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Cities you'd never return to

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    #1502
    Akrasia
    Registered Users Posts: 22,303 ✭✭✭✭Akrasia


    Lollipops23 wrote: »
    Had a 2 hours stopover in Detroit while bussing to Chicago from Toronto.

    Obvs it wouldn't have a great rep these days, but it was a ghost town. Defo wouldn't be going back any time soon.

    Take a google streetview tour of detroit. it's shocking how the 'greatest country in the world' has simply abandoned this entire city.

    http://gizmodo.com/tracking-detroits-decay-through-google-street-view-1586631393


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    #1503
    ben.schlomo
    Registered Users Posts: 12,025 ✭✭✭✭ben.schlomo


    Zillah wrote: »
    So, C+ at most?

    For my own: San Francisco was a filthy, intimidating, drug-ridden, homeless person-besieged sh1thole. I think I might want to go back in the hopes of seeing the nice end of it, but what I saw was 90% horrendous.

    We had a conversation at work about San Francisco the last day, two of the three had been there, the consensus was that it was unsafe, homeless riddled and just not great.


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    #1504
    yourdeadwright
    Registered Users Posts: 20,631 ✭✭✭✭yourdeadwright


    Lollipops23 wrote: »
    Had a 2 hours stopover in Detroit while bussing to Chicago from Toronto.

    Obvs it wouldn't have a great rep these days, but it was a ghost town. Defo wouldn't be going back any time soon.

    Was in Detroit visiting a friend last month, he lives 30 minutes from the city towards Ann arbour and it was beautiful but Its hard to believe how rundown the city is,
    We had a night out in the city and it was like a 3rd would city ,its so strange to have such kip of a major city in North America ,


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    #1505
    fleet_admiral
    Registered Users Posts: 3,747 ✭✭✭fleet_admiral


    Power

    Bought a hoover off them that packed up after a week


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    #1506
    Akrasia
    Registered Users Posts: 22,303 ✭✭✭✭Akrasia


    fleet_admiral wrote: »
    Power

    Bought a hoover off them that packed up after a week

    in that case you probably should return there....


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    #1507
    FTA69
    Registered Users Posts: 9,252 ✭✭✭FTA69


    ohnonotgmail wrote: »
    The boy or the elephant?

    In fairness you were there during civil unrest. Thats never going to show a place in the best light.

    The young fella. Thought he was a bit of a legend myself, riding an elephant around town with barely a stitch on him and sh*tting where he pleased.


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    #1508
    Glebee
    Registered Users Posts: 6,616 ✭✭✭Glebee


    FTA69 wrote: »
    Dhaka in Bangladesh. I went to Bangladesh as I worked in a largely Bengali community centre in East London for a few years and wanted to explore more about the culture and origins of the people I worked with. I had some fantastic experiences there but also some utterly f*cking nutty ones.

    When I arrived in January I was picked up by a friend of a friend who drove me to my hotel. The dual carriageway had people driving down the wrong lanes in the wrong directions, swerving everywhere. I saw a 15 year old lad riding an elephant down the hard shoulder who then got off and took a massive sh*te in full view of passing traffic.

    As look would have it, I arrived in time for the "hartal" or political strike whereupon mobs would take to the street for a bit of burning and rioting. Two people were killed by the cops outside my hotel the first night I was there. There are literally no foreigners in the country so people stare at you like a zoo exhibit; the lads in the hotel wouldn't let me leave as they thought it was too dangerous.

    I snuck out after one day and saw some poor bastard get shot in the face point-blank with a rubber bullet before his mates dragged him off, blood p*ssing everywhere. Also while in a café I witnessed a mob attack a lawyer's social club full of supporters of the opposition and proceed to drag people out the windows and batter them with bamboo canes. I can still hear the sound of stick beating off people's skulls.

    Piece de resistance was seeing the police drag the body of a dead homeless man off a 20 foot pile of rubbish with a rope around his foot.

    I saw that on Griffith Avenue one day, ok no elephant mind but this guy just sqauts down and has a dump...:eek::eek:


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    #1509
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users Posts: 40,285 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    FTA69 wrote: »
    The young fella. Thought he was a bit of a legend myself, riding an elephant around town with barely a stitch on him and sh*tting where he pleased.


    In fairness it is what we all aspire to.


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    #1510
    fleet_admiral
    Registered Users Posts: 3,747 ✭✭✭fleet_admiral


    Glebee wrote: »
    I saw that on Griffith Avenue one day, ok no elephant mind but this guy just sqauts down and has a dump...:eek::eek:

    Saw the same on a 16 in Terenure. Old drunk snarted and followed through


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    #1511
    Rakish Paddy
    Closed Accounts Posts: 758 ✭✭✭Rakish Paddy


    fleet_admiral wrote: »
    Saw the same on a 16 in Terenure. Old drunk snarted and followed through

    I once missed a bus because I sharted while waiting for it. My fault entirely for committing to a large fart not long after eating a potentially dodgy meal, in a cold climate where my arse had gone somewhat numb. Needless to say there was a nasty case of 'gas followed by mass'. At least I had the decency to go bin the underpants and wipe the arse before going back to wait for the next bus.


