who the hell sits in Public Toilets AT A DESK? Some "Junior Executive" entry level? I thought the whole thing was very strange. I was very much looking forward to Roma, and if it weren't for the ruins, which are fortunately labeled, I was very disppointed. I stayed at a place run by Nuns; and the Security there was like a C-J4 Security Entrance! The next day I asked about this, and was shown the machine gun strikes upon the ancient walls there, which pissed me off, wanton destruction and danger and so on; but apparently the Communists were having a go at EVERYONE else during the "elections". I too loved the Yorkshire House I was staying, and the grounds; but Switzerland was wonderful! I made several "trips" to and fro. Very Scientific and all that. AHA! Well, a grant paid for those.
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spzretent
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by spzretent »

Had a nice yet all too brief meet up in Leeds this weekend. Finally met Bza who came down from Scotland and conquered Leeds/Harrogate. This after exchanging emails with him regularly for well over 10 years. Runcible hosted us with excellent accomodations and culinary delights as well as wine, beer and rum.
Spent one day in Harrogate and one day in Leeds. Tackling beer shops, charity shops, record shops, Major Tom's pizza and beer and every beer bar in Leeds. Had a fantastic craft beer tasting at Harrogate Fine Wine as well. Coming to the UK to drink amazing US craft beer by Stillwater Brewing that I cant even get in Michigan.
Also included was BVCP206 for Sunday's festivities. The roster of carnage from Sunday alone listed below.
Friends Of Ham
Brewery Tap
Tapped
North Bar
Decanter
oh yeah, and lunch somewhere in the middle.
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purespace
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by purespace »

We just returned from 6 wild days in Austin, Texas. Psych Fest was excellent despite the constant dust storm at the festival site and the complete twats running security.

We're off again for 10 days in June to visit friends in Leipzig, Germany via Frankfurt and plan to hit Berlin and Prague. Any recommendations on must sees and/or beer adventures???
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by Shinesalight »

(The now offical) Mrs Shines and I went off to Paris last weekend for our honeymoon sans son. Our original plan of catching Neil Young in Iceland didn't come to fruition due to costs and the fact that my sister-in-law got us tickets to see him in Hyde Park in the summer. Spring time in Paris is not a bad substitute though :wink:

We booked an apartment in Montmatre in the northern quarter of Paris (near the Sacre Coeur for those in the know) via AirBnB. This worked out at almost half the cost of a hotel or B&B and meant that we had the use of a whole apartment with all the facilities. It wasn't something we'd done before but I can certainly recommend it and we'd definitely do it this way again. The couple who owned the apartment recommended some great places to eat and see and we actually felt like we were really living in Paris for the weekend.

The whole weekend was amazing and it was nice for just the two of us to get away and spend some time together (although we still missed our son, Dylan, immensely). We tried to avoid the main tourist hotspots (Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, etc.) and spent most of the weekend just aimlessly walking around, drinking in bars and visiting loads of patisseries. I even managed to visit 4 or 5 record shops and came back with a handful of vinyl....bonus! We even managed to chance upon a Daniel Johnston exhibition in a little art gallery though, unfortunately, we weren't able to coincide the trip with catching a good gig (being impatient to go, we couldn't hold on until the Slowdive/Loop/Hookworms gig in June). Still, we've got some great gigs here in the UK to look forward to.

At the end of June we have honeymoon (part II) to look forward to...all 3 of us are heading off to a villa in Portugal :D
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James T
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by James T »

Portugal is so great. Perfect to just relax and eat great food and admire the coast.
Stuart X.Hunter
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by Stuart X.Hunter »

Paris is great; a very compact city that in decent shoes you can walk round for hours. However I just marvel at the transport system!
The queues (and the tourists) for the touristy things are off putting and you get the sense of Paris better from the cafés and just watching the world go by.
Stayed in the Bastille arrondissement which has a real pulse to it especially on the weekend.

Not long back from a week in Alcudia. Our time there coincided with the local celebrations of St Peter so we got a bit of culture and an amazing fireworks display as well as Sun, Sangria and Sillyness.

A weekend of glamping in the Borders late August and off too Lanzarote over October week.

Still haven't managed to fit in Oslo yet but have been advised to do so nearer Christmas.

Bon Voyage :)
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Stuart X.Hunter
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Re: The Spiritualized Travel Thread

Post by Stuart X.Hunter »

Planning a trip to Rome in March...just a couple of nights but don't want to endlessly search for accommodation.

Looking for something modern, good value, clean, good location etc etc

Any advice??
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