From Rio to Amsterdam, or how to visit and experience the Northern Europe

[SilverGreen]

Hello!

Before I enter the merit of the matter with this topic, let me introduce myself (as I think it's relevant information to this topic). My name's Pablo Iacovazzo, and I'm a 33 year-old Brazilian MtG player. I'm an offshore technician working to Brazil's national oil company, Petrobras. I lived my almost entire life in Rio de Janeiro (the city, where my family still lives), although in the last couple of years I have been living in the Northern part of the Rio de Janeiro state. I have a lovely girlfriend, two dogs, and live a settled and confortable (yet not so abundant) life. I've been playing this game since it's debut in the Portuguese language, that happened with Ice Ages and Fourth Edition in the old, old year 1995, and can fortunately say that I'm an experienced, active and happy player, despite my not so brilliant ranking, and the owner of a huge Legacy collection. Magic is a large and important part of my life, as some of my closer and best friends and some of the nicer memories I got all came from this Magic experience. I owe MtG the fact that I could know places all around my country, and even beyond. I was one of those 2220+ players that attended to Madrid last year.


That said, I need a little help from you in order to plan my next Magic (extended) adventure. I'll play Amsterdam, target locked. Vacations are already scheduled, plane tickets are chosen (with the money to buy them already severed), and the passport is eager of another stamp. But I really hope this experience can be much, much bigger than a Grand Prix. It could be my big chance to know and experience some of the places I always considered amazing, beyond the Netherlands themselves. I would love to visit the Scandinavian countries, as I'm a big fan of their society, culture (with a big branch to their music!) and landscapes, and this seens to be THE time to do so.

First of all, I plan to travel (alone, initially) for about 5 weeks. My initial thoughs are to get to Amsterdam in middle September and stay in Europe until the first days of November, and use this time to travel across Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Denmark, Sweden and Iceland. I'm already saving money and will probably have a sum of approximately US$3500-4000 (with tickets already paid) to spend during this travel. I'm already doing some research about lodge, food and transport, but information from Internet seens to be unconfortably cold and insufficient. Here's where you come in. I would like to ask you, Sourcers, specially the Dutch and the Nordic ones, for every kind of indication, tip or advice you could provide me about every matter you consider pertinent to this kind of adventure. Things like prices, places, cool things to do, stuff to look for, stuff to avoid, climate, wearing, where to eat, where to sleep, where to play Magic, things to carry with me, etc, etc, etc. More than the resources to plan this incredible trip, I need the knowledge to actually do it, and to make it unforgettable.

Any kind of advice will be much, much appreciated, and I thank you in advance. Feel free to ask me any other information you may need or want, or to add me in Facebook (or even to say "hello" if you come to a trip to Rio). I'm counting on you to help me in this achievement. And see you in Amsterdam!

[Nidd]

I can't help you with the exact matter, but for the things you should definitely carry with you, I suggest a blank playmat which every Magic player you play against on your trip can sign. This would make for an awesome souvenir and a great thing to show off at tournaments in your homecountry ;)

[Shimi]

Silver Green , did have any problems with Netherlands Visa or Passaport? I would love to go play at Amsterdam but Chile is another(and budget) option.

PS: Great topic!

[SilverGreen]

Hey Shimi!

Netherlands is signatary of the Schengen Agreement, so travellers from Brazil and many other countries do not have to present a Visa to enter its territory when doing tourism for periods lesser than three months (although they still have the soverign prerogative of not let you get into their territory if they judge it pertinent, of course). The same is true to the countries of the Nordic Passport Union, that are also included in the Schengen Agreement.

The Passport is simple, cheap and relatively fast to get. You may request it by our Federal Bureau's website and schedule all the necessary procedures.

And Nidd, be sure the playmat will be there! ;)

[Penguinizer]

If you're looking to play in Finland when you're traveling through, there's a few places in Helsinki. There's Poromagia in Pasila that runs plenty of Legacy and highlander tournaments. They also run drafts.

