[i am yujin]

This will be my first time going to Europe. It's only a short visit of 10 days too.

First I will be visting Oxford and then some place called the Hague or something, not sure. I'm giong with my dad.

What should I bring? Should I bring my Powerbook? Don't you need a converter if I were to bring it? That would be a bitch to bring.

What kinda fun stuff is there to do?

[mdc]

i would definitely take your powerbook. you can find wireless hotspots at places like starbucks, which are everywhere. you do not need a power converter. your powerbook charger does that itself, all you will need is a plug adaptor. you can get the worldwide travel adaptor from apple, which has little plugs for power bricks for most countries around the world.

other than that, i'd take a digital camera, if you have one, and have a good time.

enjoy yourself

[i am yujin]

What's the drinking age and how old do you have to be to use a hash bar?

[jld]

18 for drinking in the UK and smoking hash in the Netherlands, although enforcement of these ages may or may not be consistant.

I'm not sure about the drinking age in the Netherlands though.

[Peter]

your sig is annoying

[jld]

mine?

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Peter:
your sig is annoying

Talking to yourself again ?

-t

[ASIMO]

Take a big chip on your shoulder and decry the anti-Americanism so rampant in that neck of the world.

Other than that, take good photos and share your trip. Have fun. I dig Europe.

[Timo]

Forget your powerbook. Spend your time in Europe in Europe, and not online.

[scottiB]

Unless he needs to offload pixs from a digital camera.

http://www.thehague.nl/

[Freeflyer]

I don't know how long you're in the Hague for, but if you're there on a Sunday morning and the weather is nice, go along to the Plein, which is a treelined square in the center, on one side there are bars and restaurants. I recommend Plein IX (number nineteen, sit at a table outside and have breakfast (I recommend the scrambled eggs with smoked salmon) and have a witbier (white beer, slightly cloudy because of the wheat residue from the fermentation). Watch the world go by for an hour.

Scheveningen, the seaside town, is a short tram ride away, and makes for a very pleasant stroll along the beach.

If you're looking for good restaurants, there are loads. My favourite is 'Les Ombrelles', which is at the bottom end of the Denerweg, a road that is full of restaurants. Les Ombrelles is the best seafood restaurant I've ever been to, the kitchen holds maybe 4 people, and is open to the sitting area. Tom, the owner/chef, is a wonderful chap who produces fabulous food. Well recommended.

Watch out for the trams when you cross the road, they don't stop for you. Watch out for cyclists too, they have right of way (I used to love that on my way to work, the cars all stop and wait for you to go through junctions).

If you go to Amsterdam to visit the coffee shops, then I can recommend the Grasshopper, near central station. Basement is the coffee shop, ground floor the bar, second floor the restaurant. Nice setup. Once you're giggling to yourself, there is a children's science museum nearby, just up from central station. You can go round all the cool exhibits which are mostly hands on. Play with big bubble machines, shoot balls round mazes etc etc. Great fun when stoned.

Trains run all night back from Amsterdam to the Hague (platform 7 if I remember). During the day they run every 30 mins, after about 3am its every hour. Don't go to sleep, or you'll wake up in Delft or Rotterdam. I only did this once.

Anything else you might want to know, just ask. I lived in the Hague for 3 years and thoroughly enjoyed it.

J.

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by ASIMO:
decry the anti-Americanism so rampant in that neck of the world.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by ASIMO:
Take a big chip on your shoulder and decry the anti-Americanism so rampant in that neck of the world.

Heh.

Watch Zimphire miss the point.

Yeah, we love the more jingoistic types here, the kind that yells a lot at people for not being American.

-s*

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Heh.

Watch Zimphire miss the point.

Oh I got the sarcasm. I edit it and added my own spin.

[Spheric Harlot]

Yeah, I know.

You say that every time.

[Zimphire]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Yeah, I know.

You say that every time.

*




*Thanks Mindfad.

[SamuraiDL]

your dads cool with you going to a hash bar?

[ASIMO]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Heh.

Watch Zimphire miss the point.

