Quoting ScarletHarlot (Reply 149): HEY!!!!!!!!!

You're from Thunder Bay.

Quoting Superfly (Reply 150): You're from Thunder Bay.

Superfly...always smooth.  

Quoting ScarletHarlot (Reply 151): Superfly...always smooth.

Thanks.  
You're too jolly and have a great smile to be a true Seattle girl.  

There are a few on my list:
- Florence. Primarily because there are too many tourists crowded into a small area around the famous artworks (the Statue of David, da Vinci's Cupid, and the like) and down to the Pontevecchio.
- Paris. Visited there in September last year, and it seemed dirty, touristy, most of trees in the parks had a rather distinct lack of trees, and being hounded by gypsy's was a major put off.
- Amsterdam. Can't quite put my finger on exactly why, but I may have been put off by the dodgy hotel (Hotel Nieuw Slotania), dodgy area around the hotel, not a fan of the red-light district, and not knowing who was high on illicit substances.
- Palmerston North, New Zealand. Had 1 afternoon and night there in December 2010, and boring as all heck. The only saving graces - the Rugby Union Museum (half an hour), the shopping centre, the cinema theatre (saw the Angelina Jolie movie "The Tourist"), and that the hotel gave me a room with a view of one of the most fantastic sunsets I had ever seen.
- Hopfgarten, Austria. Was there in September last year in the warmer time of the year, and still was rather slow and mundane.

Johannesburg - Stayed with relatives, didn't feel safe at all despite the high walls and armed security and a panic button

Lagos - There is truth in the saying "Happiness in Lagos is V1"

Glasgow - I think the airforce should drop some "Instant Sunshine" on the place.

Cairo - As soon as i stepped of the plane, i knew i wanted to get straight back on it

Quoting Bluebird191 (Reply 153): - Palmerston North, New Zealand. Had 1 afternoon and night there in December 2010, and boring as all heck. The only saving graces - the Rugby Union Museum (half an hour), the shopping centre, the cinema theatre (saw the Angelina Jolie movie "The Tourist"), and that the hotel gave me a room with a view of one of the most fantastic sunsets I had ever seen.

I had one of the most bizarre, "Leaving Las Vegas" type of nights in Palmerston North. It included:

Drinking beer from an ash tray
Making out with a girl that had 3 nipples
Riding pillion on a vespa with a guy who used to ride through stop signs with his eyes closed for thrills

So whilst I agree it is not a town that features on many tourist maps, it certainly has some interesting memories for me. I have only been once. It would be interesting to go again and see if the experience is similar.

Quoting Dano1977 (Reply 154): Lagos - There is truth in the saying "Happiness in Lagos is V1"

Saying that Lagos isn't an enjoyable place to visit is like saying herpes is an unfortunate nuisance...

The first (and I think really the only) city that springs to mind for me is Dusseldorf, Germany. I had been working on a project with someone from the Dusseldorf office of the company I worked for at the time and we got on really well. We had never met (everything was done via phone or email) so when the project ended he suggested I went to visit him in Dusseldorf for a couple of days.

I can't even really put my finger on what it was about the place that I didn't like. My friend showed me all the nightlife that the city had to offer and we went to many bars, but there was just something about the place that I found dull and depressing. I also spent a fair amount of time exploring, but there was nothing that captured my imagination. Frankly, I was glad to leave! I don't think I've ever felt that way about a city, either before or since. Weird!

Actually, I was just about to post this reply when I remembered that there is one other city I've visited that really didn't live up to my expectations, and that's Atlanta. I didn't find it depressing like I did with Dusseldorf, it just wasn't the exciting, vibrant place I thought it was going to be. Granted I was there alone, so maybe if I'd had someone to show me around things may have been different. I just found that once I'd done Coca Cola World (or whatever it's called) and the CNN tour, I struggled to find things to fill my time there.

Quoting BAViscount (Reply 157): Dusseldorf, Germany

That's music to my ears! 

Of course, I'm not entirely serious and referring to this: http://deutsch-heute.blogspot.de/201...06/rivalry-koln-vs-dusseldorf.html

Quoting BAViscount (Reply 157): The first (and I think really the only) city that springs to mind for me is Dusseldorf, Germany.