As for places to visit, I'd recommend you head to the Finnish National Museum. There are also a lot of beautiful buildings scattered around the city.

[Nihil Credo]

Northern Europe is at its best either in the summer or, for ice lovers, in the depth of winter. September is still a good time (except perhaps for Iceland) but autumn not so much - lots of mud, wind, and rain - so I would try to do all the travelling before the GP, and fly back to Brazil immediately after the tournament.

Possible itinerary: Amsterdam (or whatever city you can first fly to) -> Lübeck -> Møn -> København -> fly to Bergen, see a fjord or two -> fly to Stockholm, from there you could take boat trips to Turku (recommended over Helsinki), Gotland, perhaps take a train to Kiruna and spend a couple days freezing off in Lapland, then fly back to Amsterdam for the GP. If you have the money and time to fly to Iceland (I wouldn't be too sure of it), you can do it at any point in the trip, but you should do it as early as possible to help with the weather. St. Petersburg would be awesome, unfortunately getting a visa to Putinland is a pain in the ass.

MtG in the Scandinavian realms is covered by three sister sites: SvenskaMagic, DanskMagic and NorskeMagic. They're in the local languages, but all you need to know is that "Turnering[a/e]r" in the sideboard takes you to the list of upcoming tournaments.

General tip: Wikitravel beats the shit out of LonelyPlanet. Read and print everything they have.

[jandax]

Amsterdam is a great city, once one gets away from the touristy center. If you like museums, you're in the right place. Den Haag also offers some world class art museums. But just remember, there's a whole country outside of Amsterdam. Many many cool points go to the traveler who sees the country outside the capitol.

I am an American expatriot living in Holland, have traveled around most all of western Europe, and there is just too much to see and do. If you are giving yourself a budget and time frame of more than a month, I'd say start with dreaming the things you'd personally like to do. If you want to see all the world famous archetechture like the Eifrel Tower or the Segrada Familia or the Coluseum, do it, man. Knock that out of the way, then you can be more open to something less guide-book. You'll inevitably meet people on your travels, and if you itenerary begins here at GP Amsterdam, seems like you're set for the following reasons:

Legacy players love them some company. If you're outgoing enough, you can make some friends on site and either have a place to crash or at least some folks to hang out with in town. Gaining these contacts will undoubtably turn you on to some travel ideas, as well.

You're already in the city, so it'd be easy to knock out the site seeing touristy stuff in a day (very possible, believe me), then you could take the time to experience things off the beaten path, talk with your new friends at the GP who know where to go to do what.

Tons of other travelers are coming to the GP, again, another networking opportunity.

All in all I'm fairly certain you're able to get way more from a trip like this than you'd put into it.

Also, the blank play mat idea is absolutely kick ass. Gotta scroll up real quick to give props......Props to Nidd!

[pippo84]

I'm sure you'll have a great trip!

Just bring some Acai and some Coconut water for me! :laugh:

Anyways since in Europe I would suggest to visit Paris, it's awsome!

[kiblast]

Amsterdam and Netherlands in general in my opinion is the most beautiful place in Europe. Everybody speaks english fluently, people is gentle and tolerant. The cities and the outside landscapes are beautiful-I have been 3 days (so little time..) there when I was 18, and the Capital just amazed me. Try to pass some days in Delft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delft#Recreation) (Zuid-Holland), and in Amsterdam I loved to get lost in Vondelpark. Also, as Jandax said, try to visit as much outside-capital places possible, because Netherlands is not only Amsterdam, but also Flevoland (http://www.ookflevoland.nl/en/), Zuid Holland (http://www.holland.com/uk/discoverholland/regions/typical-holland/zuid-holland.jsp) and Noord-Holland ( Waterland (http://www.vvv-waterland.nl/welcome.asp?lang=0) etc...)
Also, if you plan to reach Italy during your trip,after being 2 weeks in Northern Europe, try to have a weekend in Rome, so you can easily delete Italy from all your european future trips. Seriously, Rome is a fucking hell.

