[Tavvar]

Macros-
I've been to Belfast three times. Once August 2011 with a class from UCC and I had a good time walking all the way across the city (from the Titanic Dock to the Ulster Museum). The Titanic dock was disappointing, but the Ulster Museum was awesome, I never really got a chance to enjoy it, the first time I was there I had an hour, the second time 90 minutes. I also found a cool little memorial to I believe both World Wars somewhere near St. Anne's (I think) Cathedral. I was also in Belfast for the opening of the Christmas Market/Tree lighting last November and had a great time wandering through there (esp. compared to Cork's 5 tents...). I was also their briefly last February (for the museum), but some of my friends were there for the whole weekend and they enjoyed it too. I also did the touristy things like the Black Taxi tour and went up to the Giant's Causeway, but I like my wanderings of Belfast better.

[Macros]

Wow, I'm glad you enjoyed our fine capital, I guess living and working there for so long I saw all the shitty parts rather than what could attract a tourist to see it. I assume by the black taxi tour you mean the troubles run around all the murals and flash points?I've never bothered with the tour because I've seen all that stuff at various times anyway, quite a lot but I suppose it would be interesting from an outsiders perspective.

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

JLV, on 18 October 2012 - 04:35 PM, said:

I think I'm going to London this summer for 6 weeks. Someone encourage me to make the dive.

If you need encouragement, you don't have the right mind set for London.

Macros, on 18 October 2012 - 04:59 PM, said:

I will advise against six weeks in London.
Its too long there
Its expense aside I should think two weeks would be more than adequate in London (Londoners feel free to correct me) leaving you with a month to explore some other areas.
There's plenty of lovely towns and cities within relatively easy commute from London

Que the English folk with recommendations of other towns.

But yes come to London, I would hate to live there but there's plenty to see.in it.

tower bridge,the tower, Tussauds, Wembley, the eye, the dome.
There's much more but its been a few years since I've touristed in London.
The Olympic village I suppose.

You forgot the museums, Macros... and there is so much more to see than the obvious tourist things: there are amazing corners, great people, good food: London has it all! And you never have enough time in London!

Abyss, on 19 October 2012 - 04:11 PM, said:

Do it. London rocks.

Yes. The man clearly knows what he is talking about.

[Macros]

Something I never actually got to in London was the museums, if I'm back there for more than a day ay some stage I'll be trying the natural history (I think its in London)
But I would be the worst person to try and sell London, I'm not its biggest fan

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

Macros, on 23 October 2012 - 11:33 AM, said:

Something I never actually got to in London was the museums, if I'm back there for more than a day ay some stage I'll be trying the natural history (I think its in London)
But I would be the worst person to try and sell London, I'm not its biggest fan

I'll give you a tour around town if Im still here when you next visit. I am a fan

And yes, the NHM is in London and it's an amazing museum (I have never seen the New York one which I imagine to be even better and that says something!), as is the Science museum, and also the V&A, not even talking about art museums
I was at the NHM last weekend to see the Wildlife Photography Exhibition. It was - as always - outstanding.

[Abyss]

I've spent entire glorious weeks in London without entering a single museum or touristy place.
Between the neighborhoods, the pubs, the markets, the pubs, the squares, the pubs, the shopping and the restaurants and did i mention the pubs, that city is a blast.

- Abyss, may have made it to a pub or three.

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

Abyss, on 23 October 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

I've spent entire glorious weeks in London without entering a single museum or touristy place.
Between the neighborhoods, the pubs, the markets, the pubs, the squares, the pubs, the shopping and the restaurants and did i mention the pubs, that city is a blast.

- Abyss, may have made it to a pub or three.

How exciting!- you have so much to look forward to then when you next make it to London! An entire new side of the city to discover. Oh, how I envy you.

[Abyss]

Miss Savage, on 23 October 2012 - 08:03 PM, said:

Abyss, on 23 October 2012 - 02:20 PM, said:

I've spent entire glorious weeks in London without entering a single museum or touristy place.
Between the neighborhoods, the pubs, the markets, the pubs, the squares, the pubs, the shopping and the restaurants and did i mention the pubs, that city is a blast.

- Abyss, may have made it to a pub or three.

How exciting!- you have so much to look forward to then when you next make it to London! An entire new side of the city to discover. Oh, how I envy you.

True, there are still many pubs i have not visited.





