GreenDragon,

Darn, does this mean I actually have to write a trip report?

OK, I'll admit that I'm not keen on questions asking "is it worth it" - how the heck would I know what it's worth to a complete stranger? Also, I don't understand the term "must sees." If you've lived so far without seeing something, how could it be a "must see?" But I don't get all aggravated when posters use these terms and don't really understand why it bothers other people so much.

I do understand the problem with paragraph-free trip reports. You just can't make sense of them so the lack of formatting defeats the purpose of writing a trip report in the first place.

"My pet peeve is the USA-centricity of general opinion of this forum. Explaining a different view of things or a different way of life is considered an attack on US values which will then be defended with claws and teeth."

Quokka, I'm going to challenge you on this. Please give about a half dozen examples of that happening on THIS forum--the Europe forum. Since you think this happens so often, finding half a dozen recent examples of Americans on th Europe forum making those kinds of posts should be a piece of cake.

I hate "critique" used as a verb.

<<'Lose' and 'loose.' You didn't 'loose' your backpack ...>>

Yes, and 'peak" for pique; 'pour' for pore; 'wet' for whet and 'lead' for led.

In the past two to three years "iconic" has been applied to everything from hamburgers to dead people. I am not sure under what circumstances iconic should be applied but fortunately I have not heard it used yest with chew toys.

Some how I think with it has to do with the unrelated computer term icon. With widespread use of computers icon has become sorely abused except by members of the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches. From there it evovled in iconic.

Personally, I feel Doric.

My pet peeve are people like my best friends. We all love to travel.
We are the slow travelers, I paint, therefore I want to absorb where I am.
We take our time and love to sit and people watch as well as take in the museums etc.

In contrast, our friends run around like chickens without heads. If they have spent a half a day in Zurich, well then they have "seen" Zurich. It drives me crazy because they never want to go back and revisit, because they have already "seen" it and now want to move on a "see" somewhere else.

They did Florence a couple of years ago in one day while I painted in Montepulciano. Now we are going to Florence for a week and will barely scratch the surface and they won't go back because they have already seen it. Oh brother!!!!!!!!11

Adu, as opposed to Ionic?

Adu, as opposed to Ionic?

Yes, Nikki, it is called a joke.

I liked it Aduchamp. Cracked me up. I'm feeling Corinthian today. Ornate and seldom used...
(thanks wikipedia :) ).

Thank you PDX. And I glad you are not out of order.

I wish I was clever enough to figure out another pun. Come up with one for me, would you?

Tomato, tomahto, ionic, iconic, let's call the whole thing off.

I would not be so base as to suggest what might be a capital idea for you.

Ooh, good one!

"Quokka, I'm going to challenge you on this. Please give about a half dozen examples of that happening on THIS forum--the Europe forum. Since you think this happens so often, finding half a dozen recent examples of Americans on th Europe forum making those kinds of posts should be a piece of cake."

You're kidding, right?

Staring right now,

Post 2- Please help with our Santorini Trip

Post 5- Megabus

Post 6- Munich for a Day

Post 7- How old were you- a classic, this one. Some of us LIVE here.

Post 10- Jent103 goes to London

Post 16- Wah! I want to go to Europe.


(and I think I'm being generous missing out many of the in betweens).

Don't misunderstand me; this wasn't MY peeve.The Board is hugely populated by Amurricans, and it would be odd were it otherwise. But you do have a way of looking at the world that the rest of us find.... differnt

Sheila, that's NOT at all the question I asked. I questioned where on the Europe forum Americans repeatedly ranted about "any different view of things or a different way of life" be "considered an ATTACK on US values which will then be defended with CLAWS AND TEETH."

I don't see that attitude in the posts you suggested. And esp the "how old were you" thread. If I posted a thread on the U.S. board asking non-Americans how old were they when they first visited the U.S., it would be just a question, not an attack on anyone's values!

Unless you were kidding with your post?

(shaking head)...............am I missing something here? Why can't we all just get along...........LOL

I may be missing something, in which case I apologise. I thought you were asking him/her to give half a dozen examples of US-centricity.

Whilst we certainly get our share of the attacks on the non US way of doing things, from no replying to emails (which tees ME off, too, to not taking dollars, to not providing shower curtains or wash cloths or (I could go on), they are, at least now, much rarer.

Given that the majority of posters here are American, I'm not unduly surprised about U.S. centricity, especially in posts from people who haven't been to Europe before (or only went once on a packaged tour years ago). I suspect if you frequented a mostly British forum with novice international travelers, there'd be a British centricity as well. Or Germans on a German travel forum. It's seems pointless and petty to get peeved about that, like getting peeved at a beginners math(s) class for not understanding advanced calculus.

Anywho, I simply don't see "claws and teeth" coming out in the way Quokka described from Americans on Europe travel posts, at least not in the ones I've read recently. Seems odd for Quokka to still be so worked up about something that is, as you put it, "much rarer."

Of course, I'm not talking about the Lounge. What happens in the Lounge stays in the Lounge (or at least it should).

By the way, if Americans stop complaining about wash cloths and shower curtains, will the British stop moaning that (almost) nobody else can make a "proper cup of tea"? :-)