What countries have you visited, and how would you describe them?
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Aww, why don't you like Chicago?
USA (Illinois/Missouri/Kansas): Certainly big... wide....strangly centerless.... friendly and hospitable people, curious people in a nice way, many cultures meeting, hot and humid, very sweet food...as sweet as I never knew it existed before, fast food, BUT some Americans proved to me they can cook perfectly fine, healthy natural food, that tasted great.
Italy: Beautiful countryside, beautiful buildings, great food.
Spanish Island: Hot, beach and water, the clearest and bright bluest I have ever seen, nice walks by the coast.
Denmark: Lots of fresh air, beautiful beaches, woods and wild ocean.
England: Great coastline, the food is not as bad as said, I liked it, friendly people, beautiful countryside, cute houses, great atmoshere.
Scotland: Stunningly beautiful, charming old grey buildings, sheep, welcoming people.
Poland: Terrible car drivers, beautiful countryside, some really beautiful buildings, lots and lots of food (was there because of a marriage) and funny dances in big groups.
TerokNor
Italy: Beautiful countryside, beautiful buildings, great food.
Spanish Island: Hot, beach and water, the clearest and bright bluest I have ever seen, nice walks by the coast.
Denmark: Lots of fresh air, beautiful beaches, woods and wild ocean.
England: Great coastline, the food is not as bad as said, I liked it, friendly people, beautiful countryside, cute houses, great atmoshere.
Scotland: Stunningly beautiful, charming old grey buildings, sheep, welcoming people.
Poland: Terrible car drivers, beautiful countryside, some really beautiful buildings, lots and lots of food (was there because of a marriage) and funny dances in big groups.
TerokNor
Germany - clean and efficient. Great meat and potatoes.
Kenya - breathtaking wildlife, gorgeous place as long as you stay out of Nairobi.
Dominican republic - unbelievably postcard perfect beaches, a paradise, lots of German tourists, friendly happy people.
Netherlands - picturesque, orderly, cycling everywhere nearly ended me
, greatest cycling infrastructure I've ever seen, the smaller towns are extremely unwelcoming if you look obviously foreign and do not speak the language, beautiful people - I've never seen so many tall, athletic people in one place!
Italy - La dolce vita, enough said, Venice is my spiritual home, I have vowed to pilgrimage there as often as possible.
Russia - spent a couple of days in Moscow while in transit, stayed in the outskirts of the city, made the mistake of passing through in the winter, painfully cold, tallest trees I've ever seen
Covered several parts of Europe during a couple of road trips...
France - not very clean or friendly, quite an anticlimax
Belgium - very tasty strong beer, extremely friendly, multi-lingual people
Switzerland - expensive, absolutely beautiful, incredible lakes
Luxembourg - tiny, blink and you miss it, wet, foggy
Kenya - breathtaking wildlife, gorgeous place as long as you stay out of Nairobi.
Dominican republic - unbelievably postcard perfect beaches, a paradise, lots of German tourists, friendly happy people.
Netherlands - picturesque, orderly, cycling everywhere nearly ended me
, greatest cycling infrastructure I've ever seen, the smaller towns are extremely unwelcoming if you look obviously foreign and do not speak the language, beautiful people - I've never seen so many tall, athletic people in one place!Italy - La dolce vita, enough said, Venice is my spiritual home, I have vowed to pilgrimage there as often as possible.
Russia - spent a couple of days in Moscow while in transit, stayed in the outskirts of the city, made the mistake of passing through in the winter, painfully cold, tallest trees I've ever seen
Covered several parts of Europe during a couple of road trips...
France - not very clean or friendly, quite an anticlimax
Belgium - very tasty strong beer, extremely friendly, multi-lingual people
Switzerland - expensive, absolutely beautiful, incredible lakes
Luxembourg - tiny, blink and you miss it, wet, foggy
Wow, that's surprising. When was the last time you were there? Because if it was the New York of the 80s or early 90s, it's really not the same place as it is today. It's actually a very safe and incredibly fun city (though expensive).
The only thing I would suggest about New York is, if you're going to go, give yourself plenty of time. I went on a roadtrip with a friend a few years back, and we only stayed in New York for a single day. It was enough time to wander around, but it didn't really give us the chance to do anything. New York should be a vacation unto itself.
Italy: Been to Bologna several times for business. They have wonderful, wonderful food (love their pasta Bolognese) and the Piazza Maggiore has some beautiful old buildings. I wish I'd had my digital camera back then.
I suggest exactly the opposite.I love New York. It's the only place I go on vacation. And I thought that even before I got hooked on baseball (people keep asking me why I'm a fan of both the Yankees and Mets? There's your reason).
Getting stuck at Penn Station for 12 hours and trying to find Port Authority in a rainstorm at 1 AM will sour your opinion somewhat. And then trying to get food in Manhattan?
