Speaking of the statue of the urinating little boy in Brussels, I was underwhelmed by the entire country of Belgium for various reasons, as I previously mentioned on the SDMB. I won’t go back to that hellhole ever again.
I was in NYC at the height of the “Cronut” craze and my hotel was in walking distance of the bakery. Huge line around the block. Meh, it was a decent baked good.
Di Fara Pizza, also in NYC. Took a subway all the way there and about a 1 hour wait for 2 slices. Meh, nice example of NY pizza but not worth the trip.
A lot have been mentioned, over-exposed tourist attractions in particular.
In terms of food and drink:
- beignets in New Orleans at Cafe du Monde Huge wait, terrible service, had better beignets in many other places
- Much of San Francisco (with the notable exception of the Golden Gate Bridge)
- Katz’s Deli
- Eataly, just so pretentious
You may have missed them, so here are three things that count for Belgium:
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The fries. They may be called “French” fries in America, but that’s a misnomer, because the Belgians invented them and still make the best.
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The beer. Every pub or bar in every little town has at least 10 different beers on tap, one better than the other.
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The chocolate. Step into a Belgian chocolaterie, and you’re in Heaven.
And more fabulous things from Belgium…
- The city of Ghent
4a. The city of Antwerp
(apologies, you can have the post back now).
j
What I was going to say was, never been to Plymouth Rock; I’ll take the hint and keep it that way.
And, returning the favor, The Mayflower Steps in Plymouth are not worth crossing the road to look at. They are indeed… steps.
Oh, and another fabulous Belgian thing
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The Menin gate and the city of Ypres. If you can keep it together during The Last Post, there’s something wrong with you.
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How could I forget? Waterzooi.
j
I hate to give it a bad review, but the Nevada State Museum was a serious let-down. It’s housed in a very cool building that was the old Mint in downtown Carson City. Now, it being the old Mint, it was like a freakin’ fortress, with big steel shutters on the windows. Which, for some reason were closed when I went. It was chock-full of all kind of cool Nevada stuff, but it seemed like each large room was illuminated by a single 40-watt bulb suspended 20 feet in the air. You couldn’t see shit! Dark as the inside of an Elephant!
Would it kill us to turn on some lights???
Yes, it’s depressing and maddening.
Also the city of Bruges. Yeah, I know that @Ponch8 visited and was underwhelmed, but they admitted to have had a cold and been miserable, so that’s the only explanation I can imagine. For me, the inner old town of Bruges was one of the prettiest I’ve been to, and there were also some of the best art museums I’ve visited.
We walked by the water at Bruges (again, birdwatching) and it was delightful.
Undelightful was my first and last Krispy Kreme, an insipid collapsing mouthful of toxically sweet warm goo.
Yeah, I’ve never gotten the love for them and I rather like most bog standard chain-doughnuts, like a Winchell’s or something. How do you fuck up a doughnut? Maybe if I had been introduced to Krispy Kreme when I was ten they’d be a nostalgia thing today. But I had my first when I was already an adult and my sweet-tooth had faded a bit. I’ve given them a fresh look several times but, nope - I just don’t like them.
My grandfather was from Namur, Belgium.
I took a solo trip to the country several years ago.
I’ve traveled there a couple other times with other people since then as well.
Some things were not so great but others were well worth the trip.
Antwerp was phenomenal - the train station was a wondrous delight. The Red Star Line Museum was one of my favorite stops.
Brugge was lovely. First time I took a canal boat ride and another time did a tour with a horse/carriage. Bought some gorgeous lace.
Did not like Waterzooi lol.
Some of the people were less than helpful including one particularly animated train conductor who screamed at me in from of everyone about my ticket. Once he realized I was a foreigner who had very little idea about how trains operated he backed down but I was mortified. It’s a long story lol.
I’ll give the home of ancestors a 7/10.
I was in Bruges a couple of weeks ago and loved it. The food was good, the architecture was gorgeous, and the people were really nice. An old lady in a laundromat stepped in to help us when we couldn’t understand the instructions. Another lady in a chocolate shop comforted me when I was crying after the election. One thing I particularly noticed was a hush over everything. It was so beautifully quiet.
You were at the second best place to soothe your soul. Only place better would have been a Belgian pub. 
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse.
So the steak is just covered in butter?
And each side is a la carte?
Meh.
I also once went to the place listed in GQ magazine as having the best hamburger in America. It then got the Oprah treatment.
Le Tub in Hollywood, Florida.
I had to wait 45 minutes after I ordered for it to arrive.
It was fine.
With a proper bun, fresh ingredients, and a backyard charcoal grill, you can do better.
Unfortunately, reality is everywhere not as good as people say it is.
The afterlife has nothing to offer. Considering all of that heaven claptrap, I’d say it’s even more of a letdown.
(Which reminds me of this)
I hate to say this, but: New Orleans.
To be entirely fair, I’ve never been there for pleasure – I’ve visited there three times, all of them for work. So, I never had a chance to see anything beyond downtown, the French Quarter, and the airport; if I had the chance to see some of the city beyond the touristy stuff, I might change my mind.
First, my impression was that it was eternally damp and mildewy, and a whole lot of it felt sort of run-down. And, while walking through the French Quarter, a given block seemed to looked like this:
- Amazing Michelin-star restaurant
- Tourist bar with loud music blaring out of it
- Souvenir shop
- Strip club
- Tourist bar
- Souvenir shop
- Another amazing restaurant
And, of course, absolutely blitzed tourists walking up and down the street.
Pervasive smell of vomit.
I’ll say Pompeii.
I understand what a remarkable site it is historically, and the fact that is is such a large and nearly complete site makes it highly significant - I knew all that before I went (and I wanted to go). But when you are actually there - it’s just more ruins. I don’t know what I expected, but I think with all the build up, and the fact that everyone knows about it, and it’s on everyone’s list of ‘must-dos’ - I think I was waiting for something more.