I felt the same way there when I did some work there a decade ago. Saving grace was the Breidenbacher Hof Hotel, the best I have ever stayed at.

Btw, mein Deutsch Freunden, does Dusseldorf = Donkey City?   

Prague!! Vastly over hyped, full of drunk tourists. The city center felt more like Disneyland than a city center.

Quoting tz757300 (Reply 59): Atlanta - I had very high hopes for the city but I spent a day being a tourist and then wondering what to do with the rest of my time. Not really a good thing for a city that large.

The City of Atlanta is actually quite small, and not really a tourist's paradise. Most of the growth and population is in the suburbs, where there is indeed plenty to do, but you have to know where to go.

Quoting ju068 (Reply 121): The worst bigger city in Europe has to be Brussels

Not impressed with Brussels either.

Quoting comorin (Reply 159): Btw, mein Deutsch Freunden, does Dusseldorf = Donkey City?

Well, it's Düsseldorf with an umlaut, but that sort of detail is hardly relevant when you're making fun of a place. My own translation of "Dusseldorf" would have to be "numpty village", so you were very close. As a resident of Cologne, I must of course never say or write or type the name (oops...   ), so what I might do instead is call it "Dusseldoof" - "numpty daft".

I do believe there are some people who actually take this rivalry seriously, so don't toy with the idea when you're in that part of Germany.

Quoting aloges (Reply 161): Well, it's Düsseldorf with an umlaut, but that sort of detail is hardly relevant when you're making fun of a place.

Right.  
Düssel is actually a tributary of the Rhine feeding the canal alongside of Königsallee, D'dorf's main shopping street.

Quoting aloges (Reply 161): I do believe there are some people who actually take this rivalry seriously, so don't toy with the idea when you're in that part of Germany.

Is that so? I thought it was all in good jest. Well, one guy from D'dorf even dared to throw horse manure at the King.* So better don't mess with them.

Anyway, I never understood why Düsseldorf always ranks high on those best-cities-to-live surveys.


* Which led to renaming Kastanienallee (Chestnut Alley - where it happened) Königsallee - King's Alley.

[Edited 2012-08-04 12:48:46]

Quoting aloges (Reply 161): I do believe there are some people who actually take this rivalry seriously, so don't toy with the idea when you're in that part of Germany.

Message understood!

Quoting NoUFO (Reply 162): Düssel is actually a tributary of the Rhine feeding the canal alongside of Königsallee, D'dorf's main shopping street.

I see, thanks. It was a nice place to sit and have an ice cream while the good people of D'Dorf walked by...

Moscow
Brussels
Cairo
Ekaterinburg
Detroit

Here is my list in no particular order.

Shanghai - I think this city is totally overrated and nothing special other than tall buildings. People there seem to be scamming or scheming something. Most Mainland people seem to dislike Shanghai and its residents, too.

Toronto - Another city that's totally overrated and residents seem to think the world revolves around Young and Bloor. Sadly, my sister lives there so I have to go visit every few months. Also used to live there during college.

Philadelphia - This city is depressing. Half of it is run down. This is the only place I've been to where the residents seem really proud of the crime problem and think that "acting hard" is an asset. Unfortunately, I have to go here fairly often because of my job. Airport really sucks, too.

Cleveland - Just depressing.

Detroit - Ghetto. But the airport is nice.

Cincinnati - Like Cleveland, but no lake.

Winnipeg - My least favourite city in Canada.

Baltimore - Aside from the harbor area, this city is just a ghetto.

Any city in North Dakota.

I'm also going to add Luxembourg. Really, really boring!

I note several references to Brussels, Prague and Budapest. They're actually 3 of my favorite cities in Europe. Brussels used to seem boring and depressing when I only visited a couple of times on business, but now that I've been there 4 or 5 times and done some exploring in neighborhoods away from the city center I've grown to like it. Many good restaurants and much cheaper than Paris. You can also get some very low rates in some of the best hotels on weekends when the EU civil servants go home.

My strategy everywhere I go is to avoid the touristy areas as much as possible and get to know some of the areas that tourists probably rarely visit.

