Europe String

To the dear readers of EuropeString,
Please accept my apologies for not being there for the past 2 months. Real life and work got in the way. With “real life”, I mean my 2 young kids. At work, we’ve had some emergencies which meant that I had to travel even more than usual.
No, those are not valid excuses. I have been doing this for years and I know very well that things come up and I should have been prepared. I should have had “buffer” posts to keep flyaway active during my absence. I should have managed my time …read more

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Yes, we are growing. Soon enough, wherever it is you plan to spend your vacation, b5media’s Travel & Culture Channel will have a blog to help you discover your destination of choice.
For now, we have three new great bloggers to guide you:

Jed can show you around the capital of England over at the London Traveler.
Geoff brings to you the beer-drinking sausage-eating German-speaking part in the North; the winde drinking shopaholics near France; the warmer part with cappuccino drinkers in the southeast; and the classi Swiss flugelhorns and mountain landscapes in the center over at the Switzerland Traveler.
Heather will …read more

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Earlier this week, during a working visit to Barcelona, I was able to try out the Barcelona Student JetPack which Tarkan sent to me from the UK.
So before I announce the winner of the Barcelona Student JetPack Giveaway Contest, I am going to examine its contents minutely and share with you my thoughts:
‘Don’t Forget’ Checklist has a couple of interesting items which some of you may never even think of including in your own list. With this, apart from the basics, you will not forget to pack your contraceptive and your whistle/rape alarm. In my opinion, these …read more

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That’s me and my husband, hamming it up for the camera as we waited for our food at one of your basic tourist trap restaurants in Siena, Italy. Yes, I should have know but we were hungry and traveling with an antsy 2 year old. Plus, my husband just shrugged it all of with, “who cares… we’re on vacation”. Obviously, I have yet to forget.
It is pretty easy to judge tourist trap restaurants. Usually they have superb locations, right across the most famous landmark in the city and they offer ridiculously overpriced meals.
In this case, though, …read more

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Do you love intellectual conversations? Are you a voracious reader? If so, Tumbleweed Hotel could be THE hotel for you — dear budget traveler — when you go to Paris.
The Tumbleweed hotel is the name given to the second floor of a bookshop where beds are placed amongst books. If chosen, guests of this hotel stay for free provided that they do one hour of chores each day (like dusting and sweeping) or they can profess their love for books by reading one.
There’s another condition, though… as soon as the bookshop opens, you have to …read more

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It’s been labeled a “must” for those traveling to Verona. I, on the other hand, consider it (paying to go inside Casa di Giulietta to see the balcony) a tourist trap.
Here’s why:

Shakespeare’s Juliet did NOT really speak from this balcony.
Even if there were 2 feuding families in Verona, no one has really proven the existence of their star-crossed children
You do not need a “symbol” to encourage you to write love notes to the person you love. You can actually do it anytime, anywhere.
Besides, those notes left outside look a lot like graffiti to me.

Anyway, unless you have a Verona …read more

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Unlike in the USA where Rule 240 will not protect you anymore, the European Union has strict rules on Passenger Rights and Air Safety.  They have made sure that you are protected when there are cancellations and long delays.
“This new piece of legislation has introduced significant improvements to the protection of air passengers’ rights in the European Union. Airlines now have to pay compensation for denied boarding (€ 250 for flights of less than 1 500 km, € 400 for flights of between 1 500 and 3 500 km and € 600 for flights of more than 3 500 km). Passengers will be compensated for late cancellation of their flight …read more

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What if you got lucky in Verona and would want to spend a romantic evening out… where can you take her without having to spend a lot?
Here’s one suggestion of where you can go, with different options on what you can do:
Take her to Arena di Verona, a Roman amphitheatre where they have opera performances.
If you’re both avid opera fans, I suggest that you buy tickets for unreserved seats on the stone steps. They’re a lot cheaper than the padded chairs below.
If the opera performance will just be part of the background to lend ambiance to your romantic evening, …read more

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Greetings from the romantic city of Verona. I’ve been to nearby Bologna and Venice before but this is the first time I have ever made it here.
It’s a charming city and from what I have seen, it is obvious why it is a Unesco World Heritage Site.

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In my opinion, Lonely Planet should slash their Marketing budget. The money they save on that should just be used to slash down the prices of their books.
Why?! Because backpackers / budget travelers are like walking advertisements of Lonely Planet.
I see them reading their copies everywhere… on the steps of that famous landmark, waiting for the next train, lining up outside the museum, having breakfast at the corner bakeshop and hanging out at the local bar, among other places.
I think I have seen more budget travelers with Lonely Planet Guidebooks than any paid advertisement of Lonely Planet.
Just a suggestion.
Anyway…  …read more

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