Did you travel lately? Brag about it here!

[Alaris]

I'm back from my 2 week trip to Europe.

We did Germany (Stuttgard, Albstadt, Munich, Konstanz), Switzerland (Zurich, Lucerne), Austria (Salsburg, Vienna) and Czech (Prague). Overall, it was a lot of fun, thanks in large part to the planning of my fiancee, and her German friend.

I'm jet-lagged, and now I have to try and get my CE a full week late. So the first post will be brief (hahah) and I will add details later.

Vienna:
The Neue Burg collection of arms and armor is a must-see. It's huge, and I wish I had more time. The underground tour was pretty cool too, visiting crypts and then cellars that were used as bunkers during air raids. We went to the Opera, first time for me (and sort-of for her), we saw the Elixir of Love. Despite high seats and 2nd row, we had a good view if you were willing to adopt a bad sitting position, and we had excellent acoustics.

Prague:
We did the nuclear bunker tour. Fun times, especially the part where you can dress up with gas masks and guns and costumes from the military etc. The museum of medieval torture is also a must-see, it was short, but you won't forget it. We also ate at a medieval restaurant with a show, it was a blast. The waitress was rude (as part of the show, she assured us seeing my fiancee's face) and totally hilarious in her manners, and the show included sword fights, fire juggling, and other dangerous activities within the confines of a very intimately-sized room decorated with skulls and such.

Warning about Prague: the street names are often just not there (and it's not a language problem, they use English letters mainly aside from being overzealous with accents), the subway price system is hard to understand, and people on the street won't talk to you when you ask for directions. So either arrive there fully prepared, or allow for extra time to find where you're going to.

Castle highlights:
I've seen so many castles, that I am now confused as to which is which...

Erlebnisburg Hohenwerfen is a must-see. It's a fortress on top of a mountain, it's medieval and built for function. Great views, lots of little windows and such for shooting at attackers or dropping hot resin on them. It has a great weapons collection and a falcon show. As a bonus, we got a snow storm while up there, so we got a first-hand taste of what it must have been like to live there during he worst seasons.

NeuSchwanStein castle is also a must-see, for a different reason. Basically the king went mad or bored and decided to have castles built for his entertainment or something. These castles are not just richly decorated, but also quite eccentric. There's one corridor for example that is a fake cave.

The Linderhof palace is another eccentric castle. Small in size but richly decorated, it also features a fake cave with an in-cave lake that he used to watch plays. Weird.

[Gorani]

I can only vaguely remember being in Vienna in my childhood. I really have to go there again.
The "fairytale king's" castles in Bavaria (Linderhof & Neuschwanstein) really have been built out of luxury in the 19th century and have been the blueprint for Disney's "Americanized" visions of "the good old days".



I have been on Tenerife in February and for a faculty trip in the Allgäu, for skiing



Pictures not my own, but pretty fitting

[Art]

I think the subway in Prague is the best subway I've ever been on.

It sounds like you have a marvellous time - looking forward to some pictures!!

Best of luck with the CE!

-Art

[raspberry jam]

NeuSchwanStein castle is also a must-see, for a different reason. Basically the king went mad or bored and decided to have castles built for his entertainment or something. These castles are not just richly decorated, but also quite eccentric. There's one corridor for example that is a fake cave.

So awesome. If I were queen, I'd have castles built for my personal pleasure too. Having a fake cave in one is a great idea hahaha. Also I'd put it (the whole castle of course, not just the cave) on the top of a mountain so people will go like "how the hell did they do that, did they drag all the stone all the way up there?", and yep, that's the way it would have happened.

Exactly like this one.

Also the museum of torture?? I must return to Prague one day; seems like there's a lot to see.

[Alaris]

I think the subway in Prague is the best subway I've ever been on.

No complaints about the actual subway, I love how they could be used as bunkers in case of attack (dug real deep).

I'd put it (the whole castle of course, not just the cave) on the top of a mountain (...)

Most of the ones I saw were on top of mountains of different heights. It's easier to defend with the height advantage.

Also the museum of torture?? I must return to Prague one day; seems like there's a lot to see.

Also, the museum of sex history (or something like that). Also a small museum, but very disturbing. It features some of the same stuff as the museum of torture. I heard the one in Amsterdam is the one to see if you are interested in that (sex, not torture).

[RD]

Warning about Prague: the street names are often just not there (and it's not a language problem, they use English letters mainly aside from being overzealous with accents), the subway price system is hard to understand, and people on the street won't talk to you when you ask for directions. So either arrive there fully prepared, or allow for extra time to find where you're going to.

And people say NYers are rude

[Beren Iluthiel]

For my honeymoon:
First New York (or better, just Manhattan), I still don't know if I liked it, maybe not, I'm not really in the american life style. We move to Toronto for visiting the Niagara falls. Awesome. The falls, not Toronto. Sorry, but I didn't like it even a little bit, maybe because I wasn't feeling secure walking in the late afternoon around.
Then a long trip in Canada by car (or maybe a french like place they call Quebec) from Gaspè to Quebec city, lot of trees, animals and whales.
Nice country, great people, if only there weren't so many
"sorry, i don't speak english, only french"!
Anyway, Canadian people are strange, but nice.

[Gorani]

Seeing Beren lives in Tuscany makes me remember one of my most interesting holidays... actually 20 years ago. Tuscany was great, a good mix of culture (e.g. seeing Michaelangelo's "David" in Florence) excitement (being in Siena during the Palio) fun (Ferragosto in Viareggio) and relaxing with a glass of wine in warm summer nights .... *sigh*

[RD]

Manhattan takes some getting used to. It either swallows you up or spits you back out!

[bearsfwd]

Anyway, Canadian people are strange, but nice.

See Alaris and shawn for just a few examples, lol.

As for me, I haven't gone anywhere lately. But a few years back, I did go to Montreal for a hockey tournament. It was by far the coolest place I've been, followed closely by Buffalo, NY