Seems to me this forum is a lot less active than in years past....
May 10th, 2013, 06:32 PM
#41
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<<I can't say that I have seen anything to reduce anyone to tears.>>
How would anyone, EVER, on a virtual travel board, know that something had reduced anyone to tears? Ridiculous. And even if you did know of one single occurrence, ONE in 15+ years??? Hardly worth mentioning. Some people are crybabies.
And the "said gentleman" is chock full of misleading information and diatribes on foie gras, bullfights, religion (though he raves against religion he touts the main religious sites in France like le MSM and Rocamadour - go figure), British royalty, the recent Dutch coronation...you name it, it's fanatical and drug-fueled and just simple-minded.
I did the Amber Fort elephant ride, too, Thin. That was something (though a classic tourist moment - I didn't care - those elephant guides were so gorgeous and colorful!). Did you see the slutty little girl on the way down (on foot) who was dancing at her parents' urging, trying to drum up money by being provocative? I was disturbed by that, as she was so young and obviously being exploited by her parents. But other than that and the silly snake charmers, also on the way down, that is one amazing site!
I bought my sweetie an old copper miniature lotus in Jaipur that if turned opens up in the way the flower itself would. We have it on our mantle and open it up regularly just to admire the handiwork and beauty of a tiny little piece of art.
How would anyone, EVER, on a virtual travel board, know that something had reduced anyone to tears? Ridiculous. And even if you did know of one single occurrence, ONE in 15+ years??? Hardly worth mentioning. Some people are crybabies.
And the "said gentleman" is chock full of misleading information and diatribes on foie gras, bullfights, religion (though he raves against religion he touts the main religious sites in France like le MSM and Rocamadour - go figure), British royalty, the recent Dutch coronation...you name it, it's fanatical and drug-fueled and just simple-minded.
I did the Amber Fort elephant ride, too, Thin. That was something (though a classic tourist moment - I didn't care - those elephant guides were so gorgeous and colorful!). Did you see the slutty little girl on the way down (on foot) who was dancing at her parents' urging, trying to drum up money by being provocative? I was disturbed by that, as she was so young and obviously being exploited by her parents. But other than that and the silly snake charmers, also on the way down, that is one amazing site!
I bought my sweetie an old copper miniature lotus in Jaipur that if turned opens up in the way the flower itself would. We have it on our mantle and open it up regularly just to admire the handiwork and beauty of a tiny little piece of art.
May 10th, 2013, 06:44 PM
#42
I don't remember seeing any whore-child in Jaipur, but I did see the Living Goddess of Kathmandu when I was in Nepal.
She was 10 years old and tarted up like an old 10th Avenue hooker.
My favourite thing in India was the Chandi Chawk Market of Delhi.
Thin
She was 10 years old and tarted up like an old 10th Avenue hooker.
My favourite thing in India was the Chandi Chawk Market of Delhi.
Thin
May 10th, 2013, 07:36 PM
#43
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OMG,I loved the Chandi Chawk Market! Who could not?
Did you read my India trip report here, where I wrote about going off on a motorcycle into the woods to dinner with a man I'd just met at a jewelry shop in Khajuraho? Talk about adventure! (a whole lot more interesting than staying at a Government-sponsored hotel for sure)? Craziest thing I've ever done in my life, but I just KNEW it was going to lead to an amazing adventure! I'm 54 years old, driving on the back of some guy's motorcycle through the woods in India...no one knows where I am or whom I'm with...and I end up at this house with his wife bringing me plate after plate of incredible home-cooked Indian food and all the neighbors crowding around to find out who I am and why I'm there (and me pondering indeed the big question of who I am...)
That was my favorite thing in India...unforgettable evening.
