Ever visited somewhere for the day and been really disappointed?

[Summerhouse2013]

We travelled to Yeovil in Somerset yesterday for the day, wow, we were so disappointed.

It was like a ghost town. Most of the shops were shut, only a handful were open. And towards the bottom area of the town most of the shops were completely closed down.

I'd always got the impression there was a lot more to Yeovil.

We left after an hour as there was nothing to do.

The problem is, they couldn’t afford to maintain it as it was. That’s why they had to sell out to Merlin.

@DeanVolecapeAKAelderberry
That's a great promo for Dublin 😀

I can't remember the exhibition, it was about 15 years ago. I do remember it was very modern, achingly cool and baffling and I couldn't make out what I was looking at. It was my partner's choice and I tagged along.

I don't blame Nottingham for that, though.

Southport
Melton Mowbray/Grantham
Margate

Oxford Street /Regent Street / London Zoo

If people will keep buying from Amazon and out of town shops, that helps destroy the local High Streets.

The Trafford Centre

Hellhole

Glastonbury. Tiny little town where every other shop sells crystals or hippy clothing.

@ssd yes! Went last year for the first time. 8 hrs we were there and I swore I'd never do it again.

San Francisco was a crushing disappointment. We were due to be there 3 days and that was 3 too many.

I expected to love it but I hated it. Couldn’t get a seat in the coffee shops as each table had one person on it frowning on a laptop and wearing AirPods ( just prior to Covid). They all looked as though they were being controlled by the hive mind.

The tourist areas were tatty and China town was a big letdown. Days 2 and 3 we took the car out of the city to explore the Redwoods. I believe it’s even worse now but I’d not go back.

@noodlezoodle Are you Gavin Newsom? 😂

😁
Thought they’d have a good choice of cafes in Kingsmead Square and more chance of a table on a Saturday morning during Christmas market!!

They opted for Soho Coffee House because one of them knew and liked it from Oxford. I’ve been meaning to try it since. This thread has reminded me

Ah come on! I thought the joke about Scotland was really funny.

And it was said by a Scottish poster.

Re. The second half of your drivel, we are on a thread talking about places we don't like, so I'm eh, going to talk about places I don't like.

.

It was shit years ago too. Apparently Berkley or one of the ramdom towns in the Sonoma Valley is the place to base yourself (as that’s where the people who work in San Franciso tend to live) with just the attractions visited as and when you need to.

But to be honest the only places to see there are the bridge, the cable cars, the Charmed houses, and The Castro for the history (it’s really shit for meeting lgbt people outside Pride - for that I recommend Berkley).

But how did Yeovil disappoint 😂?

Granted, it's a depressing place, but I'm fascinated to know who bigged it up to you enough that you a) stopped there, and b) were disappointed by what you found.

Two things I have never heard anyone say are "Yeovil, now that's worth a visit" or "Lovely interesting little place, that".

We stayed nearby for a few months in between moves and one thing we did find is that people there are very friendly. So it surpassed our expectations in that respect.

Not entirely sure why you were expecting such great things of Yeovil. Bog standard English town.

I struggled with filling a day while passing through Dublin with a young family while waiting to be able to check in to accommodation. It didn't help that we came off the ferry at 7am so started the day with a prolonged breakfast in McDonalds waiting for the city to wake up. We did a tour bus which was good, but with a tired 4 & 6yo, queuing for at least an hour for The Book of Kells would have been very regrettable. Even without the children, we're not Guiness drinkers and the brewery tour is of limited interest. There is more on the outskirts, but after a long night of travel, it wasn't the day for trekking around in a fully loaded car.
Ireland's strength is in its villages and rural areas not its cities.

My favourite experiences of Dublin are passing through by the river at night avoiding the M60. The way it's lit up is much more attractive than by daylight.

I have no love of the centre of Cork either. This is probably in large part due to being accompanied by DH who has no stamina to last longer than two shops and has no concept of browsing for pleasure, and a tendency to head there on rainy afternoons to kill a couple of hours. Staying with teatotal relatives means that I've never sampled its nocturnal delights. I clearly have never played Cork to its strengths.

Ireland is great, but tends to require a lot of travelling around rural areas to get the best from it.

Blenheim Palace Christmas extravaganza Snow Queen thingy with Christmas market stalls.
It was supposed to be a treat.
We were almost in tears it was so awful, disappointing an understatement.

Spent 20mins queueing for a hot drink in a paper cup, then inside, overcrowded, shuffling through rooms decorated with cotton wool, elderly woman with a crown meant to be the beautiful young Snow Queen, reclining in a white chair /throne, enticing children to her, (all kept their distance), ghastly expensive experience,
The ‘market stalls’ were ready made uniform huts, nothing local, home made, the usual Glastonbury type tat.

We did however then discover Woodstock, a delight, gateway to the sublime Cotswolds, appeared like the Lilac Fairy, the white trousered Captain
of Lord of the Flies, Woodstock our deus ex machina, saving the day (weekend)

I liked Bath it's lovely don't drink the spa water though its foul !

@SOMumm I always find Christmas markets disappointing lots of people rave about this 1or that 1 and I'm meh .

@Mooshamoo No, but near Cork which isn’t too far from Waterford.
There weren’t any signs up saying women not allowed in pubs, but the ones we went in were full of men and no women, not even barmaids. We probably wouldn’t have noticed if there was a warm atmosphere but they were very cold and unfriendly towards us which made us uncomfortable.

The Ark https://ark.ie/about is for children and very central, though if they're tired and bored they might enjoy feeding the ducks in St Stephen's Green more (it's my memory of childhood visits to the city).

If you have limited time, don't queue for the Book of Kells, wondrous though it is, walk a few hundred yards up Kildare Street and look at the equally old and wondrous Tara brooch in the National Museum instead, free, no queues, loads of other stuff (and half way to those ducks).

Or try the Dead Zoo (round the corner from the ducks).

https://dublin.ie/live/stories/museum-dublin-the-dead-zoo/

PS, I'm half Dub, so have to speak up for it, but I'm another Cork sceptic. Worse, I'm a West Cork sceptic. I love Galway's buzz, and enjoy scruffy old Limerick, particularly the Saturday market.

That sounds like a good choice to me 😋

Mrsjayy: I liked Bath it's lovely don't drink the spa water though it’s foul !

Yep, I couldn’t agree more with this comment 😄!

Well I know now. Never again.
My dd drove to from south London to Chatsworth House a couple of weeks before Christmas, snowy weekend in beautiful Derbyshire, to discover the much acclaimed Christmas market was only there during November !!