European Tour - This post has nothing to do with EU...

[Greyshaft]

... but I hope Johan won't mind

My wife and I are getting out of Sydney for the Olympics (September) and going to Europe for a month. We will be going for a ten day tour through Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland to get acclimatised and then we are spending three weeks drifting around from Paris to Rome with side trips to whatever takes our fancy.

Planned highlights are Oberammergau (Passion Play), Neuchuenstein Castle (Ludwig the Mad), Octoberfest and finish up with a few days in Rome.

Does anyone have any other 'off-the-beaten-track' suggestions for a couple of Aussie tourists who have never been to Europe before (apart from England...does that really count?).

/Graham

 

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In germany, they had this super artillery in the this forest, it made impressions in the ground that can still be seen today, to bad the artillery isnt there

 

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I may tell you some very nice things to see in France and around Paris (where I live). It depends what you would like to see (nature, paintings, buildings, ...).
In Italy, September is one of the best moment to go to Tuscany. It seems to me that you should visit Florence, Mantoue, Pise ...
Don't hesitate to contact me for further help.

 

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I think you must see AT LEAST the Louvres museum in Paris ...

 

[Heiko]

Hi Graham!

Just a few comments about your European tour.

About Germany:
Don't spent your days in Germany only in Bavaria! You should visit the Rhine valley, too. What were about the Loreley and the Niederwalddenkmal near Rüdesheim? That's roughly half the way between Munich and Paris.

Very nice medieval cities are Heidelberg (www.heidelberg.de) and Rothenburg ob der Tauber (www.rothenburg.de).
I can't say much about our capital city Berlin, because I've never been there: Paris is much nearer, and it's much cheaper to fly to London than to drive to Berlin.

Btw.: The name of this well known Bavarian castle is 'Neuschwanstein', meaning 'new swan stone'.
You call Ludwig II of Bavaria 'Ludwig the Mad'? Interesting. In Germany (especially Bavaria) he is called 'der Märchenkönig', meaning 'the fairy-tale king'. Perhaps 'the mad' is historically more correct...

About France:
Yeah, you HAVE to visit the Louvre and the Eiffel-Tower, and you HAVE to promenade the Champs Elysée!

About Italy:
Visit Venice!

If you've any questions about Germany, please contact me.
Heiko

P.S.: I'm going to visit Australia in October! But it's an organized travel with inland flights, because Australia is a little bit too large to go around by car in three weeks.

 

[Heiko]

APKicks: 'In germany, they had this super artillery in the this forest, it made impressions in the ground that can still be seen today, to bad the artillery isnt there'

Which artillery in which forest? WW1, WW2? I really don't know what you think about.
Do you have some further information?

Heiko

[This message has been edited by Heiko (edited 22-06-2000).]

 

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Heh, is that right Heiko?

Make sure you visit WA, Perth, we can play some EU LAN ..

Sapura

 

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If you have the time I recommend visiting Sweden and Norway too. Norway especially has some of the most stunning landscapes in Europe. Sweden has alot of mideaval and viking sites to visit.


Marcus

 

[Johan]

Don't miss Prag!

/Johan

 

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Try to concentrate on one area. A major city cannot be visited in one day. A fast tour around europe won't do. You will end up with fragmented memories of who knows what. Try to capture the atmoshpere of a place or country too.

And stay out of trouble (=great tip of course), otherwise you will end up staying longer and will not be able to play this game for some time.

Geronimo.

 

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I can recommend Heidelberg - a beautiful, romantic town and there is a nice medieval castle on the mountains/hills surrounding it. The place can be a bit overfull with tourists though - but it's truly worth the visit, IMO. And your wife would probably love it too - my fiancee certainly did.

London is a great visit too - lots of great places to see there.

And of course - take a trip to Copenhagen.

Regards,

Michael (from Denmark).

 

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WW2...i saw it on the History channel, they were showing some tables of how powerful the artillery(i dont think there are any pictures of it..) had to be to make those impressions, and all i remember was it was pretty impresive.

 

[unmerged(210)]

Originally posted by Graham Dodge on 06-21-2000 11:44 PM
... but I hope Johan won't mind

My wife and I are getting out of Sydney for the Olympics (September) and going to Europe for a month. We will be going for a ten day tour through Holland, Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland to get acclimatised and then we are spending three weeks drifting around from Paris to Rome with side trips to whatever takes our fancy.

