Living in a European City for 3 months

[Goblyns Hoard]

I have to recommend London - and not just because I live there, but because it's a truly great place. On the downside its big and crowded and may not be as hot as you want though in the summer we do get nice weather here. Plus all of the UK is available to you via train or plane (1 hr to Glasgow via Easyjet for pretty cheap prices if you find the right flight) so you can explore the rest of the UK while you're here. You'd get some shorter transport links from somewhere more central (Birmingham) but I think London has more going on locally that it'd be a better bet (not dissing B'ham but it doesn't have the same range of things to see)

But if you want proper heat and a really nice country I'm going to recommend Croatia. Really stunning countryside, still pretty inexpensive and the 'touristy' side of it is just building up. Split is a very attractive place and the people are very friendly. Most people don't realise the war there was over 10 years ago and it's come on a lot since then. You can also travel into some of the oldest and most untouched areas of europe around there - going south through Serbia & Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia and into Greece.

After that I'd go with somewhere like Barcelona or Madrid - and would recommend avoiding the southern areas of spain as they get filled up with some of the worst examples of english and german tourism. I'm told La Coruna on the Northwest tip of spain is very nice but have never been.

Southern germany is also very beautiful so Munich has to be added. The southern germans are a lot more relaxed and friendly than their prussian cousins, and the Schwarzwald is very nice. Plus there's a lot of history going on down there and Heidelberg, Stuttgart, Vienna, Zurich, the Alps, Strasbourg, even Prague and Paris are all within striking distance for trips away.

Ultimately it's going to depend on what you're planning to do there - see a lot of one city, see some of a country or see a little of a region. Is it pure travelling or a mix of work and play?

 

[Goblyns Hoard]

Get outta here! they speak "cockney" in England!

Only if yer born wivin the sound ov Bow Bells me old china

 

[MonsterMash]

Get outta here! they speak "cockney" in England!

And of course you can learn it by copying Dick Van Dyke in Mary Poppins

 

[Bagpuss]

I have recieved from on-high (translate as Suzi told me ) she'd prefer some place sunny. At least, mostly sunny.

joe b.

Well that's the UK out of the picture then.

 

[Bagpuss]

I have to recommend London - and not just because I live there, but because it's a truly great place. On the downside its big and crowded and may not be as hot as you want though in the summer we do get nice weather here. Plus all of the UK is available to you via train or plane (1 hr to Glasgow via Easyjet for pretty cheap prices if you find the right flight) so you can explore the rest of the UK while you're here.

If your budget is an issue I'ld go for Manchester rather than London, transport links are as good, cheap flights to most of Europe, but the cost of living is going to be nearly half that of London.

Of course if weather is the main concern then I can't recommend anywhere in the UK, we do have on average about 4 good weeks of nice weather, its just they are never in the same place, and rarely follow each other.

 

[Perun]

But if you want proper heat and a really nice country I'm going to recommend Croatia. Really stunning countryside, still pretty inexpensive and the 'touristy' side of it is just building up. Split is a very attractive place and the people are very friendly. Most people don't realise the war there was over 10 years ago and it's come on a lot since then.

Why, thank you. I was just going to toot our horn for a bit

Seriously, I'd recommend the mediterranean region, if you want sunny. For patriotic reasons, I'll recommend Dalmatia. Finding some small town with on the coast that isn't overcrowded with tourists shouldn't be too hard, I'd say.

Obviously, I'm rooting for Croatia here. There are a bunch of islands around here with a number of small (and ancient) towns and villages.

Larger cities (well, that really depends on your definition of large, Split (my home town), which is the second larges city in Croatia, has less than 200,000 people) don't have the feel of the smaller towns, but I guarantee you will never find so much people sunbathing in front of cafés on a workday morning as you'll find in Split. If you're planning on comming this summer, Split might be a good choice. We're celebrating 1700th anniversary this year, and the whole summer will be dedicated to the occasion, with Diocletian (the Roman emperor who built his palace here, which became the city's centre -- it's still standing, BTW) theme abounding.

There's Dubrovnik, of course, but that's our primary tourist destination. It's still a wonderful destination.

Further north up the coast, Istria and Quarnero are always good choices (so I've heard, never went there myself). The bonus is that the Venice is real close. From what I've heard, there are quite a few villages where you can go for a stay, and experience the wonders of life in the country (with entirely home-made food... okay, I'm drooling right now )

As for the language, the study of a foreign language is obligatory in schools, and in 99% of cases it's English. You should be able to communicate with most of the younger population. In Istria, a lot of people speak Italian as well, if that helps.

I'd say that's enough advertising for now. If you want more information, feel free to ask.

Regards!

 

[Shemeska]

That's the problem. Not enough places in the UK speak American.

I spent several weeks in Scotland a few years ago and I left with some amusing stories of how the rest of my family (my mom) had obscene problems understanding the locals. My sister and I still give her grief over her thinking that there was some strange animal called a squittle (a squirrel said in a north scottish accent) up there. *chuckle*

I'd love to revisit the same area of Scotland (Dundee and its environs) again, though I'd also love to visit London, Vienna, or Prague.