The Off Topic Topic

[Valmy]

You can't seem to go anywhere in the world without meeting lots and lots of German tourists. 

It is eerie. I have never been on a US national park trip, and I have taken several, that did not involve meeting German tourists. You hardly ever see British or French or Japanese tourists in places like that.

[Barrister]

You can't seem to go anywhere in the world without meeting lots and lots of German tourists. 

It is eerie. I have never been on a US national park trip, and I have taken several, that did not involve meeting German tourists. You hardly ever seen British or French or Japanese tourists in places like that.

Germans have a particular love of the outdoors.

It was no co-incidence that when living in Whitehorse there was precisely one airline that flew direct from Europe to Whitehorse - and it was German.  You had tons of German tourists.  Never any Brits of Spaniards or French or Italians... just Germans.

[alfred russel]

They aren't everywhere; I don't recall meeting german tourists in israel. 

[Valmy]

Completely unrelated but my next door neighbors are from Hanover. It has been fun to chat with them from time to time. Their English is not good at all which makes it sort of entertaining. If only I spoke some German.

[derspiess]

Completely unrelated but my next door neighbors are from Hanover. It has been fun to chat with them from time to time. Their English is not good at all which makes it sort of entertaining. If only I spoke some German.

I've found that Northern Germans really like it when you conflate them with Bavarians

[Valmy]

Completely unrelated but my next door neighbors are from Hanover. It has been fun to chat with them from time to time. Their English is not good at all which makes it sort of entertaining. If only I spoke some German.

I've found that Northern Germans really like it when you conflate them with Bavarians

They have already complained about that to me

I have resisted the urge to ask them if they felt saddened being torn from the rest of the United Kingdom.

[Caliga]

You can't seem to go anywhere in the world without meeting lots and lots of German tourists. 

It is eerie. I have never been on a US national park trip, and I have taken several, that did not involve meeting German tourists. You hardly ever see British or French or Japanese tourists in places like that.

I've run into German tourists on bourbon distillery tours several times.  More commonly I encounter Australians, though.

[derspiess]

They have already complained about that to me

One time we took a German friend of ours and his family to the nearby Hofbrauhaus.  He seemed okay with the beer and atmosphere but lost his shit when the "Alpen Echos" band took stage.

[derspiess]

I've run into German tourists on bourbon distillery tours several times.  More commonly I encounter Australians, though.

We're starting to get a fair number of Aussie and Kiwi beer tourists in Cincy.

[The Minsky Moment]

They have already complained about that to me

One time we took a German friend of ours and his family to the nearby Hofbrauhaus.  He seemed okay with the beer and atmosphere but lost his shit when the "Alpen Echos" band took stage.

On the flip side  . . . I once took part in a corporate outing/bonding experience in Germany years ago.  It was an American western theme with rodeo-like stunts, skits, and a guy dressed in black playing Johnny Cash songs.   

[Malthus]

They have already complained about that to me

One time we took a German friend of ours and his family to the nearby Hofbrauhaus.  He seemed okay with the beer and atmosphere but lost his shit when the "Alpen Echos" band took stage.

On the flip side  . . . I once took part in a corporate outing/bonding experience in Germany years ago.  It was an American western theme with rodeo-like stunts, skits, and a guy dressed in black playing Johnny Cash songs.

A corporate bonding experience in Germany really ought to feature actual bondage. 

[Maladict]

I've done a fair bit of traveling alone and staying in hostels while doing so. It has its up- and downsides. It's actually very social as you'll meet lots and lots of new interesting people. Many more than I do when I travel with someone else and infinitely more than when I travelled for business and stayed in fancy hotels alone. Staying in hostels is so-so, but most of the time it is acceptable. You get really annoying people rarely, but if you do it really sucks. That said, it's the only way travelling for like 8 weeks a year is affordable with my current income.

It also depends highly on the city the hostel is in. The last two I stayed at (about a decade ago  ) couldn't have been more different.
The one in Rome was full of annoying teenagers drinking and screaming all night, glad I didn't stay more than a night.
On the other hand, all the people in the hostel in Kiev were actually really interesting to talk to and hang out with. 

[Liep]

I've done a fair bit of traveling alone and staying in hostels while doing so. It has its up- and downsides. It's actually very social as you'll meet lots and lots of new interesting people. Many more than I do when I travel with someone else and infinitely more than when I travelled for business and stayed in fancy hotels alone. Staying in hostels is so-so, but most of the time it is acceptable. You get really annoying people rarely, but if you do it really sucks. That said, it's the only way travelling for like 8 weeks a year is affordable with my current income.

It also depends highly on the city the hostel is in. The last two I stayed at (about a decade ago  ) couldn't have been more different.
The one in Rome was full of annoying teenagers drinking and screaming all night, glad I didn't stay more than a night.
On the other hand, all the people in the hostel in Kiev were actually really interesting to talk to and hang out with. 

On hostelworld.com you can pretty much gather what kind of hostel it is from the reviews.

[Malthus]

I've done a fair bit of traveling alone and staying in hostels while doing so. It has its up- and downsides. It's actually very social as you'll meet lots and lots of new interesting people. Many more than I do when I travel with someone else and infinitely more than when I travelled for business and stayed in fancy hotels alone. Staying in hostels is so-so, but most of the time it is acceptable. You get really annoying people rarely, but if you do it really sucks. That said, it's the only way travelling for like 8 weeks a year is affordable with my current income.

It also depends highly on the city the hostel is in. The last two I stayed at (about a decade ago  ) couldn't have been more different.
The one in Rome was full of annoying teenagers drinking and screaming all night, glad I didn't stay more than a night.
On the other hand, all the people in the hostel in Kiev were actually really interesting to talk to and hang out with. 

On hostelworld.com you can pretty much gather what kind of hostel it is from the reviews.

Heh, can't remember if it was this site or another that had the following review of one place:

"Features hobos defecating in the lobby"

[Duque de Bragança]

The thing that sucks about the hostels is people freaking stay up jaw jawing away and partying down until all hours of the night and fuckers get up super early in the morning. So it is never really quiet in the damn things. Staying in them is a great way to wear your ass out while touring around Euroland.

Most people know what they are in for. I was not surprised that in a hostel in Marseille, people went at bed at like 3 a.m after some drinking since it was match day.