test 3

Underrated: Manila

—Anonymous

reply 18308/23/2015
Quite a loose definition of Europe you've got there, [R183].

—Anonymous

reply 18408/23/2015
lol [R184]

—Anonymous

reply 18508/23/2015
[R178] Your description of Amsterdam could be applied to Copenhagen too.

—Anonymous

reply 18608/23/2015
Another vote for Copenhagen being overrated. It doesn't help that the Danish men are rude and arrogant narcissistic jerks. The service everywhere you go is by far some of the worst in the world, and the whole city is under construction due to the metro work.

This is how a Danish female friend of mine describe Danish men: "In London men hold the door open for women. In Denmark men slams the door in women's face."

—Anonymous

reply 18708/23/2015
[R178] [R186] Could not agree more!

—Anonymous

reply 18808/23/2015
The contrast between Bilbao and Donostia is hard to believe. ONE of them has everything you could wish for in a destination...

—Anonymous

reply 18908/23/2015
What is the primary town on Lake Garda?

—Anonymous

reply 19008/23/2015
[R177] The Americans were mindful of bombing places like Florence because of its beauty. Unlike the Germans they didn't occupy most of Europe THEN bomb one of the free areas(the UK). The bombing of Dresden and Hamburg were revenge plays by The British and The Americans because of the bombing of British cities during the war. Hamburg being in the West recovered nicely architecturally, Dresden being in East Germany was a relative eyesore.

—Anonymous

reply 19108/23/2015
The areas that were not bombed in Dresden are still very beautiful today. It's just the atmosphere that is very, very peculiar. I guess not the ideal place for a tourist, far from it. Better to stay in Neustadt and take the time to get a sense of the place. But for that I guess you'd need a few months.

—Anonymous

reply 19208/24/2015

I'm sad about Danish men being rude & arrogant jerks. They look so hot on Rita (the show on netflix) - especially Rosa's dad, Lars.

—Nordic slut

reply 19308/24/2015
[R191], it's a totally false equivalency to compare Allied carpet bombing of German cities with the disruptive but ultimately very limited damage that the Luftwaffe did in England. No German city that was flattened in the war ever recovered its original luster, which is why large German cities are mostly ugly today (although Berlin is definitely worth a visit for its bustle and nightlife).

[R177], that Paris and all the Italian jewels survived is only "interesting" if you don't consider that

1) the French capitulated immediately to the Germans in 1940, sat out the war in cafés (while collaborating when it served), and then when the Allies marched in all claimed to have been active in the Resistance, and

2) the Italians never fought much to begin with, changed sides in 1943 when the Axis situation got really hairy, and then pretty much withdrew from the war. By the time the Allied bombing campaign really got going, there was no reason left to bomb anything in Italy.

—Anonymous

reply 19408/24/2015
The Danes I've met were super friendly and positive - maybe in a superficial way.

It's the Dutch I can't stand.

The Swedes are usually pretty aloof, some are downright unpleasant but others can be super friendly, so it balances out. And the country is gorgeous.

—Anonymous

reply 19508/24/2015
Hamburg is not ugly. It is better looking now than it ever was before the war.

—Anonymous

reply 19608/24/2015
Hamburg is definitely on my list now. Plus, the two people I met who were raised there were both cuties and very friendly and educated. Yes I miss them!!

—Anonymous

reply 19708/24/2015
Hamburg in timelapse

see YouTube video
—Anonymous

reply 19808/24/2015
My favorite German city as I posted upthread. The Amsterdam of Deutschland. Great shopping and a cool safe Red Light district too.

—Anonymous

reply 19908/24/2015
Glasgow has beautiful flats in vintage buildings about one tenth the cost of London.

—Wee Scot

reply 20008/24/2015
Glaswegians are some of the most friendly people on earth.

—Anonymous

reply 20108/24/2015
BTW, please spell it MALLORCA, which is the Spanish/Catalan spelling, thanks.
English speakers don't call or spell Moscow "Moskva" or Munich "München," nor do we insist people from other countries call or spell our cities exactly as we call or spell them when they are in their own countries: if the French call London "Londres" or New York "Nouvelle York," that's their business.

—Anonymous

reply 20208/24/2015
The French call New York, New York. But you've made your point, [R202].

—Anonymous

reply 20308/24/2015
I've been to Dresden for a weekend and it was fine, quite pleasant. It has some lovely parks. I didn't notice anything weird about the atmosphere, except that it is typical East Germany, so some parts are a bit run-down with broken windows, graffiti, etc. Wouldn't make a special trip to Europe just to see it, but if you are already going to the general area, give it a day or two.

—Anonymous

reply 20408/24/2015
Made a trip to Germany last week, and needed to single out Dresden for unpleasantness from workers in the service industry. This might be because the place is overrun with tourists.

—Anonymous

reply 20508/24/2015
[R89], when I went to Amsterdam there was trash everywhere, and no.. not the human kind (as in "those people are trashy"). I'm talking literally stacks of garbage just lying in the streets. Amsterdam had a serious garbage problem. The smell was horrific. Amsterdam wasn't even that fun. The canals were lovely and the houses were quaint, but yeah.. the garbage put me off that city for the near future.

—Anonymous

reply 20608/24/2015
[R206], if you haven't already, go to Stockholm. The cleanest, greenest capital I have ever seen. And bundlest of charm. I could fuck the leaves or the houses, probably.

—Anonymous