Fave city trip Europe?

pibbur said:
Like Arjen Lucassen?
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You tell me. Another world famous phenomenon I'd never heard of. :) He has a familiar face though.

If you'd say Jan Akkerman (Hocus Pocus or Solo), Harry Sacksioni (Anji) or singer Cornelis Vreeswijk (famous in Sweden) (Cecilia Lind) I would have known, but those three are* not tall, not to Dutch standards, as far as I know.

Back to Arjen Lucassen. Progressive rock (or what is it) isn't exactly my genre.
It's hard to tell how tall he is. Because of the Dutch getting taller and taller the height of the ceilings has been changed (compulsory). Since 2003 it has to be 2,60m (8.53 feet) for living areas, 2,40m (7.87 feet) for non living areas (sheds, storage).
I saw this description somewhere: "there were several lamp posts walking around, one of them being Arjen Lucassen".

Edit:
* were - in the case of Vreeswijk
 
I love Ayreon :D, regardless of genre.
 
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Omega said:
Istanbul! Yes, yes. Krakow! Interesting. Two more on my list. :)
O my… Sigh. ;)
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They are on my todo-list, especially as they shouldnt suffer as much from aping after French 17-18th C architecture as say Vienna or Stockholm (both nice but not terribly unique). My gf and I tend to squeeze in a city week/weekend or two a year, but the places we've visited often dont have enough to fill a week (Edinburgh, Helsinki and Oslo, I'm looking at you) or are a bit samey. Lisbon, Barcelona, and London (that you've already visited) had quantity and unique character though.

I'd add Luebeck (old Hanseatic city) as a nice city that doesnt quite fill a week.
 
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Well, Ayreon is basically Arjen Lucassen :). And if you like that, check out Tarot, especially the latest album 'Gravity of Light'… two lads singin' instead of two ladies. Like here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9rFH9voBtY

To return to the topic ( :p ): My favorite European cities so far were London (the shopping tours… and the Household Guard :D ) and Munich (the shopping tours… and the "Weiße Brauhaus" - if you like intestines, muahahaha). If you prefer France, there are many places I could recommend, but most of them aren't cities, at leats not big cities. Marseilles is a fun city, but beware of thirves - they are pretty much everywhere, just like in Naples (Italy). If you just want to see huge ships, better go to Sete. Another recommendation would be St. Malo, the old pirate stronghold. And should you ever visit Vallons Pont d'Arc, be sure you played 'Thief' or 'Assassin's Creed' - any of these games will do - before you do so. No matter where you go in Vallons, you'll instantly discover the quickest routes from here to there via the rooftops.
 
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Zaleukos said:
They are on my todo-list, especially as they shouldnt suffer as much from aping after French 17-18th C architecture as say Vienna or Stockholm (both nice but not terribly unique). My gf and I tend to squeeze in a city week/weekend or two a year, but the places we've visited often dont have enough to fill a week (Edinburgh, Helsinki and Oslo, I'm looking at you) or are a bit samey. Lisbon, Barcelona, and London (that you've already visited) had quantity and unique character though.

I'd add Luebeck (old Hanseatic city) as a nice city that doesnt quite fill a week.
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Why did you just stick to one city then ? UK train system is good enough to go visit other places for a day or two too. And if you rent a car I'm sure u can get out of any European city and reach another one in less then 3 hours. Except in those crazy northern countries maybe ... !
 
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Personally, I must say that I didn't find Munich that interesting when I was there last March ... But the "Deutsches Museum" is HUGE ! At the end of the day MY FEET WERE ACHING !!!!!
 
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Alrik Fassbauer said:
Personally, I must say that I didn't find Munich that interesting when I was there last March … But the "Deutsches Museum" is HUGE ! At the end of the day MY FEET WERE ACHING !!!!!
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Well, I like Munich a lot because I have to go there quite often, so I discover more and more interesting stuff. But I really love it for the food, the Dirndl-, Konplott- and GW-stores.
But I actually forgot to mention three of my favorite Germany cities: Bremen, Leipzig and Dresden.
 