[pippo84]

Amsterdam and Netherlands in general in my opinion is the most beautiful place in Europe. Everybody speaks english fluently, people is gentle and tolerant. The cities and the outside landscapes are beautiful-I have been 3 days (so little time..) there when I was 18, and the Capital just amazed me. Try to pass some days in Delft (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delft#Recreation) (Zuid-Holland), and in Amsterdam I loved to get lost in Vondelpark. Also, as Jandax said, try to visit as much outside-capital places possible, because Netherlands is not only Amsterdam, but also Flevoland (http://www.ookflevoland.nl/en/), Zuid Holland (http://www.holland.com/uk/discoverholland/regions/typical-holland/zuid-holland.jsp) and Noord-Holland ( Waterland (http://www.vvv-waterland.nl/welcome.asp?lang=0) etc...)
Also, if you plan to reach Italy during your trip,after being 2 weeks in Northern Europe, try to have a weekend in Rome, so you can easily delete Italy from all your european future trips. Seriously, Rome is a fucking hell.

What's wrong with Rome? I've been there plenty of times and always enjoyed it!

[kiblast]

What's wrong with Rome? I've been there plenty of times and always enjoyed it!

You enjoy it if you go there as a tourist, but if you live there you can't enjoy it...my girlfriend lives there so basically 3-4 days a week I live and sleep in Rome, I hate it. Living there is so tiring, people is not tolerant and the city is a mess.
And Alemanno ( currently Rome's Mayor) is a dickhead.

[arebennian]

Having travelled through Europe, I would have to recommend against going through Scandinavia. The $ will just kill your budget. Although, seeing as your from Brazil and it's your dream, just realise that you will be spending approx. 50-100% more for certain essentials in Scandinavia (particularly Norway).

Autumn would have to be the ideal time to go. The colours are amazing. Also, while I generally despise organised tours, you should checkout the Norwayinanutshell website, even if it is just for the itinerary. You can organise a time for yourself to go, are not tied to a group, and the landscape really is breathtaking.

Good Luck!

[SilverGreen]

Yeah, I'm not looking for that usual tourist behavior in fact. I have no intentions of limit myself to the common places to visit and common things to do, to take a tourist's picture and buy a tourist's souvenir. My ideal of travelling the World is to experience it. Meet local people, go where they go, do what they do (well... the majority of what they do at least :P ). I see no purpose in knowing an entire new and different culture for me and do not let it become a true part of my personal history. My intent is to know not only the capitals and greater cities, but as much places as I can get in the way from Amsterdam to Iceland to Amsterdam.

I'm planning to travel rigth to Amsterdam someday around September 18-19, go visit Iceland as soon as I can (before the weather becomes too cold for my cold-loving-but-tropical-born ass tolerate), then start a circuit in the way back to Netherlands. So, play the GP and come back to Rio in time to not let my bosses wondering if I died frozen in Europe or not.

This time I'm just planning to visit this northern region, due to logistical/monetary issues, but FOR SURE I intend to visit the other European countries in my next trips. Countries like France, Italy, Germany and the UK are even easier to Brazilians to visit (there are much more airlines from Brazil to these countries than to Scandinavia, besides the fact they're traditional tourism destinies), but they are more expensive to cover this way I'm planning. Perhaps I can visit one or two of them in the 2012's or 2013's European GP.

This monetary issue is what worries me the most. I'm not sure if the cash I'll have will be enough for all the period I want to stay in Europe. I don't want to blow up my credit cards' limits and be in debt during an entire year. To wander across the region I'm planning to buy some of those EuroRail tickets, that seems to be the cheaper way available. I still need to find cheap lodge, perhaps I can find some hostels with good prices. In either way, the Nordic countries seem to offer much lower living costs than those in the central Europe. Do you think I can do well with something around US$3500 during 5 weeks in these places?

