Help shaft.ed succeed in life

[shaft.ed]

i havent seen my wife in 5 months

EDIT: I'll admit I'm also a bit anxious about meeting people in real life. But I know that my wife being there will make things pretty uncomfortable.

[Nelloz]

@Nelloz, Thanks for the tips. I've been searching Croatia's national parks and they're beautiful. Did you stop at Plitvice Lakes on your way into Zadar? I don't know if we will get all the way down to the islands because Croatia is a dead end, but we will definitely see some of the parks. Thanks.

No, I didn't stop, because I did not want to jump out of the plane

Zadar is also right in the middle of Croatia and on the coast. There is at least one ferry to Italy (Ancona?).

I visited Kornati National Park, which is basically a giant lot of islands, with cliffs and the aforementioned lake. It was just out of Zadar.
The other National Park I saw was Krka. I only was on the most downstream part, IIRC it was Skradinski Buk. (I remember that it was the site of the second oldest Hydroelectric Power Station in the World, I can't find confirmation on its name and location right now).

Before we went to Krka, we were told that Plitvice was bigger and better than Krka, but Krka was more accessible for us, so we went there. I was not disappointed, I an hardly imagine Plitvice being better. It also was not that small, we were walking around the park and it took several hours.

[TDC]

When are you going? Venice can be very crowded in the summer.

Can't really help with the Balkans. Two weeks isn't all that long if you travel by train, so I guess you'll not spend too much time getting to the ferry?

If you are in Pecs anyway, it would be foolish not to return on a Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg (and if too much time left, Chiemsee) routing

[shaft.ed]

We should be going the last two weeks of September. I kind of wanted to go to more off the beaten path types of places, so I was thinking of Slovenia. But that makes Budapest-Vienna less doable. Salzburg is an easy daytrip from Munich so it wont be too hard to get back there at some point. I'm also probably going straight to a meetinAg in Eibsee from the end of the trip. So it might be a bit closer coming from the south than returning home and coming back out.

I was thinking Pecs to Plitvice Lakes, to Lake Bohinj, to Venice for the return leg.

I guess the other option for Croatia/Slovenia would be to just skip Greece and pay the extra for the Ancona-Zadar ferry Nelloz suggested. Then we bypass a lot of slow trainage in the Balkans. So we loop out to Hungary after hitting former Yogoslavia. I'll have to see what we would miss by skipping Serbia, Bulgaria and the Greek mainland. But the train speeds are really poor down there. It would eat up a lot of our travel time. Bonus is we definitely get to see the Kornati Islands.

[Jahudo]

I had a few ideas about Venice sightseeing, but Rick Steves beat me to it: http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinat ... pubven.htm
Gondolas and San Marco's square you can skip (too touristy and way too crowded). My favorite part about Venice is wandering the quieter back alleys and canals in between snacks. Basically any baccari you pass is worth a try since you can just sample food for a euro or two, and the seafood should be fresh.

[shaft.ed]

Thanks Jahudo. That sounds like a nice day.

Is anyone familiar with Cinque Terre in Italy?

[shaft.ed]

So Nelloz, do you think renting a kayak in Zadar for a half day would get us anywhere or are the islands too far apart? I'd like to see the islands, but the only way I can do it in a day is by going on a big group tour. Don't really think being cramped on a boat with 50+ other people for the day is going to be a great deal of fun.

Korts, I have Budapest down for Monday September 27th. I am beginning operation travel guide to work my wife over. But I won't have any form of communication when we get in the city. I'll keep you posted.

Jahudo, my co-worker just walked to Venice (well not the whole way but over 300km). She said the same thing. Actually she found watching tourists to be an enjoyable aspect of her time in Venice.

[Korts]

Okay. Let me know if you need me as a guide somewhat in advance so I can do some research.

[Ythan]

I'm regretting my one post in this thread. It was a very weak joke, only three words long, and now this thread is on my vyp forever.

[Nelloz]

So Nelloz, do you think renting a kayak in Zadar for a half day would get us anywhere or are the islands too far apart? I'd like to see the islands, but the only way I can do it in a day is by going on a big group tour. Don't really think being cramped on a boat with 50+ other people for the day is going to be a great deal of fun.

