Travel Tips for SAIICA 2009
FAQs and Tips for the 2009 SAIICA1. Where will we be staying?Austria:The Sommerhaus Hotel (also known as the Raabheim) Dubrovnik:Hotel Astarea 2. What Facilities are available at/near the Sommerhaus Hotel in Linz?
3. What about clothes?In general the dress is casual for classes during the program. However, for visits to the arbitration courts professional dress is required (i.e. “court clothes”). Northern Europe is generally cooler than Atlanta particularly in the evenings but can also get quite warm during the day (especially in Venice). Think layers. A sweater or warm jacket would be a good idea, as well as rain gear (folding umbrella, rain coat). Note: So far this year, Germany and Austria have had a cooler than normal spring. So while there are no guarantees, it is a safe guess that it might be also somewhat cool in May. Keep an eye on the weather in Linz as it gets closer to your departure date. (http://www.weather.com or http://www.weatherunderground.com ) Important shoe tip: For our trips to the courts, professional dress is required (suits for men and equivalent for women). BUT REMEMBER that we may be doing a fair amount of walking before we get to the court. So, high-heeled shoes might not be the most comfortable or best option. Try to find shoes that go well with your suit but in which you can still walk good distances (even over cobblestones). 4. Rail Companies
5. Other Tips:Disclaimer: none of the following information is intended to be an endorsement or guarantee of any product or company mentioned below. The information is intended merely to make the student aware of various options utilized by students in past classes. Invest in/borrow a general guidebook and phrasebook. (German, Italian, and Croatian) For example, several students on past trips have used the Rick Steves guides www.ricksteves.com , Lonely Planet guides or Forder’s Guides. Staying in touch: Students in the past have maintained contact with home using SKYPE- www.skype.com For best results use a webcam (if your laptop doesn’t already come with one) and headphones/microphone set (this helps eliminate any echoes that occur when using Skype with the built-in microphones and speakers.) Amazon.com has a variety of webcams and headsets available for reasonable prices. Some inexpensive but fairly good headsets are sold by Amazon.com Same goes for webcams; simply search on Amazon. Here are a few (again prices subject to change):
Cell Phones: There are several options:
If you will be bringing electrical devices, check to see what kind of power requirements they have. The US works off of a 110V standard, while Europe uses a 220V standard. This means if you plug in your standard 110V electronic device in Europe without converting the power, it will overload. Adapters and Converters can be purchased online, at travel stores (like REI) or even Target. A good option is Radio Shack; unlike Target and most other stores salespeople at Radio Shack usually are knowledgeable and can answer your Converter/Adapter questions. You can purchase your Adapters individually for each country or simply buy a set that contains adapters for most of the world. For example Eagle Creek 5 Piece Adapter Set: http://www.rei.com/product/720388 Power/Plug Adapters: These are essentially plug adapters that allow you plug into a foreign power socket. They do not convert the voltage, however! You’ll need the Power Converter for that. For Austria, Germany and Croatia: You’ll need a “US to Northern Europe” adapter. (Or a US to Continental Europe adapter- some adapter kits don’t distinguish between Northern and Southern Europe) For Venice and Milan: In theory, you should be able to use the same adapter as for the rest of Europe. Some students last year, however, had problems in their Venice hotels; the Northern Europe adapter were slightly too large, but the “US to Southern Europe” adapters worked perfectly. (See above about the Continental Europe adapter- hopefully this will work in both Northern and Southern Europe). The Eagle Creek 5 Piece Adapter Set mentioned above has the “US to Southern Europe” adapter. Power Converters: These devices reduce the voltage that reaches the device. When do I need an Adapter and when do I need a converter?
Tip: Try to avoid bringing devices that require Power Converters. The converters are somewhat bulky, and, more important, can be unreliable. Travel Alarm: We will have classes in the morning and be leaving for trips even earlier in the morning. Bring some sort of alarm device that you will both wake up to and get out of bed for! Cash/Currency: It is rather expensive to exchange dollars for Euros in the U.S., so it would probably be best to exchange only a small amount (for taxi, train fares, etc.) either at the airport before leaving or better yet at the airport of entry. For larger amounts, it usually less expensive to exchange currency at banks away from the airport. ·ATMs are also a good way to acquire cash and often less expensive. Just be sure to check with your bank about PINs and transaction fees. (With respect to fees, it is usually best to make fewer but larger withdrawals rather than several smaller ones.) Here is a useful currency converter: http://www.oanda.com/convert/classic ATM/Credit Cards: Most U.S. credit and ATM cards will work in Europe. Be sure to confirm with your bank, however. Also, it is a good idea to notify your credit card company that you will be travelling abroad. Often, credit card companies will see the foreign transactions and lock the account until they can confirm with the cardholder that the transactions are not fraudulent. Hotels: Look into online booking sites (e.g. http://www.Hotels.com or http://www.tripadvisor.com , etc.) for hotels/hostels in our destination cities.
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