And how about the weather? How cold use these places be during that period of the year?

[jandax]

Oh yeah, maybe it's already in your kit but bring ear plugs and at least one packet of baby wipes. Your quality of life will increase significantly whilst on the road with these two items.

[godryk]

Seriously, Rome is a fucking hell.

I'm an architect, so I fap all over any of your damn stones and get my nipples hard just by visiting 20 churches a day.
/offtopic

Going back to Scandinavia. Me and some friends are trying to set some sort of short trip for the Easter holidays, you know, just checking where low-cost airlines can take us from our city, and Stockholm and Oslo are two possible options. Are these places worth visiting for 3-4 days on a budget? We love London but it's already checked, and Amsterdam is not an option as we're planning to go there on September for the big nerd gathering.

[Nihil Credo]

Stockholm and Copenhagen are beautiful. Oslo and Helsinki are meh.

[keys]

Stockholm is the prettiest Scandinavian city, but I'd say Oslo and Copenhagen are tied for 2nd. Oslo has a more old-town/rural feel, while Copenhagen has more modern city feel. Both are beautiful.

[lorddotm]

I HIGHLY recommend Stockholm. Easily my favorite city in the world.

[bruizar]

Amsterdam:
*Every Monday, some people play legacy in 'De 2 Klaveren'. This is a place where some of the best players play their magic tournaments.

*Visit Haarlem (Haarlem was an important city during the Dutch Golden Age. There is an old wind mill that still works, and the city looks much more authentic than Amsterdam because its small and less touristy.

*Visit the musea in Amsterdam. The best you can do is get a Museum Year membership. You pay 40 euros and you get to walk into any museum for free for a year. This is cheaper than paying a ticket for every museum.
Some musea in Amsterdam include:
Rijks Museum
Van Gogh Museum
Stedelijk Museum
Allard Pierson Museum
Hermitage (Dutch chapter of the Russian Hermitage)
De nieuwe kerk
Rembrandthuis
Anne Frank Huis
Cobra Museum (An art movement named after Copenhagen, Brussel, Amsterdam)
Het Grachtenhuis
Royal Palace

*Do any sort of legalized drugs you want, without the fear of getting jailed :) I like this place: http://www.abraxas.tv/

*Visit the redlight district (Don't go in, you have a girlfriend :D )

*Go to some parties in Amsterdam, we are famous for electronic music, so we have some great DJ's. http://www.djguide.nl/maand.p

*Go to Volendam, a typical fishing village in Holland.

I've done a Eurotrip myself. I suggest you visit Berlin, London, Geneva and Rome. In the south of Germany there are a lot of castles, so if you want to see those, they are worth it as well. One of the more famous castles is Neuschwanstein, which is the castle that Walt Disney used for his logo. Switserland is very expensive. In Berlin there is a lot of stuff to see, but I also recommend going to one of the concentration camps, for example Auschwitz. It will leave a lasting effect on you. Prague in the Czech Republic is also a very beautiful city. Don't stay too long, but it's worth checking out. What I suggest is not to only visit big cities, but go to rural areas as well. Rural areas are often cheaper and they give you a much different impression of European life. What you will notice when you are here is the difference in architecture.

Also, it would be even more awesome if you could also go to Bazaar of Moxen in Annecy, France (Its a long way from Paris, its close to Spain / Switserland). You should check the schedule, and check the schedule of Eurovino as well. There recently was a big German eternal tournament as well. I'm pretty sure there will be some more tournaments you can attend while in Europe.

EDIT: Disclaimer, I covered some non Northern Europe parts because thats what I know. I haven't visited many other places in Northern Europe yet.