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    #1512
    clever user name
    Registered Users Posts: 537 ✭✭✭clever user name


    Manila!

    The Philippines is an amazing country with many spectacularly beautiful places and lovely people. Manila however, is dirty crowded kip...and there is sweet f**k all to do. Plus the traffic is a god damn nightmare. Cheap though.


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    #1513
    beerbuddy
    Registered Users Posts: 131 ✭✭beerbuddy


    Liverpool what a total kip


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    #1514
    yourdeadwright
    Registered Users Posts: 20,631 ✭✭✭✭yourdeadwright


    beerbuddy wrote: »
    Liverpool what a total kip

    I think Liverpool is nice if you think its a kip now you should have seen it in the 80's and 90's


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    #1515
    Saipanne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,882 ✭✭✭Saipanne


    Warsaw is pretty grim. Not much going on.

    I might return to Rome, but I'm not pushed. I was very disappointed with the place.

    Kuala Lumpur is the most boring place on earth.

    I'm not that fond of London, either, but you kind of end up going there a lot because it's close.


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    #1516
    323
    Registered Users Posts: 1,135 ✭✭✭323


    Hard to say, OP. Most cities no matter how bad they may seem have usually some good characteristics.

    Only one's for me that has almost no redeeming characteristics and have refused to go back to are both in Egypt, Cairo and Alexandria.
    Saipanne wrote: »
    Warsaw is pretty grim. Not much going on.

    I might return to Rome, but I'm not pushed. I was very disappointed with the place.

    Kuala Lumpur is the most boring place on earth.

    I'm not that fond of London, either, but you kind of end up going there a lot because it's close.

    WOW.
    The mind boggles, you did actually leave the hotel/accommodation in KL?

    “Follow the trend lines, not the headlines,”



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    #1517
    Magico Gonzalez
    Registered Users Posts: 2,328 ✭✭✭Magico Gonzalez


    I can forgive places like Rome and Paris for the traffic, the rudeness and the occasional chaos for the food, the history, the architecture and the views.

    It's all about priorities. If you want to turn up, see a clean, well managed city with no obvious signs of poverty, traffic and stressed out locals I'm not really sure what you are left with. Frankfurt...meh.

    Anyway, probably Buenos Aires would not appeal to the same people that don't like Rome or Paris wouldn't like it here either. Chaotic, dirty & noisy, not for everyone certainly! In all that madness the city somehow finds it's character. Certain places make you work a little to appreciate, you have to peal back a few layers to get the best of some places and the greatness of the place isn't always evident by taking a Google Street View perspective. Sometimes the character of a city takes a little discovering but I appreciate some people aren't into those kinds of places.


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    #1518
    Magico Gonzalez
    Registered Users Posts: 2,328 ✭✭✭Magico Gonzalez


    Saipanne wrote: »
    Warsaw is pretty grim. Not much going on.

    I might return to Rome, but I'm not pushed. I was very disappointed with the place.

    Kuala Lumpur is the most boring place on earth.

    I'm not that fond of London, either, but you kind of end up going there a lot because it's close.

    What would you look for in a city?

    London has so much to offer, music, theatre, restaurants, sights, museums, sports, i could go on but I wonder what you are looking for you couldn't find?


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    #1519
    Saipanne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,882 ✭✭✭Saipanne


    Magico Gonzalez wrote: »
    What would you look for in a city?

    London has so much to offer, music, theatre, restaurants, sights, museums, sports, i could go on but I wonder what you are looking for you couldn't find?

    It has loads of stuff, just too big and mental for me.


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    #1520
    Saipanne
    Closed Accounts Posts: 4,882 ✭✭✭Saipanne


    323 wrote: »
    Hard to say, OP. Most cities no matter how bad they may seem have usually some good characteristics.

    Only one's for me that has almost no redeeming characteristics and have refused to go back to are both in Egypt, Cairo and Alexandria.



    WOW.
    The mind boggles, you did actually leave the hotel/accommodation in KL?

    No. Never left my room once. I'm still there, ten years later.


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    #1521
    Agent Smith
    Moderators, Regional East Moderators Posts: 21,502 Mod ✭✭✭✭Agent Smith


    bruges


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    #1522
    ohnonotgmail
    Registered Users Posts: 40,285 ✭✭✭✭ohnonotgmail


    Agent Smith wrote: »
    bruges


    whats not to like about bruges?


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    #1523
    FLOOPER
    Registered Users Posts: 809 ✭✭✭FLOOPER


    Bruges ??? It's a fairytale town, isn't it? How's a fairytale town not somebody's ****ing thing?How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful ****ing fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody's ****ing thing, eh?


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    #1524
    asherbassad
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,869 ✭✭✭asherbassad


    Ice Storm wrote: »
    Lots of negativity about LA here!

