Eastern Europe - Page 3

I have some time on my hands now.

First rent:

For around 500-600 euros (1 euro=1.37$), you will get a pretty baller flat near the city centre 60-80 sqm.

Internet:

1000 mbps for < 15 euros. Nuff said.

A meal out at an above avg place:

~20 euros with dessert and wine

About the ciity - you can see the remainders of the communism, many gray buildings, however there are quite a few things to see. Also lots of parks, in like every district of the city. People are pretty friendly and if you dont go to the suburbs you wont meet more douchebags than in any other city. There are some thieves and people who want to make a free dollar off of your back, but usually these people approach you with an offer -like a cheap taxi ride, mobile phones for sell, perfumes, w/e. Just ignore those, thats the best thing.

A huge minus for me is the possibility of earthquakes. There are many bulidings in an atrocius shape and in case of a 7+ magnitude earthquake (wouldnt be the first time), there will be many victims unfortunately.

Plovdiv is a pretty cool place with aloooooot of history. It is one of the oldest cities in the world.

Weather is pretty good year round (winters are not too cold usually, summers can get a bit hot but meh).

Cost of living is way below what you are used to coming from the states.

You can get a pretty nice apartment in a building complex (own parking etc.) for 300~400 EUR.

apartment example

I live in a similar apartment in the same building and it has all you need and more at a good price.

I can probably show you around (if free) if you decide to visit.

Should you choose Budapest (which is one of the best options imo), I could show you around a little if I'm free from work. Depends on what you want to see / know. E.g. I'm not much of a party-goer myself, but I can give you directions or recommendations. Budapest is very famous for its' night life which foreigners apparently seem to love

A few pros off the top of my head:
- great night life (make sure to stay near the city center, there are a few very nice / baller places which would be cheap for a wealthy western poker player, and the night life is all here)
- the river Danube splitting the city in half is a sight to behold, really. Lived here all my life and I'm still in awe whenever I cross a bridge.
- you can communicate with most younger folk in English, although I don't think you can have meaningful conversations with the majority. But you can get around with it for sure, especially in the center.
- plenty of easy girls who'd jump at the chance to be with a good-looking, young, rich foreigner if that's your taste (we have one of the highest porn-"stars" per capita, too! Yay!)

Hit me up if you're interested

On April 09 2014 11:24 Hoolz_1907 wrote: I'm surprised no one has mentioned this yet but I would definitely check out Slovenia. It's more central europe I suppose but it's beautiful and very green. http://www.neverendingvoyage.com/slovenia-europes-best-kept-secret/ (It's not mine but it describes a few highlights of the country pretty well). The population under 40 generally speaks English very well.

that looks so sweeeeeet

If you decide to come to Bulgaria I can show you around. just PM me

I don't see how major Eastern Europe cities would be a drastic change in terms of american culture influence compared to small/medium sized cities in France, Spain, Italy or wherever really.
Even big cities, I mean how is Prague so much different than Barcelona in terms of american culture?

Not much. I get what Marshall is thinking about not wanting to live in any kind of westernized country (or whatever you want to call it) but Western European countries are not at all like California (or America for that matter) culture-wise. I have no clue how much you have travelled Marshall, but maybe your frame of reference is skewed? If you really want to know what a good place to live is, why not do a trip around Europe? Lots of good stuff to see, you have the time/money and then you can decide which country most feels like it could be a home to you.

In any case, I think the countries where most people speak decent to fluent English are.. Great Britain (obviously), Scandinavian countries, Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein... that might pretty much be it of the top of my head.

Come to Slovakia! We have nice hostels apparently...

What's so bad about living in socal? You speak the language and know your way around. If you really need to get out it might be better for a nice week long vacation somewhere. If ur life sucks in Cali then it's going to suck in budapest czech republic estonia or wherever the fk ur tryin to move to

On April 09 2014 19:49 Twisted wrote: Not much. I get what Marshall is thinking about not wanting to live in any kind of westernized country (or whatever you want to call it) but Western European countries are not at all like California (or America for that matter) culture-wise. I have no clue how much you have travelled Marshall, but maybe your frame of reference is skewed? If you really want to know what a good place to live is, why not do a trip around Europe? Lots of good stuff to see, you have the time/money and then you can decide which country most feels like it could be a home to you. In any case, I think the countries where most people speak decent to fluent English are.. Great Britain (obviously), Scandinavian countries, Netherlands Belgium Luxembourg, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Liechtenstein... that might pretty much be it of the top of my head.

+1

Once you leave North America, you'll be free of the american culture you're trying to get away from

On April 10 2014 02:56 RaiNKhAN wrote: What's so bad about living in socal? You speak the language and know your way around. If you really need to get out it might be better for a nice week long vacation somewhere. If ur life sucks in Cali then it's going to suck in budapest czech republic estonia or wherever the fk ur tryin to move to

I get where you are coming from saying what you did. 95.5% of my friends and acquaintances who have stayed abroad for work or leisure for an extended period of time (past 3 months) all value the life experience highly. I'd guess more people from eastern europe would move to socal than from socal to eastern europe and one could argue there's a point to be made here. Eastern Europe is definitely a good destination without falling off the earth entirely.