Shrug, they’ve been The tourist destination since Byron’s times (and a huge travel destination for other reasons before the word “tourism” got invented) - they have some of the worst hotels out there, and can’t really see the point of updating installations. After all, why spend money on that when people go anyway?
Buh? New York City is one of the only places where having a car is a detriment. The majority of people get around by walking or by taking the subway. It is absolutely a town for pedestrians.
Ah, I think I see the issue.
Compared to other US cities I’d agree that NY is easier to navigate without a car. The distinguishing feature of many US cities is that you absolutely have to have a car to get anywhere. In Europe we sort of take it for granted that there will be buses and trains so we wouldn’t think that that alone makes a city good for pedestrians. I accept that in the US you may find NY exceptional in that way.
So I’m more concerned with the aesthetic pleasure of walking, and the things to see, the changes in scenery and architecture. And that is greater in other cities.
Interesting… an entire U-boat, you say? And an actual Tyrannosaurus Rex skeleton? If I ever make my way to Chicago I shall definitely have to check those out.
The U-boat is awesome. They basically built the rest of the museum around it. (Physically, I mean.) You can go on a little tour through the inside and everything. Well worth the price of admission.
While I found Londoin fascinating, I have to admit that I was underwhelmed by the Crown Jewels. The sceptres, crowns, and ceremonial objects were interesting. However, the gold plate–the salad bowls and whatnot–didn’t impress me. Yes, it’s real gold, and there’s a lot of it. But it just looks like trailer-park bling to me: quantity instead of quality.
On the other hand, the First Star of Africa diamond, set in the Queen’s sceptre, was utterly amazing.
On the third hand, the way the exhibit was set up was a little unsettling. You enter the room and step on a moving sidewalk (gold-plated, with the Queen’s initials), and stand there as it whisks you past the treasure. You can duck back via a separate passageway if you want another look, but you cannot stand still in front of the Crown Jewels.
I’ll agree that this is surprisingly boring. I was there on 12/31/1999, which I consider pretty definitive. I expected more cameraderie, but it was really just a massive crowd and no real interaction beyond counting down from ten.
That said, I had a hell of a lot of fun doing other things that night. But Times Square on NYE is just as boring as it is any other time, I reckon. Oh, and the police move everyone out right afterwards – the REAL “gathering” is the huge hassle it is to clean up all the crap people leave behind. It was somewhat fascinating to see these regimented brigades of sweepers appear, along with very strategic policing (“Move along, folks. If you’re going Uptown, I recommend…”)…they clear out Times Square and get it shined up for the next day, when it becomes…whatever it is that Times Square is. Backdrop-slash-Flagship-Billboard, I guess.
Clairobscure, thanks very much- I loved that painting but never knew what it was even though I bought all the guide books. And there was another- The Money Lenders or something.
Mona Lisa seemed pretty small compared to those. I was one of the tourists taking pictures though…
In Dublin, that statue of Molly Malone is just gross. As is most of Dublin, apart from Trinity College. Temple Bar is disgusting.
The one monument that wins hands down as the most vapid, shitty monument on earth is that of Dodi and Diana at Harrods.
Temple Bar was a designed tourist trap and I don’t understand its popularity at all. There are plenty of parts of Dublin that aren’t gross but where few tourists ever go.
Well, I had a nice time in Dublin. I went to some museums, and from there, I wandered around and got wildly lost and just looked at the city. It was very cool, except when I found myself in a pretty sketchy-looking industrial area which was definitely not a tourist area.
I loved the week I spent in Dublin, but the best thing we did in the week we were there was go on a tour of the Gaol. I had the same experience as you, with a friendly, knowledgeable guide who was politely unphased by our utter ignorance of modern Irish history.
We avoided (on the edvice of everyone we met and every guidebook I’ve ever met) Temple Bar, and found ourselves in a lot of nice pubs. Terrible food though. I don’t know why - maybe our luck was against us. But In six days we didn’t have a decent meal, unless you counted the Guinness.
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The one monument that wins hands down as the most vapid, shitty monument on earth is that of Dodi and Diana at Harrods.
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But it’s so awful it’s amazing, right? I love the undiluted madness of it.
Pisa. I’ll be damned. It’s leaning (it was kind of cool to climb up, I admit).
Oh yeah, there’s a horde of Chinese vendors selling tat.
Now what??
(Not entirely fair – lucked into a much-better-than-expected artisanal restaurant in an old warehouse – and had a decent hotel with a view of the Tower).
But having come from Venice and Florence – big letdown, not really worth the trip.
*slight hijack. It seems to only be fair that if you are looking for a beach vacation where you drink all day long and lie in the sun, then it’s not proper to come on here and say how much you think Alaska sucks. Or you wanted to go cross country skiing and Florida really disappointed you. Obviously you think that.
I’m not the OP, but I’m sure that the spirit of the thread was a vacation destination that is within your sphere of interest.
I was going to come on here and nominate Disney, but that would violate my own rule. My daughter loves Disney and that’s who they build the parks for, not me.
Sadly, that has probably changed significantly.
Sherwood Forest now consists of 5 trees and a souvenir shop (or at least it did when I was there 20 years ago). Nottingham was a non-descript town and its castle was lackluster, at best. If I was Robin Hood, I would have let the sheriff have the place and moved to York. That was a much nicer city to visit.
We spent six weeks travelling through Italy at one point - loved so much of it so dearly. Rome was our last stop, and the city we flew home from, and something I was pretty excited for. It was absolutely terrible, especially compared to other Italian cities we had fallen in love with. My husband and I always joke about French men, and how they’ll barely wait for him to turn his back before asking me out for some coffee with bedroom eyes… in Rome there was nothing to joke about. If my husband didn’t have his arm around my shoulder and his tongue down my throat at virtually all times the men would invade my personal space to a ridiculous degree, including grabbing my arm with a firm grip and pulling me hard towards themselves. It was stinking hot, obviously not the fault of Rome, but it was nearly impossible to figure out what to wear - anything temperature appropriate just made the violations of space and decency more frequent. I took almost no pictures because letting go of my husband even for half a minute was frightening. The food was garbage compared to the rest of the country, including restaurants that had been recommendations from friends who had lived there. Such a terrible way to end a trip, and a city we’ve never even talked about returning to. Why would you go, when there are so many fantastic Italian places to see?
Well I never said the ENTIRE country of Belize was awful. Obvioulsy I just mean the area we were at, which was Belize City.
I was also disappointed in Rome, but completely acknowledge it was our own fault. We also ended a long trip through Italy (driving ourselves most of the way) in Rome and we were exhausted by the time we got there. Other than the Vatican (which we loved) our hearts just weren’t in it anymore by that point. We ate at the Hard Rock Cafe one night of all places (I was absolutely craving a cheeseburger by then.) I would love to go back and start a trip there. I’m sure it’s amazing in the right frame of mind. On the other hand, I loved Venice, which I hear many people complain about.
I would have to say Bali. I didn’t stay in a plush resort, I wouldn’t have to fly halfway around the world to do that. I stayed near Kuta Beach and did different day-trips around the island, and the whole place was filthy and annoying. I found Bali to be worse than many of the third-world shitholes that I have visited. French Polynesia sucks too! Save the money and go to Hawaii.
I think I see the problem. 