Matt

The Cinque Terre<BR><BR>I will grant you that that part of the Ligurian coastline was absolutely gorgeous, and the crystal-clear aquamarine waters were breathtaking, but the Cinque Terre was sadly underwhelming.<BR><BR>It was overrun with tourists. The tourist economy was on-par with that of Rome, Florence, or Venice. No one spoke Italian, they only spoke English -- even if you were attempting to speak Italian to a native (presumably) Italian.<BR><BR>The villages had lost their quiet, fishing-village charms.<BR><BR><BR>As a disclaimer, however, I will state that the weather there reminded me of South Georgia in August -- hazy, hot, and very humid. All of Italy was experiencing a heat wave for the two weeks that I was there. Another year, I will give the Cinque Terre another shot, in a cooler month, when there hopefully won't be as many tourists, to see if the 5T was as bad as it was this past June.<BR><BR>For the record, Cortona was underwhelming as well for the same reasons.

susan

I was pleasantly surprised by Brussels, maybe because I was expecting to be undrwhelmed. I liked the restaurants, the museums, the Magritte museum, the Horta museum, the antique shops, the olt town the side streets the public transportation... the prices against the dollar.

gail

I'd have to say Brussels and London did not impress me. Aside from Brussels' Grand Place and London's famed landmarks, both cities are grimy and the architecture is not beautiful-especially in London where every building is made of bricks and so drab looking.

HistoryBuff

So many of you seem to be "underwhelmed" with cities and places that are so incredibly alive with history that you don't seem to appreciate. <BR>Paris and you focus on the dog poop? San Gimingnano and you focus on the tourists? London, and the major sites don't measure up to your expectations? Versailles and the Hall of Mirrors is full of fat people? <BR><BR>Do you go expecting everything to be an instant Kodak moment, or do you actually go having read the history of the place and understanding how it fits into the timeline of our history on earth? Doesn't that matter to you? If Marie Antoinette's hameau makes you grimace, don't you connect that to Enron? If le Mont-St-Michel seems overrun with tourists, do you even think of the pilgrimages? If you find the Colloseum in Rome boring, can you imagine the spectacles that occured there - the bloodshed, the caste system, the incredible brilliance of the hierarchy while at the same time the terrible slaughter of the poor? <BR>Do you have any imaginations at all? <BR>Or are Americans so pathetically educated that they don't have a clue what they're seeing when they visit Europe? <BR>I'd really like to know, because there are so many flip people on this message board who seem to have spent a lot of money going somewhere and gotten nothing at all out of it.

Joe

New York City. (Pre 2001)<BR>It must have the most unfriendly inhabitants in the world.<BR>Not even ray of sunshine on the sidewalks. Shops, museums, restaurants not better than in Europe. One visit was enough for us.

Sheila

Nowhere.<BR><BR>I once had a rotten week in the Dordogne, but it had nothing to do with the place.<BR><BR>On my one trip to the US, I went with low expectations and was blown away.

jorge

Hitstory buff. NOPE I realy don't give a crap too much about the history about the place or at least the in deptth.. I'm one of those guys who gois into a mueum and just looks everything over quickly I want too see everthing, in general.. <BR><BR>it's not an American thing but more like some folk don't care if said house was built in 17(whatever) it was constructed by so and so company and and George washington used the urinal in it..<BR><BR>.<BR> <BR><BR>

Jackie

Grasshopper:<BR><BR>So I take it you are a pretty big fan of Michelangelo? <BR><BR>Yes I've seen the Sistine Chapel. You are right--it is amazing, but I still consider Michelangelo a sculptor (and as you said, so does he!!). I think the Sistine Chapel is awe-inspiring, but he didn't know how to paint WOMEN really at all, and that's mostly due to parts of his past and the fact that he wouldn't let women model for him. Leonardo, however, paints primarily women. That's another thing that differs about them. I really just don't think they are much alike despite all of their circumstantial similarities.<BR><BR>ALSO, are you sure about Michelangelo doing those autopsies? I know that Leonardo did those, but I had never heard that Michelangelo had. I will have to read up a little bit more about that. That's always one of the things that tended to impress me about Leonardo.<BR><BR>Anyway, I'm definitely not discrediting Michelangelo at all, I'm just giving Leonardo credit as being an artist, not just an inventor.<BR><BR>I will check out The Agony and the Ecstacy as you mentioned.<BR><BR>This is a nice little discussion we are having here! And my comments about the Colloseum being "boring" (which I never said, but I can get where people might think I did) are going to haunt me all the days of my life!

