Based on this last weekend's BBQ (which my god I am still recovering from), Dr. Mrs. & I are now going to spend a week in Portugal in October. We are very excited because we are going with our Brazilian friends who are of course fluent.
Based on this last weekend's BBQ (which my god I am still recovering from), Dr. Mrs. & I are now going to spend a week in Portugal in October. We are very excited because we are going with our Brazilian friends who are of course fluent.
I'm envious.
I have a friend whose son is pretty high up in Delta's management structure, which means (for reasons still unclear to me) that his father (my friend) gets to fly anywhere in the world, anytime he wants, for free. Needless to say that perk has been abused and my friend has been pretty much everywhere Delta flies. He says Portugal is his favorite place of all.
That community is already in the process of dissolution where each man begins to eye his neighbor as a possible enemy, where non-conformity with the accepted creed, political as well as religious, is a mark of disaffection; where denunciation, without specification or backing, takes the place of evidence; where orthodoxy chokes freedom of dissent; where faith in the eventual supremacy of reason has become so timid that we dare not enter our convictions in the open lists, to win or lose.
I have a friend whose son is pretty high up in Delta's management structure, which means (for reasons still unclear to me) that his father (my friend) gets to fly anywhere in the world, anytime he wants, for free. Needless to say that perk has been abused and my friend has been pretty much everywhere Delta flies. He says Portugal is his favorite place of all.
Oddly enough our Brazilian friends have only rarely been. I didn't know this but apparently for Brazilians, at least of their class, Portugal is regarded as ghetto. The parent-colony relationship is completely reversed.
Like the US and UK but imagine we thought of the UK as just Wales.
Oddly enough our Brazilian friends have only rarely been. I didn't know this but apparently for Brazilians, at least of their class, Portugal is regarded as ghetto. The parent-colony relationship is completely reversed.
They also think their dialect of Portuguese is superior, and that people from the old country who speak with a harder-to-understand continental accent are overly pedantic and unevolved. It's the exact opposite of the relationship between Quebec and France, where sometimes I think Parisiens might actually despise Quebecois visitors and expats more than Americans. Then again, they also look down on Francophonic Belgians and really anyone who wasn't born in Paris, so...
Going to be there for a few hours next weekend ahead of a black-tie, ahem, "customer" event. What should I see within walking/uber distance of downtown?
If you don't change the world today, how can it be any better tomorrow?
Going to be there for a few hours next weekend ahead of a black-tie, ahem, "customer" event. What should I see within walking/uber distance of downtown?
Axe Throwing won best nightlife in Omaha for 2022. So...
Going to be there for a few hours next weekend ahead of a black-tie, ahem, "customer" event. What should I see within walking/uber distance of downtown?
Only a few hours? Old Market area has restaurants, bars, and kitchy shops. The walk along the riverfront to the pedestrian bridge over the Missouri River is nice when the weather's good. If you've got time to kill during the day, the Western Heritage Museum is worthwhile. All that is within walking distance of one another downtown.
If you've got a whole day to kill, the zoo is a must. Could spend multiple days there to see everything if you wanted. Weather doesn't matter a whole lot because half the major exhibits are indoors. Quick Uber from downtown. The botanical gardens are right by there too, if that's more your thing.
Beyond that, it'd depend on your interests. Plenty of good golf courses, casinos, there's a horse track, could try to catch a minor league game or concert depending on the schedule. But the Old Market and the zoo are far and away the 2 biggest tourist attractions.
On my own travel notes, finally planning a trip to make it across the pond for the first time. Wife and I are planning to hit up Berlin and Prague next fall. We're both gonna do the Berlin marathon (me on Rollerblades, her running) which will eat up a couple of days, but beyond that any must see or do items we should look for in/ around either city?
Both cities are great. I used to live in Berlin and I believe another poster is currently living there.