Edit 2:

You can buy the Museum Jaar Kaart here:
AMSTERDAM (NH)
» Allard Pierson Museum
» Amsterdams Museum
» Bijbels Museum
» De Nieuwe Kerk
» Joods Historisch Museum
» Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder
» Museum Het Rembrandthuis
» Museum Willet-Holthuysen
» science center NEMO
» Rijksmuseum

EDIT 3

I often look at this site to organize an excentric trips.
http://leukedingendoen.nl/buiten_stemming_4.aspx
It´s in dutch, use google translate. most of these things to do are expensive, but they are very unique and outside the ordinary.

Also, Perhaps you can visit Belgium. I personally really like Antwerp and Brugge. The Flemish people really know how to cook (A lot of people say that they are better chefs than the French). Antwerp is the capital of diamonds. Fries and chocolate in that country is the best you can get.

Some of the cities/villages in North-Holland that I personally like are Haarlem, Amsterdam, Broek-in-Waterland, Opperdoes, Volendam, Monnickendam, Muiden, Zandvoort aan Zee.

Also, you can visit the various fortresses of the ´Amsterdamse Waterlinie´, a series of Fortresses that were built to protect the land, but I think it became obsolete when they invented spy planes, since these fortresses were hidden, but were easily spotted from the air. The only one that is in the sea is ´Pampus´ and you can get there by boat from ´Muiden´. Muiden also has the Muiderslot, a nice castle.

If you need a cheap hostel, you could go to Flying Pig Amsterdam or search online for others..

We also have a lot of festivals during the festival season. http://www.festivalinfo.nl/festivals.php

These festivals are 2 or 3 day events where you can listen to live performances of a lot of great bands, both national and international.

The biggest Festivals are:
Awakenings
Lowlands
Pinkpop
Pukkelpop (belgium)
Mystery Land
North Sea Jazz Festival
Dancevalley
Defqon 1
uitmarkt
Zomercarnaval Rotterdam

Here are some other festivals
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lijst_van_Nederlandse_muziekfestivals

Also check this out, this is the most important party-holiday for the Dutch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koninginnedag

Not everything of what I posted falls during the period you'll be visiting, but you can look around and see what's available.

[Infinitium]

Having grown up in Stockholm, I can second it being the sightseeing target of choice if you're heading northwards. I'd stick with Nihil's advice of getting there as early as possible however as the swedish autumn really doesn't do it justice (granted if you actually manage to luck out and hit a sunny afternoon you're set; just don't count on it since the weather literally goes gray late september). Most of the central city is positively beautiful (exception being the blocks around the central station which where bulldozed during the 70's to make way for commercial blocks). Also there are plenty of museums and whatnot if you want to go civilized, the more spectacular ones being located on Djurgården (the Vasa (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vasa_%28ship%29) museum and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skansen in particular). Södermalm and the Old City are also good sightseeing targets as long as you stray off the central streets (they're tourist traps, and södermalm has a lot of good views of the water if you are prepared to search for them). Riddarholmen (easily accessible through the Old Town subway station) gives you a good view of the city hall and lake mälaren that's relatively free from tourists. If you have the time there's also daily cruises out to the archipelago outside stockholm if you're prepared to make a daytrip out of it.

Copenhagen is also well worth a visit; it's architecturally very different from Stockholm but beautiful still. Gotland in general (and Visby in particular) also makes an excellent target if you're into old stuff (and by september most of the tourist hordes should've moved on). Helsinki never did much for me (and the cruise from stockholm tends to be a whitetrash boozefest), and Norway whilst beautiful is literally twice as expensive as scandinavia in general so if you need to prioritize I'd probably cut those off first. If you still want to see Finland I could recommend Mariehamn on Åland instead.

EDIT: Oh, if you're looking for somewhat cheap and unusual lodging try the Af Chapman (http://www.svenskaturistforeningen.se/en/Discover-Sweden/Facilities-and-activities/Stockholm/Vandrarhem/STF-Hostel-af-Chapman--Skeppsholmen/). Not sure how early you have to make your reservation however.