Yeah, we love the more jingoistic types here, the kind that yells a lot at people for not being American.

-s*

You misunderestimate our dear zimph; he is a bit smarter than that, and getting better with age. Accordingly, he is an acquired taste.

I can hardly wait to return to old Europe this September to enthrall myself among the haters-without-a-cause for a couple of weeks with my American passport stapled to my forehead. 'Cos, you know, you guys loathe us and stuff, and I just love to fuel the flame of bigotry. So much so that I am seriously considering sojourning in Paris or Hamburg next year. Take that, old Europe!

[Spliffdaddy]

Take me with you.

We'll order a Budweiser everytime we sit down.

Then get all pissy when they don't have it.

[i am yujin]

Originally posted by Timo:
Forget your powerbook. Spend your time in Europe in Europe, and not online.

Yeah, I will but I just want to use it to check online and use forums about what to see, where to go, etc.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
Take me with you.

We'll order a Budweiser everytime we sit down.

Then get all pissy when they don't have it.

I'd love to see the look on your face when you get served the *real* Budweiser, which is readily available in a lot of places here.


0.3L of Czech goodness.

-s*

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by Spliffdaddy:
Take me with you.

We'll order a Budweiser everytime we sit down.

Then get all pissy when they don't have it.

At least as of the mid 1990s, I saw US Budweiser freely available in the UK, in Germany, in Paris, and in Brussels. It was the locals buying it -- especially the younger set. I have no idea why that would be. The stuff is to beer what Wonder Bread is to bread, processed American cheese is to cheese, and a Camaro is to a sports car.

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by jld:
I'm not sure about the drinking age in the Netherlands though.

If you can see over the bar, you are legal.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
At least as of the mid 1990s, I saw US Budweiser freely available in the UK, in Germany, in Paris, and in Brussels. It was the locals buying it -- especially the younger set.

That's odd.

I've lived in Hamburg since 1993, and I've *never* seen a bar, cafe, or restaurant offer the US piss.

A lot of younger (i.e. under thirty) locals were drinking Czech Budweiser here in the 90s, though. It was kind of fashionable for a while, I think. That's subsided, though.

-s*

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
If you can see over the bar, you are legal.

Meaning, 16 for beer (and wine, I think), 18 for hard liquor - UNLESS accompanied by a guardian.

[Angus_D]

I love it how Americans say "Europe" like it's a single place. It's sad that you have no idea where you're going.

Anyway, as far as drinking goes here in the UK it's officially 18 but you probably won't have trouble getting served (esp. if you're going to be with an adult) or you can purchase a drink of beer or wine with a meal at a licensed pub from the age of 16.

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
That's odd.

I've lived in Hamburg since 1993, and I've *never* seen a bar, cafe, or restaurant offer the US piss.

A lot of younger (i.e. under thirty) locals were drinking Czech Budweiser here in the 90s, though. It was kind of fashionable for a while, I think. That's subsided, though.

-s*

I can only say what I saw. I can't speak for the whole continent. I also saw Rolling Rock in Paris. That's a bit better than buttwiper, but why? WHY?

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
I can only say what I saw. I can't speak for the whole continent. I also saw Rolling Rock in Paris. That's a bit better than buttwiper, but why? WHY?

Tourists.

(might be like how you can buy Foster's in Australia, but none of the natives would ever touch the stuff)

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Tourists.

(might be like how you can buy Foster's in Australia, but none of the natives would ever touch the stuff)

No I don't think that was it. I saw locals drinking it. I even asked about it. Apparently, it was "trendy" -- at least at the time.

[Spheric Harlot]

[turtle777]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
At least as of the mid 1990s, I saw US Budweiser freely available in the UK, in Germany, in Paris, and in Brussels. It was the locals buying it -- especially the younger set. I have no idea why that would be. The stuff is to beer what Wonder Bread is to bread, processed American cheese is to cheese, and a Camaro is to a sports car.

I don't think so.