Did you read my India trip report here, where I wrote about going off on a motorcycle into the woods to dinner with a man I'd just met at a jewelry shop in Khajuraho? Talk about adventure! (a whole lot more interesting than staying at a Government-sponsored hotel for sure)? Craziest thing I've ever done in my life, but I just KNEW it was going to lead to an amazing adventure! I'm 54 years old, driving on the back of some guy's motorcycle through the woods in India...no one knows where I am or whom I'm with...and I end up at this house with his wife bringing me plate after plate of incredible home-cooked Indian food and all the neighbors crowding around to find out who I am and why I'm there (and me pondering indeed the big question of who I am...)
That was my favorite thing in India...unforgettable evening.
May 11th, 2013, 02:58 AM
#44
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I've noticed that there aren't as many new messages over the past 12 months; another observation about travel - I belong to a home exchange website, and traffic there has slowed to a mere trickle compared to 18 months ago.
On the H E site I can see who's looking at my property on line, as well as keep track of the exchange offers that come through. Both are running at about a quarter of the traffic now, compared with years gone by. Di
On the H E site I can see who's looking at my property on line, as well as keep track of the exchange offers that come through. Both are running at about a quarter of the traffic now, compared with years gone by. Di
May 11th, 2013, 08:43 AM
#45
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How would anyone, EVER, on a virtual travel board, know that something had reduced anyone to tears?>
Well after your string of innuendos, lies, ad hominem attacks and character assassination in your comments above (all against fodor's guideliens you agreed to when joining BTW) I have been brought to tears!
like drug-fueled - you have no idea to make that charge but go at it - crying in my milk in northern Michigan!
Well after your string of innuendos, lies, ad hominem attacks and character assassination in your comments above (all against fodor's guideliens you agreed to when joining BTW) I have been brought to tears!
like drug-fueled - you have no idea to make that charge but go at it - crying in my milk in northern Michigan!
May 11th, 2013, 08:59 AM
#46
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Thin once wrote of himself: "...leaving Fodors in tears since 1999" (forgive me if I got the year wrong).
Every time I think of that bon mot, I smile. Sometimes I laugh out loud.
nolite te bastardes carborundorum!!
Every time I think of that bon mot, I smile. Sometimes I laugh out loud.
nolite te bastardes carborundorum!!
May 12th, 2013, 09:15 AM
#52
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How would anyone, EVER, on a virtual travel board, know that something had reduced anyone to tears? Ridiculous.>
ask Pepper von Snoot - why was she reduced to tears - it does happen and did in her/his/its case anyway!
A problem is when someone first characterizes a nebie posters over-energetic plans - a common thing for first-timers who want to see it all - as most of us if we admit it also wanted to and did - a big problem is that after one denigrating comment -like a "forced march" then others pile on with comments they think cuter and more derogatory than the first one - I've seen folks yes who said they were reduced to tears from such treatment - someone say it once and then others can say "I agree with xxxx" rather than using an even more blunt word - then another even blunter to see who is the cutest blunter of all.
I've seen this done time and time again. Fodor's is suffering from this bullying of new posters as they are scared away, sometime they say brought to tears.
ask Pepper von Snoot - why was she reduced to tears - it does happen and did in her/his/its case anyway!
A problem is when someone first characterizes a nebie posters over-energetic plans - a common thing for first-timers who want to see it all - as most of us if we admit it also wanted to and did - a big problem is that after one denigrating comment -like a "forced march" then others pile on with comments they think cuter and more derogatory than the first one - I've seen folks yes who said they were reduced to tears from such treatment - someone say it once and then others can say "I agree with xxxx" rather than using an even more blunt word - then another even blunter to see who is the cutest blunter of all.
I've seen this done time and time again. Fodor's is suffering from this bullying of new posters as they are scared away, sometime they say brought to tears.
May 13th, 2013, 12:57 PM
#54
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I agree; a lot less traffic. I am going to Denmark and based the questions asked and answered, you would think no one ever goes to Denmark!
I was bullied on the Asia board a few years ago. I bullied back (and I'm good at it.) Every reference to the bully has been removed. You can't even look up his prior posts. Not saying I was responsible for that, but I'd like to think I contributed.