[jandax]

Amsterdam:
*Every Monday, some people play legacy in 'De 2 Klaveren'. This is a place where some of the best players play their magic tournaments.

*Visit Haarlem (Haarlem was an important city during the Dutch Golden Age. There is an old wind mill that still works, and the city looks much more authentic than Amsterdam because its small and less touristy.

*Visit the musea in Amsterdam. The best you can do is get a Museum Year membership. You pay 40 euros and you get to walk into any museum for free for a year. This is cheaper than paying a ticket for every museum.
Some musea in Amsterdam include:
Rijks Museum
Van Gogh Museum
Stedelijk Museum
Allard Pierson Museum
Hermitage (Dutch chapter of the Russian Hermitage)
De nieuwe kerk
Rembrandthuis
Anne Frank Huis
Cobra Museum (An art movement named after Copenhagen, Brussel, Amsterdam)
Het Grachtenhuis
Royal Palace

*Do any sort of legalized drugs you want, without the fear of getting jailed :) I like this place: http://www.abraxas.tv/

*Visit the redlight district (Don't go in, you have a girlfriend :D )

*Go to some parties in Amsterdam, we are famous for electronic music, so we have some great DJ's. http://www.djguide.nl/maand.p

*Go to Volendam, a typical fishing village in Holland.

I've done a Eurotrip myself. I suggest you visit Berlin, London, Geneva and Rome. In the south of Germany there are a lot of castles, so if you want to see those, they are worth it as well. One of the more famous castles is Neuschwanstein, which is the castle that Walt Disney used for his logo. Switserland is very expensive. In Berlin there is a lot of stuff to see, but I also recommend going to one of the concentration camps, for example Auschwitz. It will leave a lasting effect on you. Prague in the Czech Republic is also a very beautiful city. Don't stay too long, but it's worth checking out. What I suggest is not to only visit big cities, but go to rural areas as well. Rural areas are often cheaper and they give you a much different impression of European life. What you will notice when you are here is the difference in architecture.

Also, it would be even more awesome if you could also go to Bazaar of Moxen in Annecy, France (Its a long way from Paris, its close to Spain / Switserland). You should check the schedule, and check the schedule of Eurovino as well. There recently was a big German eternal tournament as well. I'm pretty sure there will be some more tournaments you can attend while in Europe.

EDIT: Disclaimer, I covered some non Northern Europe parts because thats what I know. I haven't visited many other places in Northern Europe yet.

Edit 2:

You can buy the Museum Jaar Kaart here:
AMSTERDAM (NH)
» Allard Pierson Museum
» Amsterdams Museum
» Bijbels Museum
» De Nieuwe Kerk
» Joods Historisch Museum
» Ons' Lieve Heer op Solder
» Museum Het Rembrandthuis
» Museum Willet-Holthuysen
» science center NEMO
» Rijksmuseum

EDIT 3

I often look at this site to organize an excentric trips.
http://leukedingendoen.nl/buiten_stemming_4.aspx
It´s in dutch, use google translate. most of these things to do are expensive, but they are very unique and outside the ordinary.

Also, Perhaps you can visit Belgium. I personally really like Antwerp and Brugge. The Flemish people really know how to cook (A lot of people say that they are better chefs than the French). Antwerp is the capital of diamonds. Fries and chocolate in that country is the best you can get.

Some of the cities/villages in North-Holland that I personally like are Haarlem, Amsterdam, Broek-in-Waterland, Opperdoes, Volendam, Monnickendam, Muiden, Zandvoort aan Zee.

Also, you can visit the various fortresses of the ´Amsterdamse Waterlinie´, a series of Fortresses that were built to protect the land, but I think it became obsolete when they invented spy planes, since these fortresses were hidden, but were easily spotted from the air. The only one that is in the sea is ´Pampus´ and you can get there by boat from ´Muiden´. Muiden also has the Muiderslot, a nice castle.

