European cities

[Daniel]

It's 9pm and i'm sitting on the window sill of our hotel room here in the centre of lovely Gdansk with a bottle of coke. Unlike Perth there are people out with small kids, there's music and it's just a nice place to be sitting above. What is it about continental European cities that makes them so friendly by night? If this were Perth or a lot of British cities the streets would be very dead and eerie or full of drunken yobs or a groups of slappers out on a hens night with bunny ears of some other ridiculous clothing but this is cool. I could sit here all night listening and watching if I didn't have to get up so damn early. So what's your favourite city? Personally i really like Helsinki because it's just a bit nicer than Gdansk and there isn't such a big language barrier.

[BDunnell]

I love Berlin for its fascinating history and a particular character that derives in part from that, but then I am biased, having lived there. Munich is very nice and situated in a lovely part of the world. I too love Helsinki, and rather oddly I really like Strasbourg, again partially because of the delightful surrounding region.

As for the late-night experience in mainland European cities, I couldn't agree more. It's clearly developed over many years, rather than just being a modern 'yob culture' phenomenon, as many would have it. The reasons? I'm not sure. Britain's restrictive licensing hours may have been part of it. So too might the layout of towns and cities, in some way.

[Daniel]

Perhaps it's to do with the fact that some europeans are brought up with alcohol as kids and are taught to drink in moderation whereas Australians and Brits see it as something that's forbidden and everyone always wants what is forbidden plus there are no parents there to tell you when to stop. I would have liked to pop over the border to Germany but sadly we didn't have the time. Would have been good because my German is a helluva lot better than my Polish.

[A.F.F.]

Maybe your German just needs a little Polishing.

[Daniel]

This isn't the bad joke thread you know

[J4MIE]

Helsinki gets a thumbs up from me too

I also really liked Bologna and Milan

I'm off to Krakow in a few weeks so will report back on that also I love Europe

[Daniel]

One cool thing about Poland is the communist buildings, trains and other infrastructure. I don't know why but it's just cool.

Lots of buildings here look really shabby on the outside but are really nice inside. So don't be put off by that Jamie. Be sure to bring a phrasebook as a lot of people don't speak English at all. Luckily we've had people to translate most of the time. Generally friendly people but people can be a bit rude in queues and will be happy to push in.

[J4MIE]

Poproszę jedno jabłko

[J4MIE]

Oh and Daniel Easyjet are starting to fly to Helsinki from Gatwick in November so should mean cheaper trips

[Daniel]

Still got the faff of getting to Gatwick though. If they flew from Liverpool I'd go every weekend!