Quoting OA260 (Reply 142): Quoting flyingturtle (Reply 131): - Zurich. I never understood why that city is so popular with tourists. I love Zurich . Very clean and civilised and some lovely places to eat,relax and shop . One of my favourite cities. Always feel safe there too.

But too expensive, just like Geneva (and everywhere else in Switzerland). I've lived 25 km from GVA for 16 years and even London now seems fairly cheap compared to Switzerland (the weaker pound helps).

I don't like to feel like I'm being ripped off when I travel and that's the impression I expect most visitors to Switzerland get. I've been to most major cities in Germany and it always amazes me how much cheaper it is there, e.g. restaurant bills about half what you spend for the same thing in ZRH or GVA, and usually better quality and friendlier service.

Quoting StuckInCA (Reply 147): I appreciate that different people have different tastes, but it's hard to imagine not liking the geography of the Seattle area. *shrugs*

I like the geography of the area. The mountains and waters and beautiful. I just don't like the geography of the city itself. It feels too cramped and the inhabitants aren't my type.

Quoting Superfly (Reply 148): Fresno is scary day & night. Me an 2 friends chased away a guy trying to break in to my car.

That's not good. I felt okay there during the day, but it's probably just danger in disguise.

Quoting Corinthians (Reply 165): Shanghai - I think this city is totally overrated and nothing special other than tall buildings.

At least the girls are cute.  

Quoting Corinthians (Reply 165): Detroit - Ghetto. But the airport is nice.

The food is good too.

*Not so sure there is such a thing as a 'bad city' - it is all in the eye of the beholder. I try and find a local person in each city as it can totally tranform an experience. *

RIYADH - RIYADH - RIYADH - misery in the desert. No woman/ cinemas/ fun/ booze/ pavements/ public transport/ sights/ civic pride. During Ramadan you can't even drink water during daylight hours. It is horrid. And it is home for the next year!

Aberdeen, UK - oil industry/ beach with needles/ grey buildings and full of economic migrants.

Preston, UK - curled up in my megabus when I passed through this city

Jakarta, Indonesia - Filthy and without obvious features

Mumbai - Good and bad points combine here. Nicer out of Monsoon season.

Guangzhou - featureless... which brings me to Chongqinq

Manila - thrilling after a good nights sleep but all the polution and noise does tire you out.

Dubai - Don't get it. Just don't. It's fickle.

Cairo - Loud, rude, grabby people. Not keen one bit. Give me Alexander.

Amman, Jordan - there during Ramadan. Difficult to get around and fairly boring. Looks pretty.

Windhoek, Namibia - Dull and looking like a lego city.

Kimberly, South Africa - Literally a big hole.

Singapore

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

Prague - Robbed there, and very over-rated/ over-run

Quoting YVRLTN (Reply 68): Dislike Edinburgh too - bagpipers everywhere, seriously - STFU

Yes, it is a little overpowering. Still, with tourism the mainstay of the economy, alot of visitors are buying into the stereotypes.

Quoting MillwallSean (Reply 96): I am surprised no one has mentioned cities in Africa or Saudi. Horrible places. Riyadh is a nightmare in robes. Cairo has the rudest people anywhere in the world I have been.

We've had a few African cities already!

Quoting MasterBean (Reply 125): Glasgow

I won't defend Glasgow... but it is a gritty old place that requires a bit more penetration to find the excellent aspects. More a living persons city. I've heard from others that theyfound the poeple very friendly.

Quoting Superfly (Reply 169): At least the girls are cute.

Lol...Korean girls are better. Beijing girls too. And taller!

San Angelo, TX (Or anywhere in Texas west of I-35.

Pahrump, NV- 3 words: "Bus on blocks"

Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Camden, NJ-Thank God I had life insurance...

Davenport, Iowa/Moline, Illinois-If you've ever seen the TV show "Roseanne"...

London
Memphis
Vicksburg
Natchez

Battle Mountain, NV.

I spent a week there one night.

