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the greatest European city

Started by the science eel, September 17, 2018, 11:13:07 PM

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thraxx

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on September 18, 2018, 07:27:59 AM
Berlin - it may be littered with fag-ends and dogshit, but they're my fag-ends and dogshit!

Try finding a big in Berlin when you need a piss. The ones they do have you have to pay to get in.

Paul Calf

Pretty much the same everywhere now. You have to spend money to spend money.

Neville Chamberlain

When it comes to public toilets, Britain leads the way! Over the years, I've developed a few useful - and free! - strategies for having a piss when out and about in Berlin.

TrenterPercenter

Just got back from a few days in Bordeaux and I have to say it is pretty great, looks, atmos, food (and la vin).  Everyone is eternally young, classy and there is a distinct lack of advertising anywhere.

Very cool.  Not that big though really.

Shit Good Nose



Norton Canes

No mention of Reykjavik I see, that epitome of 90's Euro-cool. Has it fallen out of favour?

pancreas

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on September 18, 2018, 09:12:52 AM
When it comes to public toilets, Britain leads the way! Over the years, I've developed a few useful - and free! - strategies for having a piss when out and about in Berlin.

Spill the piss beans.

Paul Calf

Alexanderplatz presumably. Last time I was there, the whole square reeked of it.

Neville Chamberlain

Yes, Alexanderplatz is a truly dismal place. Crowded, crime-ridden (so much so that they've built a miniature police station on the square itself) and always sticky underfoot with people's leftover sausages/doners.

the science eel

Quote from: northernrebel on September 18, 2018, 08:27:45 AM
I lived in Budapest and think it's a great city - all the Mittel Europa culture you could wish for - opera, cakes, goulash, baroque churches, etc.

Ach - I lived there a couple of years ago and found it hugely disappointing after Prague. It's a poor city, messy in a bad way, not especially expat-friendly.

All the stuff you mention is appealing for tourists but to live there? it's appalling for food shopping. And having to step over homeless every time you exit the Metro stations.... (I suppose if Orban gets his way we'll see less of that)

the science eel

Quote from: Neville Chamberlain on September 18, 2018, 10:56:29 AM
Yes, Alexanderplatz is a truly dismal place. Crowded, crime-ridden (so much so that they've built a miniature police station on the square itself) and always sticky underfoot with people's leftover sausages/doners.

But Karl-Marx-Allee - the greatest boulevard in Europe - is just a short walk away!

Neville Chamberlain

Quote from: the science eel on September 18, 2018, 10:59:58 AM
But Karl-Marx-Allee - the greatest boulevard in Europe - is just a short walk away!

Yep, that's true - it's lovely turning your back on the festering hole that is Alexanderplatz and striding down Karl-Marx-Allee - Wegbier in hand, of course ;-)

Emma Raducanu

Quote from: Norton Canes on September 18, 2018, 10:23:45 AM
No mention of Reykjavik I see, that epitome of 90's Euro-cool. Has it fallen out of favour?

Apart from the welfare system, I can't imagine Northen Europe being able to compete in terms of quality of life, you know - like enjoying yourself. The only film I saw set in Iceland (Nói albinói) focused on someone trying to escape.

I've stayed in a friend's house in Vienna last year and thought it was wonderful. The university is beautiful and they had a little fountain in the courtyard where my daughter played for hours. It's a lovely, warm city, steeped with history and I loved walking round. It felt vibrant (the film festival was on at the time), full of green spaces, magestic museums and palaces that give a sense of grandiose. The food was pretty fucking excellent, as was the beer and I felt comfortable going places alone, just to sit - which would be important anywhere I chose to live. Alleyways, and streets, would open up into small squares housing cafes and monuments that were pure chocolate box.

Along with Edinburgh, it's the only city where I could genuinely imagine living and I've visited places like Krakow, Vilnius, Madrid - places mentioned in this thread - and while I've enjoyed them, nothing captured my imagination quite like Vienna!

Paul Calf

It's a very long time since I was last there, but I loved Vienna too, despite being dragged there under protest during a three-month tour of Central Europe. I thought it'd be expensive, stuck-up and boring but it really isn't. We wandered between courtyards showing with free live music and drank in the glory of The Ring at night. The people were nicer than in Bratislava and it was easier to deal with than Prague.

The only downside was that Wendy went all huffy whenever I giggled at the Kunsthaus.

Quote from: the science eel on September 18, 2018, 10:58:24 AM


All the stuff you mention is appealing for tourists but to live there? it's appalling for food shopping. And having to step over homeless every time you exit the Metro stations.... (I suppose if Orban gets his way we'll see less of that)

Speaking of being poor for food shopping, having been to Lisbon and Porto recently I have to wonder how the fuck the Portuguese do their grocery shopping. Both big cities and densely populated but try finding a decent shop to buy food and you'll be sorely disappointed by both the number of shops and the choice therein.