Ultimately I think its dirty, overcrowded, and waaaay too expensive.
Crime rate, weather. But other than that, not bad.
Last year. And paying ten dollars for a damn thing of McFood isn't what I call fun.
But the real problem is that the theatre district borders Hell's Kitchen. So 'The Lion King' and 'Crazy Joe's Used Porno' are right next to each other. And thats got to cause some awkward questions for parents.
Oh, crime is everywhere. I've lived in and around Chicago most of my life and never had a single problem. Same with many of my friends.
As for the weather, not a fan of blizzards? Well, luckily, we only get those occaisonally. Chicago is beautiful in the spring and fall and hot as balls in the summer, but if you get a good breeze off the lake it's perfect for a baseball game!
Dammit, now I wanna go watch the Cubs.
Canada (2 hours) - Clean McDonalds
Germany - The road system is horrible. If you are not familiar with it then it is easy to get lost. The only good thing about the autobahn is you can drive really fast if you want.
France - Snooty people. Nasty food. Hole in the bathroom for a toilet.
Spain - Beautiful Country. Very nice people.
Macedonia - A dump and Gypsies do not look like they do on tv. Their skin color is orange looking.
Serbia - Another dump and mean people.
Italy - Just saw it from a plane window since the plane I was on was headed to Germany and couldn't land because of fog so it was diverted to Italy. Pretty houses near the airport
Saudi Arabia - HOT!! SANDY!!! The people I met were nice, though.
Iraq - A bunch of dead people everywhere and camel dung.
Kuwait - Burning oil wells, hot.
Belgium - All I remember is seeing the terminal at the airport. We stopped there on our way back from Desert Strom for refueling.
Mexico - I lived in El Paso for two years, does that count?
Germany - The road system is horrible. If you are not familiar with it then it is easy to get lost. The only good thing about the autobahn is you can drive really fast if you want.
France - Snooty people. Nasty food. Hole in the bathroom for a toilet.
Spain - Beautiful Country. Very nice people.
Macedonia - A dump and Gypsies do not look like they do on tv. Their skin color is orange looking.
Serbia - Another dump and mean people.
Italy - Just saw it from a plane window since the plane I was on was headed to Germany and couldn't land because of fog so it was diverted to Italy. Pretty houses near the airport
Saudi Arabia - HOT!! SANDY!!! The people I met were nice, though.
Iraq - A bunch of dead people everywhere and camel dung.
Kuwait - Burning oil wells, hot.
Belgium - All I remember is seeing the terminal at the airport. We stopped there on our way back from Desert Strom for refueling.
Mexico - I lived in El Paso for two years, does that count?
Not a fan of the subway, I take it?
If you're at Penn, and want to get to Port Authority, all you have to do is take the A, C or E trains uptown. It's the next stop!And then trying to get food in Manhattan?
You're kidding, right? NYC has like 18,000 restaurants. It's impossible NOT to get awesome food. No matter what kind you like. There's this, for example.
A short list for me...
Canada- I was born here and live here, so this is cheating.
The US- Buffalo has charm in spots but has been dying for decades, Atlanta is nice but needs more bookstores and fewer cars, Florida should do something about the humidity, the interstate system provides some marvelous views but would improve upon itself considerably if it skipped West Virginia.
England- Beautiful, fascinating, with a glorious history, but more sun, please.
Canada- I was born here and live here, so this is cheating.
The US- Buffalo has charm in spots but has been dying for decades, Atlanta is nice but needs more bookstores and fewer cars, Florida should do something about the humidity, the interstate system provides some marvelous views but would improve upon itself considerably if it skipped West Virginia.
England- Beautiful, fascinating, with a glorious history, but more sun, please.
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This anecdote pretty much sums up the whole country.
) so my list is just two countries.
Travelling doesn't need to be expensive. I've been a student deadbeat for the last decade, and hostels and cheap food have taken me a long way.Sadly, I have never been out of Australia
The main reason is because I haven't been able to afford to travel. I especially would love to go to Iceland but I don't think i will ever get there.
Agree, there are fantastic things to be seen outside of Manhattan. I stayed in NYC for three weeks basing myself in a cheap hostel in Harlem (which is awesome btw). Even after all this time and having spent time in all the boroughs, I still have the feeling that I didn't see everything. The only part I didn't like about New York City was Staten Island. There was just nothing there.
Serbia: Where I spent my childhood. Having returned on occasion, I can say I have a fairly objective touristy perspective. Belgrade is beautiful, if polluted. The Exit music festival in Novi Sad hosts awesome bands and attracts tons of Brits. The city itself is a small, but decent enough place to visit.
Germany: Never moved far from Black Forest in my explorations of Germany. Wonderful villages, and the nearby university town of Tubingen is lovely.
