Thread 9 - TalkLair: “Russell's teapot goes on being round”

[Kucinghitam]

Continuation of previous threads (thread 8).

The new lair of JTT escapees is all cosy and homey; we have truly settled here. Outside, the garden is blooming with summer flowers - should bloody well be, what with all that rain. Inside, the hearth is glowing, pictures are up on the walls, rugs are down on the floors (and assorted pets curled up on them).

We just won’t mention the gnawed bones of our prey over there in the corner of the cave…

I've just checked my Notifications settings and it does have one for being thanked - but I didn't actually get notified Perhaps a bug that hasn't been squashed yet?

A Go Pro cat on Instagram https://instagram.com/mr.kitters.the.cat?igshid=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Ha ha! My cats have never worn a collar in their lives. When we got them at 4.5 weeks old they were far too tiny for the fancy glittery diamond collars I’d bought them, and had forgotten all about them by the time the collars would have fitted. All my previous cats have had kitten collars but once full-grown I’ve never bothered, I actually worry about their safety - getting caught on things etc.

I love Mr Kitters!

This is quite entertaining. I get the feeling I'm far more easily pleased than most of these people, although I'd need to visit/revisit some of these places. I even (mostly) liked San Francisco.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/chat/4887860-what-is-the-most-overrated-destination-you-have-ever-been?

I can't think of anywhere that's been notably disappointing, there's always something of interest if you look. Then again, so many popular/touristy places these days are rammed so we tend to avoid them. Glad we got our travelling in before everything got so crowded.

That's a very chatty cat.

There's also a thread on underrated destinations.

I can't think of many places I'd say were overrated, although Sydney Opera House was surprisingly small. I hated Dubai, but I expected to so I'm not sure that counts.

I'm puzzled by what these people want. My things are history, archaeology, art, botany, nature generally. And I'm greedy. There's something for me pretty much everywhere - drop me in a museum or gallery and I'm happy for hours and recharged with stuff to think about later, new landscapes are fascinating, everywhere brings fascinating scope for mixing guidebook facts with observations of actual people and societies.

What is it that they want and don't get? I'd ask on the thread but know that I'd be told I was being unreasonable.

The phrase 'once you've seen one painting you've seen them all' did make my jaw drop.

There was a comment about getting to places early in the day before the crowds arrive. In 2015 we arranged to meet friends at Avebury. It was July and we knew it would get busy, so said we'd meet about 8.30. We got there just after 8am and found the place deserted so had a lovely long walk around the stones and I explored the ditch and listed all the wild herbs growing. The friends eventually turned up about 1pm, apparently because of their teenage daughter being in a strop, by which time you could barely move for all the people there. We didn't hang around, had a quick drink with them and headed home.

There seemed to be a mixture of people who were disappointed in destinations that were too touristy, and others who were disappointed in destinations that weren't touristy enough

You sound like someone I'd like to go for a walk with, Elderberry.

The Hoover dam is a bit of a puzzler. Is that actually considered a 'destination' at all, never mind a 'rated' one?

Backatcha Tricy

I'd love to see the Hoover dam!

Nearer home, the Ardnacrusha hydroelectric plant on the Shannon is amazing, with a fantasic backstory, great architecture (SO German), brilliant art collection, amazing examples of how green energy and local nature can be in conflict and the importance of good planning. Must visit again soon.

https://www.familyfun.ie/ardnacrusha-power-station-tours/

My favourite was the poster who said tourism is destroying the planet, while listing off all the places she’d visited. Because that’s different, I guess.

I haven’t been many places really but I don’t think any particularly disappointed me. I didn’t enjoy Rome very much but that’s because of how crowded it was rather than Rome itself. I liked the grittiness of Naples.

It reminds me of our first family trip to London and getting off the train at Kings X. My teenage brother walked around the station and said ‘it’s a bit of an anti climax’.

Cor, dunnit make you praaaahd to be British?

https://www.theguardian.com/society/2023/sep/05/germany-refuses-extradite-albanian-man-uk-jail-conditions

It reminds me of our first family trip to London and getting off the train at Kings X. My teenage brother walked around the station and said ‘it’s a bit of an anti climax’.

Ha ha! Although KX is quite splendid these days.

I burst into tears when I got off the plane at Heathrow from our home in Thailand and THERE WAS NO SNOW. To me England was always snowy.

Heh, yes! Kings X was my point of entry to London as a kid, and what a dirty, down-beat place it was too, back then. Like so much of London, completely unrecognisable now.

I've just been idly skimming through the favourite lines from Motherland thread. What a fabulous show that was.

Oh, I'd love to see it too, but I just don't see how it can be an 'overrated destination'. It's an engineering project, not a holiday resort. I didn't criticise my tour of Hinkley Point for the lack of gift shops and tearooms.

Speaking as a (previously) long-time Londoner, I'm often puzzled by what people are expecting of London.

Someone on that thread said they were disappointed because it wasn't all glamorous or something along those lines. I mean, it's a gigantic city - if you go to Neasden, is it really that surprising that it isn't like Bond Street?

Conversely, I remember SiL commenting with delight when she came to visit us: "I always thought London was all grey and concrete and crowded buildings! But it's so spacious and green and lovely to walk around!" All we did was take them walking not on the main tourist streets, e.g. on streets parallel to Oxford St, where there are no crowds on the pavements and there are plenty of green squares.

The Hoover dam complainants must be like the disgruntled people we overheard as they exited the aquarium in (I think) Lyme Regis more than 50 years ago "nothing there but a load of FISH!" . . .

Haha!

Keeping on the travel theme, I feel sorry for how stressed the OP is, but she really isn't helping herself by lashing out at everyone.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/4887973-hotels-abroad

can you buy a debit card and load cash onto it, like the money equivalent of a burner phone? I remember they existed briefly a couple of decades ago, but no idea whether they still do - phone banking probably killed them.

ooh, lots of Sahara dust around, watch out for red cars

The Post Office does pre-loaded travel cards - very easy to get.