Uncle Sam

History Buff,<BR><BR>Some of us are very much into the history of the places we visit. <BR><BR>Before going to a different country or city we read as much as we can about the country and the city just to make ourselves more aware of what happened there.<BR><BR>IMHO, by doing this studying, we make our trips that much more enjoyable as each cathedral, or monument like the coliseum becomes more alive as we recall the history. <BR><BR>BTW, it is amazing to me that more people do not read the history. I mean to be at the Roman Forum and know that this was the center of the world, where the ceasars and the generals received the accolades of the crowds, where along with Athens, the fundamentals of Western civilization began just enhances the viewing the site itself.<BR><BR>I agree that history is important on a trip and quite frankly I get a bit fed up with all the whining about "so many tourists", or it was so "touristy"....what did they expect that they would be the only ones there to enjoy these wonderful places?<BR><BR>US

Paddy O'Furniture

You guys are forgetting the biggest tourist scam in the World! The Blarney Stone! A mildly interesting castle but the freakin' tourists line up for hours just to lay on their backs like____ and bend backwards to kiss an innocuous rock among the ruins. It's tackier than South of The Border. What's more, there is now a big rip-off outlet for Irish souvenirs in an old woolen mill nearby. The parking lot never has fewer than twenty huge coaches in it. The merchandise is grossly overpriced and unexciting. I got my Arran sweater for half the price in a neighborhood store in Killarney. The Irish must be laughing their arses off at what once was just the silly Americans, but now includes German, English, Italian and Japanese tourists.

Jon

In America, Washington D.C. was dissapointing. Unfriendly people, huge walking distances and a feeeling of having visited a disneyland kind of pretentious city. In Europe, Prague. How could I look at the buildings over hundreds of heads and cameras? And those soviet suburbs of concrete, where almost everybody in the city lives?<BR>

Uncle Sam

Paddy,<BR><BR>"South of the Border"...I'm ROFLMAO here, I forgot all about that place. Road signs from Virginia to South Carolina for a big truck stop!<BR><BR>Thanks for the memory!<BR><BR>US

jb

Judith,<BR><BR>I thought I would love Amsterdam and although I had a good time the overall place grossed me out. It was kind of dirty and the people were fairly unfriendly. I also hated the breakfast of cold cuts. Oh well - they did have quite a few Fantastic Thai restaurants that I did enjoy.<BR><BR>jb

Pennywise

I almost apologise to say NEW YORK CITY. With all the hype, the alleged mystique, as the backdrop for so many movies and television shows it was just, well, sort of plain. <BR><BR>The fabled theatre district is half the size of Londons and twice as expensive and a skyscraper is a skyscraper is a skyscraper. Besides, there are bigger ones in Chicago.<BR><BR> I was happy to go home and report that we were treated well, much friendlier than Paris, but gosh, it's just a stunning amount of people crammed into a surprisingly small area. Manhattan was the only saving grace but it's just glass and steel and concrete. <BR><BR>The Bronx, Brooklin, and Queens gave me the creeps. Stunningly filthy. Americans have an expression, "everything but the kitchen sink." Well, on the roadway near Shea stadium, heaped in with all the rest of the trash, we saw not one BUT TWO kitchen sinks! <BR><BR>How can they live like that?

Alva

Mary, you're dissing San Francisco, my hometown. I have to wonder where you saw all the slimy, walking trash you mention. <BR><BR>You sound narrow-minded. All large cities have their share of homeless people. So just stay home-we and many others will thank you for it!!!!

Uncle Sam

Alva,<BR><BR>Of course very city has it's homeless problem somewhere. SF's however are in your face, thanks to the liberal policies of the folks that run the place.<BR><BR>Homeless (?) with theirr pets, both dogs and cats, primarily around 3rd and market and around Union Square are taking over. And guess what they are...in your face!<BR><BR>And I love SF, but reality is reality!<BR><BR>US

Mel

The Washington Monument

xxx

<BR>Alva,<BR><BR>San Francisco is a great town, but let's face it, San Francisco has more BPC (bums per corner) than any city on the West Coast. We have them in L.A., too, but at least we herd them into the downtown area, where few are likely to visit. In S.F., they are apparently the unofficial mascots and tourist greeters.

Alva

xxx the reason you guys can herd your homeless downtown is because LA is alot larger than SF. <BR><BR>I wish Uncle Sam could give a talking to to SF's mayor, Willie Brown about being too liberal. I would welcome it and as it seems as though you have the answer to the problem(s) we have with the homeless population here.

Uncle Sam

Alva,<BR><BR>I'd tell Wille to do the following:<BR><BR>Willie, go spend a week in NYC. Then call or meet with Rudy and then ask Rudy how he did it...and then do it!<BR><BR>US<BR>