CaledonianGonzo

They're more likely to shop for food in markets rather than shops?

the science eel

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on September 18, 2018, 01:32:21 PM
They're more likely to shop for food in markets rather than shops?

That's definitely true for Hungarians. Their supermarkets are by some distance the worst I've ever seen, but the markets are pretty good - if a bit of a struggle if you're not a native.

Mind, you can't get fresh cream anywhere! (like you can't get spring onions in Portugal)

Quote from: CaledonianGonzo on September 18, 2018, 01:32:21 PM
They're more likely to shop for food in markets rather than shops?

There aren't even that many of them around leading me to conclude that they live on fuck all.

CaledonianGonzo

No shortage of sardines about the place.

Dr Rock

I'm sorry but do any of these foreign places even have a wax museum?

moondogs

Lviv. A vote for the Ukrainian massive. An absolute hidden gem of a city right on our doorstep. Cheap, full of culture, amazingly affordable food and coffee. This city stole my heart. A place where east really meets west. Go deeper into Ukraine and enjoy some Odessa while you're at it, but Lviv is far more European. Both cheap as fuck.

Honourable mentions go to Seville, Barcelona and Amsterdam. All for different reasons. But Amsterdam will always hold a special place in my heart, not least because you can amble around most of it in an afternoon. Whilst smoking marijuana.

sevendaughters

Amsterdam is the European city I've been to the most and tried to move there a few years ago only to find it agonisingly difficult - one woman said I couldn't have any guests in my entirely separate annexe, and another couple forgot to mention I had to look after the kids twice a week as part of the already expensive rent - but in latter years I've started to find it a bit of a rich pisspot's playground.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote from: moondogs on September 18, 2018, 02:19:18 PM
Lviv. A vote for the Ukrainian massive. An absolute hidden gem of a city right on our doorstep. Cheap, full of culture, amazingly affordable food and coffee. This city stole my heart. A place where east really meets west. Go deeper into Ukraine and enjoy some Odessa while you're at it, but Lviv is far more European. Both cheap as fuck.

Delighted to read that - I'm there in 3 weeks. Other than the numerous cathedrals, and general environment is there any nice spot or attraction you could recommend?

Shoulders?-Stomach!

QuoteAnd having to step over homeless every time you exit the Metro stations

The homelessness is a problem in Hungary but the actual experience is no worse than UK - still appalling and shameful, but not that much worse. Actually I've already seen more homeless people in Leeds today than I saw over 3 days on my last visit.

Orban needs to ask himself, is the real problem refugees or the huge rates of homelessness and revoltingly disgusting rates of suicide and poor life expectancy of his own citizens..

the science eel

I was just surprised to see such a large wealth disparity between Prague and Bp in recent years - cities I've always thought of as sisters. There's all kinds of 'regeneration' in Prague that you just don't see in Bp. Why is that?

seepage

My vote goes to Palma de Mallorca

The Culture Bunker

Quote from: sevendaughters on September 17, 2018, 11:19:51 PM
depending how liberal you are with the definition of Europe I'd have to have Istanbul in the top 5. it is crazy and chaotic and I had to leave when I did but I feel like there's a novel, or two parts of a bad podcast, about my time there. there's just so much happening, there's a sea running through the middle of it, it's full of communists battling increasingly militant Islamists, there's opulence and history and things to goggle at around every corner. just don't go to Taksim when Galatasaray are playing or shopping on Istiklal ever.
I was there back in May, staying in a hotel near Taksim Square, and when the other half and I took a walk up the main shopping street nearby (the name escapes me) on a Friday night, it was full of Galatasaray fans chanting away. I assumed in the moment they had played that night - but nope. Perhaps they just gathered for a sing song.

Mad/amazing city though, I agree. Having never been outside Western Europe/Baltic region/USA before, it felt like the first time I'd been somewhere totally different to what I was used to. Like you say, the sense of history is incredible - the old city walls especially.

Plus there's cats everywhere.

northernrebel

Quote from: the science eel on September 18, 2018, 10:58:24 AM
Ach - I lived there a couple of years ago and found it hugely disappointing after Prague. It's a poor city, messy in a bad way, not especially expat-friendly.

All the stuff you mention is appealing for tourists but to live there? it's appalling for food shopping. And having to step over homeless every time you exit the Metro stations.... (I suppose if Orban gets his way we'll see less of that)

I did live there for a year, but it might have changed badly. In 1992 I guess I overlooked the bad things, as I was a bit naive, and spoke Hungarian so thought I was immune. The centre is still beautiful. And I like Prague, but the sheer weight of tourists put me off it in the end.

Shoulders?-Stomach!

Quote from: seepage on September 18, 2018, 03:00:22 PM
My vote goes to Palma de Mallorca

It's a pleasant city but didn't expect anyone to suggest it was the greatest. What appeals to you about it so much?