If you need a cheap hostel, you could go to Flying Pig Amsterdam or search online for others..

We also have a lot of festivals during the festival season. http://www.festivalinfo.nl/festivals.php

These festivals are 2 or 3 day events where you can listen to live performances of a lot of great bands, both national and international.

The biggest Festivals are:
Awakenings
Lowlands
Pinkpop
Pukkelpop (belgium)
Mystery Land
North Sea Jazz Festival
Dancevalley
Defqon 1
uitmarkt
Zomercarnaval Rotterdam

Here are some other festivals
http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lijst_van_Nederlandse_muziekfestivals

Also check this out, this is the most important party-holiday for the Dutch
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Koninginnedag

Not everything of what I posted falls during the period you'll be visiting, but you can look around and see what's available.

This is now a wikifact

Trust it, it's good info

[SilverGreen]

Thank you a lot, dudes. I'm already making a draft of an itinerary, and many of the info you provided are incredible and have been much useful to me. Bruizar, a BIG thank you for the tips, but I'll pass on the legalized fun and the Redlight ladies' matters :wink:. As well as make my mon and girlfriend happier, I plan to save some money in order to wander a little more (and eat and drink and sleep a little more!).

As we're already in the topic, let me abuse your kindliness a little more. Of course I plan to visit the major museums and cultural centers, but my greater goal is to know mainly the places where local people go mostly (places like parks, movie theaters, stages, malls, pubs, nightclubs) and natural/historical/cultural attractions (I'm eager to see windmills and dikes, the fjörds, the old Viking fortresses, the tundras, the geysers and the turf houses, and even the Boreal Aurora if I get lucky). I'm also very excited for being able to watch in loco to some live shows of any of my favorite rock bands, like Nightwish, Delain, Within Temptation, The Gathering, After Forever, Tarot, Epica, The Hives... So I ask you (again): which are the cities where the atractions are more usual and numerous? Use the price ranges of those attractions to be accesible or prohibitive? Is there any good houses and attractions you consider mandatory, any one you would like to recommend?

Another point I consider very, very important when travelling outside: know and respect your destiny's habits and behaviors, and always try to manage in a careful way your cultural differences. I would like to hear (read, in this case) and learn from you about my conduct in your places: specific things you, as a group, consider specially polite or rude, things I can do freely and things I should avoid to do/say/go/whatever. For example, people use to say that Latin people are more expansive and talkative (the former being true in my case, the later not so much), and that the Nordic people in general use to be more serious and introspective. Are those statements true in the greater part? I had a little contact with some Dutch and Finnish people in the past, and they always seemed like a very, very cheer and friendly people to me. Will I be a fraking idiot if I start talking to a stranger in a public place? :tongue:

[Nihil Credo]

As we're already in the topic, let me abuse your kindliness a little more. Of course I plan to visit the major museums and cultural centers, but my greater goal is to know mainly the places where local people go mostly (places like parks, movie theaters, stages, malls, pubs, nightclubs)
Well, that won't be a problem and won't take long. A movie theater in Sweden, for example, isn't going to be very different from anywhere else - the cultural differences will be the snacks served and the use of subtitles instead of dubbing/narration, and that's about it. The parks won't be too awesome in the autumn (no Scandinavian girls sunbathing in skimpy bikinis :) ), but you'll find them in any map. And if you just walk around the city centres it will be hard to miss the shopping malls, some of which are really cool and worth visiting on their own.

As for entertainment, that's a different matter. The most "Stockholmer" experience would probably be putting on your most trendy and expensive clothes and go get your wallet drained in the Stureplan clubs :) Personally I'm more partial to the rock pubs - I recommend Harry B. James' and Kelly's. I don't know if I'll still be in Sweden in the autumn, but if I do you can come over for a day in Uppsala and I'll show you around; if you're a student in your country you can also get a guest card to enter the student nations.


and natural/historical/cultural attractions (I'm eager to see windmills and dikes, the fjörds, the old Viking fortresses, the tundras, the geysers and the turf houses, and even the Boreal Aurora if I get lucky)Fjords (without the ö/ø) mean Norway, and the main concern there will be saving money (when I went to see them, I brought a tent, packed food for the whole trip, and bought my booze at the duty-free). As I said, just go to Bergen and then you'll be drowned with boat trip options.

