nytraveler

Holly -

I don't think we're rotweilers. I think we're labradors with attitude. If you offend us you'll get lots of growling and snarling but its very rare that anyone actually bites.

Travelnut

Wow.. I hadn't read this thread in a few days... whoo-weeee, lots of strong feelings about my home state of Texas. Now, y'all need to remember that Texas is a 'whole other country' - something there for everyone to like and dislike... Long stretches of boring highway but fields and miles of bluebonnets in spring...flat land for miles and miles but canyons and starry skies in Big Bend....strip malls in pokey little towns but fun antique hunting in Hill Country towns like Fredricksburg and Boerne...

I will say, however, I enjoy living in Florida - less allergies, beautiful St Johns River, refreshing coastal breezes but yes - big bugs!

kismetchimera

Cute way to describe the people of your State nytraveler...

wren

Travelnut, we are kindred spirits. I feel the same about my home country, Texas, even though I am quite happy here on the East coast of FL.

Travelnut

Yep, Wren, I could tell that! You can take the 'girl' out of Texas, but you can't take Texas out of the girl...

Mischka

Calamari's post which said that she hates LONDON made me think about the last time I went there in June, I hated it too. The truth is that I LOVE London but NOT at the height of the season, and the goes for most big cities. I find that the cities all become dirty and horrid in the heat and when they are overun with tourists (us ) It is also the only I have had a problem with pick pockets. I love to travel just out of season, but would rather go in winter than in season.

allanc

Dayton, Ohio. If it is not the armpit of America, you can certainly see it from there!

settlers

Greece. Well I should say Crete. The natives seemed to be full of loathing for the tourists. However I went on a boat trip managed by an English girl who explained to me that the English & German tourists behaviour was so appalling ie. vomiting in the street, treating the Greek females as whores etc. that to the local
taxi drivers, wait persons etc all tourists were the same and treated accordingly. For the gentleness and friendliness of the people Fiji was wonderful. Maybe all the lovely places change as more tourists arrive on their shores and it is us travellers who spoil them?! I love America well Disneyland/World Epcot etc. and altho I feel that the "Have a nice day" remark is insincere (we now get it everywhere even here in Oz) I don't let it bother me.

Judyrem

Jamaica: you would have to PAY ME to go back! I agree with Patick about Florence,,,something just did not quite sit right with me. Judy

julies

Interesting thread.

Austria--my daughter would love to read this one. She spent a semester in Vienna and hated it. thought the Austrians were very cold. We are probably also the only pdople in the world who had their passports stamped 3 times in a half an hour at the Vienna airport. We were asking for information and these guys at the desks must have enjoyed a big laugh at our espense. They kept telling us we had to go to a certain place for information. Problem was you couldn't get there without going through customs and then the desk was never manned.

Germany--we've visited Bavaria's small towns away from the major tourist traps and really enjoyed the area. We;'d return in a minute.

I agree with the poster on Carcassonne. Nothing there worth more than an hour or two.

RE; last summer's heat wave. We were in Krakow (which we really enjoy) but couldn't stand the heat, so left for the mountains. Zakopane in August is a place i will neve return. Ever.

Statia

I, too, can not think of any place that I abhor. Sure, there are some things I've both liked and disliked about certain locations, but I honestly can't say that I would refuse to return anywhere.

I even like many things about my great home state of Texas!

Kate

I've never had a problem with visiting places that aren't particularly friendly - I can enjoy my trip without getting smiled at by the waiter.

However, I DO have a major problem with any country where it's deemed acceptable for numerous ancient old toothless men to harrass, grab and molest 15 year old female tourists. For this reason, I will never ever EVER go back to Tunisia.

oakey

I personally find the north of England dreadful. In my opinion the cities (Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, etc.) are all relatively unattractive and lack major attractions you get in continental and Scottish or Southern English cities. The Lake District and Newcastle are only destinations in Northern England that I would ever visit again.

I would also never go back to Milan, Athens, or Switzerland again.
To the people who said they found Germany unfriendly or cold well I am sure these opinions have a lot to do with two things.
1) The stereotypes some people take with them when they travel
and 2) the language. I am not German but I speak the language well and it makes such a difference to speak German, because the German accent in English sounds quite unfriendly and the Germans let down their guard more easily when they can speak to someone in their native language, just like every other nation in the world.

Marilyn

oakey, I personally haven't found people all over Germany to be cold, but it was noticeable in Lindau, a very pretty, charming town on Lake Constance. It's a major tourist attraction so most people in the service or retail sector speak some English. We were at a convention of several hundred people (a very well-behaved group, I might add) and we were not the only ones who remarked on it.

Kate, getting the waitress to smile is certainly not the measure of my trip, however, even if it is a cultural difference and not true hostility, it still colors your experience because it does feel unfriendly when most of the people you come in contact with are clearly NOT glad to see you.

By the way, how were you dressed in Tunisia? What were the circumstances in which you were groped? At 15, wasn't there some adult to be looking out for you?

oakey

Marilyn I am sorry to hear you had an unpleasant time in Lindau, like you said it is a lovely town. But I think some of the problems you had were typical of heavily touristed areas. It seems to me that areas and especially smaller cities that get loads of tourists are often less than friendly towards their visitors, maybe because they get so many.
You should definetly not be discouraged about Germany however, there are many places in the country where people go out of their way to make visitors feel welcomed.

Ziana

What is bad about jamaica, please ?

StCirq

I agree with Kate about Tunisia, though I was quite a bit older than 15 when I was there. I went into a dressing room in a shop to try on a djellaba, and two male shopkeepers were in there with me within 2 minutes - and my spouse was still in the store! It was a constant hassle. That, the sandstorms, the dysentery, the dung beetles, and the meat markets pretty much made Tunisia a total bust for me. Morocco is a far better North African destination.

And Oakey: I am one of those who mentioned Austrian and German people as being dour, and I studied German for eight years. It wasn't a language problem, it was a national personality problem. Much as I appreciate their cultures and have enjoyed traveling in their countries, there is a noticeable difference in they way they treat each other, as well as the way they treat outsiders, from the way other countries' citizens do. I was rarely treated badly, but there is just a kind of stiffness in the air, a subtle unwillingness to make light of any situation, and a certain suspicion that combine to make a less than friendly atmosphere. In stark contrast to all the silly oom-pah-pah stuff, I might add.

Snoopy

Often posters are loose with language.

There's a huge difference between saying that the people I came into contact with were rude (which was the case for me in Austria, Germany, and France) and saying that Austrians, Germans, and French are rude.

In a post several months ago, I said that a friend of mine was deliberately short changed several times in Austria and I noted that I'd had similar experiences with the Austrians I'd "dealt" with. Many posters argued with me that Austrians aren't rude.

I probably won't go back to Austria (except perhaps to ski) because of the bad experience I had there with the people. But I would NEVER say that Austrians are rude . . .

If I am treated rudely by a restaurant personnel, I don't go back. Why would I pay lots of money for airfare, lodging, meals to go somewhere that I'd been treated badly?

Alfomega

Going to Switzerland tomorrow. What's the best way of having a cheerful, short visit? Any things to say/do, and anything to avoid?

emma_j

I realise this is all a matter of opinion and everyone is entitled to one, however I would like to offer mine.

I stayed for two weeks on a farm in Germany with a German family who couldn't have been more friendly and hospitable. They in turn introduced me to many other Germans who were equally friendly and hospitable. And when they came to stay with me, they carried on the friendliness with everyone they met in England.

Also to the poster who said the North of England was dreadful, have you been to the Yorkshire Dales? Harrogate? Chester? Durham? York? the Northumbrian coastline?