Lonely Planet‘s Best in Europe list-your thoughts please
#21
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Weisser
Fan also. With family roots in N. Germany, I've spent much time in the Detmold area. I like to see beloved Hamburg mentioned but I know too that Hamburg doesn't much care. It does quite nicely without the mass tourist influx.
Fan also. With family roots in N. Germany, I've spent much time in the Detmold area. I like to see beloved Hamburg mentioned but I know too that Hamburg doesn't much care. It does quite nicely without the mass tourist influx.
#22
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I spend about half the year in Hamburg. Everybody who lives here, loves it, despite the weather. So much green, so many great places to eat & drink, can get on the bike and ride all day and every block is different and interesting. Americans don't come here at all, probably because it doesn't have a Disney castle or cuckoo clocks or stupid beer halls.
The 2nd-tier cities in Europe are better because they 1) they are overwhelmingly actually populated by locals, as opposed to tourists; 2) people working in restaurants/bars/sites are not cynical and jaded; and 3) nowadays they have they charm, character, conveniences, and quality that the major cities once had a monopoly on without the Disney or the trodden-ness.
LOVED Leeds. Went in December and the arcades were all gorgeous. Can I name a better city to visit in England? Actually not, though Manchester and Liverpool come to mind. London is not English; York is a tourist trap. Here's me Leeds piccies: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...57662399266892
The 2nd-tier cities in Europe are better because they 1) they are overwhelmingly actually populated by locals, as opposed to tourists; 2) people working in restaurants/bars/sites are not cynical and jaded; and 3) nowadays they have they charm, character, conveniences, and quality that the major cities once had a monopoly on without the Disney or the trodden-ness.
LOVED Leeds. Went in December and the arcades were all gorgeous. Can I name a better city to visit in England? Actually not, though Manchester and Liverpool come to mind. London is not English; York is a tourist trap. Here's me Leeds piccies: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dougla...57662399266892
#24
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I actually do think Hamburg is hard for tourists to enjoy (except for the throngs of Omas and Opas coming from the dorfs for the musicals) because there is nothing spoon-fed about it. People tend to go places with Louvres and Colisseums and gelato in their eyes - - the glamour of the attraction is, for a great majority, the satisfying thing. They've achieved something epic by taking a gondola ride. They've become suave and debonair by going to Paris.
Just like when the same wine is put in two separate glasses - - and one is labelled a $5 wine and the other labelled a $100 wine - - the pleasure center in people's brains actually lights up way more when they drink the (same) wine labelled $100.
People have their glamour expectations - - and it is physiologically more satisfying to have the glamour fulfilled, than it is to go somewhere that may actually have more quality, substance, flavor, and character.
That said I do think Zagreb is pretty bland. But it is SUPER cheap. $35/night for a huge apartment. Trams are cheap. So-so food. OK place. But no great shakes.
Just like when the same wine is put in two separate glasses - - and one is labelled a $5 wine and the other labelled a $100 wine - - the pleasure center in people's brains actually lights up way more when they drink the (same) wine labelled $100.
People have their glamour expectations - - and it is physiologically more satisfying to have the glamour fulfilled, than it is to go somewhere that may actually have more quality, substance, flavor, and character.
That said I do think Zagreb is pretty bland. But it is SUPER cheap. $35/night for a huge apartment. Trams are cheap. So-so food. OK place. But no great shakes.
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May 21st, 2002 08:58 AM