...to get back from my holidays and think this country is RUBBISH??

[preciouslillywhite]

I went to the Netherlands. We stayed on a busy campsite with a water "fun" park in a caravan with four kids. It rained. A lot.

BUT

the people we met-including in Amsterdam and tourist traps- were all LOVELY.Bus drivers kept letting us off a kid fare or two, shopkeepers kept chatting to the littl'uns, sweets were handed out etc etc. We even got extra squirty cream in our hot chocolate, cos dds are twins..

Now keep wishing we lived in a peaceful, tolerant, permissive and laid back country, where everything is nice and cute and tidy and everyone is kind and smiley. Instead of in a snarly shithole where people are suspicious and mean and judgmental

Well? whaddya think? AIBU??

I love being in The Netherlands too.
Very happy memories of trips there.
But it is a strange thing when we bemoan the state of the UK in favor of other countries, how do you think it became "snarly shithole where people are suspicious and mean and judgmental "? (I'm not agreeing with this sentiment btw)
We all have a collective responsibility, just as we should all be proud of the great things we have.

Oh, I do like London really

Have got back to building site and not-so-dp is getting on my tits. And it's raining. AND we decided to go to the pub for lunch yester at quarter to two and were informed "kitchen's closed" in a shirty way, and ended up in fecking macdonald's. rrrrrrr.

Course NONE of that would ever happen in Holland

ah you see, you never mentioned you were living on a building site lol

blardy hell woman, you are entitled to hate the WORLD when you are having building works done

ta very much, fox. I shall continue snarling.

lovely people in the Netherlands. Down to earth and nice IME.

I'm fine while I'm here,in Real Life, and can usually see something nice just about anywhere in any situation (ie sickening Pollyanna type), but I always get like this when I get back from Abroad. Last year, everything I read in the papers, I was ranting "well, they wouldn't be shutting post offices in FRANCE" etc etc

There's a whole street in Amsterdam named after dh's great-grandad.

Funny thing is, running parallel with it they have much narrower and less impressive streets named after other musicians - Beethoven and Mozart IIRC. Mere genius cannot compete with local boy status though - dh's Great-Grandad's street is THE biggest and widest and best!

London is rubbish...full stop!
I've only ever visited it once in my life and i found it very scary and full of nutters!
Don't know how anyone can call it a 'nice' place.
It's hell on earth!
I really DO NOT like London, more of a country gal

Why the unnecessary use of CAPITALS?

It's alright when you live there though, more like a collection of villages.

I was there about 10 days when the postman accosted me in the street wanting to know why I got letters from South America and the guy selling papers at the tube station whisked mine out when he saw me coming. You go to a pub twice at lunchtime, the next time they'll have your drink up ready for you in a flash when they see you come in.

Very HUMAN albeit dirty and dangerous and whatever else.

I compare that to Berlin whihc is clean and safe and NO-ONE will ever let on they know who you are.

Am thinking perhaps to EMPHASISE a point?? like when people text you in capitals?? i think its because they havent worked out how to switch to lower case!!

who, ME?

I can't be arsed to find the asterix on my hungarian keyboard to do bold. It's on one of the bracket keys and I always hit the wrong 'un. So I need to use capitals for EMPHASIS

don't get me started on France preciouslillywhite

I'm always relieved to get back to London after France

Oh God...I lurve France!! If I won the lottery I would buy a villa there right away!

ah now you see, if I was invited to a villa, I might change my view

nice view from a villa usually

what's wrong with France fox?

ha haaaaaa fox!

Won't hear a word against France either. When I fell off my bike there last time an old feller tottered over a field carrying a plastic chair, toilet roll and a bottle of water for me

Oh Precious, I live in Belgium, which is not all that different from the Netherlands and I miss London - and Londoners - every single day.

old guys are lovely in France (not that I know ALL of them). T
IME they are always shambling over and chatting away to you.

Spose it was my own fault for reading the Telegraph coming home on the ferry.

(not falling off my bike. Being grumpy about coming back to the UK, I mean).

lol

what's wrong with France

public transport strikes (have been caught out twice in nightmarish queues), shops that seem more closed than open, the food (other than cheese, could eat that day in day out!), the driving

I have had a few nice holidays there but one or two that made me wonder why I bothered going back!

yabu, but I know what you mean sometimes.
We had a great trip to Morocco; travelled all over on their public transport - got down to camp in the Sahara, had a fab time, all went smoothly and friendly.
Get back to Gatwick and a 1 1/2 hour journey took forever.
Replacement bus service (because of engineering works) had gone all wrong. Late at night, weather was awful and we were stranded out in the cold, unhelpful and grumpy staff.
We were saying the same as you on that last leg of the journey

wondering now why the old guy was bringing you a roll of toilet paper after you fell off your bike? Quaint French custom?

sayanything- God, I luuurve Belgium as well. In fact you could say I'm a big Low Countries fan..flatter the better

Maybe I just shouldn't bother going on me holidays again...