Hempstead, NY

Not so much a visit, as I went to college there. After telling my family in Long Island that I was going there, they immediately told me to not leave school grounds, and I can see why as the place is filthy and crime infested. I pretty much stopped reading all of the campus advisories posted about on people being mugged and sexually assaulted near school grounds after the first month as it happened so much. The last year I was there, the school newspaper started printing the Nassau County Police blotter and it was commonplace to see; "Mr. Soandso was found on 123 Front St. in Hempstead with a gunshot wound to the back of the head." a couple of times every week, along with the usual multitude of armed robberies.

The only good part was the dozen or so times campus security caught my friends and I doing things we shouldn't be doing and would just leave after seeing all of us had school ID's. They really did have bigger things than teenagers getting wasted on the intramural fields/parking lot to worry about.

Quoting Corinthians (Reply 165): Baltimore - Aside from the harbor area, this city is just a ghetto.

Hey, but are neighborhoods have a unique character. True, we have lots of ghetto areas but we do also have some funky enclaves of eccentricity. And our accent is a dialect unto itself. HON! Big hair, bad taste and kitsch that's my home town. A little secret, much of the ghetto turds descend upon the Inner Harbor to suppliment their income by helping themselves to everyone else's money and pshyce. The big dead rats and stiffs have migrated away from the waters in our harbor!

Though I've only been to the airport, Charlotte gives me vibes that say I wouldn't be missing anything if I never visited. It's in the middle of nowhere, a good haul from the ocean. Also it's always hot and humid. Plus there is a lack of Southern hospitality because much of the population are transplants from New York and Boston. Plus their airport is a mecca of delays.

Quoting Superfly (Reply 70): You've got that look that makes hookers swarm to you.

It happened again today at the Wynn Resorts parking garage. The girl was super cute and probably in her late teens. She was dressed for a night out except it was 10 in the morning. Actually, I kind of felt bad for her to be that young and pretty and walking the street...or the casino in this case.

Quoting bigorange (Reply 173): Vicksburg Natchez

Oh, how could I forget those places? Drove all the way down the Mississippi Delta region once, from Memphis to Baton Rouge, and I swear I couldn't believe I was actually still in the U.S. From gun store / pawn shops (very convenient if you are an armed robber), to riverboat casinos in every mile of river, to cars parked out in people's lawns painted in 5 different colors (4 of which were shades of rust) I saw it all. Even had a African-American gas station attendant tell me she "never saw a white boy paying with coins" when I didn't want to break a $20 bill to buy a $1.55 ice-cream (although to be fair that was actually in Northern Louisiana). Never drove a 26-foot truck so fast down a narrow, unfamiliar stretch of road at night, with one eye on the road and another on the diesel indicator (started stressing out as soon as the tank became half full).

To make things worst, I was there in June, when it was so hot and humid outside you couldn't even breathe, and driving at night represented a wholesale slaughter of mosquitoes the likes of which has not been known to man. On the plus side, the (complimentary) biscuits with apricot butter and the crawfish etoufée I had in Natchez were one of the most memorable lunch experiences I have ever had.

There are certain cities that are so large they are great to go to and great to leave as they mix terrific and horrible elements; NYC and London are like this for me.

Las Vegas is not a city, if you think of it the same way you would another city you will hate it. I went to visit a friend there and did not like it. I went back 3 years later with my girlfriend in the Summer; we stayed in a small suite at a top hotel (great rates out of season), we drank wayyy too much, swam in the pool, stayed in the hot tub wayyy too long and had one day where we did not even leave the hotel room. It was great! So Vegas is just how you approach it.

I can't believe someone would put St.Petersburg, Russia on this list! It is an amazing city.

I have not been to Africa or Asia, but have spent much time in Europe and the USA/Canada so I'll have to limit my list to those areas:

>Amsterdam- I enjoyed the Dutch countryside, but the city did not impress me, just felt dirty. It has been many years since I have been there though and would not mind trying it again.

>Tallinn- Amazing city, but the woman are just so good looking that I was not able to concentrate on anything else. I can't deal with that again.

>Prague- Could be a great city, but it embraces tourism too much. I hate when friends come back from Prague and say they have been to "Eastern Europe"; No! Go to Krakow, Kiev, Riga, and then tell me you have been to EE.

>Naples- Can all the men please buy shirts that have some sort of sleeve???

