Out of Pod Experience

Yup. We made three trips to Berlin to visit my grandmother between 1970-1975. I remember literally everything even from the trip when I was 5, I guess because it was so utterly different from our hometown in rural Arkansas.

I got to have a cappucino in that "TV tower" when I was 7. It was so "futuristic" I was of course thrilled.

Except for my grandmother in West Berlin, my mother's entire family was trapped in the East, so we went to visit them (actually sneaking onto trains without visas (would have cost $1000 a day for 4 people). It was a challenge to keep my 7 year old mouth shut on the trains, as there were about 2 armed gaurds per train car.

And then we were in this neighborhood in clear sight of the tower, maybe 8 miles away, and it was all dirt roads (picture a suburb in America, but with dirt roads) and pig styes in just about every front yard.

It was definitely not a pretty place back then at all.

That tower and the surrounding freshly paved 8-lane roads around the area, totally devoid of cars at all, were compensating for the poor conditions just miles away, and across the entire rest of the country.

That is all. Just brought back memories.

hmmm where to start .... Strasburg , munich, Barcelona, crakow. Vienna , all great places to visit ....only disappointing city ive been that I couldn't wait to leave is wasaw .....what a depressing place to go.... I can see why the poles wanted to leave so much

Interesting you mention Rome, my wife and I were talking about cities to visit and Rome came up in the conversation. I think Prague will be next, well, next year. New York is next in December, can't wait to see that at Christmas!

Not the EU but i recommend Tokyo. You cant beat it for the sheer amount of stuff to do.

If it wasn't for this

And west I'd say such as a Colorado ski resort Further west in the winter it may feel like summer.
Cities are over rated.

Come to Venice if you think Prague is expensive. You're right that it's expensive in respect to the rest of the country, but it's one of the most beautiful cities in the world, and as such it's quite cheap.

If you're the adventuring type and like to meet new people, Rome is where it's at. The thing that makes the city so great is the people. Romans are different from the rest of Italians, for better or worse...but usually better. When you find an in, you're in for life.

I live in the north and I miss Rome for its people and habits. The heat not so much, but it feels like a wild dream every time I go there.

Like I said, you have to be the adventuring and laid back type of person to appreciate it. If you're rather fussy over things, that's not the place to go. Stick with northern Europe if that's the case. What some northern countries lack in personality they make up for in services and openness.

I'm American and I've never been to NYC...neither do I ever want to visit. A bunch of tall buildings, rude people, museums full of borrowed European art I've already seen (or worse, modern art) and whatever culture is left there has been so watered-down and Americanized that it is practically "just" American now. Sure, it's the place you need to be if you want to be very successful in business, but I'd only live there for a high-paying job, not because I appreciate NYC. I lawl every time NYers say something in NYC is "historic". My in-laws' house is older than the United States.

Washington D.C., however, I'd very much like to visit.

I guess I just have a fondness for historic places, so I settled down in Italy. I'm originally from Louisiana, and I feel more southern than I do American...I identify with being southern. Louisiana is beautifully ugly and creepy; it's a very dark and dreary place, which is why the food is the best in the country and why it's such a blues and jazz mecca. It's ridiculously hot and humid, poverty is everywhere, and it's rife with corruption. It's also the perfect place to be inspired due to the adversity of it all, which is how I approach my music; it's doomy, sludgy, and heavy. I think the southern US and the UK has the best doom bands because you can't fake hardship, poverty, and suffering. It's authentic and it's inspirational.

my Mrs is a major player for a well known "off this planet" chocolate manufacturer so I get to go to places paid for by the company ... she suggested us going to paris this year but ive heard so much about the roma causing havoc in paris that ive decided to give it a miss as generally while she`s at work I like to just wander about places and see the sites that wouldn't probably be to her liking ...so paris is of limits till the police convince the governemt to get rid of them


oddly enough ...probably one of the worst places ive been to is Rio ... now that's one dangerous city after dark ... when sunset comes ...you head for the hotel !. and stay away from the beaches

Have you checked out the Charlottenburg castle in Berlin? There's plenty of other castles outside Berlin everywhere, hundreds up to nearly a thousand years old. Super cool stuff to tour, missing out if you haven't.

Check out the epic Neuschwanstein castle south in Bavaria on a return trip. Like most museums you're not allowed to film or take photos, though.