liveliest, most friendly University towns in europe?
Aug 2nd, 2010, 02:56 PM
#41
<<Might as well throw this into the mix: I'm very artistic/creative so if the city/town has that bent plus the attributes I've already mentioned I'll be in heaven!>>
If you have thought of doing a mosaic course/workshop there are 3 day, one week, and two week courses at the prestigious Orsoni Foundry in Venice, Cannaregio area of Venice, where you can of course also attend language courses. However, Venice closes up early in general.
If you went to Bologna or Perugia you could find your way to either Venice or Ravenna for the mosaic training. Just a thought based on this added info; neither place screams "university town."
If you have thought of doing a mosaic course/workshop there are 3 day, one week, and two week courses at the prestigious Orsoni Foundry in Venice, Cannaregio area of Venice, where you can of course also attend language courses. However, Venice closes up early in general.
If you went to Bologna or Perugia you could find your way to either Venice or Ravenna for the mosaic training. Just a thought based on this added info; neither place screams "university town."
Aug 2nd, 2010, 03:07 PM
#42
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Rainy Day: Yes, we did like the CabInn. Like Copenhagen, Aarhus is expensive, so the CabInn was a blessing.
It was pretty bare bones, but it had everything you need and was quite comfortable. Very cheerful. The breakfast room was rather spare, but the food was fine, though not at all fancy. I believe they had WiFi in a sort of lobby also.
If you stay there, I'd advise you to bring earplugs because there are restaurants, bars, etc., along the canal just outside the CabInn, and the students party late. Perhaps if you have a room away from the canal, it's quieter.
Aarhus is a lovely town. Be sure to see Den Gamle By, which has a collection of old Danish houses.
It was pretty bare bones, but it had everything you need and was quite comfortable. Very cheerful. The breakfast room was rather spare, but the food was fine, though not at all fancy. I believe they had WiFi in a sort of lobby also.
If you stay there, I'd advise you to bring earplugs because there are restaurants, bars, etc., along the canal just outside the CabInn, and the students party late. Perhaps if you have a room away from the canal, it's quieter.
Aarhus is a lovely town. Be sure to see Den Gamle By, which has a collection of old Danish houses.
Aug 3rd, 2010, 07:54 AM
#45
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I dont know that anyone has mentioned Salamanca in Spain, known for its University, which attracts students from all over.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamanca
In fact you might want to have a look at the site for Erasmus, the European student exchange program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus_programme
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Salamanca
In fact you might want to have a look at the site for Erasmus, the European student exchange program.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Erasmus_programme
Aug 3rd, 2010, 07:00 PM
#48
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For those who have spent any considerable time in Amsterdam...would you say it's pretty much taken over by tourism/red light district seekers? I mean...The city itself looks beautiful but I don't really like the idea of all of those scuzzy tourists everywhere looking for sex shops and such. Out of the remaining Dutch cities with a University, which would you say is the most active/creative and beautiful?
Aug 5th, 2010, 11:01 AM
#49
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We went to Amsterdam to please our sons and ended up loving it, almost more than Paris. We aren't wild, party-type people either...forget the red light district; it's only one part of a big charming city!
We stayed in the Leiden Square area and loved everything Amsterdam had to offer, minus the red-light district because your description pretty much paints the picture we had of it. So we just didn't go there...pas de problème!
We stayed in the Leiden Square area and loved everything Amsterdam had to offer, minus the red-light district because your description pretty much paints the picture we had of it. So we just didn't go there...pas de problème!
Aug 5th, 2010, 07:28 PM
#50
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I vote for Copenhagen, Danmark since I did it there. I started spending my whole summers there, in the early 70s, and was there for 2 decades of summers, part of a winter and a few times in the spring. Most of the first decade I was there the entire summer.
