Rolling travel thread
- Thread starter Leo
- Start date
Alfons
Way of the future
Im icelandic, so might be a bit biased. But yeah I reckon the nature and landscapes are really great and worth seeing/visiting for (the culture, music, the people and Reykjavik as a city are way overrated imo though).
Iceland is probably at its cheapest now, our currency is still in the dumps after the crash in 2008, 1 pound is worth about 50% more kroners than it used to be. So now is the time to visit, although this also means we have way more tourists in general. I'd recommend visiting in the summer, the winters here are miserable.
Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions re Iceland/Reykjavik and say hi if you do visit.
Mind you, Norway will probably have lots of the same scenery (and more trees/forrests).
Iceland is probably at its cheapest now, our currency is still in the dumps after the crash in 2008, 1 pound is worth about 50% more kroners than it used to be. So now is the time to visit, although this also means we have way more tourists in general. I'd recommend visiting in the summer, the winters here are miserable.
Feel free to ask if you have any specific questions re Iceland/Reykjavik and say hi if you do visit.
Mind you, Norway will probably have lots of the same scenery (and more trees/forrests).
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
I had a couple of brilliant nights in Reykjavik, but as always with these things it's a bit of luck as to choosing the right place (when as foreigners, we could easily have made the wrong choice), plus an obscene amount of alcohol. Reykjavik struck me as a bit overly-trendy, and the beauty of the location is slightly overstated by some, but having said that most people I encountered were nice and I thought the city had a certain charm.
What really rocked my world was the Snaefellsnes peninsula (initial setting for J Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth) - some of the most unique landscapes I've ever seen, with a healthy dose of myths, black sand beaches with shipwrecks, futuristic churches, beautiful atmospheric fishing villages, amazing hotels out in the middle of nowhere, killer whales, volcanic expeditions, packs of Icelandic ponies.....stunning.
Gullfoss (waterfall) is incredible too. http://www.lumixlifestyle.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/gallery/AdamTrevor/Gulfoss02.jpg
Obv Alfons can give a better overview, but I'd imagine that March/April or September are arguably the best times to visit, not overly cold and most places are accessible, but with scenic amounts of snow. No puffins though, they seem to be on their holidays to Africa except in the summer.
PS I second Portugal - one of my favourite European countries
What really rocked my world was the Snaefellsnes peninsula (initial setting for J Verne's Journey to the Centre of the Earth) - some of the most unique landscapes I've ever seen, with a healthy dose of myths, black sand beaches with shipwrecks, futuristic churches, beautiful atmospheric fishing villages, amazing hotels out in the middle of nowhere, killer whales, volcanic expeditions, packs of Icelandic ponies.....stunning.
Gullfoss (waterfall) is incredible too. http://www.lumixlifestyle.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/gallery/AdamTrevor/Gulfoss02.jpg
Obv Alfons can give a better overview, but I'd imagine that March/April or September are arguably the best times to visit, not overly cold and most places are accessible, but with scenic amounts of snow. No puffins though, they seem to be on their holidays to Africa except in the summer.
PS I second Portugal - one of my favourite European countries
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had a walk about Brixton on Saturday, had some Trini Jerk Chicken and Curry Goat Rotti, stopped by the little stand which specializes in Congolese Rumba, went to that used book shop, walked about the markets and soaked in the flavors... mentally compared it to mono-culture monotonous flavorless and boring Deutschland, and made me want to move to London.
i'm curious about the "rotten shark soup"... can you enlighten?
Alfons
Way of the future
Yeah, Reykjavik can be nice, I just feel that the music/nightlife here has been hyped a bit too much (maybe its only icelanders ourselves who bought into the hype though), generally we suffer for a small population imo. The scenery and landscape, however, I think is really great and unique, worth visiting for.
Its not soup, and not really rotten, but has been fermented in a special way http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hákarl
I'm not really a fan, but it is part of a tradition, eating Þorramatur (Thorrafood) on the Þorri (old icelandic name for the first month of the year) can be good fun: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Þorramatur - just have lots of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brennivín
Alfons
Way of the future
On another note, I'm not really well travelled, been around Europe a bit. A lot of people my age here are taking world or continent tours (South America or South East Asia), 6-8 weeks or up to 3-4 months.