In many countries in Europe, they are not even allowed to call it Budweiser, because the Czech brewery has the rights to the name.

http://www.virtourist.com/europe/budejovice/36.htm

-t

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by turtle777:
I don't think so.

In many countries in Europe, they are not even allowed to call it Budweiser, because the Czech brewery has the rights to the name.

http://www.virtourist.com/europe/budejovice/36.htm

-t

Oh, I'm sorry. Of course I was hallucinating.

Idiot.

You have the rights dispute backwards. Anhauser Busch tried to prevent the Czechs from selling their beer in Western Europe in the early 90s after the collapse of Communism. U.S. Budweiser had been sold in Western Europe for many years before that. It was particularly popular in the UK. I used to serve it in the pubs I worked in there.

The Czechs refused to budge, sticking (correctly) by their previous agreement. Anhauser then tried to buy up the company, but the Czech government refused to sell it. Consequently, both beers are, or at least when I am talking about (mid 1990s) were freely available in Europe. However, you still can't buy the Czech beer in the US, which is a shame.

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
Oh, I'm sorry. Of course I was hallucinating.

Idiot.

That was kind of uncalled for.

-s*

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
That was kind of uncalled for.

-s*

Not really. He implicitly called me a liar because what I said I was relating was my own first person observations. That deserves a slap.

[Spheric Harlot]

The plot thickens:

I just called one of the best beverage-markets in Hamburg (Bier-Spezi Hoheluft; they specialize in various beers), and they tell me that American Budweiser is NOT AVAILABLE in Germany.

This would be in keeping with my experience of CZECH Budweiser being trendy in the mid-to-late-'90s.

-s*

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
You have the rights dispute backwards. Anhauser Busch tried to prevent the Czechs from selling their beer in Western Europe in the early 90s after the collapse of Communism. U.S. Budweiser had been sold in Western Europe for many years before that. It was particularly popular in the UK. I used to serve it in the pubs I worked in there.

The Czechs refused to budge, sticking (correctly) by their previous agreement. Anhauser then tried to buy up the company, but the Czech government refused to sell it. Consequently, both beers are, or at least when I am talking about (mid 1990s) were freely available in Europe. However, you still can't buy the Czech beer in the US, which is a shame.

According to the link above, you CAN by the Czech beer in the US; it's sold as "Czechvar".

Wait - so you're saying that the Czechs HAD distribution rights in Western Europe IN PARALLEL with Anheuser, but Anheuser tried to kick them out of the market after the fall of the Eastern Bloc?

That seems odd, not least because you'd have been selling two beers of identical name, which is hard to imagine working.

-s*

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
The plot thickens:

I just called one of the best beverage-markets in Hamburg (Bier-Spezi Hoheluft; they specialize in various beers), and they tell me that American Budweiser is NOT AVAILABLE in Germany.

This would be in keeping with my experience of CZECH Budweiser being trendy in the mid-to-late-'90s.

-s*

I can't speak for now, but it was available in Germany in the mid 90s, when I was living there. However:

Anheuser-Busch International, Inc. is the international beer subsidiary of Anheuser-Busch Companies. Anheuser-Busch International was established in 1981 and is responsible for the company's foreign beer operations and equity investments. The company's key areas of focus outside the United States are Asia Pacific, the UK and Ireland, and the Americas.

The UK

The UK is Anheuser-Busch's second-largest market outside the United States. The UK market is managed by Anheuser-Busch Europe Ltd; a fully autonomous business unit within Anheuser-Busch International. Head office functions are based at Thames Link House, Richmond and brewing is carried out by Anheuser-Busch brewmasters at the Budweiser Stag Brewery in Mortlake. Brewing Budweiser locally helps meet the strong demand for Budweiser in the UK.

Link

I agree, by the way, that the Czech beer is far better, and that it ought to sell better. I am also sympathetic with the Czechs in their name dispute with the big American behemoth. But this idea that Budweiser isn't sold where I have seen it sold is as bad as the British bartender who assured me (having never gone to look) that all German beer was light colored. He refused to take first person evidence either.

My question about Germany is how they ever got Buttwiper past the Reinheitsgebot?