I didn't have to study Danish as Danes start to learn English, in elementary school, but it was great meeting so many people and spending so much time with my great Danish friends and being able to not have to speak English. It was also great to be able to communicate with the younger siblings of my friends, who hadn't learned English yet, and also the elderly members of their family. And to be able to go to remote places where many people didn't speak English.
I was invited to friends' summer houses and on trips with lots of Danish friends and they were so grateful that I had taken the time to learn Danish. As for it's usefulness, I didn't care about that. It was useful in Danmark and now all these decades later, I spend a lot of time in Bangkok, and as I was telling my Danish friends who were visiting a few weekends ago, I get to practice my Danish quite a bit in Thailand as there are so many Danes there. LOL! Happy Travels!
I didn't have to study Danish as Danes start to learn English, in elementary school, but it was great meeting so many people and spending so much time with my great Danish friends and being able to not have to speak English. It was also great to be able to communicate with the younger siblings of my friends, who hadn't learned English yet, and also the elderly members of their family. And to be able to go to remote places where many people didn't speak English.
I was invited to friends' summer houses and on trips with lots of Danish friends and they were so grateful that I had taken the time to learn Danish. As for it's usefulness, I didn't care about that. It was useful in Danmark and now all these decades later, I spend a lot of time in Bangkok, and as I was telling my Danish friends who were visiting a few weekends ago, I get to practice my Danish quite a bit in Thailand as there are so many Danes there. LOL! Happy Travels!
Aug 5th, 2010, 08:45 PM
#51
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Innsbruck, Austria!! Learn German and experience Tyrolean culture with 20,000+ students at the University in a town of 130,000+. Very friendly, safe, easy to get around with trolleys, buses, bikes and walking. All trolleys and buses on the same plan with cheap weekly or monthly passes. Alpine views and hiking only 12 minutes walk, south from the Uni. Cable cars and trams. Great food and beer. Very clean and very green.
Aug 5th, 2010, 08:53 PM
#52
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@Guenmai : I have to admit Copenhagen looks amazing, and it definitely would be up there with my top choices if it wasn't for the fact that it seems very difficult to enroll in Danish courses at any Universities there. I could live there of course without being enrolled, but it might be hard to get a Visa for anything more than 3 months right? On top of that, what kind of outlets would I have for meeting people and learning the language if I weren't taking classes?
Aug 6th, 2010, 01:19 PM
#53
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dtmowns: I didn't enroll in any university to study Danish in Copenhagen. I was at university here at home, but when I went to Danmark, in the summers, I just enrolled in language school there. I went to regular adult school there and also to K.I.S.S. which is a "really" good language school. I can't remember the name of my adult school, but back then everyone probably went through it.
If you're there longer than 3 months, can't you just leave the country and go somewhere else for a while and then re-enter? That's the way it used to be. I don't know what the laws are now.
As for housing, I stayed at Otto Monsteds Kollegium for a good decade of summers.If one stayed there during the regular school year, then one had to be enrolled full-time at some college or university. It was much easier to stay and study language during the summer months.
My O.M. Kollegium was at Enghave Station of the S-tog (S-train) line which is three short stops from the main train station and the building is also directly across the railroad track from Carlsberg Brewery. I used to watch the workers working and the assembly line from our hallway window.
In summer, the students would rent out their rooms and then I'd just get a room there for 8 weeks and then move in with friends for the remaining 2-3 weeks.
As for meeting Danes, it's not difficult at all. They are a really friendly group. I remember the first day at Otto Monsteds Kollegium, while sitting in the communal kitchen, someone coming up to me and saying, "Why are you sitting in here alone, we need another soccer player outside!". And it was the boys playing and I'm female. But, hey, I joined them, and had a blast. Many of us are still friends to this day and one female friend, from the kollegium, was just here, in L.A., visiting me a few weekends ago. And I was just told that one of our female kollegium friends is now in a high position as the Minister of something or the other in the Danish government. I met some very interesting students there who turned out to be lifelong friends. And I got to practice my Danish,too and got help with my Danish homework. Smiles.
