Which arcade should I visit in Europe?

[cheesystick]

Hello,

I am leaving Alaska to go on a month-long tour around Europe. Now, even though we are scheduled to touch down in Copenhagen first, (and we plan to spend at least a week in Sweden), my friend and I don't have many travel arrangements beyond that. We haven't really scheduled "where we are going" yet for the month we have to travel. We are behind on that aspect of the trip.

If I am to be traveling with relative freedom all around Europe, where should I visit in terms of arcades? I wouldn't feel out of my element to go to a specific country for any other reason than to play games, then later doing some sight-seeing and what-have-you.

We have a lot of planning to do, but I would love to squeeze some arcades in during my visit. Please let me know of any recommendations that you may have. I'm obviously not too Europe-savvy.
-Chris

[poloplayr]

Hi,

to be honest I don't know of any good arcades in Sweden, despite being Swedish...but will do some research and get back to you.

Having said that, I know of a rather good one in Copenhagen which I still believe is there. It's called Professor Olsen's Spilleland ('Professor's Olsen's Gameland'). It's located inside a galleria type of shopping/restaurant place, called Scala. It's located very close to the central station and more or less directly opposite of Tivoli, which is a landmark amusement park in the centre of Copenhagen. Come to think of it, there is most likely some arcade arcades inside Tivoli but please note there is an entrance fee to the park.

I believe you pay 100 Danish Kroner as entrance fee, which in turn will be given to you in tokens. When I last was there they still had a good amount of classic games, pinball machines, etc.

According to this site (in Danish) http://www.aok.dk/byen-rundt/professor-olsens-spilleland they are open daily from 11:00am to 12:00pm and here is the location on a map:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie=UTF8&q=scala+copenhagen&fb=1&split=1&gl=uk&cid=9414646004991634564&li=lmd&ll=55.676592,12.565269&spn=0.013503,0.038581&z=15&iwloc=A

[cheesystick]

Tack for din råd, poloplayr. Jag studerade svenska for två år, men jag har glömt mest av vad jag lärde mej. Jag hoppas att genomföra min svenska i praktiken. Det är jätte "rostig" nu. Jag forskarade många ord just att skriva det här.


I hope some of that was intelligible. Anyways, thank you for the advice. I very much appreciate it.
-Chris

[poloplayr]

Whoa, that was more or less perfect. Very impressive! That begs the question: why? Swedish ancestors? Hate to go off topic but you do realise you NEED to go to Stockholm and hang out just for the girls. Seriously, you will thank me. I am blown away every time I go back.

For a preview check out this website that just takes photos every single night from clubs in Stockholm. click on each individual photo to get to more photos from that night/club. http://www.stureplan.se/avd/19/

And should you go to London I guess you already know you need to go to the Trocadero arcade in Leicester Square.

[cheesystick]

Well, unfortunately, England, Scotland, and Ireland can't really be done on our trip. We are on a relatively tight budget. That is why we are hoping to make the most of the rails. I do want to spend a good, long time in Stockholm though. Everyone agrees that Swedish girls are gorgeous, but I have had mixed reviews on how......"outgoing" and they are (I hope you get my drift here). I've heard some people say that they are timid and keep to themselves. I've also heard that here in the USA, the unique, noticeably different guy gets the attention, but in Sweden, I have heard that girls are attracted to guys that are "normal." I've heard you are supposed to talk-up what a normal, average guy you are. I was hoping that I might seem more attractive being the "exotic alaskan," especially because I consider myself very different from most Americans, but I am also not going there just to hook up. But hey, it would be nice....


In college, you must study 2 years of either language or math. I am not bad at math, but I couldn't have a stronger distaste for the work. I studied a little Spanish before (something actually useful) and wanted to do something less run-of-the-mill. My best friend, the one going on the trip with me, is a Swede/American. He grew up back and forth between Sweden and Alaska. His family would always talk in swedish and I became fascinated with the language and the culture, especially because I am a metalhead. I figured that if I had to take a language for school, it might as well be swedish.

Little did I know that it would be fucking hard as hell. I had to take my first year over again, and it was the only subject in college that I can say I really "screwed up." The fact that so little relates to Latin made it very hard for me. Grant it, it is no Japanese, but Spanish, French, or Italian would have been a much easier transition. But I also don't have any natural propensities for learning languages, (hey, every lazy American you've ever met!), and I really struggled with it.

So even though I am fully aware that everyone in the entire country under 65 knows fluent English, I still don't regret my choice. It is a very unique language, and every time I try to bust it out, even when it sucks, Swedes seem very impressed and appreciative of my efforts. However, I start nearly every conversation with "tala langsamt," and trying to understand a Norwegian is like trying to listen to a swede that just got punched in the mouth, ha ha ha.
-Chris

[TRM]

Little did I know that it would be fucking hard as hell. I had to take my first year over again, and it was the only subject in college that I can say I really "screwed up." The fact that so little relates to Latin made it very hard for me. Grant it, it is no Japanese, but Spanish, French, or Italian would have been a much easier transition. But I also don't have any natural propensities for learning languages, (hey, every lazy American you've ever met!), and I really struggled with it.


First my friend, you are very lucky to go to Europe (I wish I had the money to go again), but also I am jealous that your college offers Swedish courses. :) Bah, my university only offers Spanish and French majors/minors, and a minor in German. Grr, now I am upset again at choosing to study at that university, isn't youthful ignorance a bitch?

Anyway, I am a bit surprised that you find Swedish to be difficult to learn. I have heard that for a foreigner, the tonal patterns will be difficult, but I think pronunciation is much more uniform than Danish, and grammar I am guessing is just as easy as Danish or Norwegian...though I haven't studied any of the three, just glossed over a few wikipedia articles about the languages a while back.

As a non Scandanavian speaker, I think I understand parts of what you wrote...please let me know:


Tack for din råd, poloplayr. Jag studerade svenska for två år, men jag har glömt mest av vad jag lärde mej. Jag hoppas att genomföra min svenska i praktiken. Det är jätte "rostig" nu. Jag forskarade många ord just att skriva det här.

Thanks for your advice, poloplayr.

I studied Swedish for two years, men "I" har glömt mest av vad "I" lärde "myself/me".

I hope "att" "genomföra" mine Swedish to practice.

Det (it?) är jätte "rusty now".

I forskarade (understood?) maanga ord just att "write" det här.

Any of that correct? Of course I would understand nothing spoken, but that is another story.

[poloplayr]

First my friend, you are very lucky to go to Europe (I wish I had the money to go again), but also I am jealous that your college offers Swedish courses. :) Bah, my university only offers Spanish and French majors/minors, and a minor in German. Grr, now I am upset again at choosing to study at that university, isn't youthful ignorance a bitch?

Anyway, I am a bit surprised that you find Swedish to be difficult to learn. I have heard that for a foreigner, the tonal patterns will be difficult, but I think pronunciation is much more uniform than Danish, and grammar I am guessing is just as easy as Danish or Norwegian...though I haven't studied any of the three, just glossed over a few wikipedia articles about the languages a while back.

As a non Scandanavian speaker, I think I understand parts of what you wrote...please let me know:



Thanks for your advice, poloplayr.

I studied Swedish for two years, men "I" har glömt mest av vad "I" lärde "myself/me".

I hope "att" "genomföra" mine Swedish to practice.

Det (it?) är jätte "rusty now".

I forskarade (understood?) maanga ord just att "write" det här.

Any of that correct? Of course I would understand nothing spoken, but that is another story.

That is pretty impressive :)