I feel conflicted about this sort of thing as I think you'd only get to touch the very surface of place if you stop there for 3-4 days. The flipside off course is that you want to see a lot as you might not make it back to this part of the world in the rest of your life. And even if you stay in a single place for 3-4 weeks, do you really get to know it?
I feel conflicted about this sort of thing as I think you'd only get to touch the very surface of place if you stop there for 3-4 days. The flipside off course is that you want to see a lot as you might not make it back to this part of the world in the rest of your life. And even if you stay in a single place for 3-4 weeks, do you really get to know it?
Corpsey
bandz ahoy
Iceland definitely interests me. I'm also interested in Costa Rica, where my cousin has ended up living and which I read today has the happiest inhabitants on earth according to some survey.
I'd love to go around Europe too, and South America of course. Oh for a big wad of cash to land in my lap!
I'd love to go around Europe too, and South America of course. Oh for a big wad of cash to land in my lap!
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
About to book a trip to Morocco for easter, taking the ferry from spain to Tangiers. I'll have about 5 days and am hoping to visit Fez and Chefchaouen in that time. Any info/tips/recommendations would be welcome.
Chefchaouen looks so beautiful!
Chefchaouen looks so beautiful!
Alfons
Way of the future
Yeah, people do like their liquor.
Yeah, lifrapylsa is great, liver sausage is right, its related to haggis iirc.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
Has anyone been to Palermo?
sufi
lala
yeh
long time back
i remember eating barbecue gizzards in a harbour and getting rescued from a massive traffic jam by a guy in a tiny bubble car
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
sounds excellent - am looking forward to going. Apparently calf spleen sandwiches are a speciality. Hmm.
interesting.. what/where is good in Portugal? never been.
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
I'm going Lisboa tomorrow, I'll report back. Never heard anyone say a bad word about Portugal.
baboon2004
Darned cockwombles.
@Phaedo - Northern Portugal is really beautiful - the countryside around where i was staying reminded me of Greece without the tourists. Lisbon and Porto are both fantastic too, and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bom_Jesus_do_Monte this sanctuary near Braga is incredible, wipes the floor with many better-known sites.
Portugal's also quite culturally integrated, from my experience, at least more so than many European countries. People are generally friendly, it's just a nice vibe.
The food is a bit jekyll and hyde - on the one hand, some of the best food i've ever had (best grapes, olive oil i've ever had, and the presunto/cured pork is astoundingly good), and on the other, some terrible meals in Lisbon.
@Benny - you may well not have time, but on Avenida Almirante Reis is (or at least was, when I was there in 2009) a magical Japanese restaurant where, for 15 euros, you can get as much sashimi/yakitori/gyoza/tonkatsu etc etc as you can eat. Most importantly, sashimi - I think I had around 25 pieces per night. Plus they gave us Xmas presents (we were there over Xmas, it wasn't that surreal).
Portugal's also quite culturally integrated, from my experience, at least more so than many European countries. People are generally friendly, it's just a nice vibe.
The food is a bit jekyll and hyde - on the one hand, some of the best food i've ever had (best grapes, olive oil i've ever had, and the presunto/cured pork is astoundingly good), and on the other, some terrible meals in Lisbon.
@Benny - you may well not have time, but on Avenida Almirante Reis is (or at least was, when I was there in 2009) a magical Japanese restaurant where, for 15 euros, you can get as much sashimi/yakitori/gyoza/tonkatsu etc etc as you can eat. Most importantly, sashimi - I think I had around 25 pieces per night. Plus they gave us Xmas presents (we were there over Xmas, it wasn't that surreal).
Ransbeeck
Well-known member
Portugal's great.
I liked Porto even better than Lisbon. The area around the Douro river is very nice. The weather's more unpredictable in the North though. Avoid the big cities in the Algarve.
When I was there the last time about 5 years ago it was also rather cheap. Especially food and drinks. Is it still the same?
I liked Porto even better than Lisbon. The area around the Douro river is very nice. The weather's more unpredictable in the North though. Avoid the big cities in the Algarve.
When I was there the last time about 5 years ago it was also rather cheap. Especially food and drinks. Is it still the same?
Benny Bunter
Well-known member
Cheers, i will actually make time for something like that. It seems almost impossible to get decent asian food in Spain, something I miss a lot about England.
Any other Lisbon recs before I leave tonight?