[turtle777]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
Not really. He implicitly called me a liar because what I said I was relating was my own first person observations. That deserves a slap.

You better learn reading !

I said "I don't think so".
How that translates into "You're a liar", I dunno !

And before you keep speculating:
What I said is at least true for Germany: Anheuser-Busch lost in the courts and is NOT allowed to use the name Budweiser any more.

http://www.123recht.net/article.asp?...ile_wassup&p=1

-t

[turtle777]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
I can't speak for now, but it was available in Germany in the mid 90s, when I was living there.

Well, then how about updating you knwoledge before you keep bitchin' around !

-t

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by turtle777:
Well, then how about updating you knwoledge before you keep bitchin' around !

-t

OK as far as Germany. But we are talking about Europe. Germany isn't Europe. You made a sweeping statement about Europe, based only on Germany. But they aren't one and the same.

Check the thread starting post. The guy who is travelling is going to the UK and Holland, not Germany. Budweiser is available in the UK. I don't know about Holland. Germany is irrelevant.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
OK as far as Germany. But we are talking about Europe. Germany isn't Europe. You made a sweeping statement about Europe, based only on Germany. But they aren't one and the same.

Check the thread starting post. The guy who is travelling is going to the UK and Holland, not Germany. Budweiser is available in the UK. I don't know about Holland. Germany is irrelevant.

I never talked about ALL of Europe in general.
Maybe you should re-read my posts. All what I said still stands.
And btw, there are more then 40 court cases still pending, so the story goes on...

I don't understand the issue anyways.
US Budweiser is horsepiss.
Why would anyone with a right mind would wanna drink that sh!t in Europe ?

-t

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
According to the link above, you CAN by the Czech beer in the US; it's sold as "Czechvar".

Wait - so you're saying that the Czechs HAD distribution rights in Western Europe IN PARALLEL with Anheuser, but Anheuser tried to kick them out of the market after the fall of the Eastern Bloc?

That seems odd, not least because you'd have been selling two beers of identical name, which is hard to imagine working.

-s*

They didn't have identical names. The Czech beer was selling as Budvar. It really was a stupid dispute. Nobody would confuse the two.

Thanks for the news re; "Czechvar." I'll look for that. Pilsner Urquell is pretty widely available here, but I haven't seen the other.

[SimeyTheLimey]

Originally posted by turtle777:
I don't understand the issue anyways.
US Budweiser is horsepiss.
Why would anyone with a right mind would wanna drink that sh!t in Europe ?

-t

That's what I said.

[sanity assassin]

You can get Bud here in Scotland, but it's like buying a Mars bar and calling it real chocolate. American 'beer' is mostly drunk by the coke and E heads in a club when they're out of their minds, and want to down as much cheap drink as possible.
Most people will drink the local stuff though, or (Eastern) European beers. Staropramen is one that I like.

Enjoy the trip, and I'd leave the Powerbook at home, take a camera and an iPod or something for the tunes.

[turtle777]

Originally posted by SimeyTheLimey:
That's what I said.

Well, so why are we fightin' ?



-t

[Spheric Harlot]

Okay, everybody -

Group chug!


*clink*

Prost!

[turtle777]

Originally posted by Spheric Harlot:
Prost!

St��-chen !



-t

[Spheric Harlot]

Originally posted by turtle777:

Awww.

[euphras]

Just a comment on that disputation: Simey is right; they tried to push US "Bud" in the german beer market (as they tried with "Fosters") but they weren�t succesfull in the long run. "Bud" was being sold in supermarkets as well as in pubs here in M�nster in the mid-nineties. I agree with (most of) the previous posters that it smells like piss (Sorry Spliff ).

For the first posters intention: You�re going to Europe and calculate ten days for it?!?!? Where are you from? Your nickname sounds a li�ll bit like you�re an asian guy. I would guess even a month is to short to get an initial impression!

[Randman]

Originally posted by Angus_D:
I love it how Americans say "Europe" like it's a single place.

Well, it's getting there, isn't it?