To be clear, i did all the touristy cultural stuff on my first trip there.

On subsequent trips i had no need to repeat them.

- Abyss, may have made a repeat visit to a pub or three.

[Tavvar]

Macros-
Yes the Black Taxi tour is a run to all the murals and things to do with the troubles, they even tell you to sign one of the walls (they give you a Sharpie). I found it interesting to see Belfast, especially since one of my classes at UCC (I'm an American and spent the last Uni year there) covered 'Irish History,' which was really just the Easter Rising/War of Independence/Civil War and then the start of the Troubles. It was interesting to see some of the place we'd talked about and the long term effects of those events. But I did enjoy my times in Belfast.

For the London discussion: I too have enjoyed London, though since I haven't seen much. I went once when I was 8 and only remember what's in the photo album. I went again this summer, but didn't get a chance to see much (only got the Tower of London and St. Paul's, with a bit of walking around the city center).

[Fist Gamet]

For a guy who never wanted to live in London at any point in my life, having now been here in central London for 18 months, I have to say it's a fairly awesome place. Sure, big (BIG) cities like this have major drawbacks but this is certainly one of the major cities in the world and well worth an extended visit. Museums, parks, shows, musicals, markets, art, sports and so on, it has the lot in abundance, and one hell of a history too. I guess if you can't believe a Scotsman praising the capital of England, who can you believe?!

Still, visit Scotland because it is all kinds of awesome

[Adjutant Stormy~]

Fist Gamet, on 24 October 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

For a guy who never wanted to live in London at any point in my life, having now been here in central London for 18 months, I have to say it's a fairly awesome place. Sure, big (BIG) cities like this have major drawbacks but this is certainly one of the major cities in the world and well worth an extended visit. Museums, parks, shows, musicals, markets, art, sports and so on, it has the lot in abundance, and one hell of a history too. I guess if you can't believe a Scotsman praising the capital of England, who can you believe?!

Still, visit Scotland because it is all kinds of awesome

As a damned-yank, I liked London. My problem was it was overpriced. Grossly overpriced. Maybe it was exchange rate issues. But 10 bucks for a sandwich, 15 for a pack of smokes. I'm sure that if I were making a wage in pounds, exchange-rate-rape wouldn't matter to me.

Culturally, touristy, and recreationally it was a great city. I'm not sure I could afford to live there.

[Mrs Savagely Wishy Washy]

Fist Gamet, on 24 October 2012 - 09:14 PM, said:

For a guy who never wanted to live in London at any point in my life, having now been here in central London for 18 months, I have to say it's a fairly awesome place. Sure, big (BIG) cities like this have major drawbacks but this is certainly one of the major cities in the world and well worth an extended visit. Museums, parks, shows, musicals, markets, art, sports and so on, it has the lot in abundance, and one hell of a history too. I guess if you can't believe a Scotsman praising the capital of England, who can you believe?!

Still, visit Scotland because it is all kinds of awesome

That's exactly my story. I never wanted to move to London, especially after having spent 4 years in Liverpool, and being a Swiss country chick where we consider any congregation larger than 5'000 people a big city- but London is, in my opinion, the coolest city in the world. So much history, and so much history still happening- it's fascinating and right now I think it's a great time to be here.

[Fist Gamet]

Ah, that is true, MS, it has been a particularly good year to live here and my trip to the paralympics will stay in my mind for a long time.

Stormy, you're not wrong, there are prices and then there are 'London prices', especially if you eat or drink out in pubs, clubs and restaurants. However, there are hundreds of places where you can eat and drink for normal prices but you gotta know where to look as they are usually little hidden away places. As for living here, renting or even *gulp* buying...forget it.

One of the big downsides that I encounter again and again is the utter lack of decent customer service anywhere. Good service is so rare that you really notice it when it actually happens. I suspect it is a symptom of big city living, but people, in general, ain't too nice here.

[Tsundoku]

Macros, on 21 October 2012 - 08:15 AM, said:

I'm always massively surprised when people say they liked Belfast.

No surprises from me then. But you know why.

Actually I shall admit though the company was quite excellent.

[Captain Petepants]

Just back from Netherlands, and would recomment the city of Den Bosch to anyone with a taste for the historical. Very cool place.

