(Untitled)

[topaz]

if i were to go to europe, what should i absolutely not miss? landmarks, cities, countries, anything. right now, i'm pretending this is possible. but cheap is a huge, huge plus

Comments

[javalaidi]

so, to be original, if you want a place that's different, i would suggest istanbul. i don't know how cheap/safe it is, i'm just throwing this out there, but it is completely different from any other place i have been. problems: very little accomodation for english speakers, not so sure how safe it is. pro: fewer tourist, AWESOME landmarks (underground cistern, topkapi palace, grand bazaar) and something different.

although, i must admit, i have ALWAYS wanted to go to italy.

[topaz]

hm. German's probably okay in Turkey, given the number of Turkish who work there (similar to Mexico and the US), but i doubt the idea would go over well...

when were you there?

[javalaidi]

in the 8th grade- we went over spring break to visit family friends who live there

[alese]

There's apparently a significant steady string of tourists from Holland to Turkey--lots of Turkish beach vacation packages are available pretty cheaply. The numbers might be an illusion, though: Turkey's running a very very serious ad campaign to help its EU accession chances in many European countries.
I'll ask around if anyone I know who isn't Turkish has visited (my Turkish friends love Turkey, though. They went home for winter break, and all came back glowing about Istanbul, as did, now that I think of it, Rob, but he's a 40something year old man who went with his spouse to tango there--Istanbul has amazing tango.)

[garden_goth]

Iceland: if you can get there, get a tour that goes around the coast near Rekjavik the fishing villages and the scenery is amazing. plus, there's the land portion of the mid-Atlantic ridge and the site of the Althing which are neat to see

[flyingkai]

Wales. Cardiff, really, because everyone is really friendly, there are beautiful landscapes and some really interesting stuff. (and it's only an hour or so from london by train

Disjointed; also, 20+ years out of date

[jazzfish]

Oberammergau, though I imagine it's less impressive if they don't have the passion play going on.

At least one of Ludwig's castles other than Neüschwanstein. (I'm partial to Linderhof. Unless I'm misremebering the name. The one with the fountain.)

Anne Frank's house (somewhere in Holland, I think).

The tomb of Lorenzo di Medici.

Re: Disjointed; also, 20+ years out of date

[nishmael]

The Anne Frank house is in Amsterdam--definitely a sobering experience, though you really have to hit it at the right time to avoid ginormous lines of tourists.

[lostwonderer]

if you go to europe and you happen to be there in I think it's August, go to Saltzburg. It's a beautiful city (I like it more than Viena myself) and they have a mozart festival there every year and so you get to here gorgeous music in this magnifienct old buildings

[topaz]

haha, you just want me to go there because of the song XD

[lostwonderer]

because of the song?

[lostwonderer]

Oh, AH! NO!!!!! Fiddle, now you've got it stuck in my head.