Most disappointing place you've been to
Jul 27, 2015, 7:43 am
#287
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Jul 27, 2015, 9:05 am
#288
Join Date: Jul 2013
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LOL yes but all the other towers (Berlin TV, SkyTree, Kyoto, Eiffel, etc) I'm used to seeing the natural expectation is to have to crane your neck. The first time I just skirted the outside, but the 2nd time I took my Mom for her birthday and we went inside with one of the Yeoman Warders which was really cool.
Jul 27, 2015, 9:35 am
#289
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Jul 27, 2015, 10:05 am
#291
Join Date: Jul 2013
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Your story reminds me of my bitter disappointment on seeing the Hall of Mirrors at Versailles for the first time. I was nine years old, and my mother had described the famous splendor of the place, probably to overcome some reluctance I'd displayed. I had pictured mirrors on two, facing walls, which would have been really cool. Instead, all I saw was a really long room with worn-out mirrors on one wall! Where's the fun in that?
The next time I visited the palace of Versailles was thirty-five years later. It was a chilly fall day and there were very few tourists. I noticed an American couple with a couple of kids. The kids were moping, looking just about as enthusiastic as I'd been on my previous visit. I thought they might pep up a little if I shared my past disappointment, which I proceeded to do, but it didn't seem to help much.
Actually, I wasn't all that much more excited on my second visit to the Palace than I'd been on the first. I didn't actually cry this time though.
Jul 27, 2015, 10:11 am
#292
Join Date: Jun 2014
Location: SYD
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Posts: 490
Oddly I wasn't particularly impressed by the palace itself (Windsor castle made Versaille look like a bungalow in comparison), I had a lot of fun looking at the busts of all the famous French generals, knights, philosophers and kings. I'm weird like that.
Jul 27, 2015, 1:13 pm
#293
Join Date: Jul 2015
Location: YEG
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Brussels.
Dear god, Brussels.
That place is beyond boring, and of the painful time I spent there, 80% of it was spent in a traffic jam. Awful place.
Aside from a couple of quaint little places like Bruges (though frankly, if you've seen the film "In Bruges", you've seen Bruges), Belgium is a place that exists solely for you to travel through or over to reach more interesting countries.
Dear god, Brussels.
That place is beyond boring, and of the painful time I spent there, 80% of it was spent in a traffic jam. Awful place.
Aside from a couple of quaint little places like Bruges (though frankly, if you've seen the film "In Bruges", you've seen Bruges), Belgium is a place that exists solely for you to travel through or over to reach more interesting countries.
I should add Berlin. Not disappointing. I just left on the plane thinking "meh".
Jul 27, 2015, 4:01 pm
#294
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Jul 28, 2015, 9:07 am
#296
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Join Date: Apr 2013
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The Cote d'Azur, including Cannes and Monte Carlo.
Visiting in July probably wasn't a good idea. Crowded, smelly, dirty, touristy, and most especially nerve-wracking to drive. Gotta admit, though, I'm not a beachy type of person.
Overall, found Provence to be by far my least favorite part of France of those I've visited (still yet to visit Alsace, Brittany, Bordeaux and Languedoc-Rousillon).
Visiting in July probably wasn't a good idea. Crowded, smelly, dirty, touristy, and most especially nerve-wracking to drive. Gotta admit, though, I'm not a beachy type of person.
Overall, found Provence to be by far my least favorite part of France of those I've visited (still yet to visit Alsace, Brittany, Bordeaux and Languedoc-Rousillon).
Jul 28, 2015, 9:18 am
#297
Join Date: Jul 2014
Location: ORD
Programs: United 1K (Star Alliance Gold) IHG Platinum
Posts: 226
Two places:
Milan and Seoul.
I knew Milan was industrial, but I was hoping that I'd enjoy it more. It was boring and the drivers were so bad, I was afraid to go anywhere. I know that driving is terrible in many countries, but I'm used to underdeveloped countries where taxis cost pennies on the dollars. I didn't have the budget to take taxis all over Northern Italy, so had to drive. Not great, even when I got out into the countryside.
Seoul was a MAJOR disappointment. Friends had told me that "if you like Tokyo, you'll love Seoul!" Nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from a few interesting sites, I found Seoul to lack all of the charm and excitement of Tokyo. The only thing that's better in Seoul is the food.
Edit to add: Dubai. It was awful! An artificially manufactured oasis in a very boring desert. People are supposed to go for fun, but nearly everything fun is illegal. Most people just hope that they don't get caught and they probably don't if they stay in the designated tourist/expat areas. However, I would prefer to go to some place that's not under Sharia law.
Milan and Seoul.
I knew Milan was industrial, but I was hoping that I'd enjoy it more. It was boring and the drivers were so bad, I was afraid to go anywhere. I know that driving is terrible in many countries, but I'm used to underdeveloped countries where taxis cost pennies on the dollars. I didn't have the budget to take taxis all over Northern Italy, so had to drive. Not great, even when I got out into the countryside.
Seoul was a MAJOR disappointment. Friends had told me that "if you like Tokyo, you'll love Seoul!" Nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from a few interesting sites, I found Seoul to lack all of the charm and excitement of Tokyo. The only thing that's better in Seoul is the food.
Edit to add: Dubai. It was awful! An artificially manufactured oasis in a very boring desert. People are supposed to go for fun, but nearly everything fun is illegal. Most people just hope that they don't get caught and they probably don't if they stay in the designated tourist/expat areas. However, I would prefer to go to some place that's not under Sharia law.
Jul 28, 2015, 10:17 am
#299
formerly known as Tad's Broiled Steaks
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 6,412
Two places:
Seoul was a MAJOR disappointment. Friends had told me that "if you like Tokyo, you'll love Seoul!" Nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from a few interesting sites, I found Seoul to lack all of the charm and excitement of Tokyo. The only thing that's better in Seoul is the food.
Seoul was a MAJOR disappointment. Friends had told me that "if you like Tokyo, you'll love Seoul!" Nothing could be further from the truth. Aside from a few interesting sites, I found Seoul to lack all of the charm and excitement of Tokyo. The only thing that's better in Seoul is the food.
But broadly speaking, the cuisines are extremely different, and wouldn't say that one is better than the other.
WRT Seoul, the only thing I liked about it (thus far) was the Dokdo display at their City Hall. Otherwise, it's just full of itself.