France: Recently lived here for a year. Strasbourg, while nice, gets boring rather fast. Paris is where it's at. The Mediterranean cost is to die for.
Italy: Haven't seen much of it. Did a mini summer vacation there last year, and was really underwhelmed.
Montenegro: If you wanna go to a place where you hear only Russian all the time, you'll love this. Complete waste of time and money, IMO.
Greece: Really depends which part you go to. I highly recommend Corfu.
Macedonia: The people are really nice. No other redeeming features.
Hungary: I love Budapest. The folks there mostly suck at English though.
United States: Where I currently live. Other than Seattle, I haven't seen too many big cities. Seattle is awesome, but rainy.
Canada: Vancouver. Love vising here. The place has much more of a Euro feel than the U.S.
England: Spent two nights in London during long layovers. I was beat so I slept and didn't see much, but adore the little I have seen. Must go back.
Israel: Spent the whole week with a gigantic grin on my face. Drug-free.
Croatia: The most stunning coastline I've ever been to. Dubrovnik, Pula, Rovinj, Rijeka, all charming coastal towns. Some of the inland cities, like Zagreb and Osijek are also well worth the visit.
Slovenia: Ljubljana somehow manages to make urban decay look attractive. Slovenian girls do the same for moral decay.
Austria: Saltzburg is really nice, just try not to step into any horseshit.
Bulgaria: The ugliest, most worn-out, country I've ever been to. Excellent ski destination though.
Switzerland: It's like a fairy tale place.
Belgium: Reminds me of what little London I've seen. Indoor smoking in bars is a plus.
San Marino: A country that you can traverse on foot in a day? That's what I did, and it was fairly interesting.
Germany: Never moved far from Black Forest in my explorations of Germany. Wonderful villages, and the nearby university town of Tubingen is lovely.
France: Recently lived here for a year. Strasbourg, while nice, gets boring rather fast. Paris is where it's at. The Mediterranean cost is to die for.
Italy: Haven't seen much of it. Did a mini summer vacation there last year, and was really underwhelmed.
Montenegro: If you wanna go to a place where you hear only Russian all the time, you'll love this. Complete waste of time and money, IMO.
Greece: Really depends which part you go to. I highly recommend Corfu.
Macedonia: The people are really nice. No other redeeming features.
Hungary: I love Budapest. The folks there mostly suck at English though.
United States: Where I currently live. Other than Seattle, I haven't seen too many big cities. Seattle is awesome, but rainy.
Canada: Vancouver. Love vising here. The place has much more of a Euro feel than the U.S.
England: Spent two nights in London during long layovers. I was beat so I slept and didn't see much, but adore the little I have seen. Must go back.
Israel: Spent the whole week with a gigantic grin on my face. Drug-free.
Croatia: The most stunning coastline I've ever been to. Dubrovnik, Pula, Rovinj, Rijeka, all charming coastal towns. Some of the inland cities, like Zagreb and Osijek are also well worth the visit.
Slovenia: Ljubljana somehow manages to make urban decay look attractive. Slovenian girls do the same for moral decay.
Austria: Saltzburg is really nice, just try not to step into any horseshit.
Bulgaria: The ugliest, most worn-out, country I've ever been to. Excellent ski destination though.
Switzerland: It's like a fairy tale place.
Belgium: Reminds me of what little London I've seen. Indoor smoking in bars is a plus.
San Marino: A country that you can traverse on foot in a day? That's what I did, and it was fairly interesting.
USA - Was born on the East Coast but have no memory of it. Live in Eastern Washington but greatly prefer Western Washington. Favorite place I've been is probably the Redwood Forest in California.
Canada - Beautiful country in Alberta and British Columbia.
Italy - Mostly visited Rome and Florence. Amazing artistic and cultural heritage. Don't experience anything like this in the US. Amazing pizza in Naples.
Germany - Mostly in Berlin. Good public transport. Many galleries and museums. Went to Dresden but nearly everything was closed and it rained.
El Salvador - Mostly in San Salvador but also a few trips to smaller villages. Very humid. Tremendous rain storms. Friendly people. Worked at a very poorly run school. Would be terrified to drive there. Had some trouble with the border guards.
Guatemala - Was only there a few days, but I stayed with a friend of mine's family in Guatemala City and they were very friendly. Also visited Antigua, a spanish village, which was pretty cool.
Almost took a job in Mongolia, but it ended up falling through at the last minute.
Would really like to travel more but even hostels are expensive when you have no income.
Canada - Beautiful country in Alberta and British Columbia.
Italy - Mostly visited Rome and Florence. Amazing artistic and cultural heritage. Don't experience anything like this in the US. Amazing pizza in Naples.
Germany - Mostly in Berlin. Good public transport. Many galleries and museums. Went to Dresden but nearly everything was closed and it rained.
