Vacation/Travel Thread

[bigruss]

Looks like I'll be moving to Belgium in October to manage a project for my company over there. 12 month stint. Only possible holdup is that the potential client hasn't officially signed, but we're starting the visa process because we're far enough in negotiations.

 

I've never been to Europe, but I'm pumped. Going to try to travel to as many places as I can.

Oh man I'm psyched for you!! So many recommendations.

 

Any idea where in Belgium yet? I'll type up a list of must see places.

[dasox24]

Oh man I'm psyched for you!! So many recommendations.

 

Any idea where in Belgium yet? I'll type up a list of must see places.

Thanks Russ! It will be in the Brussels area.

[bigruss]

Brussels just happened to be one of my least favorite European cities But I love Belgium and their smaller cities/towns.

 

Must sees:

Bruges (watch the movie first, it's pretty cool to see the locations from it), may have been my favorite place. Just a beautiful little city that is really well preserved. Great beer options (plenty of places to drink but they have really cool beer stores with the accompanying glasses for sale). Go to De Halve Maan Brewery as well, great beer there (their Staffe Hendrix Quad is phenomenal). There are also really good waffle places.

Ghent - Similar to Bruges, but has a modern flair to it. Check out the castle for a bit, but I loved just going out to the local pubs and gin joints and trying different ones. The locals were really friendly there and had great recommendations.

Brussels - Best thing I did there was a mini pub crawl with my brother, got to try sour beers and such, Delirium Cafe is a must. Not a big fan of the rest of the city.

 

For surrounding areas, some of these I've gone to and some my buddy in Luxembourg recommends:

French Champagne country, easy to drive to.

Copenhagen

Berlin, my favorite city in Germany. Definitely go to Munich for Oktoberfest (maybe next year), and spend 3 nights there (it's like Vegas, you can only do so much before killing yourself).

Scotland - Edinburgh and then do a 3-4 day trip from a company like this, I did the 4 night whiskey tour to Islay, and it was flat out amazing.

Barcelona

Prague

Santorini - Go to Athens for 2 nights, spend a day touring/seeing the Acropolis, but then get to Santorini and find a hotel or Airbnb with a pool overlooking the Aegean. I wish I had spent more time there, just breath taking. Don't drink the Volcanic wine, it's s***.

Italy - Highly recommend Rome and Florence for the sights, but check out Naples/Salerno area for the coast area. Any of Amalfi Coast, Positano, etc are good, they are pretty much the same when it comes down to it. If you go to Naples, definitely see Pompeii, but I found Vesuvius highly disappointing (the views aren't great at all).

Hvar

 

Definitely go to Paris and London, it's personal preference but I didn't like London that much and Paris could be amazing except the French really aren't great to be around =)

 

Plenty more places I've been to but that's a good starter list! My buddy in Lux was originally doing 2 years out there, but extended to 3 to see more places. So travel as much as you can, it's so easy/cheap to get around out there.

[LittleHurt05]

The Dells is awesome. Its a close drive from Chicago so you don't have to worry about going through the chaos of airport travelling with kids. It doesn't drain your pockets for money since the waterpark is included with your hotel stay and the food is simple and easy for the kids.

 

As opposed to taking the kids out of town, going through airports, feeding them at fancy restaurants every meal out of convenience, paying for every theme park/tourist spot throughout the trip.

 

Yeah, we fly with the kids at least 2-3 times a year, so being able to just throw a bunch of s*** in the car and drive for not even 3 hours is so much nicer. We went to the Wilderness Resort, kids had a blast. The place is just so massive, 8 waterparks, go karts, arcades, everything. When the sun was out, the outside pool was warm enough to swim in, then of course there's all the indoor waterparks too.

 

Cracks me up that of course they have the massive 42 oz. frozen alcoholic drinks in fun souvenir glasses for the adults. Although the $9 Spotted Cow drafts was excessive.

[dasox24]

Brussels just happened to be one of my least favorite European cities But I love Belgium and their smaller cities/towns.

 

Must sees:

Bruges (watch the movie first, it's pretty cool to see the locations from it), may have been my favorite place. Just a beautiful little city that is really well preserved. Great beer options (plenty of places to drink but they have really cool beer stores with the accompanying glasses for sale). Go to De Halve Maan Brewery as well, great beer there (their Staffe Hendrix Quad is phenomenal). There are also really good waffle places.

Ghent - Similar to Bruges, but has a modern flair to it. Check out the castle for a bit, but I loved just going out to the local pubs and gin joints and trying different ones. The locals were really friendly there and had great recommendations.

Brussels - Best thing I did there was a mini pub crawl with my brother, got to try sour beers and such, Delirium Cafe is a must. Not a big fan of the rest of the city.

 

For surrounding areas, some of these I've gone to and some my buddy in Luxembourg recommends:

French Champagne country, easy to drive to.

Copenhagen

Berlin, my favorite city in Germany. Definitely go to Munich for Oktoberfest (maybe next year), and spend 3 nights there (it's like Vegas, you can only do so much before killing yourself).

