ilovetulips

I haven't yet been to Europe so my choices are:

1. Where I currently live- Austin metro area. The city is not too big nor too small. I like the weather and we are 2-4 hours from our families.

2. The greatest city I have ever visited- San Franicisco Bay Area- The wonderful climate, the cleanliness, the Golden Gate Bridge, the architecture, Muir Woods, the wineries, I could go on!

ilovetulips

Yes, I can spell San Francisco

Katy37

I have no problem answering this.

Schull, West Cork (Because it's the most beautiful place in the world. I've lived there before and wish I never had to leave. The people are wonderful too)

AND

Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam (If you've been there, you'll know why).

abbynicole27

-Victoria, BC, Canada, because I grew up on Vancouver Island and I absolutely love it, and all of my family is in western Canada
-Southern France, because i fell in love with it immediately - but I don't know what city/town I would choose because so far I've only been to the Nice area.

kfusto

Vancouver: clean, majestic, great restaurants and all around a safe and wonderful city.

Any my winter home would be on the west coast of Italy between Portofino and Viareggio.

oaklandlady

Hi Laura,
Great question! First a comment:
I have lived in San Francisco, and it has many charms, but I'm afraid it is not at all clean, especially compared to the amazingly well maintained Paris. Last night we went to a restaurant near Union Square, pulled up for the valet parking, and we were immediately panhandled by a woman lurking nearby. Sorry to dispel illusions, but trash and graffiti are everywhere.
A friend told me that in Paris, the shopkeepers are not allowed to have any trash containers on the street, unlike SF, where you see dumpsters on view. There are also the ubiquitous Green Men everywhere, picking up, vacuuming, washing the streets...Other cities which have tourists should do the same.
Don't get me wrong, I still love SF, but not for its cleanliness, which doesn't exist.
To answer your original question: based on my travels so far, I'd say definitely Paris, for its infinite variety, and it's a tossup between Venice for its incomparable ambience and Barcelona for its vibrance, and because they have banned bullfighting in Catalonia. Ole!

alijay

If I could choose, my first choice would be somewhere in Central America, like Belize. I've always wanted to look around there and I imagine the lifestyle to be pretty laidback. Although I've been to the States a few times, there's so much more I'd like to see and I'd be near enough to do so easily. Likewise, I'd be able to go south to see some of the amazing places in South America.

My second choice, quite surprisingly, would be Abu Dhabi (where I lived for 3 years and loved every minute). It has beautiful beaches, it's near fantastic unexplored areas (as well as Dubai), the weather is great (apart from July/August),the people are friendly, there are dozens of islands where people go in their boats to ski and picnic every Friday (usually you have the island to yourselves), it's safe and it's relatively cheap!

oaklandlady

An addendum: From my house in the Oakland Hills, I look across the Bay to SF. Don't believe the bad press about Oakland; like any city, it has its depressed areas, which seem to get all the headlines. During the recent heat wave, we had three hot days; in the summer, it's rarely hotter than 80 degrees. We're at the end of a cul de sac with many redwoods and live oaks, and enjoy our garden full of old roses. And to correct the Gertrude Stein quote: she went to visit the mansion in Oakland where she'd lived as a child, and finding it had been demolished, in sorrow she said "There's no there there". She was not talking about Oakland the city. Check out our real estate ads for the houses which sell here for over a million...

weber6560

There is a truism that says "Where you stand depends on where you sit". However in this instance it is best expressed as "WHEN you sit".

In the '50's I would have said Santa Cruz and Capitola. In the "60's perhaps red Hook and Jost Van Dyke. The '70's would have been Lower Manhattan. The '80's ould have been Gdansk, Prague and electricity of a new Europe.

However, in the '90's, I find that I heard the voice of my roots [see earlier references to Kansas, Santa Cruz, Michigan] and settled in Beaufort SC a humble town of fresh shrimp, oysters, crab, and fish, and visit as often as I can San Sebastian, Spain, a humble town of shrimp, oysters, crab, and fish, [and more Michelin starrred restaurants per mile than anywhere else on earth - NYT]. Each has historic architecture, is a manageable size, and and virtually demands civility, conversation, and cuisine you'd not expect in towns their size.

Been some places, done some things, but these work for me.

LoveItaly

Two places in the world if I could afford to live the way I wanted to, wonderful residences and money to enjoy the restaurants as much as I wanted to, all the culture events that I wanted to attend etc. My two choices would be San Francisco and Rome without a doubt. But I also would want the ability to fly to other places when I was in the mood. Ah dreams, are not they fantastic!

skfavas

1. Denmark in Western Australia - quiet, isolated and free from any terrorist threat. Coastal and beautiful and a small, tall timber country town in the south of Western Australia. This is where I choose to live.
2 Noosa in Queensland Australia - my second most favourite place in the world ( and I have seen quite a few places in the northern hemisphere)

Travelbug13

Sooo difficult

1. Paris, love the language, the food the people and to wake every day in that beauty would be a blessing.

2. Montreal, still in Canada but still has the splendor of a European city.

kerouac

I chose to come and live in Paris and love every moment of it, but I will exclude it from my alternate choices.
1. Luang Prabang, Laos. (or Hoi An, Vietnam!) -- all of the legendary tranquility of Asia, genuinely friendly people and perfumed nights under paper lanterns.
2. NYC. An astounding cancer of a place, mutating constantly. But only because Laura promised "no money worries".

stefUofC

I hate to echo the majority, but Paris is a fab city. Before I continue, I think that it is of the utmost importance to distinguish favorite cities to live in and favorite cities to visit. It is hard to take another person's perspective on a favorite city because so much subjective experience goes into a place, who they know, how long they have lived there, and what kind of environment they were raised in. I live in Chicago, and I love it for its midwestern vibe. The people are really something. New York, however, is a great city, and should I ever be able to afford to live there comfortably, I would do it in a heart beat. Great question. And actually would be a great interview question.