Planned highlights are Oberammergau (Passion Play), Neuchuenstein Castle (Ludwig the Mad), Octoberfest and finish up with a few days in Rome.

Does anyone have any other 'off-the-beaten-track' suggestions for a couple of Aussie tourists who have never been to Europe before (apart from England...does that really count?).

/Graham

Breuggen/Bruggia in Belgium (medieval town, cute)

Vienna (what an imperial feeling...)

Venice (on your route anyway)

that would do if you see Paris, Rome and Amsterdam.

 

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Originally posted by APKicks on 06-23-2000 02:16 AM
WW2...i saw it on the History channel, they were showing some tables of how powerful the artillery(i dont think there are any pictures of it..) had to be to make those impressions, and all i remember was it was pretty impresive.

Are we talking about the German WW2 railway guns? If that is the case, there is a reconstructed 280 mm-gun in the Museum at Aberdeen Proving Grounds, USA. You may have a look at the Museum's website (sorry, I do not have the address with me here); you will see a photograph of the gun.
If this is not the gun AP is talking about, then perhaps it must be the 'Dora' 700+ mm gun, originally intended for the Maginot Line but finally used by the Germans to bombard Sevastopol in 1942 and Warsaw in 1944.
If you need additional information, I will check in my books and provide it to you.

Best regards, as always.

Martin

P.S.: I believe it is better to concentrate in one area of Europe. Which area? Well, you will find interesting things to see almost anywhere. It all depends on what your interests are (but they reckon that Spanish food is gorgeous...!!! )

 

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Hi there

One thing not to do when you are in Europe is try to see it all....

Just try to know in advance what you would like to see, and visit those places for at least a few days, so you actually have the time to see what's there!!!

A few tips of cities that i would visit myself given time and money, even thoughi have been to all of them except Barcelona..

they are in no particular order of preference, they all are worth a visit, as are many more places....

Amsterdam ( gotta plug my home town!!!)
Brugge ( in belgium )
Heidelberg ( germany)
Paris (France)
Barcelona ( spain )
Florence ( italy )
Rome ( italy )

I've been to Switzerland, and although it is beautifull there in a way, I never liked it much, Luzern the exception.

 

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Abderdeen? In what country/state/province?

I dunno the name, it was big ass...and it made the JagdTiger look like like kitten, and the Maus look like a mouse

 

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Originally posted by APKicks on 06-27-2000 07:12 PM
Abderdeen? In what country/state/province?

I dunno the name, it was big ass...and it made the JagdTiger look like like kitten, and the Maus look like a mouse

AP, it is Aberdeen Proving Grounds, an official US Army site in the East Coast of the U.S.A. I do not recall the exact location, but I think it is Pennsylvania or somewhere around there. It is definitely very close to the Atlantic coast and it is north of Washington DC. I am sure any road atlas of the US will tell you exactly where it is.

Marc, haven't you been to Barcelona? Agh! Something must be done about that. If you ever decide to visit Sunny Spain, please let me know. Barcelona is my home city, and I am sure we would be able to arrange something.

Best regards, as always.

Martin

 

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AP, regarding 'Dora',have a look at these websites. I was wrong about the gun's caliber; it was 800 mm!!!
http://perso.infonie.fr/palpatine/Page13/page13.htm
http://www.cix.co.uk/~efmiwg7/railgun/dora/index.htm

Martin

 

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Martin,

I am most definetly gonna take you up on that offer one day...not this year sadly, for my foot won't be healed until late this year....
That also is the only thing keepin me from offering to showing our australiean forum buddy around when he travels to amsterdam..although my foot may be healed enough to do that after all.....we'll see when nd if he comes to Amsterdam.

 

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I have been reading this forum for some while, and funny enough this off-topic made me finally register

I think the best place to visit in Europe in September is Rome. The weather is nice there then, it isn't to busy and it has got all you want from a city (terasses, musea, old buildings, history).

Standing in the Forum, on the spot Caesar and Augustus adressed the senate, really did something to me.

One thing though: don't order beer, drink wine. The beer is up to 10 dollars (us) a glass on the terasses in the centre.


Bertram