For me it was Brasov in Romania. It was more beautiful than I had expected and really liked the vibes of this medieval city.
I went to Phoenix, AZ, completely expecting sand dunes, because it’s a desert. It was then I learned there are different types of desert.
Can you elaborate more? I also thought there was just sand there. What is there actually?
Kuala Lumpur. Had to go there on short notice for a three day work trip, and I knew next to nothing about the country in particular or the region in general. Gorgeous city. Friendly people, awesome street food, and beautiful architecture. 10/10, looking forward to going back.
Merida in Mexico. It’s not a tourist city, but I was there during a weekend and there were all sort of family events organized at the market, it was really fun and inclusive. We sat down to watch a kids play and got brought into the play as “ghosts” (we’re white) so the kids would run up to us and pretend to be scared (we’d play it up), and at the end everyone gathered around us and thanked us for being sports. The rest of the day was just an immersion in actual Mexican culture and friendliness.
Not what I expected just dropping into the city on the way to see ruins, we stayed an extra couple days just to enjoy it. Maybe it’s gotten more urban and stand-offish, this would have been a decade ago.
Seoul. I was barely 18 and got stationed there. I was expecting grass huts and donkey carts based off MASH or other movies I’ve seen.
But I was legitimately shocked. Like you know in movies when someone goes through Tokyo for the first time and they are starting struck, that was me in Seoul.
What year did you go?
2002
What? You went to Seol in 2002 and expected grass huts? Never heard of LG or Samsung?
I was 18. I didn’t really care about what companies were headquartered in which countries.
Oh, snap! We may have been drunk in some of the same bars!
It’s possible. I did a lot of drinking.
I assume Seoul looks a lot like it does in Agents of Mayhem which is to say, one of those futurist curvy paradises of white concrete and vert (flowers, bushes, trees) with pop-out holographic cute Pokémon-like creatures who deliver scientific factoids or PSAs (which didn’t inform gameplay, just life in Seoul).
When I went to Brussels, Belgium I was shocked to find out there are no fast food restaurants in the entire city, even the airport.
Nice to see them support small businesses.
Nice to see them support small businesses.
yeah. Franchising is for successful ideas and other chump games. I’d rather support local strangers and a local land baron than local strangers and a remote land baron with service level objectives. Fuck those people I’ll never know instead of those people I’ll never know.
Thanks for saying something nice about Brussels I guess, but there is literally a Quick (ie, French Mcdonalds) in the Schengen terminal. And tons of fast food elsewhere in the city.
Aren’t there hundreds of independent fritures (small places that serve traditional Belgian fries)?
I’m sure on the specific thing, but there were a lot of chip shops.
Osaka Japan. I love it there. There’s so much to see and do, and beautiful parks and shrines everywhere.
Great food, too. One side of my family is from Amagasaki so I’ve spent way more time in Osaka than other places in Japan. Great city.
The food is otherworldly. Not just in taste, but in variety.
Also, the retro electronic scene is so much better in Osaka than Tokyo. I always come back with 2 large suitcases full of LaserDisc and old video game consoles and peripherals.
For me it’s camera shops. I love old film equipment and there’s some amazing stores.
Sarajevo in BiH. Fascinating history, great weather and food. Met some lovely people.
Amsterdam. I don’t know what I expected, but it was overwhelmingly better in every way than I anticipated. The cycling infrastructure that allowed me to bicycle around was amazing, I felt safe on the road even without a helmet. The public transportation was so convenient and easy, there were some delays, some cancellations, but it was still a highlight of my trip and I was able to use a clean restroom on a public train which blew my mind. The parks are everywhere and beautiful. There are so many “third places” where you can just go and hang out. The shops, the museums, the weed cafes, all top notch. I saw Wu-tang clan and NAS while I was there at the Ziggo-dome, and it was such an amazing experience. Ever since visiting, I’ve wanted to move there.
Singapore is a tropical city above ground with an underground city beneath it. Great food, great people, just do not chew gum on the subway.
Singapore sounds like a really cool, safe, clean, organized, and hi-tech city, but their laws and enforcement seems a bit extreme to my American self. I both want to visit and am scared of visiting.
Yea, same, I know smoking pot can get you a prison sentence very easily over there
Hong Kong
I just expected like a flat New York “too tame to be fun” city but was met with mountains, beaches, and so many bizarre but charming events.
Not that I don’t like New York but it has changed a lot. I don’t want to say it lost its personality but I feel like a lot of big cities have become idk… commercialized?
The food in Hong Kong was pretty disappointing tho or maybe I built it up too much in my head. I went to so many restaurants that were recommended to me by either locals or expats and they were all so bland. Which is wild because I didn’t have to go far across the border into China to find amazing dishes.
New York City is only Times Square in my mind. I’ve never been.
I lived near JSq (07306) for a number of years.
Same-same, the City is Times Square, Herald Square, a rockin’ flea market, museums, apartments, bars, Mollys and Ryans for sure, pizza, zoos, Nuts4Nuts carts hiding the downtown smell in '01 and WoW/UnionSqCafe/11MadisonPk.
Now that ZlataPraha is closed in Astoria, half the pizza joints and shops are lifecycled out to something else, and the crime has come up under a succession of milquetoast mayors, I dream of a NYC that never existed so it’s something we never lost.
Paris. I’ve always heard how rude and unfriendly Parisians are towards English speakers but that was not my experience.
Same thing with New York. New Yorkers were almost uniformly friendly, only don’t waste their time.
Same.
San Antonio. I was going to visit family and honestly was dreading it, but the downtown core is surprisingly pleasant. Extremely walkable, semi easy to get around, and the river walk is honestly pretty nice. (Not nice nice, I’d say it’s like a Vegas lite, everything is a little garish, but not too much).
Getting outside of SA was annoying though, car centric hellhole, endless sprawl, no way to get around. But - downtown is nice.
I used to go to PAX South every year in SA. Unfortunately it has been cancelled indefinitely. SA is a fun place, even though I despise Texas.
People think Buffalo is gritty and cold but it’s so much more than that and actually has amazing food and drink and things to do and shopping and simply spectacular architecture. I’d rather go there than anywhere else in the US anymore. I always have a fantastic time.
Everyone talks about the rain in Seattle. No one warns you about the hills.
Warns? Thats WHY people go to Seattle.
The whole of Spain. I grew up with a lot of people who loved Europe but had never been to it or really anywhere else. Spain for some reason got a lot of love and attention in my social circles but I didn’t engage with it meaningfully so I didn’t understand it. I started my international travels in “the east” and had a wonderful time. By the time I visited Spain I expected a normal travel experience but definitely not the elevated grandeur my highschool years would have had me believe. I had average expectations.
Then I got there and every meal was bomb. Madrid, Valencia, Barcelona - I couldn’t go wrong I loved the local food. Worse, I loved at least Madrid and Barcelona’s ability to recreate other cuisines too. Some of the best sushi I’ve ever had was in Madrid and I make a point of getting quality sushi where ever I go (including practically gorging myself into a food coma in Japan).
Then I went to an art museum and it moved me, found some artisanal stores, got fresh orange juice at multiple grocers, saw a movie in a decent theater, you know the normal like “show me what it’s like to live uniquely here” stuff. Ya, Madrid stole my heart for what it was and Spain as a whole surprised me.