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Well, you seem to have a similar experience like what I have with Berlin ;) : Any time I go there, I find something new to me ... ;)
 
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Pladio said:
Why did you just stick to one city then ? UK train system is good enough to go visit other places for a day or two too. And if you rent a car I'm sure u can get out of any European city and reach another one in less then 3 hours. Except in those crazy northern countries maybe … !
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That is certainly an option in the case of Luebeck (though I dont know if the adjacent cities are very different in any positive way:p)...

I did combine the cities with surrounding countryside. London (which is the only city where I've spent a full week) certainly has more than enough options to fill a week, and I only spent 3 days in Edinburgh. My mobility is slightly restricted as I dont fancy spending much of my holidays in cars or on trains. And driving through southern Euro city traffic is definitely not for me:p

The crazy Norther countries rarely have more than one or two cities each:p
 
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Jaz said:
Well, Ayreon is basically Arjen Lucassen :). And if you like that, check out Tarot, especially the latest album 'Gravity of Light'… two lads singin' instead of two ladies. Like here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i9rFH9voBtY
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Hm, it gets on my nerves. :) As to Ayreon, some instruments are surprising, so it's fun to listen to. I'm not impressed with his voice, I think he should stick to his other qualities and leave the singing to ladies with lovely voices like Simone Simons, Marcela Bovio and Anneke van Giersbergen.

Referring to the topic and things both you and Zaleukos wrote:
Yes, plenty of cities in Europe worth of attention, although I'd visit most of them when enjoying a certain region during 2/3 weeks, varying nature and culture.

Jaz said:
And should you ever visit Vallons Pont d'Arc, be sure you played 'Thief' or 'Assassin's Creed' - any of these games will do - before you do so. No matter where you go in Vallons, you'll instantly discover the quickest routes from here to there via the rooftops.
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HA! That sounds like fun.
 
One more thing, unless someone already mentioned it, or you already know about him. Hundertwasser was a very creative Austrian painter and architect. His style ("the straight line is evil") is perhaps best described as a more colourful Gaudi.

You'll find his buildings in Vienna, of course, but also in many other cities in Europe. Check him out on Wikipedia

Says Pibbur who remembers fondly his visit to the the Hundertwasser house in Vienna, and who actually would have liked to live in a house like that. And who remembers he's got a saw, a hammer, an electric drill and lots of paint and glue. And the wife is away…..
 
pibbur said:
One more thing
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After you mentioned his name I glanced at his buildings in Wikipedia and then at his paintings in Google. My jaw dropped. How on earth could I NOT have heared of this man? His work, paintings and architecture: it's great! The colours, the curves, the spirals, I love it. It's so joyful. Gaudí, Klimt, Klee, Delaunay, Kandinsky, sure, but who's Hundertwasser? Then I read:
The Austrian Artist Friedensreich Regentag Dunkelbunt Hundertwasser is not a household name in either architecture, art, or landscape
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and a Dutch website said he was less known in The Netherlands, despite an exhibition in the sixties, silence followed until in 2004 and 2005 some of his work was exhibited again.

Phew, not a household name, maybe I'm not such a Philistine after all. :)
Apparently we have a Hundertwasser building in The Netherlands, Ronald McDonald Children Valley, opened in 2007. I like it. I think the Waldspirale in Darmstadt is absolutely remarkable BTW (haven't seen all his buildings in Google yet).
A lot to see in Vienna, Vienna's definitely climbing in my list and if you succeed in creating a Hundertwasser styled house in Bergen I'll visit Norway soon too. :)

pibbur said:
One more thing
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Says pibbur, casually, at the end of the thread. How *could* you, pibbur!? Most important thing! ;)
 
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If you go to Vienna / other parts of Austria please post a review for our benefit later... :D
 
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My wife and I are heading to Paris on 4/20. Spending a week, but only 2-3 days in Paris. Not sure where we'll go from there. She wants to take a train somewhere, so I'm thinking we might take the TGV to Nice and spend most of our time there. I went to Nice in '03 and absolutely loved it. I've spent considerable time in the Loire valley as well, so we might go there instead.
 
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France is nice in Spring, to go south from Paris is a really good idea. Sounds like a good plan to me.... you should also consider Provence... IMHO.
 
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GothicGothicness said:
France is nice in Spring, to go south from Paris is a really good idea. Sounds like a good plan to me…. you should also consider Provence… IMHO.
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In 1992, I spent some time in Aix-en-Provence. Really enjoyed it but haven't been back since.
 
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