I was bullied on the Asia board a few years ago. I bullied back (and I'm good at it.) Every reference to the bully has been removed. You can't even look up his prior posts. Not saying I was responsible for that, but I'd like to think I contributed.
May 15th, 2013, 12:36 PM
#55
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I have to admit that it happens more frequently that I do not post in this forum for months.
This forum is an autopoietic system which produces biased realities, the Fodormyths.
I give a few examples:
- If anybody asks for a hotel in Munich, quite certainly at least half a dozen posters will recommend Hotel Uhland. This is really crazy because there are hundreds of hotels in Munich. But the travellers follow the recommendation, stay at Hotel Uhland and recommend it with their posts to others - as if there are no other hotels in Munich and as if every traveller has exactly the same preferences.
- In one case, you could clearly see how a Fodormyth comes into being. One certain Fodorite, who certainly does not suffer from an inferiority complex, once stayed at Hotel Melia in Berlin. Berlin has hundreds of hotels and the Melia is just a middle-class hotel for mid-rank business travellers and bus tourist groups. It is not bad, but it would not be my first choice (probably not my twentieth choice, either). But the Fodorite recommended the Melia as if no other hotel in Berlin existed and as if he gets a free night for every 500 mentions in this forum (the guy has probably earned a free month by now).
- More serious Fodormyths are about "boring" destinations. The Cote d'Azur is particularly suffering from Fodorites' unfairness. Almost everyone seems to condemn Cannes, although it is a charming city with great beaches, a charming port, a nice old town, a castle and gorgeous hotel bars full of history. Practically every Fodorite is crazy about the village Eze (which once was charming but had been turned into a tourist-trap) but almost nobody seems to acknowledge the beauty of the the Corniche de l'Esterel.
- Similar with Germany. The Fodormyth includes Munich, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (often horribly misspelled), the Rhine Valley and the Black Forest (which is reduced to Baden-Baden and Gengenbach). That leaves three quarters of Germany ignored, including gems of historical towns like Monschau, Quedlinburg or Wernigerode. Attractive cities like Bremen or Düsseldorf which offer tons of attractions are almost completely ignored.
I could give similar examples for every European country.
Things get worse when posters insist in their Fodormyths with almost religious obstinacy, reacting openly aggressive to different opinions.
When the same old myth is repeated and repeated and repeated, you lose interest in the forum.
Luckily sometimes a poster with a refreshing view enters the discussions, like flanneruk or Cholmondly Warner (R.I.P.).
This forum is an autopoietic system which produces biased realities, the Fodormyths.
I give a few examples:
- If anybody asks for a hotel in Munich, quite certainly at least half a dozen posters will recommend Hotel Uhland. This is really crazy because there are hundreds of hotels in Munich. But the travellers follow the recommendation, stay at Hotel Uhland and recommend it with their posts to others - as if there are no other hotels in Munich and as if every traveller has exactly the same preferences.
- In one case, you could clearly see how a Fodormyth comes into being. One certain Fodorite, who certainly does not suffer from an inferiority complex, once stayed at Hotel Melia in Berlin. Berlin has hundreds of hotels and the Melia is just a middle-class hotel for mid-rank business travellers and bus tourist groups. It is not bad, but it would not be my first choice (probably not my twentieth choice, either). But the Fodorite recommended the Melia as if no other hotel in Berlin existed and as if he gets a free night for every 500 mentions in this forum (the guy has probably earned a free month by now).
- More serious Fodormyths are about "boring" destinations. The Cote d'Azur is particularly suffering from Fodorites' unfairness. Almost everyone seems to condemn Cannes, although it is a charming city with great beaches, a charming port, a nice old town, a castle and gorgeous hotel bars full of history. Practically every Fodorite is crazy about the village Eze (which once was charming but had been turned into a tourist-trap) but almost nobody seems to acknowledge the beauty of the the Corniche de l'Esterel.