At first I was "No way!", but I checked the distance. To get to Dugi Otok, for example, the island I liked most, it's about 15 km, probably a bit more. You have to get around another one of those islands to get there. I have no idea about kayaks, but this seems a bit too distant.
Of course, if you want to get to a closer island there are some at closer distances (~5km). Most of those are tiny, but there is at least one larger.

tl;dr: I think it's better advise if you just check a map. Sorry.

[Jahudo]

Actually she found watching tourists to be an enjoyable aspect of her time in Venice.

The best places for that is Saint Mark's square, the Rialto Bridge and Campo San Polo. And Saint Mark's square is pretty impressive for its size.

[TDC]

We should be going the last two weeks of September.

So.. did you buy a Dirndl for your wife yet? Or are you not attending the Oktoberfest (which for inexplicable reasons is in late September)?

[shaft.ed]

Yeah, neither of us drink so...probably not going to Oktoberfest. There is a Dirndl shop across the street from my apartment should the need arise.


Also I just realized today that Salzburg was named after the nearby salt mines. Feel really stupid about that one.

[Jahudo]

Also I just realized today that Salzburg was named after the nearby salt mines. Feel really stupid about that one.

They don't advertise that as much since its not directly related to Mozart or the Sound of Music.

But you can go on a tour of the Hallein mine like you would a cave tour. Its pretty interesting. At one point you can slide down a mine shoot, and another part you take a raft across a small underground lake.

Hmm, I probably know alot more about Salzburg than Venice. Getreidegasse (the main pedestrian street in old town) is worth a visit, but there are less expensive places to eat closer to the university. And there's a good hiking trail around Hohensalzburg castle (east of the river in old town) where you can get a great view of the city below. The castle has a good tour too. I'm not sure how the Mirabell Gardens look this time of year, but that's another good, free sight.

[shaft.ed]

So this is hilarious in a not very funny kind of way.

Turns out that the "calendar of events" for my wife's exchange program list Oktoberfest as a holiday from sept 18th to Oct 3rd. My wife took this to mean she had the time off from classes (I swear she's lost about 40 IQ points since starting business school). So we won't be taking our train vacation after all. To top it off we now have a pair of Eurail passes that we likely can't use because Eurail is saying that the rule for not being a resident of a European country for more than 6 months applies to the time of arrival and not the time of becoming a resident. Now I'm wondering how strict the train people are and if they will notice the difference.

Oh well, thanks for the help anyway guys.

[shaft.ed]

So, my wife just registered for her courses and it turns out she actually won't be taking any classes over the weeks planned for travel (yay for lazy MBA program with 4 day classes!).

It's back on, and even better I somehow managed a last minute hotel reservation in Manarola.


<excited

[Mr. Flay]

Sounds like fun! Gorgeous town, also.

[Nuwen]

@_@

Edit: I

want it

[shaft.ed]

Aside from some of the advice in this thread, I basically mapped out the trip by panning across Google Earth with the photos turned on. If it was pretty I added it to the list. Quite a few things were not doable or had to be dropped because they were too remote for the schedule. But it should be awesome.

[Porochaz]

Take a trip via scotland and come meet me and shanba

[shaft.ed]

where do you go via Scotland? Also, Ireland is the only UK country where my pass is valid. So complain to you overlords.

[Battousai]

So, my wife just registered for her courses and it turns out she actually won't be taking any classes over the weeks planned for travel (yay for lazy MBA program with 4 day classes!).

It's back on, and even better I somehow managed a last minute hotel reservation in Manarola.


<excited

Nice place to visit, but not to live. I keep looking at the picture it it looks like it is about to fall into water. I'd be too nervous to live there.

[Porochaz]

where do you go via Scotland? Also, Ireland is the only UK country where my pass is valid. So complain to you overlords.

Ireland isnt a UK country, not that we dont like Ireland, but they just aren't. However I will complain to my overlords who will smite you.

[shaft.ed]

So Slovenia if beautiful country. Italy was dirty and smelled like piss everywhere. Raining in Croatia right now. Hope it clears.

[shaft.ed]

So I'm sitting in a hotel lobby watching a program about a bunch of Croatian guys that put together a Mariachi band. They aren't so good at it, but they look to be having a great time. World is a strange place.

Plitvice Lakes are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. I've heard the term breathtaking used to describe incredible views, but have never experienced it before today. My heart skipped a few beats walking around this place. Wish we could stay longer but all the hotels in town are booked. Might come back for a winter holiday.

Don't have pictures of the lakes on my laptop yet but I do have a couple from the first days of the trip.