You might be able to sign up for one of the many Adult Ed courses around town. They have all types of classes like dance, art, language, etc... That's a way to meet people. Happy Travels!
If you're there longer than 3 months, can't you just leave the country and go somewhere else for a while and then re-enter? That's the way it used to be. I don't know what the laws are now.
As for housing, I stayed at Otto Monsteds Kollegium for a good decade of summers.If one stayed there during the regular school year, then one had to be enrolled full-time at some college or university. It was much easier to stay and study language during the summer months.
My O.M. Kollegium was at Enghave Station of the S-tog (S-train) line which is three short stops from the main train station and the building is also directly across the railroad track from Carlsberg Brewery. I used to watch the workers working and the assembly line from our hallway window.
In summer, the students would rent out their rooms and then I'd just get a room there for 8 weeks and then move in with friends for the remaining 2-3 weeks.
As for meeting Danes, it's not difficult at all. They are a really friendly group. I remember the first day at Otto Monsteds Kollegium, while sitting in the communal kitchen, someone coming up to me and saying, "Why are you sitting in here alone, we need another soccer player outside!". And it was the boys playing and I'm female. But, hey, I joined them, and had a blast. Many of us are still friends to this day and one female friend, from the kollegium, was just here, in L.A., visiting me a few weekends ago. And I was just told that one of our female kollegium friends is now in a high position as the Minister of something or the other in the Danish government. I met some very interesting students there who turned out to be lifelong friends. And I got to practice my Danish,too and got help with my Danish homework. Smiles.
You might be able to sign up for one of the many Adult Ed courses around town. They have all types of classes like dance, art, language, etc... That's a way to meet people. Happy Travels!
Aug 6th, 2010, 01:35 PM
#54
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OK. I just remembered that the first school I went to was Studieskolen.
I just found a website:
http://www.easyexpat.com/en/copenhag...ge-courses.htm I also just read that supposedly one needs to be a resident to go to Studieskolen or K.I.S.S. When I went, I was a summer resident and that's all I needed to be. And I also read that K.I.S.S. was having some financial problems and the person who wrote the article and also went to the school wrote of it possibly closing. I don't know if it's still open or not. It's been around since at least the 70s, probably longer.
If you go on the above website, maybe you can find more info and maybe there's a forum. I don't have time to read through it all right now. Happy Travels!
I just found a website:
http://www.easyexpat.com/en/copenhag...ge-courses.htm I also just read that supposedly one needs to be a resident to go to Studieskolen or K.I.S.S. When I went, I was a summer resident and that's all I needed to be. And I also read that K.I.S.S. was having some financial problems and the person who wrote the article and also went to the school wrote of it possibly closing. I don't know if it's still open or not. It's been around since at least the 70s, probably longer.
If you go on the above website, maybe you can find more info and maybe there's a forum. I don't have time to read through it all right now. Happy Travels!
Aug 6th, 2010, 01:46 PM
#55
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OK. Here you go. www.kiss.dk:83 They have course listed starting Aug 30, 2010. So, they've obviously weathered the finanacial storm. And they are THE best. They are language boot camp. I only wished that I could have studied for 6 months straight. But, I had to come home at the end of each summer to go back to university here.
I had a close English friend who also went to both Studieskolen and K.I.S.S., She was living and working in Copenhagen at Carlsberg. We lived at the same kollegium at first. For her it was very difficult to learn a second language, but when she got to K.I.S.S., after 3 months it was amazing how much Danish she could speak and understand. I remember where she started from. Happy Travels!
I had a close English friend who also went to both Studieskolen and K.I.S.S., She was living and working in Copenhagen at Carlsberg. We lived at the same kollegium at first. For her it was very difficult to learn a second language, but when she got to K.I.S.S., after 3 months it was amazing how much Danish she could speak and understand. I remember where she started from. Happy Travels!
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