darryl@ism780c.UUCP (Darryl Richman) (01/07/86)
Dear net.people: I am planning a month long vacation to Europe this September. I have reserved time outside of the major cities and away from the "important" tourist spots in order to see some local color and folk traditions. Can any of you help me find these kinds of places? Especially you there, on the other side of mcvax, Where do you go for that day outing or weekend away from the city? I'm thinking of things akin to, say, the Gilroy Garlic Festival (Gilroy, Ca, is a principal garlic growing area and they celebrate the harvest each year), but perhaps smaller. Someplace where I can see and hear folk songs, dancing, watch craftspeople, and so on. Thanks very much, --Darryl Richman, INTERACTIVE Systems Corp. ...!cca!ima!ism780!darryl The views expressed above are my opinions only.
joh@ptsfa.UUCP (Joe Hawkins) (01/14/86)
In article <223@ism780c.UUCP>, darryl@ism780c.UUCP (Darryl Richman) writes: > I am planning a month long vacation to Europe this September. I have reserved > time outside of the major cities and away from the "important" tourist spots > in order to see some local color and folk traditions. Can any of you help me > find these kinds of places? > Someplace where I can see and hear folk songs, dancing, > watch craftspeople, and so on. At the risk of being obvious, I immediately think of the Oktoberfest in Munich. I was there for a couple of days this last Fall and not only was I glad to be there, I was very impressed by the fact that it was much more than just a huge beer bust. This celebration of the end of harvest season is centuries old, and features a wide variety of local color...the classic Bavarian dress, folk songs, cooking, arts, etc. Granted, you have to put up with tourists and the usual fare of commercialism, but make no mistake, they don't do this for the tourists, they do it for themselves! It really is Bavaria at its best. (And the beer is great, too.) Oktoberfest will probably run Sept 20 - Oct 12 this year. Gut fahrt! --------- Joe Hawkins {dual,qantel,ihnp4}!ptsfa!joh "You can keep your MTV... Pacific Bell, San Ramon I want some (415) 823-1932 good Hunan!"
cdp@uiucdcsb.CS.UIUC.EDU (01/15/86)
which countries are you going to visit? that will make it a lot easier for someone to give you directions-saying just Europe does not help much.
darryl@ism780c.UUCP (Darryl Richman) (01/17/86)
In article <12200032@uiucdcsb> cdp@uiucdcsb.CS.UIUC.EDU writes: >which countries are you going to visit? that will make it a lot >easier for someone to give you directions-saying just Europe >does not help much. Good point! It's just that I haven't really decided completely yet, but, probably some subset of the following: Netherlands, Luxembourg, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Austria, Germany, Italy, and/or Denmark Needless to say, that's overambitious. But if you tell me where the good places are, I can avoid the rest, right? Thanks very much for the answers I've gotten so far, and for any others. --Darryl Richman, INTERACTIVE Systems Corp. ...!cca!ima!ism780!darryl The views expressed above are my opinions only.
citrin@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU (Wayne Citrin) (01/19/86)
The last half of the month of September is the off-season in Switzerland. If you like hiking in the mountains, the weather is generally good, and what few hotels are open in the resort towns that can be used as a base for the hikes generally have plenty of rooms -- no reservations necessary. The grocery stores, butchers, and bakeries are generally open, but except for the largest resorts, like Davos, many restaurants are closed, and there is unfortunately little to do at night. However, if you like uncrowded mountains, this is definitely the time. I would recommend the small town of Murren, in the Bernese Oberland. Unfortunately, not much folkloric goes on there at that time (not much goes on at all there at that time). As for the Munich Oktoberfest, I'm glad I experienced it, but I can't say I enjoyed it. Too loud and crowded, and impossible to get a seat in the beer halls. Give me a Munich beer garden any day. The rest of the city, on the other hand, was great at Oktoberfest time. If you get down to Italy, it's the grape harvest time. The various festivals associated with this are known as Vendemmia. The hill towns south of Pavia are especially nice. I don't know how easy it would be to find hotel accommodations. (I was staying with Italian friends.) Wayne Citrin (ucbvax!citrin)