Viking fortresses - not many left of those, compared to e.g. the French castles in the Loire valley from the same period, but you'll find a few mostly in Denmark and southern Sweden; they're frankly not that impressive (https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/sv/wiki/Glimmingehus), compared to, say, the Nordic churches, many of which are absolutely mind-blowing. If they lie near your path that's good, but I wouldn't plan a trip just for them.

Geysers and turf houses are an Icelandic thing mainly. Don't know much more about it.

For the tundra and the Northern Lights you'll want to book a trip to Lapland. If you spend some time in Stockholm - as you should - you will probably have the chance to catch an organised trip, there's a ton of those.


I'm also very excited for being able to watch in loco to some live shows of any of my favorite rock bands, like Nightwish, Delain, Within Temptation, The Gathering, After Forever, Tarot, Epica, The Hives...Last.FM (http://www.last.fm) will cover that for you. I know WT will be on a European tour this autumn, so it will be hard to miss them at least.


I would like to hear (read, in this case) and learn from you about my conduct in your places: specific things you, as a group, consider specially polite or rude, things I can do freely and things I should avoid to do/say/go/whatever. For example, people use to say that Latin people are more expansive and talkative (the former being true in my case, the later not so much), and that the Nordic people in general use to be more serious and introspective. Are those statements true in the greater part? I had a little contact with some Dutch and Finnish people in the past, and they always seemed like a very, very cheer and friendly people to me. Will I be a fraking idiot if I start talking to a stranger in a public place? :tongue:The only two things you really need to pay attention to are: (1) don't talk any louder than is necessary for your interlocutor to hear (it's very, very easy for Latin people to unconsciously raise their volume as the conversation livens up); (2) unless you're flirting, keep a distance of at least one meter when talking. Beyond that I don't really think you're going to cause much offence - if someone isn't interested in talking with you, it will be very obvious (answering with monosyllabs, not looking at you in the eyes, etc.). But if you approach people in an environment where they aren't busy with stuff to do - e.g. at the park or in a bar - they will be friendly more often than not.

Oh, and I hear that's more of a Portuguese thing, but in case you picked it up from your old masters - farting after meals does NOT work as a compliment to the chef.

[SilverGreen]

Hahaha! Really, we use to talk loud and very close to the interlocutor, surely an inheritage of our Iberian ancestry. I'm not the kind of loud speaker, although I really like to keep people close to me during a talk, touch and gesticulate. It's typical to my Brazilian/Italian blood, but it'll be under proper control. :cool:

And in fact, the Arabs consider farting at table a commend, but don't know about the Portuguese. Perhaps it's kind of a Moor trace... But for sure it isn't a Brazilian one! :laugh:

Nihil, could you tell me more stuff about Stockholm? Your dweller's impressions of it, I mean. More than one people here seems to love the city, and I'm becoming very interested in it.




no Scandinavian girls sunbathing in skimpy bikinisOh crap. Although I'm kind of used to see tempting skimpy bikinis, they're really never too much. It would just be nice look at some of them covering a different flavored filling...

[jandax]

If the GP is held in the same location as the PT last fall, then the windmill in the background of the WotC Champ+Trophy shot featuring Paul Rietzl has a pub open 3pm to 8pm. It's a short walk from the site along the tram/bus route back to central station, and the beer is delicious. October can still host nice weather, be prepared to enjoy it

[Muradin]

No matter what you do, go to Munich somewhere in between September 17 - October 3 and visit the Octoberfest.