El Salvador - Mostly in San Salvador but also a few trips to smaller villages. Very humid. Tremendous rain storms. Friendly people. Worked at a very poorly run school. Would be terrified to drive there. Had some trouble with the border guards.
Guatemala - Was only there a few days, but I stayed with a friend of mine's family in Guatemala City and they were very friendly. Also visited Antigua, a spanish village, which was pretty cool.
Almost took a job in Mongolia, but it ended up falling through at the last minute.
Would really like to travel more but even hostels are expensive when you have no income.
Mexico..Border towns in the 60s were fun..and exciting.
Canada..Vancouver B.C. and Cold Lake Alberta--I really know why they named the place "Cold Lake"..Vancouver was the USA and the UK combined in a rather satisfying mix (except they can't make a freeway to save themselves)
UK...wonderful nation..lived as much like a local as I could..reserved at first but the Brits were wonderful to me..and welcoming.. best food in pubs...really want to go back..
Beligum..Wonderful folks..welcoming and kind..the buildings were right out of a storybook...
France,
Normandy was beautiful and sad...due to the history, Paris..a big city..some folks rude..some nice..like any city worldwide..good food...warm and nice...
Austria...clean..ordered and very formal ( I wasn't there long enough to develop any relationships with the people there)
Switzerland..Austria squared...
Italy...Warm, the people were full of life, history, culture and the best damn food in Europe..
Germany..Clean ordered and FRIENDLY, get drunk with a German and you've a friend for life!!
The Netherlands...beautiful, like out of a postcard...friendly but formal..
Spain....Like Italy..just 1 step behind...
Morocco...wasn't allowed off the installation, but the Royal Moroccan Air Force folks I met were warm and forgiving..
Portugal..Was in Lisbon Airport for a week..not enough exposure to make an opinion..but again the folks I met were friendly..
South Korea...VERY interesting and obsessed with North Korea (understandable)...
Japan..Osaka Airport for 3 days..not really enough time to make an opinion..but the JASDF folks I met were great...
Brazil...Hot, Humid, with the kindest people I've ever met..rich and poor were the best hosts I could ever imagine...and the country has an energy that appears to be on the decline in the USA...
Israel..Beautiful, with many religions living together in relative harmony...but always saw more soldiers on the streets than any other nation I've been to very aware of the wars they have fought...and the special place their nation holds in the world...
West Bank...people that are not yet a nation, but have a national identity...and will have a nation sooner or later...
Canada..Vancouver B.C. and Cold Lake Alberta--I really know why they named the place "Cold Lake"..Vancouver was the USA and the UK combined in a rather satisfying mix (except they can't make a freeway to save themselves)
UK...wonderful nation..lived as much like a local as I could..reserved at first but the Brits were wonderful to me..and welcoming.. best food in pubs...really want to go back..
Beligum..Wonderful folks..welcoming and kind..the buildings were right out of a storybook...
France,
Normandy was beautiful and sad...due to the history, Paris..a big city..some folks rude..some nice..like any city worldwide..good food...warm and nice...
Austria...clean..ordered and very formal ( I wasn't there long enough to develop any relationships with the people there)
Switzerland..Austria squared...
Italy...Warm, the people were full of life, history, culture and the best damn food in Europe..
Germany..Clean ordered and FRIENDLY, get drunk with a German and you've a friend for life!!
The Netherlands...beautiful, like out of a postcard...friendly but formal..
Spain....Like Italy..just 1 step behind...
Morocco...wasn't allowed off the installation, but the Royal Moroccan Air Force folks I met were warm and forgiving..
Portugal..Was in Lisbon Airport for a week..not enough exposure to make an opinion..but again the folks I met were friendly..
South Korea...VERY interesting and obsessed with North Korea (understandable)...
Japan..Osaka Airport for 3 days..not really enough time to make an opinion..but the JASDF folks I met were great...
Brazil...Hot, Humid, with the kindest people I've ever met..rich and poor were the best hosts I could ever imagine...and the country has an energy that appears to be on the decline in the USA...
Israel..Beautiful, with many religions living together in relative harmony...but always saw more soldiers on the streets than any other nation I've been to very aware of the wars they have fought...and the special place their nation holds in the world...
West Bank...people that are not yet a nation, but have a national identity...and will have a nation sooner or later...
Not a fan of the subway, I take it?
You're kidding, right? NYC has like 18,000 restaurants. It's impossible NOT to get awesome food. No matter what kind you like. There's this, for example.
I'm not a fan of the NYC subway. Most others are nice enough (DC, Boston), the New York one is a dump.
The problem isn't finding food, the problem is paying for the food. Second most expensive McDonald's I'd been to. The first one was in Rome, and it was palatial with marble floors. This one was a dump.
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