NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote: 
Hmmm, half-term week........
 
Perhaps time for Nancy to do The Great Kensington Museum outing.

If we're between France, Belgium, and Germany anyway - the meet-up just HAS to be in the city of Luxembourg!!!



I lived there for almost a year, and I can safely say that it's THE single most "european" city, together with Brussels, but Brussels is overcrowded, expensive, and not very beautiful in my opinion. Luxembourg is just one of these things... expensive, especially for car parking.


(don't worry - while the picture is not a fake, the parking ticket was about six months old )

However, since Luxembourg is such a small country, one could easily find cheaper accomodation across the border to Germany ('bout 1hr drive) or France (even closer). Also, if anyone wants to come from America, it's a good base for day trips to Amsterdam, Brussels, Cologne, Dusseldorf, Paris, Stuttgart, Frankfurt and the like, since it's just in the middle of all of these. Luxembourg city is very beautiful, especially in Summer, and the fact that it's home to many EU institutions means that there's people from all over Europe meeting there every day. Choice and quality of food is usually excellent, and prices in that area are mostly affordable. My favorite pub/restaurant of all time is Maybe Not Bob's in the Grund quarter of the city. Grund ("ground" or "base" in English) is a very good night life quarter, accessible via either a road winding down the valley or a lift descending through the cliff.

There's also a good deal of historical architecture in the city - old castles, medieval towers... this kind of stuff. Oh, and for the beer/wine lovers, Luxembourg has a good selection of both (Beers: German, Belgian, some French and Luxembourgish / Wines: anything you want, but slightly French dominated, which is NOT a bad thing!). Oh, well, of course you can also have a pint of Guinness at the Irish pub. For more German beer / French wine, you can always have a short trip to the respective countries. It has to be noted also that Luxembourg is home to some of the best-sorted supermarkets I've ever seen inside Europe, so one could get the good stuff at sub-restaurant prices also.

Another plus is that the city is pretty safe, even by European standards. People are usually helpful and able to speak at least two languages (Luxembourgish is a mixture of German, French, and Dutch, the latter being a kind of drunk German anyway )

I myself am actually not sure whether I could make it to such a meetup (depends on when it is), but here you are recommendationwise - of course I'd be willing to share more tips and info if you guys consider it a viable choice.

Cheers, and Arrrrr!! (pirate day!)

Hmmm, this could be arranged!
How about here:

A bit hard to get to, but people are dying to see the place!

Talala: Copenhagen
Johray: Amsterdam
GeordieZ: Bristol
Yours Truly: Berlin
Anybody else?

If I could make it, I'd want to meet at The Doors. (nsfw)

anyone in London in October  27- 30 ??

 MrsHobieJoe wrote:



 

 


 
 

 cookinlover wrote:



 
If I was planning a meet-up in Europe I would have it in either Paris or Tuscany.  Both are beautiful places to visit.

samiyam wrote:


If beer is going to play a major part of the meet-up, then Prague, or Praha-ha-ha, is the place to be... beautiful medieval castles, best beer on the planet, at some of the cheapest prices. Watch your billfolds, though... the gypsies and Russian mafia are everywhere. Still my first choice, though, for an unforgettable meet-up!

If you ever get the meet-up going, you should have it in Barcelona.

 hobiejoe wrote:

 
He can hear you too!
That would be very cool to get down.  Except that the pub would have to stay open late to give time to socialise ;) 

 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:

 
Weekends'n'evenings! I think he spends a lot of time doing pointy-headed mad scientist things, but gets time off for good behaviour.

 hobiejoe wrote:

 

That would be totally neat. I'll get on to Hanna about it, but that won't be difficult. She'd leave at the drop of a hat at the moment. (can't say I blame her)

Callum skips class?

 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:

 

Be absolutely delighted! Family room in the attic.
 
If it's in term time we could set up a Callum gig as well.

 hobiejoe wrote:

 

That's true. Got to think of the pretty pics. Thank god we've got wives and kids and trout!

Maybe we just scoot across and visit you on our next UK visit.

 NoEnzLefttoSplit wrote:



 

Some time either side of high season sounds favourite - May/June or September; avoids crowds and excessive heat and pressure on publicans in seaside towns! Prettier photo's in late spring - flowers and snow-capped mountains, child (and out of shape publican) friendly hiking, mountain stream trout fishing.......  hmmmmm....

Thanks K! Definitely filed for future reference. Sounds exactly like my kind of thing.

how many of us are there exactly who would be interested in this?