>Memphis- What a depressing city, old south with no charm....Graceland is much smaller than you think!

>Boston- Maybe growing up right outside NYC I have a bias, but I just do not like 'Bahstan'.

>Philadelphia- Some history, but most angry population on Earth (these were the people who threw ice balls at Santa and kids on a Christmas mini-train at the Eagles stadium during a December halftime some years back). Oh and just because Camden is over the border in NJ does not mean we own it, it's your dump, please annex it!

>Seattle- Stop raining!!! Actually, when it rains there is a bit of charm...when it stops the local weirdos come out and it is worse. Would not want to go back here (local countryside is nice).

>Buffalo- Am I the first to say Buffalo? American Siberia. And I hate Buffalo Wings.

>Milwaukee- Drab...anybody who has anything going on moved to Chicago a long time ago.

>Bridgetown, Barbados- I should have stayed on the beach.

Quoting lukeyboy95 (Reply 170): Windhoek, Namibia - Dull and looking like a lego city.

 

My List of Places that Didn't Impress:

Brussels - probably because we were there over a holiday period and lots of things were closed, but in general the city seemed seedy, boring, and extremely touristy in the center. That said, I'd be willing to give it another try at a non-holiday period and with some good restaurant recommendations.

Kuala Lumpur - just boring, hardly anything to do other than go shopping or look at the Petronas Towers. Also, a horribly designed mess of a city ... very difficult to walk anywhere due to the lack of any sensical street grid and poor sidewalks, and the mass transit is terrible (doesn't go anywhere useful, varying lines that don't connect to each other, etc.).

Arusha, Tanzania - didn't feel safe, and generally speaking the city is quite ugly without much to do.

Stockton, California - didn't feel safe, lack of things to do, run-down.

Quoting RedAirForce (Reply 179): I hate when friends come back from Prague and say they have been to "Eastern Europe"; No! Go to Krakow, Kiev, Riga, and then tell me you have been to EE.

I know exactly what you're talking about. I've got them all beat. I've been to Moscow.

Quoting RedAirForce (Reply 179): Milwaukee- Drab...anybody who has anything going on moved to Chicago a long time ago.

You should go to the Pfister.

Quoting rwsea (Reply 181): Kuala Lumpur - just boring, hardly anything to do other than go shopping or look at the Petronas Towers. Also, a horribly designed mess of a city ... very difficult to walk anywhere due to the lack of any sensical street grid and poor sidewalks, and the mass transit is terrible (doesn't go anywhere useful, varying lines that don't connect to each other, etc.).

My thoughts exactly.

Quoting rwsea (Reply 181): Stockton, California - didn't feel safe, lack of things to do, run-down.

They have a few good Laos restaurants. It is a dangerous place with many Hmong and Latin street gangs. You should be fine as long as you don't wear red, blue or any gang colors and wear your hat the wrong way.

Quoting rwsea (Reply 181): Kuala Lumpur

KL definitely has room for improvement, but I enjoyed my time there. Felt the people were friendly and the food was good. It can get a bit boring if you have several days and nothing to do but see the sights, I agree.

Quoting joffie (Reply 15): Hong Kong - People spitting on the street - Too many tailors trying to pull you in. Liked the train system though Melbourne - Overpriced, too many metrosexuals, crap customer service in department stores.

Oh man, you and I would NOT get along as travel partners. Those are my two favorite cities I've ever visited!

I'm intrigued by your HK experiences. In my dozen or so times in HK, I've never experienced a tailor trying to pull me in. I've gone to one by choice, but never had an of them try to get me to come in.

Quoting Corinthians (Reply 165): Philadelphia - This city is depressing. Half of it is run down. This is the only place I've been to where the residents seem really proud of the crime problem and think that "acting hard" is an asset. Unfortunately, I have to go here fairly often because of my job.

Sounds like it should be twinned with Liverpool

Quoting RedAirForce (Reply 179): >Tallinn- Amazing city, but the woman are just so good looking that I was not able to concentrate on anything else. I can't deal with that again.

Really? And you're from Ukraine. Many hot girls there.

Ukraine has a huge number of great looking women, but nothing beats Tallinn, Estonia.....