[LadyMTL]

I've been to the UK several times as my boyfriend lives just outside of Bristol, and there's way more to see than just London though London is awesome. As others have said, the museums alone will keep you busy for days - my personal fave is the British Museum - but the Tower of London is really cool too. Maybe it's because I'm a history buff but there's something so humbling about sitting in St. Peter Ad Vincula and knowing that's where Anne Boleyn and Lady Jane Grey (among others) are buried...and so on. Plus, the crown jewels too, lol.

Anyway, I've also been to Bath, Stonehenge, Gloucester (to see the cathedral - the cloisters were used in the Harry Potter movies), Wells, Glastonbury Tor / Abbey, and Cheddar, to name a few. I haven't seen much of the north of England but that's on the list for my next trip.

Aside from the UK, I've also been to New Orleans, Spain, Mexico and Egypt.

[Captain Petepants]

I thought necro-ing this thread was more appropriate than starting a new one. Spank me if I'm wrong.

We will be spending a couple of weeks in and around Boston/New York and surrounding areas in May, and thought that some of you well traveled types might know of some cool, perhaps less obvious things to do around the area.

We are definitely spending a few days at Arcadia, two or three days in NYC, two or three days in Boston...and the remainder of the time we will be playing it by ear.

Figured that in NYC we will likely see Times Square, go up a big building of some sort and probably see about dropping in at Marcelo Garcia's BJJ Academy for a session. Maybe see Ground Zero.
Not entirely sure what there is to do in Boston, but my other half assures me it's a cool place and she has family nearby who can probably point out some fun stuff.

We'd appreciate any insights or suggestions you might have

[Macros]

Thread necro ahoy.

Me and a few of the Lads are booking a holiday for September.

Now, yes it will be a group of lads on holiday but I have no desire to go on a "lads holiday" to magaluf or somewhere of its ilk to watch 18 year olds get trashed with their parents money and rub up against each other.
However I also don't want to go to a sleepy resort and lie like a turnip on the beach for a week.

With this in mind our criteria is as follows -
reasonably warm in September (20-30 is my dream zone)
Has an airport within a respectable distance (do not want a 4 hour sweaty bus trip)
A beach
A relatively fun night life*
Not full of boozed up 18-20 year olds bellowing at each other
Not full of OAPs
Not full of families, because, well, children. I mean like I dont want to go to a resort coming down with kids running around enjoying themselves and ruining my hanogver.

*nightlife for me is a selection of pubs and bars, don't really give a shit about clubs, (especially not super clubs) a club to me is somewhere you go loaded after the bar closes because you want to engage in some truly awful dancing. I much rather busy large bar with a band playing followed by a dodgy DJ throwing out classics like footloose, dangerzone and Boston, mixe din with modern stuff. But with a decent crowd that you can wander around and chat shite too.


Last holiday this particular group went to was a last minute deal to Biaritz in France a few years ago, it ticked most boxes, but the nightlife was distinctly lacking, unsurprising in a small town out of season. But we had a blast, drank an awful lot of wine and arrived home needing a few days to relax and recover, everything a good holiday should have.

I wouldn't say no to a bit of history or culture to waste a day looking at but I'd set a respectable bar scene with a good mix of tourists above it.


Googling is turning up the usual culprits, Ibiza, Malaga, Sunny Beach, Etc, which (in my mind) all fall into the young lads getting trashed and vomiting category. Would love Croatia but dont know where to look in it, and travel there seems to be an issue (don't fancy connecting in England, would be flying out of Belfast or Dublin)

So any suggestions for something warm, a little different but still busy and fun enough that Macros will wake up with a pleasant hangover most mornings, and possibly a pleasant looking lady on one or two?
One of the lads has suggested Marbella, which sounds a bit posh but reads well on the nightlife and beach fronts. Emerald coast of Sardinia was ruled out due to us not being millionaires just yet, Monaco got the chop for similar reasons. brainflash, thats what we want, somewhere nice like that, but affordable enough that there would be other regular people there too
Forumites Ho!

This post has been edited by Macros: 21 June 2014 - 12:58 PM

[Macros]

Minor update, anyone ever been to Split, if so, would it still be busyish in september?

[Tsundoku]

Warm in September ... Brisbane!

Heh, my Dad was in Split just a couple of weeks ago, liked it a lot. Now, this is a man of almost 70 on one of those old farts tours, so read into that what you will.

Don't we have a member who lives in Split or something like that?

This post has been edited by Sombra: 21 June 2014 - 01:50 PM