How come no one ever talks about Eastern Europe? (jobs, Romanians, Russian)

[Gudra]

What language would that be ? Many focus only on Russsians in East Europe and Swedes in Nordic land s because they have limited general knowledge.

[Trimac20]

I agree, a lot of discussion about E. Europe on here.

[BIMBAM]

Originally Posted by Gudra

What language would that be ? Many focus only on Russsians in East Europe and Swedes in Nordic land s because they have limited general knowledge.

I learned to speak Czech so I could travel in that beautiful country for awhile. I've also been to Slovakia. I didn't become fluent, but I learned it to a pretty good level for being self taught in Canada from a library book + free internet sites. I did pretty well there and could have basic conversations with locals, although it was tough to get an ear for it having never been to the Czech Republic ever before. When in Canada, I tried to get an ear by watching youtube videos, but it only took me so far. I was lucky in that so many more Czechs than I expected were able to speak English, even in small, rural towns! This was a surprise to me as the country was behind the iron curtain so long and in my home province of Quebec most people don't speak English very well outside of Montreal and Gatineau.

[BigCityDreamer]

I'm really interested in visiting eastern Europe. Never been there, so it would be a completely fresh experience for me.

Been hearing about Prague a lot over the years. Maybe that's a good city to start with?

[chielgirl]

Prague is a wonderful city in Eastern Europe to use as a start.
It's beautiful, easy and tourist friendly.
I go to Prague every 6 weeks or so.
(It's a day trip from where I live).

[patrix542]

huh some "eastern" european countries are very popular such as poland, czech rep, croatia and hungary

[chielgirl]

Lithuania should be also! I'm so enjoying my travels in the Balkan States.

[mikmaq32]

For me and this is just a rural canadian perspective it reduces to 4 issues(excluding russia).

1) East europe is relatively poor, and gets overlooked versus northern europe/japan/USA etc.

2) The demographics are not on it's side, a population that isn't growing, and that fact that it's a bunch of small countries versus one big one.

3) Back to demographics, when east european immigrate, they generally assimilate rather quickly there just another group of white people.

4) Its western culture means that there is nothing exotic or strange that can easily be picked up on without understanding the language.

[JL]

Originally Posted by chielgirl

Prague is a wonderful city in Eastern Europe to use as a start.
It's beautiful, easy and tourist friendly.
I go to Prague every 6 weeks or so.
(It's a day trip from where I live).

I might go this Fall and it will be my first time in E. Europe. What are some museums, landmarks, restaurants, off the path, etc. that you would recommend? Would 5 days be enough to soak in the culture, people, etc. there? I don't want to make the same mistake in Spain going for essentially 9 days covering Madrid, Sevilla, Granada, and Barcelona. Thanks.

[chielgirl]

JL, I'm about to leave Vilnius for Warsaw.

Can I address this later?
5 days is easily enough and will get you to another place or two.
Alfons Mucha, The Slave Epic is worth the trip in itself and should be on display in Prague.