Old vs. New Europe
 

The other day I read about US Def. Sec. Ruimseld's remarks about "old Europe," and without getting into a political debate, it made me think about visiting "new Europe" soon.

This, I assume, wouid be Romania, Poland and some Slavis areas, I want to ask how many people have visited this area, which must be more interesting in many ways than the boring London/Paris/Munnich trips so many Amerians waste their money on.

I believe he would be referring to France and Germany as the old Europe and the former Easter bloc countries as the new Europe.

I have been to the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and the Slovak Republic.

I loved them. Inexpensive, friendly people, great foods and Praguer Budapest and Krakow were wonderful!

I have been to Eastern Germany, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary and Poland. I really like those areas. Before the communists took over the countries, they were genteel, had advanced thinking and culture. The B&B I stayed at in Budapest, the owner was an attorney and the communists said they didn't need attorneys so he became a chemistry professor. His wife was jailed because a suspected contributor to Radio Free Europe was a co-worker. It is interesting to see how it was before, what happened during and to see the different levels of change among the countries. As uncle sam stated, things are less expensive, people are friendly and a lot speak English. I really prefer this area and Berlin to Paris/London, etc.

If you're bored in London, Paris, and Berlin you'll probably be bored no matter which "Europe" you're in. I think what might be called for here is a "new" attitude when you travel and the relization that charcterizing someone's trip that may have been for them, a true "dream trip" as "boring" says volumes about your outlook and sensitivity.

Bootman - if you would read closely Linda's reply, she states "I really prefer this area (Central Europe)AND Berlin, to Paris/London, etc." This is her opinion and she is definitely entitled to her opinion, and says nothing about her outlook or sensitivity. Actually, I tend to agree with her. Though I don't find Paris or London boring, I do find Berlin, Prague, Budapest and even Warsaw more vibrant and alive. I will continue to "waste" my money throughout both "old" and "new" Europe!

I've been in London many times, never ran out of new things to see/do, and was never bored. Fewer trips to Paris, but again, never bored and would like to return.

Also, I've spent time in Hungary and been to Prague -- again without getting bored for lack of interesting opportunity to see-explore-learn. The experience there indeed is different in some ways, and I think some (not necessarily a great lot) knowledge of history makes understanding and appreciation of each country and city better. The same for the differences between them, as well as the commonalities.

The waste in a trip probably comes from scanning without understanding -- sort of the 7-days, 7-countries approach to travel.

Linda never said anything about being bored. She simply said she preferred some countries over others. What is wrong with that?

Bootman, where did you come up with all that from what Linda said?

Wow! Ronald Dumsfeld is actually peaking people's interest in travel to Europe.

Bootman4U was replying to Jacko's comment about "boring London/Paris/Munich trips", not to LindaW's comments.

"New Europe" refers to European countries (well, their governments) that say "how high" when the US commands "jump!" These countries are torn between allegiance to the EU and US money/investments.

Seems pretty obvious to me that Bootman's comments were not directed at Linda but at Jacko's silly and judgmental notion that London/Paris/Munich are boring money wasters.

As far as travelling there, Budapest and Prague are fun, Latvia is not bad, Poland is supposed to be quite ok, people have told me to stay away from Romania, etc.

I should have read more closely...only on my second cup of coffee!! (Excuses) Today is my first day off work (at a school) so I am slowly working my way into the day!!! Yippee!!

Jacko, that was a goofy remark. What did you hope to accomplish by asserting that Americans waste their money in London, Paris, Munich? Although I think it's usually rude to correct typos in someones hastily written stuff, I see a need for an exception. It's:

'Rumsfeld,'
'Munich' (at least the English version is spelled this way), and
'Americans'

Lillehavfrue,

Do you live near the Kastellet?

Snoopy: I escaped! I conned some sucker is taking my place! Nothing more annoying than people taking pictures of you all day...aaaargh!!!

I know quite a number of people who are more interested in Eastern Europe. They have already "done" Western Europe..for them it is time to just move on and see something different.
So what if some people are bored with having visited Western Europe..it is their perogative to try something different.

You would drive a Czech crazy saying that Prague is in Eastern Europe. Czechs have long considered themselves Western European. Prague is further west than Vienna, Athens, or Berlin.

An easy way to divide the Continent is to look at the script used for the local language. If they use Roman script, it is "Western" Europe; Cyrillic, Eastern Europe.

The use of script strongly parallels the allegiances to either the Roman Catholic Church, or the Eastern Orthodox churches.

The distribution of American travellers is curious, when you consider the national origins of Americans. Travel to England and Italy makes sense, but there are very few people of French descent in the USA. On the other hand, the largest number of immigrants have come from Poland and Germany, and Poland is proportionally undervisited.

I personally enjoy the lesser-visited nations myself. BTW, for another "definition" of Eastern Europe, Metternich said that "the East begins at Vienna"!

I'm sorry if my message was misinterpreted and for the spelling errors. What I was trying to say was I thought eastern Europe should be a more popular destination for Americans. I have a friend in Prague I'm visiting soon and my point is I think Eastern Europe presents a good bargin and many interesting things that the average traveler from the US may not be aware of.

Thanks for your replies.

Bootman comes across as an attack dog in many of his posts, not just this one. His style of expression says volumes about his underlying hostility.

JJA3, actually Bootman4U's remarks were pretty tame compared to mine. Im the one who came across as the "attack dog".

Perhaps too often I do misinterpret two dimensional remarks. I can's "see" if Jacko is sneeringly condescending when he says "boring . . .wasting their money" of if he is simply using sarcastic hyperbole to make a point.

Jacko, your last comment implies that you have a legitimate question about something that, to me, was masked by your phrasing. Again, sorry about the "typo" remark.