Scotland - Edinburgh and then do a 3-4 day trip from a company like this, I did the 4 night whiskey tour to Islay, and it was flat out amazing.

Barcelona

Prague

Santorini - Go to Athens for 2 nights, spend a day touring/seeing the Acropolis, but then get to Santorini and find a hotel or Airbnb with a pool overlooking the Aegean. I wish I had spent more time there, just breath taking. Don't drink the Volcanic wine, it's s***.

Italy - Highly recommend Rome and Florence for the sights, but check out Naples/Salerno area for the coast area. Any of Amalfi Coast, Positano, etc are good, they are pretty much the same when it comes down to it. If you go to Naples, definitely see Pompeii, but I found Vesuvius highly disappointing (the views aren't great at all).

Hvar

 

Definitely go to Paris and London, it's personal preference but I didn't like London that much and Paris could be amazing except the French really aren't great to be around =)

 

Plenty more places I've been to but that's a good starter list! My buddy in Lux was originally doing 2 years out there, but extended to 3 to see more places. So travel as much as you can, it's so easy/cheap to get around out there.

Thanks Russ! This is a wonderful start. My goal is to see as many places as possible, most of which are on your list. Hadn't thought about Santorini, though, so that's something I'll certainly keep in mind. Sounds great. And Munich for Oktoberfest would be awesome - as you referenced, looks like it would come at the end of my stint next year.

[StrangeSox]

Sounds like a hell of an adventure

[BaconOnAStick]

French people are great, but you have to try. And don't be loud. Also I'd rather go to Lyon than Paris each and every time.

[bigruss]

French people are great, but you have to try. And don't be loud. Also I'd rather go to Lyon than Paris each and every time.

Not in my experiences, sure there are the anomalies but the norm (at least in Paris) is they are very rude to Americans. And they may have strong reasons for that mentality, but it's what I encountered (and I try to be extra self-aware and careful how I act when I'm international).

[Chi Town Sox]

I would also agree that I felt the whole "French being mean to Americans" was overblown. Everybody was very kind, except for one lady at a Starbucks LOL. As long as you try to speak the language, you'll be good.

 

So many Americans are probably repeating themselves over and over in English and pissing off the French. Imagine if a Frenchmen came up to you and was being rude that you couldn't understand his language

[Dick Allen]

I would also agree that I felt the whole "French being mean to Americans" was overblown. Everybody was very kind, except for one lady at a Starbucks LOL. As long as you try to speak the language, you'll be good.

 

So many Americans are probably repeating themselves over and over in English and pissing off the French. Imagine if a Frenchmen came up to you and was being rude that you couldn't understand his language

Most French do understand English, but you're right, if you at least try, they are very nice. They get a bad rap. My brother lived in Paris for 10 years, and still has a condo there, so I have been several times. My favorite city in Europe by far.

 

 

[bigruss]

Meh, I had extremely rude french people to me when I was in Paris (and quite frankly in other countries as well).

 

Most in the service industry were very kind, but people on the city trains and such were pretty rude. It turned me off from what is really a beautiful city.

[BaconOnAStick]

Most Parisians speak or at least understand English. Same goes for the toursity parts of PACA. The rest? Forget about it. Even in Normandy, where the hordes of anglophone tourists provide livings to many, it can be hard to find solid English-speakers. You'll have some luck with the younger generation in Aix, Clermont, Tours...cities with large pan-European universities, but even that is fleeting.

 

That's fine really. Just keep your volume down (they can't understand you anyways so why be loud) as that is a pretty big custom with them.

[greg775]

Any travel experts on here?

What's the best way to get to Sacramento from KC around the holidays? Very expensive to fly to Sactown from KC. Like 600 ish.

Is the drive from Oakland to Sactown OK or a nightmare? Is it really 1 hr 20 mins; is the drive from Reno to Sactown better? I prefer SW Airlines obviously. Thanks.

Is there a logical route I'm overlooking?

[greg775]

Ended up staying at Mirage it was pretty nice. Maybe would have liked a more upbeat casino, but there is also something to be said for having a place to stay that is actually relaxing after youve been out all day/night.

How was the pool party with DJ; which one did you go to? Does Britny really lipsynch and not sing during the show? Did u gamble much?

[StrangeSox]

Any travel experts on here?

What's the best way to get to Sacramento from KC around the holidays? Very expensive to fly to Sactown from KC. Like 600 ish.

Is the drive from Oakland to Sactown OK or a nightmare? Is it really 1 hr 20 mins; is the drive from Reno to Sactown better? I prefer SW Airlines obviously. Thanks.

Is there a logical route I'm overlooking?

 

You could always fly into Oakland or San Jose and drive to Sacramento if the flights were better. It's only a few hours depending on traffic, made the drive many times myself.

[bigruss]

I'm going to a conference in Vegas during the last week of November, and I'm going stay a couple of nights after. I'm thinking of staying at more of a low key place to just relax, have some good drinks and food, and gamble a bit.

 

I've heard good things about Red Rock resort, anyone have other suggestions? I'll be at Caesars the rest of the time.