What did you think would be more glamorous or impressive than it was?

[SugarMouseTown]

As a kid I thought that being an actor would be fun and exciting and I'm sure it has its moments but watching the behind the scenes videos much of it looks miserable and dull. Especially action movies where they're required to get drenched with every substance known to man and have explosions and fire going off around them.

What didn't live up to expectations for you?

AliceinBorderland

No idea why I can't quite your post but it is because I agree with them.

I hated Paris. It is a dump. My female friends and I experienced horrible sexist abuse in Paris. Not so in Barcelona.

Bali. Thought that it would be a tropical paradise. Instead, the beaches are full of litter and stray dogs.

@UnoriginalPenguin

Ischia. Supposedly an undiscovered authentic Italian gem. Loads of stray dogs and the 'beaches' were rammed with daytrippers from Naples. St Moritz. Really couldn't see what was special about it. The main non skiing attraction appeared to be a large duck pond.

Also struggling to see what is inauthentic about Italians being present on an Italian island. 😂

Luxe soap

Indeed @TheEvilPea. It was just the disconnect between how it was marketed to the Brits (as a sort of alternative Capri) and the reality of a Neopolitan Cleethorpes really amused me.

We all still remember and talk about the evening in Paris after we had been out for a meal, which was fabulous. We were waiting for our coach to pick us up close to the Eiffel Tower, on a busy street and not anywhere quiet. Us four were suddenly surrounded by a group of about ten men who tried to convince us to go with them to a late bar/nightclub and they didn't want to take no for an answer.

I have never been so relieved to see a coach arrive and our tour guide get off the coach and tell them to go away. It really was very scary. We were absolutely outnumbered and I have no idea of what we could have done if the coach and tour guide hadn't turned up when they did.

That's the Paris I remember.

Deadly, although I like it during the day

Christmas!

Trevi Fountain

@Stovetopespresso

Christmas!

🥺😧

@UnoriginalPenguin

Indeed *@TheEvilPea*. It was just the disconnect between how it was marketed to the Brits (as a sort of alternative Capri) and the reality of a Neopolitan Cleethorpes really amused me.

Lol! That makes sense. 😁

Paris

Going to events with dinners.. actually you get glammed up for nothing and it's boring! (Or perhaps it's just me!)

I love Paris.

Working in TV. People doing the same thing. Repeatedly. Surrounded by people in dark clothing holding up things on sticks.

Incredibly long incredibly dull days.

Chatsworth. The gardens are lovely. But the house is overrated and it's very expensive.

Large quantities of money. (When it isn’t your own.)

In a previous lifetime I worked as a manager in the hospitality industry. At one point I was running a large, very busy city centre bar / restaurant. At weekends, the place was heaving and we took tens of thousands of pounds, almost all of it in cash (this was the early 90s). On Monday mornings huge piles of cash had to be sorted, counted, reconciled & banked. At first it was exciting seeing more money than I ever had in my life, but i soon realised that when it’s not yours it’s just annoying bits of paper.

I think Chatsworth is lovely! Beautiful house and stunning gardens.
I also loved Madrid and we didn't face racism there. (unlike Paris).

The Sistine Chapel. After walking through the miles of Vatican museum corridors, I was knackered. And it was just another painted room. It was pretty much empty when I went in. I did not scream!

The news (decent broadsheets and BBC). Every story into which I've had personal insight has been significantly or laughably inaccurately reported. I forget the name given to the realisation that this will apply to some of the stories into which I don't have personal insight. That said, I still listen to R4 and read the FT and Times rather than rely on Twitter and Youtube and non-MSM.

@Pootles34

The Scotland Yard sign! The one that twirls round that they show in news reports? Bloody tiny.

Nooooo! It can't be!

@Pootles34 is that near St James's?

@BlackAmericanoNoSugar

On holiday in New Zealand we took a helicopter flight to the top of a glacier. The flight was excellent but the weather had been quite warm so when we hopped out to walk around a bit I instantly sank to above my knees in soggy glacier. There was a teenage boy on the flight with huge feet and very skinny body and he could walk around fine, but I have small feet and am tubby. Now logically I knew that snow fell and then got compacted to ice by the weight of the snow on top of it but somehow I had expected to walk around on a hard surface, or at least crunchy but resistant snow. It was so far from the exhilarating experience that I expected and I just wanted to get back into the helicopter and get back to the hotel to change into dry clothes.

🤣🤣🤣

LA and Hollywood in general, but the Hollywood sign itself was the biggest disappointment ever. It's tiny!

Copacabana beach, Rio. Just looked like any other beach really.