That’s part of what you missed. From the North Rim, at least, it’s the world’s largest kaleidoscope. You move ten yards along the rim, and the whole picture changes. Not to mention, all the views are pretty damned awesome, at least IMHO.
I agree that the Alamo is somewhat underwhelming, especially since its literally located in the center of such a big city, and in particular it is surrounded by some massive hotels that dwarf it. There’s plenty of other cool stuff to do on the SA riverwalk though, in fact when we go to SA we don’t even bother to stop by the Alamo, which may be some sort of Texas-sized sin.
I’m surprised to see so many mention the Statue of Liberty. I’ve seen it several times and each time it takes my breath away, seems larger and grander than I remembered. Though from the shore it does seem a little small. Up close she really comes alive.
Sure. It made me chuckle though. I haven’t been to the CN tower in maybe 10 years. I like it! Maybe it’s gone down hill in the last decade?
You know, the more I think about it, the more I realize that my views aren’t entirely in line with what the OP was asking for. It’s not that I think the Grand Canyon is over-hyped or anything. It’s just not something that struck me beyond the initial awe of its age and size. I wasn’t interested in exploring further. But that doesn’t mean I can’t understand why other people love it.
So I will retract my comment about the Grand Canyon in this thread, particularly when I think about how we went from there to Meteor Crater, which really IS just a giant hole in the ground (although interesting for entirely different reasons).
I can’t & won’t say that, but I still thought that Cinderella’s castle would be so very much bigger. I was very disappointed.
Good thing you can drink your way around Epcot Lake to drown your sorrows…
Maybe that’s what the animated Tinkerbelle was doing every Sunday night at 7:30pm while I was growing up.
Doink! “Reducto…!” Doink! “Reducto…!” Doink! “Reducto…!”
Maybe that Merlin Perkins guy thought she was reducing premiums instead…
Edited to add: No, I’ve never seen Tinkerbelle or any woman in her costume drinking her way around Epcot Lake.
I believe in Faerie Binges…!
I believe in Faerie Binges…!
I believe in Faerie Binges…!
I have to say thatDealey Plaza
was completely underwhelming.
It’s just a street intersection… really just a stretch of a road (Elm), with some X-es painted as to where various folks were shot.
Much smaller looking, and uninteresting than I’d expected.
I’m curious why you’d think that it wasn’t going to be just a regular bit of street? Were you expecting a grassy knoll theme ride or something?
Ahem. . . The World Showcase Lagoon.
That is all.
Well… the Zapruder film gives the impression that it’s a rather large area, and most documentaries and books imply that Oswald’s shot was some kind of crazy, Carlos Hathcock-esque shot, when in reality, it’s pretty small, the shot’s only 100 yards at the most.
I guess when they describe the place in such detail, it’s kind of underwhelming when you see that the “grassy knoll” is just a small little bump, and that it seems more like a potshot than anything else.
No, you are absolutely correct about that. One of most successful threads ever, “What famous thing surprised you when you saw it in person?” was similar to this thread and Dealy Plaza was my number one most surprising landmark that I have even seen. It wasn’t underwhelming, it was overwhelming but ironically for the same reason you gave. It is TINY compared to what it seems to be on documentaries and made me look at the conspiracy theories in a completely different way. I always imagined Oswald making improbably long shots with possibly other things going on in the distance. I didn’t realize that you could throw a rock and hit Kennedy from the Texas School Book Depository building or hold a conversation between people standing at the fabled points as long as the traffic is light.
The other thing you realize, when you visit Dealey Plaza in person, is that the Grassy Knoll and the parking lot behind it were very exposed. The pictures taken from in front of the knoll make the fence look like an ideal spot for concealment, but it wasn’t. Standing on the pergola from where Zapruder shot his film, you have a clear view of everything going on behind the fence. There is no-how, no-way that a person would be able to fire shots from there and not be seen.
Oh, gotpasswords! No!
One of my favorite out-of-town trips is to take the Vallejo ferry (Baylink) to the Ferry Bldg. in San Francisco to meet my Bay Area friends who take ferries from Larkspur Landing and Jack London Square. We all arrive within minutes of each other, have lunch, stroll the Farmer’s Market and perhaps wander around Embarcadero Center if we have time before heading home.
Taking the ferry from Vallejo is an incredible trip. There is one point where you can see the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, the Golden Gate and the Bay Bridge - breathtaking. Parking at Vallejo is free; the round trip charge is $15.00.
Pier 39 is crap but the Ferry Bldg., newly renovated, is wonderful.
A few weeks ago I met some friends at the Jack London Square ferry (we all went to Catholic girls’ high school in Oakland a million years ago) - it happened to be the Gay Pride weekend. We were entertained by shouts of, “We’re fairies on the ferry!”
I wanna’ move back home but sadly can’t afford it.
The Little Mermaid in Copenhagen is, well, really little.
Plymouth Rock… its just a freakin’ rock!! The town of Plymouth, Mass is very bland and BORING
Thermopylae in Greece is underwhelming. There’s really nothing left… it’s just a parking lot next to the road, with some modern monuments. Not surprising, but disappointing since every other ancient site you see in Greece has ruins and such.
Hey, you drink two of every country on that damn lagoon’s representative alcohol and then try and say “The World Showcase Lagoon”. You’d be lucky if you weren’t found chasing the pig behind Johnny Depp on the ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ ride…
…and no, it’s Not Kiera Knightley.
London Bridge
I’ve said this before, but: Montreal’s Underground City.
How many times have I talked with tourists, agog with wonder and anticipation at this miracle of engineering, possibly some sort of mystical series of subterranean grottoes, perhaps staffed by Oompa-Loompas? “Where is the Underground City?” they cry. “How can I get to the Underground City?”
How their faces fall when I must tell them: it’s a series of malls. Connected by tunnels. Some office buildings and metro stations, too. Yes, it’s very useful in the winter, and it’s rather cool we have the biggest one, but there honestly is nothign to see, unless you like food courts.
London Bridge is an ordinary stone-arch bridge of no particular distinction, architectural or otherwise. It isn’t “overrated” because it isn’t “rated” in the first place.
Some people confuse it with Tower Bridge, which *is * a well-known London landmark. Could this be what you mean? (Apologies in advance if you know all this).
For me it is “Taj Mahal” - I saw him at the Ice House in Reno and was totally underwhelmed, of course they were having trouble with the sound system, but still - wonder of the world? I think not.