    I was there about a week ago. I had to pass through the city but I decided to spend just the one night there as I hadn't heard anything good about it.

    So I had very low expectations of the place but it actually surprised me and I wish I'd spent more time there. Its such an iconic city and if you're into music, so many bands have their roots in LA. I really enjoyed seeing famous places like The Troubadour, Whisky a Go Go, The Viper Room etc.

    I wouldn't rule out returning and if I do, I'll make it a longer visit.

    Think about what you just wrote......i.e. every place you liked about LA was actually indoors.

    I'd like to add a few other US cities. The only place I liked was Seattle. Lived in New York for 6 years when it was great. Now it's just a damn retirement home for millionaires and a shopping mall for tourists. Every city in upstate New York is a kip, Ithaca, Albany, Syracuse, non-descript soulless dumps.
    Reston, Virginia. KIP. It's like an episode of Stepford Wives.
    Dusseldorf is a bit of a kip too. Altstadt is ok but German apartment blocks make me cringe. They are the most awful design ever.


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    #1525
    Wompa1
    Registered Users Posts: 8,170 ✭✭✭Wompa1


    FLOOPER wrote: »
    Bruges ??? It's a fairytale town, isn't it? How's a fairytale town not somebody's ****ing thing?How can all those canals and bridges and cobbled streets and those churches, all that beautiful ****ing fairytale stuff, how can that not be somebody's ****ing thing, eh?

    Beat me to it! It's a shame they didn't have somebody other than Colin Farrell play the lead. He was awful. He seems like a nice enough guy but Jeepers, he ruins everything he's in....Himself and Rachel McAdams killed True Detective


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    #1526
    asherbassad
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,869 ✭✭✭asherbassad


    Wompa1 wrote: »
    Venice Beach does have a lot of oddballs, alright. It's also wall to wall with people trying to hustle you. There's far nicer beaches along the Pacific Coast highway like Hermosa Beach.

    Los Angeles has some great bars and great restaurants but overpriced. Actually some of the best restaurants in the world BUT it's still a crappy place. Driving there is a bag of crap. The airports are awful, have had a few domestic flights to LAX and Bob Hope. Long Beach is one of the ugliest places I've ever been to.

    The Hollywood walk of fame is pretty underwhelming.

    The drivers are probably the worst and most rude in the US.

    But in fairness. I've only been there once for leisure. The other times were for work. So, maybe it's a great place to just visit. It's not a great place to work. I couldn't imagine living there. When I stayed out in Burbank my hotel room had a view of the freeway. I was jetlagged so, I woke around 3am. By 4am traffic was already building. What an awful way to live.


    That sounds like fcuking hell!


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    #1527
    Wompa1
    Registered Users Posts: 8,170 ✭✭✭Wompa1


    asherbassad wrote: »
    The only place I liked was Seattle.
    Dusseldorf is a bit of a kip too.

    NYC has lot it's edge a little but maybe that's a good thing.

    Seattle is pretty amazing. San Francisco is great. Denver is a nice city, though there's not a whole lot do but it's still very nice. Honolulu ain't bad! Boston is ok, at least the little Italy part. There's a bunch of small cities in the US that are very nice like Sedona, Arizona. Monterey, California. Newport, Rhode Island etc. etc.


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    #1528
    asherbassad
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,869 ✭✭✭asherbassad


    Akrasia wrote: »
    Take a google streetview tour of detroit. it's shocking how the 'greatest country in the world' has simply abandoned this entire city.

    http://gizmodo.com/tracking-detroits-decay-through-google-street-view-1586631393


    Take a look at New Orleans. Parts of that place still look like Nagasaki 10 years on.


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    #1529
    asherbassad
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,869 ✭✭✭asherbassad


    Rakish Paddy wrote: »
    I once missed a bus because I sharted while waiting for it. My fault entirely for committing to a large fart not long after eating a potentially dodgy meal, in a cold climate where my arse had gone somewhat numb. Needless to say there was a nasty case of 'gas followed by mass'. At least I had the decency to go bin the underpants and wipe the arse before going back to wait for the next bus.

    :pac:

    Where did you manage to dispose of the toggs and clean the sewage outlet?


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    #1530
    Wompa1
    Registered Users Posts: 8,170 ✭✭✭Wompa1


    asherbassad wrote: »
    Take a look at New Orleans. Parts of that place still look like Nagasaki 10 years on.

    Or Tuscon, Arizona!


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    #1531
    DEFTLEFTHAND
    Registered Users Posts: 16,500 ✭✭✭✭DEFTLEFTHAND


    Akrasia wrote: »
    Take a google streetview tour of detroit. it's shocking how the 'greatest country in the world' has simply abandoned this entire city.

    http://gizmodo.com/tracking-detroits-decay-through-google-street-view-1586631393

    Amazing to think that Detroit was known as the 'Paris of the West' in the 1920s. A booming economy, full of well to do people and wonderful architecture. Now look at it, It's a very sad story really.


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