Quoting RedAirForce (Reply 179): Memphis- What a depressing city, old south with no charm....Graceland is much smaller than you think!

But Graceland should be on most people's bucket list. True the house is smaller than you think but, I really got into the self paced tour and had an affection for "The Jungle Room." The Memorial Garden where Elvis supposedly is resting with his daddy, momma Gladys and his parental units (Elvis has been spotted in many places btw so the jury is out if he is really dead!  &nbsp . I got sort of misty eyed as did other people looking at the monuments and seeing the Teddy stuffed Teddy Bears. I went into Zippyjet daydream mode where I was like Elvis but the POTUS who was beloved but hippoed out and lost it like Elvis and it was my digs (a mansion in Baltimore) where I lay with my parents.

I really almost got into the waterworks when I read the inscription on Elvis's monument about how God sensed he was tired and called him home. Otherwise, Memphis is OK but a one night quick trip. Beale Street has some cool music but seems manufactored touristy. The Blues Cafe which was supposedly Memphis's best ribs fell short.


Though not a city but I can do without visiting any of the Florida Turnpike rest plaza's. I don't know which is more depressing boring the Florida Turnpike or Alligator Alley. Otherwise I enjoy visiting the sunshine state.

[Edited 2012-08-22 21:52:34]

Quoting zippyjet (Reply 69): And I understand crimewise it's right up there with such notorious places as Camden and Newark, NJ., Detroit, MI and Cincinatti

Since when did Cincinnati become notorious for crime?

Quoting type-rated (Reply 98): Minneapolis. Let's see there is the mall and MSP. What else?

Well to begin, you have pro and college sports, nice museums, great dining, and a beautiful downtown. A city doesn't have to be a tourist trap to be a nice place to visit. I love MSP!

Quoting zippyjet (Reply 188): But Graceland should be on most people's bucket list.

Went there when I was 9 years old.
Checked off my bucket list already.  

Quoting RedAirForce (Reply 179): >Tallinn- Amazing city, but the woman are just so good looking that I was not able to concentrate on anything else. I can't deal with that again.

Quoting RedAirForce (Reply 179): >Naples- Can all the men please buy shirts that have some sort of sleeve???

OK you win the prize for worst reasons to dislike a city

Booking my flights to Talinn now

Quoting rwsea (Reply 181): Kuala Lumpur - just boring, hardly anything to do other than go shopping or look at the Petronas Towers. Also, a horribly designed mess of a city ... very difficult to walk anywhere due to the lack of any sensical street grid and poor sidewalks, and the mass transit is terrible (doesn't go anywhere useful, varying lines that don't connect to each other, etc.)

I agree with some of the points there, but KL has quite some things to offer, I went there in 08 for 3 days and enjoyed it, yes there is the Petronas towers, KL Tower, Malls, etc but there is also food, Lake Titiwangsa was a nice retreat and photo opportunity, Batung Caves (sp) and you can catch a bus for a daytrip to Malacca.

Quoting Braybuddy (Reply 3): Singapore: a sterile shopping centre.

Yes it is sterile and sanitized, but you can have a great time, I love it.

My list.

Miami, Lived there for around 4 years... and it is not what they show you on the TV with girls in Bikini strutting around guys lifting weights in Miami Beach. it is just a massive sprawl with horrid traffic and horrid drivers, rude people, crappy areas (Hialeah, and everything north of Downtown Miami) it just sucks.

Milan, Italy. Boring beyond reasoning, gray, dull, and unless you are a museum or art connoscenti there is pretty much nothing to do there, better take a train and head for Lake Como.

Liverpool, UK. Again gray, dull and dodgy, I did like the area where the Cavern is.

Quoting joffie (Reply 15): Hong Kong - People spitting on the street - Too many tailors trying to pull you in. Liked the train system though

Stop hanging around Chungking Mansions LOL

MIAspotter

Zurich for a lot of reasons i hate it. I always try to avoid even entering the city.

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. How the things go there is incredible.

Also on my list:

Munich

Some parts of New York

Amsterdam has cropped up a few times on this list for some reason......

