In "Return of the London meetup"

Many pints and a Chinese to follow somewhere in town? Sounds like fun, but won't the Chinese notice the group tailing him/her? Sorry I can't come down for it. A Cambridge meetup sounds great, and much more convenient for me. If I'm around then count me in.

In "Curious George: Who's Dumb to You?"

Presumably it's a weird kiwi thing Aussies sometimes use Brisvegas for Brisbane, so it's at least a little more widespread.

In "Revenge of the Weird Animal News"

The goat-rhino thing reminds me of this this site, whose address I had forgotten for a while, but which is chock-a-block with cutesy animal pairings.

In "Wierd. Just wierd."

You think I asked for a twelve-inch soaking wet pianist? But seriously, I blame the Rach 3.

In "Curious George: Martial Arts Monkeys"

I'm a judoka, but nowadays it has become more of a sport than a martial art, at least in the west. The principles of judo are fairly soft- using your partner's reactions and actions against them, and there's nothing particularly esoteric taught, so you end up practising a lot and not having to pull your punches (or throws in this case). As a sport though, some of the finesse disappears and can often become a bit more like wrestling. I think judo is useful though for conditioning and possibly most importantly for teaching you how to fall safely and absorb the impact with your body. After that, the ideas of efficient movement and application of force are also good general lessons. The specific applications are neat, but as mexican says, someone could get hurt in the real world- the option to subdue and cause pain without permanent damage is good but not foolproof. I don't think there's any single martial art that's best for self-defence- maybe running, so you can get away from a situation. Perhaps the best skill to be gained from any is that of self-confidence, so that you know that you can handle yourself within reason- I like to believe that you're less of a target that way. Unfortunately I have been in some situations where confrontation has taken place. In one, the ability to put someone in a choke was pretty useful, as was the practice in deflecting a body charge by side-stepping (there were two guys). In the other, the controlled nature of competition and training was a bit of a disadvantage, as you don't prepare for drunk people with no sense of fair play (unless you're training for street fights or specifically for self-defence). In both, I think that mental calmness and concentration were advantageous, and gained from having prepared through training and knowing what you're capable of. No-one ended up seriously hurt from either, which may have happened if I'd just charged in there without thinking. After these incidents I got to thinking what consituted reasonable self-defence. It was something the cops had no answer for and that still bugs me, at least I'm happy that I did the right thing in those cases. Anyway, to answer the initial (but secondary) non-question, I think aikido is pretty neat and what you're looking for. Make sure you find a good dojo with a good sensei. Whatever you choose, if you're patient and disciplined you'll get a lot out of it.

In "Curious George - Courier Air Travel Experiences?"

It turns out that freight shipping is actually more expensive than flying, at about USD100 per day for 30+ days, one way! http://www.geocities.com/freighterman.geo/faq.html I looked up courier flights a while ago on flyertalk forums (they sure do say a lot about flying), and their consensus was you need to be very flexible, and in the right place at the right time, and even then it's not as much of a saving nowadays. Good luck!

In "Curious George: European Vacation?"

js, it's really not that big a deal, and I don't want to step on anyone's toes... but tracicle said 'the Duomo' rather than 'Il Duomo', so she was right. Had she said 'The Duomo', then your point would be stronger, but I still wouldn't see her as being wrong. Anyway, Il Duomo isn't exclusively the hold of Florence: Try me. Do a quick google search for Il Duomo and see what comes up. OK, Turin's cathedral comes up first:www.comune.torino.it/telecamera/duomo.htm Florence's has more hits (159000) under google:il+ duomo+florence , but milan still has 69700. If we use their italian names, the order is reversed: milano (240000) to firenze (192000). Not that I trust google ranking as irrefutible proof, but you did suggest google. if you say The Notre Dame you really do mean the one in Paris You might, but I may not. Especially if I had been talking about South Bend for the entirety of the paragraph in context. I'd say the cathedral of notre dame de paris if i wanted to distinguish. Or just 'notre dame in paris' if I were lazy. But I'm getting side-tracked. I'm not italian, so I don't have the final authority on anything. I do know enough of latin languages to have my definite articles flagged, and to parse the Duomo as being exactly that- the cathedral, and in this case in Milan

>Tracy- Il Duomo is in Florence (Firenze). js, tracicle is right, as are you. Duomo means cathedral and both Firenze and Milano have them (last time I checked). While Florence's is more dome-like (false-friend alert), they both still count. mare's theme idea is a good one. I recall an Australian who set some crazy tasks for himself across europe, like eating breakfast in Belgium, lunch in Luxembourg and dinner in Deutscheland, all in the same day. Ultimately your trip has to be about what you want, some like racing about trying to see everything, others like just hanging out and trying to fit in. Personally, I liked at least three/four days in each city to get the feel of the place and so that I wasn't always on the road. Others would say that's not long enough, and others would have been out as soon as they'd seen the largest attraction. One strategy is to see as many places on this trip and then come back another year to examine the bits you liked best

