Pizza in Pisa: Zero Zero

Well it WAS fun, PQ - didn't you say sometime ago that I should refrain from stirring the pot ? ;-)

Pete BEST-Liverpool

The best foie gras in the Périgord - Amélie d'Envège, sold at Julien de Savignac. To die for.

Such a question can only come from an American.

Americans: masters of simplicist thinking and ranking lists that seem to bring order into a complex world.

There is nothing like "the BEST red wine". Is Chateau Latour the best or Gevrey-Chambertin? - Both are equal, it is a matter of personal taste, mood and food which one you prefer in a certain situation.

The BEST wurst - ridiculous. We have thousands of kinds of wurst and you can neither compare apples with oranges nor Ahle Wurscht with Dürrenbühler (both are WAY better than anything you find in Rick Steves books).

Europe is complex. Diverse. Colourful. You find the BEST everywhere. In every town, every village. Just look. And forget ranking lists.

traveller1959, you and I should hang out. Ever since that ridiculous Mercer survey crowned Vienna once again the "best" city to live in last week, all of my American friends are running around patting themselves on the back for landing a gig here rather than Baghdad (which came in at "worst"). There is no such thing as a BEST city, but they don't get that. :)

As a student, I learned to make such ranking lists and to manipulate them (select criteria and change measurement methods and weights so long until EXCEL sheet displays the desired result).

It sad that so much money is involved. Parker makes prices with his ridiculous points for wines. And a Guide Michelin star is worth a fortune (albeit I admit that the Guide Michelin is much more reliable than Parker).

The important thing is to cross the entire city or maybe even go to the suburbs to get the very best.

Regarding french fries. Indeed, they have nothing to do with France... or Belgium, at least in terms of the name. The verb "to french" means to slice thinly (<i>"julienne"</i>), which is what you do with certain potatoes before frying them.

Technically, they should be called "frenched fries" but we have lost the "d" on a lot of comestibles, such as iced cream and iced tea.

Can you please refrain from the persistent American bashing? The OP only asked for opinions. What's so terrible about that?

For some reason, some of you think it's part of your condescending "wit" to make rude remarks about Americans. I think my kids have better manners.

brubenow, I am only expressing my opinion. I am an American, and feel perfectly within my right (not "wit") to criticize the poor behaviors of my fellow citizens in my overseas, adopted home (that extend well beyond their silly reliance on lists, truth be known). Our children have better manners than do some of those with whom I required to engage.

Asking for the BEST is not terrible. It is sad. Because it shows that you do not understand Europe.

But the consequences of asking for the BEST are terrible. Because it leads to masses of tourists focussing on single points, corrupting them while other equally good spots are neglected.

Take Èze. The Côte d'Azur has dozens of picturesque hilltop villages. But sometimes someone wrote "Èze is the BEST hilltop village" and now it is spoilt by cruise ship excursion buses and their offspring, tacky souvenir shops and other tourist traps.

Take Gengenbach. Sometimes someone wrote "Gengenbach is the BEST town in the Black Forest" and now EVERY Fodorite wants to go to Gengenbach, even stay there, although there are more beautiful places in the Black Forest and Gengenbach is not even a Black Forest town.

Take Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Sometimes someone wrote "Rothenburg is the BEST historical town in Germany" and, again, this town is flooded, while there are at least hundred historical towns in Germany which are equally picturesque.

It gets even worse when it comes to the BEST baguette in Paris, the BEST pizza in Napoli and the BEST weißwurst in Bavaria. And as soon as these places are commmunicated they are not the BEST anymore because they are overrun and lose quality.

Now, you appear to be a bit sensible when it comes to your home country. Aren't ranking lists a significant part of American or, to be exact, U.S. culture? Don't you rank anything - the BEST wine, the BEST book, the BEST guitar player, the BEST beach, the BEST lingerie shop?

It is a simplification of the world's complexity which can have dangerous consequences. But I won't get political here.

It's understood that asking for "the best" is equivalent to asking for one's opinion or favorite.

And your point can be made just as well without singling out Americans as the cause of all things bad in the world.

Sorry for your sanity Pal.

There seems to be a few numpties who took this seriously.

brubenow, I am not singling out Americans; I am expressing my opinion on the group of fellow citizens that I can best relate to. Americans are not the cause of all things bad in the world; just, perhaps, "Best of" lists. ;)

traveller1959, my fellow Americans (and others) can make and enjoy lists with respect to their home countries, of course, and to their heart's content. I would never dream to make a list of "Best of Vienna," though I love my adopted city and country, but such a list is not for me to make. I would never do the same for America, either.

I will share a couple of funny anecdotes from my week in NYC last month (half-term school break) with DD and her BF, a European citizen who had never been to the US before (both 14). The first: BF was FaceTiming with her mom on President's Day, describing how being able to shop (the girls wiped Macy's clean) on a holiday was, "The BEST." The second: the girl's SnapChat photos of a rat in the NYC subway was responded to by friends with, "Jealous! NYC is "The Best."

"Best," like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder, not lists. :)

If declaring somewhere the "best" results in all the tour groups and cruise ship outings congregating there, it leaves everywhere else for the rest of us.

The BEST Sacher Tortes in Vienna?

The BEST beaches
The BEST mountain scenery
The BEST places only locals go

"The BEST places only locals go" - How would we know? I'm certainly not telling :-)

The BEST jellied eels in London's East End?

The BEST Yorkshire Pud in Yorkshire?

The BEST place to shop in London?

Only the best - not second best - I'm American and we are becoming great again and yes we do want only the BEST!

What is spah bol? I'll be passing through Manchester and want to know. But only the BEST, please.

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Today I was looking for a restaurant and clicked on my name in an old thread. Someone took me to task for mentioning a restaurant I like, with low prices, good food, and an inconvenient location.

They wanted to know how I could possibly know that my rec would please someone else. I don't. That's why is was specific in my answer.

Numpty.