If you go to the red light district, up and down Rokin, Damrak and Dam Sq, like most tourists, you're seriously asking to dislike the place! Thankfully, most of the rest of it is wonderful; Jordaan, De Pijp etc.

Which leads me on to Hamburg. I loved this city, but the Reeperbahn is the seediest dump I've ever seen. Very aggressive hookers, and I encountered one down and out, scabby whore who grabbed me and practically begged me to f*ck her. Never again.

Quoting zippyjet (Reply 188): But Graceland should be on most people's bucket list. True the house is smaller than you think but, I really got into the self paced tour and had an affection for "The Jungle Room."

I don't think I've ever been in a more deranged place than that house, especially the basement. No wonder the guy went loopy, damn mirrors everywhere distorted up from down.

Quoting MIAspotter (Reply 192): Miami, Lived there for around 4 years... and it is not what they show you on the TV with girls in Bikini strutting around guys lifting weights in Miami Beach. it is just a massive sprawl with horrid traffic and horrid drivers, rude people, crappy areas (Hialeah, and everything north of Downtown Miami)

I was trying to articulate this to someone the other day! I'll hold onto your verbiage, lol. It has its nice parts and charm, but yes, EVERYWHERE is a traffic hassle. Just getting across the highway to the grocery store could be a twenty minute adventure.

Quoting luckyone (Reply 195):

That's why I loved Graceland! It was a hoot!I grew up when stuff like mirrors and fur beds were all the rage. I had a cousin now sadly deceased who decked out his townhouse in of all places Brandywine country (Upper Marlboro). Superfly you would have loved his crib. Mirrored walls with golden gilt edge curly cues in the living room, deep thick multi colored vivid shag carpeting, One of the bedrooms featuring one of those 1970's Sweedish mod orange free standing fireplaces, those paintings with velvet backgrounds and feauring waif girls and kittens with those big bug eyes and a round king sized bed that looked exactly like the one in Elvis's basement museaum complete with a ceiling mirror. South of The Border in Dillan S.C. has a few "honeymoon suites" furnished like this. Oh, how could I forget his small well stocked bar with velvetine paintings of Budman!. And he also had customized shutters with orange backgrounds and blue fleur de lies.

Lets face it I'll admit if I was rich and made it like Elvis I'd probably have some of the same kitschy goodies but more with a Jetson's Googie retro 1950's modern theme and of course I'm one sick puppy!

Miami is one of those places I love visiting and like the rest of Florida its great to visit but no thank you on living there full time. To live in a place like Miami I'd have to be mega rich and not have to worry about commuting to work and the day to day routines. I'd be on the beach ogling the hotties in their barley there clothing!   

Though I've never been, Jamaica (the country) is quite low on the Zippyjet visitation food chain bucket list. A lot of folks said the beaches were pretty but the rest of the country was dirty, crime ridden and very expensive. I'll leave it at that!

Quoting zippyjet (Reply 196): Superfly you would have loved his crib.

  

Quoting Superfly (Reply 190): Went there when I was 9 years old. Checked off my bucket list already.

Quoting zippyjet (Reply 196): Lets face it I'll admit if I was rich and made it like Elvis I'd probably have some of the same kitschy goodies but more with a Jetson's Googie retro 1950's modern theme and of course I'm one sick puppy!

  
Elvis was cool because he had his own Lockheed JetStar and Lincoln Continental.

St Asaph in Denbighshire

Charleston, WV. Dirty, old, "interesting" local folk. Not my cup of tea. I will say I found the opposite sex "friendlier" here, and it did redeem itself by offering a surprising amount of things to do.

Gary, IN. Some places should just shut down.

Detroit, see Charlie West.

Fresno, why people ever go/stay on purpose is beyond me.

Newark, NJ. Big, busy, old and dirty. Overshadowed with NYC being so close.

Los Angeles, CA. No, just.....no. Way overrated, fake, never ending traffic.

El Paso, TX. Again, dusty, boring, just drab.

Memphis, TN. Not a single redeeming factor. Beale street offered the only relief and that was just copius quantities of overpriced booze.



I've generally enjoyed the cities I've been to abroad, if nothing else just for the local flavor of whichever country I happened to be in.