Language- you'll be fine. As long as you don't stray too far off the path in western europe you'll be understood. Spanish will see you through spain and likely italy. Being polite is a good rule anywhere you go. The thing that gets nasty responses anywhere in europe is the loud, arrogant stereotype, so as long as you don't fit that you should have no problems. All dutch people learn english in school and the same is true for western germany; even Berlin speaks enough english that you'll get around fine. Hungary and Czech rep could be more of a problem, but again, where there are backpackers and tourists you'll be taken care of. Having said that, learning the basics of where you're going is always a good idea, and earns you bonus points (especially in eastern europe, but then Hungarian's a tough language) Cautionary tales: keep your wits and common sense about. I've heard lots of horror stories, especially about being gassed in trains, but never had a problem. Lock your backpack and keep it in sight if possible, don't carry large amounts of cash etc. Be careful in busy places- train stations and internet cafes. Pickpockets trawl the largest cities at the most touristy locations, so watch out (carry your valuables in secure pockets, watch your daypack). In southern europe (Rome, Seville and Florence in my experience) you sometimes encounter Romany (aka gypsies) who are out to take advantage by telling your fortune or straightout pickpocketing you. The latter are particularly easy to see because they travel in packs and carry bits of cardboard/paper to wave in your face. Just give them a 'I know what you're up to look' and they'll leave you alone. The only place where people were overtly rude was Italy, and that was racism because they thought I was a japanese tourist and they could get away with it. Travel- you could eurail it, but this dictates your schedule, often people feel the need to sleep on the trains and see as much as possible during the day. There are lots of cheap lights in europe, through companies like Ryanair (based in UK and ireland), Virgin (brussels I think), Easyjet, etc. If you look online, you can get some good point to point flights, cheaper than the train. the only setback is usually the time of flight, and that sometimes the airport isn't all that convenient, so you'll need to take the bus/train to get to the main point. Check the details before booking. Other options are Busabout, but you'll end up sticking to their routes; or even more constrictive Contiki- if you're an independent traveller you'll run from the suggestion.

and I will. Netherlands: nice convenient size for travellers. We daytripped to the Hague, but didn't find all that much there. Amsterdam can be a little full of louts ogling in the redlight district, but is worth a look. You might try the local 'coffee', but even if you're not there for that, there's the Rijksmuseum and Anne Frank's house as highlights. Just follow the tourist trail. It's a nice city to wander around and get lost in. Italy- the Uffizi and Academia in Florence if you love art, and even if you don't. Lines can be ridiculously long in the summer. If you're in Milan, stand around one evening and watch people checking each other out. It's the local pastime. Also, walk into an expensive flagship store, like D&G and get sneered at by the staff. It's a laugh. Rome is well documented; as well as the usual haunts, I like Trastavere, south of the vatican- still has a local feel to the neighbourhood, and nice to wonder around. The vatican museums are amazing, but there's quite a line to get in. The path down to southern italy is much less travelled as there's less for tourists to sightsee. As well as vesuvius, Naples also has great pizza, but is a sketchy port city and feels really edgy, like Marseilles. You can daytrip it down from rome to both if you don't want to stay for a long time. Czech republic- Prague is again beautiful, and will be full of college students and stag parties on cheap drinking holidays. Czesky Krumlov is a peaceful UNESCO listed town, but still on the backpacking path, short trip away from Prague. I hear hungary is the new czech rep, but it's likely to suffer less from the invasion.

I've lived in europe for the past four years and visited it lots before, so I'm a huge fan of the place. I second js's endorsement of Barcelona. If I had to pick one spanish city for a whirlwind stop, this would be it. It's different to the rest of Spain, but it's a wonderful city in it's own right- by far the most cosmpolitan. Madrid, Cordoba, Grenada and Seville are great too, but I think you could save on trains and leave them for another time. Barcelona is great for the food- spanish cooking is undergoing a renaissance, and the Catalan have always had some nifty ideas. I recommend breakfast at Bar Pinotxo in the main market (La Boqueria), you can sit there with some locals and lots of tourist who are also in on the 'secret' and enjoy your clams with egg first thing in the morning, for lunch. The architecture is stunning, walking up Las ramblas into L'Eixample, you pass many of the modernist highlights on the street. The Sagrada Familia is worth a visit, plus there's the Picasso museum and MACBA if you're in to more recent art. The nightlife is cool too. I'd spend an evening in El Born, soaking up the atmosphere, and venture into El Raval if you're feeling confident. Email me for more details, I could go on and on. General impressions of the rest: France: Paris is cool, and very, well, French. I'd spend at least 4 days there, soaking up the history, art, architecture and pastries. I don't know how you're getting around, but if you're training it and you're heading to central europe from Paris, Strasbourg is worth a day for its choucroute and pleasantness- you might skip it if you're going to another pretty town on the German side though. If you like Chateaux, Tours is a day trip from paris and they run tours (!) out to the chateaux. And also a good day trip from Paris is Versailles. Lots of booty. Germany- I like Berlin- again cosmopolitan, painfully cool in parts and grimy (soviet apartments) in others. the Pergammon museum is excellent for antiquities (loot).Good for history- the wall, checkpoint charlie. Email me if you'd like more details, esp on Barcelona. I could go on and on...

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