Holocaust memorial, reichstag, Tiergarten, potsdamer platz, east side gallery and checkpoint Charlie are typical stops. If you like history you can really see some cool stuff- mohrenstrasse subway stop has marble from hitlers bunker. There’s a playground now on the actual spot where he killed himself. I also enjoyed seeing Olympic stadium. The huge Russian war memorial is massive in treptower park and another cool thing for history buffs.
my favorite hoods are mostly east side- mitte, prenzlauerberg, friedrichshain, and kreuzberg
Berlin:
- When you get down to it, a lot of the history of Berlin has been destroyed, so in ways it's a very new city despite its age. It makes sense given some of the history, like during the period of the Wall, is not exactly a happy history. And you have to factor in how much of the population has now grown up after that.
- The Reishstag is a must-see. You will need to go a day or two ahead to pick up a ticket for a later entry time; you can't just walk up and wait in line and go in.
- A walk down the Unter den Linden also has a lot to see; I never went in the museums on Museum Island but I imagine they're pretty cool.
- Brandenberg Gate, Holocaust Memorial, etc., the usual spots.
- Not many restaurants have over-the-top German food. I guess that's more southern German than northern German anyways, and I guess the young people don't exactly want to spend their nights in the capital eating their grandparent's food.
Prague:
- Prague is just awesome. It's like a cross of the great architecture of Paris with the twist-and-turn streets of Venice.
- Make sure to see the Old Town Square and Castle Hill, they have most of the must-see spots.
- The Jewish quarter is also very interesting; some synagogues and a graveyard.
- Now here is a city where you can get your meat and potatoes and beer!
- The ***** who works at the bathroom in front of Tyne church will try to shortchange you. She will give you back and 50 cent Euro rather than a 50 koruna for change because they look alike. Don't fall for it!
Cornell '04, Stanford '06
KDR
RoverFrenchy, Classic! Great post. iwh30I wish I could be as smart as you. I really do you are the man gregg729I just saw your sig, you do love having people revel in your "intelligence." Ritt18you are the perfect representation of your alma mater. Miss ThundercatThat's it, you win. TBA#2I want to kill you and dance in your blood. DisplacedCornellianHahaha. Thread over. Frenchy wins.
Museums on museuminsel are good. Pergamom, Neues, etc.
it is a city of constant rebuild but there is still a lot of history there. I was fortunate enough to have an expert at the Uni I was at share a lot of off the beaten path pieces with our class
I liked the Deutsches Museum there. German history of pretty much every era, including the bicorn Napoleon left behind when he fled Waterloo. Kept by the Prussians as a war prize. Also a Trabbant sedan (the East German sh*tbox car).
Stasi Museum was very good if you have an interest in Cold War surveillance and/or the macabre of authoritarian rule. Stay away from Checkpoint Charlie, it's cheesy as ****. Go to the East Side Gallery and/or Gedenkstatte Berliner Mauer park/memorials instead. At least half a day at the Tiergarten is a must.
Curry 61, in the area north of the museum island, had the best currywurst & fries I ate in Berlin. As others said, expect to eat other European foods rather than traditional German foods unless you go to one of the big Bavarian beer brand halls. Berlin is a melting pot and has a lot of good ethnic foods.
Most of the big name Berlin beer labels, like Schultheiss, are awful. Unless you stumble upon a microbrewery or go to one of the Bavarian brand halls, I wouldn't get excited about drinking beer there. Prague, I hear, is another story. Unfortunately I've yet to get there.
They also think their dialect of Portuguese is superior, and that people from the old country who speak with a harder-to-understand continental accent are overly pedantic and unevolved. It's the exact opposite of the relationship between Quebec and France, where sometimes I think Parisiens might actually despise Quebecois visitors and expats more than Americans. Then again, they also look down on Francophonic Belgians and really anyone who wasn't born in Paris, so...
The Parisien bourgeoise look down on everybody. Anybody without their dialect of the language is a barbarian. The hyperactive class anxiety which the American middle class was pillaried for in the 1950s is self-aware compared to Parisien keeping up appearances. You can have a mistress but god help you have the wrong style couch.
On my own travel notes, finally planning a trip to make it across the pond for the first time. Wife and I are planning to hit up Berlin and Prague next fall. We're both gonna do the Berlin marathon (me on Rollerblades, her running) which will eat up a couple of days, but beyond that any must see or do items we should look for in/ around either city?
Don’t most people run a marathon in a day? (Or a couple hours?)
a legend and an out of work bum look a lot alike, daddy.
Comment