- Similar with Germany. The Fodormyth includes Munich, Rothenburg ob der Tauber (often horribly misspelled), the Rhine Valley and the Black Forest (which is reduced to Baden-Baden and Gengenbach). That leaves three quarters of Germany ignored, including gems of historical towns like Monschau, Quedlinburg or Wernigerode. Attractive cities like Bremen or Düsseldorf which offer tons of attractions are almost completely ignored.
I could give similar examples for every European country.
Things get worse when posters insist in their Fodormyths with almost religious obstinacy, reacting openly aggressive to different opinions.
When the same old myth is repeated and repeated and repeated, you lose interest in the forum.
Luckily sometimes a poster with a refreshing view enters the discussions, like flanneruk or Cholmondly Warner (R.I.P.).
May 15th, 2013, 12:43 PM
#56
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This is really crazy because there are hundreds of hotels in Munich. But the travellers follow the recommendation, stay at Hotel Uhland and recommend it with their posts to others - as if there are no other hotels in Munich and as if every traveller has exactly the same preferences>
You could substitute AutoEurope for that hotel - a handful of Fodorperts keep over and over saying AutoEurope is by far the best car rental!
Another Fodormyth - I like that word Fodormyth.
and yes folks like locals like flanneruk and the late Chonodley Warner add invaluable insights and info you just do not get other places. I have often disagreed with those guys and gotten into verbal spats on occasion but their presence is (was in case of David West) always a plus for Fodor's IME.
You could substitute AutoEurope for that hotel - a handful of Fodorperts keep over and over saying AutoEurope is by far the best car rental!
Another Fodormyth - I like that word Fodormyth.
and yes folks like locals like flanneruk and the late Chonodley Warner add invaluable insights and info you just do not get other places. I have often disagreed with those guys and gotten into verbal spats on occasion but their presence is (was in case of David West) always a plus for Fodor's IME.
May 15th, 2013, 01:25 PM
#57
I have to admit that it happens more frequently that I do not post in this forum for months.>>
i don't necessarily recognise the "fodorville" that you describe, traveller.
but if you're right, surely that's an argument for a greater number of more diverse contributors?
like yourself.
i don't necessarily recognise the "fodorville" that you describe, traveller.
but if you're right, surely that's an argument for a greater number of more diverse contributors?
like yourself.
May 15th, 2013, 03:05 PM
#59
No, a person who graduates from Dartmouth usually does not suffer from an inferiority complex.
Nor does a person who has a sister who is a duchess.
The reason a person may recommend the Melia is because it is a new hotel with quite large rooms in a very desirable spot on the Friedrichestrasse.
And a person could be considered a fool not to recommend a hotel snagged for $45 a night with a heated bathroom floor that is a 5-minute walk from the Pergamon Museum.
Let's face it. Some people are stars here because they know how to write; they have the gift of persuasion. They can sell their program.
Others are just slobs who tap out a tune that even a trained bear would not dance to.
Thin
Nor does a person who has a sister who is a duchess.
The reason a person may recommend the Melia is because it is a new hotel with quite large rooms in a very desirable spot on the Friedrichestrasse.
And a person could be considered a fool not to recommend a hotel snagged for $45 a night with a heated bathroom floor that is a 5-minute walk from the Pergamon Museum.
Let's face it. Some people are stars here because they know how to write; they have the gift of persuasion. They can sell their program.
Others are just slobs who tap out a tune that even a trained bear would not dance to.
Thin
May 15th, 2013, 03:42 PM
#60
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Fabulous thread, love, love, love it!!!.
I too think that there are other things going on in people's lives, some are recovering from the recession, plane fares are WAY up so it costs more to get "from here to there".
I still have a ways to go before I can take a "big" trip again.
I too think that there are other things going on in people's lives, some are recovering from the recession, plane fares are WAY up so it costs more to get "from here to there".
I still have a ways to go before I can take a "big" trip again.
