To ask what you dreamed would be fabulous but is actually maybe a bit shit

[hitsvilleuk]

I think this about lots of things to do with celebrity lives, when I was younger I thought it all would amazing now not so sure.

A particular one I have is that I always longed for a villa on the Italian lakes. We went to a hotel there one year for 5 days ( in the same village as George Clooney ) It pissed down for 3 days. Everything was dark and damp and that combined with the endless queuing for flights and the thought of maintaining a property in another country sort of did for the dream. Not achievable without a lottery win anyway but now I don't even want it.

Anyone else got stuff like this or that they actually got and then thought 'meh'. I seem to have it about more and more things as I get on - I just don't want stuff anymore. Is it just to do with age?

@OneKeyAtATime

I liked L.A., new York, Venice and Paris. Not keen on Marrakech though because of the constant hassle.

Don't get the fuss about chips. They are tasteless!

I just saw a documentary about this English couple visiting LA.

This has to be the worst holiday you could ever have in L.A.

They said that they had booked a package holiday online. It didn't say which hotel was included, it just said it included a hotel in downtown L.A.. They booked it because it was cheap.

They got to L.A. and they found out they were staying in the Cecil hotel. They thought the hotel was not great, that it was old and creepy, but they thought they had got a cheap deal so they would make the most of it.

The woman said that the shower wasn't working properly and that the water coming out of the taps was light brown. She said she brushed her teeth in the water, and drank it, before she notices that it was a strange colour.

They reported that the water was not working properly. A maintenance guy went to check the water tanks on the roof, and found the body of a missing woman, Elisa Lam in a water tank.

The USA.
Went to stay with friends who raved about how amazing it was. I found rude, arrogant ignorant folk. So many down and outs, puke and rubbish all over the streets. Vegas is a better theme park than most theme parks quite surreal.
And those who mentioned the cold of California, I like this quite from Mark Twain :
"The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco "
He was absolutely right!

This documentary is on Netflix right now. It is "Elisa Lam:

Canada on the other hand blew my mind with gorgeous -ness and lovely humble people . It's amazing what a line across a continent can do to divide it!

Cancun in Mexico. I didn't enjoy it.

Skiing - really wanted to love it, DH learned to ski as a child (normal winter hobby in his home country) and both my kids can ski too.

It just looks like such a fun thing to do. Which I'm sure it is, if you can do it rather than spending the majority of the time on the ground fighting to get upright. Tried snowboarding, that was only easier because I could get myself up off the ground without having to release my feet.

Reality was cold, wet and struggled to walk for the following 2 days - every muscle in my body hurt. Think I might like apres ski / resort with massage and hot tub but not the skiing. But we always stay with Dh's family if we go so no other resort things to do while the others ski.

I agree with the people who said a big house. I'm a nanny, I've worked in some very nice places, but it's never quiet. Above a certain size you need cleaners several days a week plus gardeners etc. I like living in a house where it will just be me and my husband and son once my relative moves out. I can't wait. Every time some big fancy place is on tv, people say wouldn't it be amazing to live there? No. It's like living in an office. People in and out all the time. No privacy.

Conversely, I really do love camping. You get to a campsite on your bike and 20 minutes later you have a house, usually somewhere lovely.

Children of your own are overrated though. They have their good points, but if I could go back I wouldn't have got pregnant.

@poundoflard

Canada on the other hand blew my mind with gorgeous -ness and lovely humble people . It's amazing what a line across a continent can do to divide it!

Yeah they are such completely different people aren't they.

I think gun laws have a lot to do with the difference. It just always feels like more violence could happen in the USA

@Hastybird

Camping - pack up your entire life, spend half a day putting tent up and faffing with your 'set up', have a somewhat pleasant 2 mins eating and drinking before a child cries about a minor injury, children finally fall asleep way too late through sheer exhaustion (but will still be up way too early) you drink a box of wine because it's fecking freezing, you then wake at 2am with a screaming bladder, you're seemingly trapped by your sleeping bag and rolling off a half deflated air bed that was supposed to be luxury. You tramp across a field to wee in a shed. You will trip on several guy lines. You are cold and sad and sober. You pack up, row with your husband and spend a week washing clothes, utensils and brushing grass out of your hair. You will forget all of this and go again next year.

This. Every word. Except I will never go again. If there's a word stronger than hate that's how I feel about camping. I won't even do it at festivals anymore it's so hellish. I've just requested ac refund for a postponed festival. I'd rather just go for the day and stay in a decent hotel nearby.

@thefurriesthen

I've got to say New Zealand after living there for a fair few years.

I would quite honestly take locked down Britain over NZ any day of the week. I think they have done a wonderful marketing job - but in reality, you can find a lot of similar scenery in areas of the UK without being somewhere where the cost of living/food is so absolutely appalling, and you have to worry about melanoma every time you step out of the door (among other annoyances!)

I have (lovely) family and friends in New Zealand and have been several times, but yes, the novelty of those beautiful beaches soon wears off and whenever I've been there I've had some surprisingly uncomfortable encounters. When I there in 2018 there were loads of bikers around, and not nice middle class guys who work in advertising and ride a Harley at weekends. Really heavy dudes who stared at us in cafes and tailgated us for miles along deserted roads. We went to Puhoi one Sunday lunchtime and the pub there was packed with bikers and you could see people with their families walking in (it's a famous sight-seeing place, one of the oldest pubs in NZ) and walking straight out again and driving away. I had no idea gangs were such a thing in NZ but apparently there's a higher percentage of gang members in NZ than in the US. There are several places we remember (Puhoi, Hokitika, Kaikoura, Taupo, Fairlie) for the tense encounters rather than for the natural beauty.

Cadbury World , more than a bit shit .
I thought it would be a bit Willy Wonka ish, absolutely boring and unimaginative , total waste of money and day off

@flyingant

Bali... not the beautiful, tropical place I'd imagined. The beaches are not nice (except for surfing) and it's full of rubbish. There's so much rubbish that people regularly burn it to get rid of it, so you're having to breathe in plastic fumes. Many people there also heavily harass you to buy whatever item/service they're selling.

I agree about Bali. There is so much ribbon development along the roads. We stayed in Sanur Beach, which was clean, but visited Kuta fleetingly, and it was truly awful.

Even though the USA has a lot of issues with violence, I still want to go back and see more of it, there are so many lovely things in the USA.

There is so much to do and see
There is such beautiful nature there.

I feel sad that I have only seen four states.

I would love to walk the Appalchian trail

Totally agree with all the Paris comments, been twice. The metro stank. Not a great city break in my opinion!

San Francisco was another place I was so looking forward to. Accommodation is hideously expensive and we stayed in a hostel and all you could hear all night were people shouting. A local couple we met in ta bar warned us we were staying very close to the tenderloin which is a very dangerous area. The amount of homelessness and mentally ill people in SF was awful. As with a PP Alcatraz absolutely made it worth the visit as it was amazing. But I’d never go back!

@Roominmyhouse

Totally agree with all the Paris comments, been twice. The metro stank. Not a great city break in my opinion!

San Francisco was another place I was so looking forward to. Accommodation is hideously expensive and we stayed in a hostel and all you could hear all night were people shouting. A local couple we met in ta bar warned us we were staying very close to the tenderloin which is a very dangerous area. The amount of homelessness and mentally ill people in SF was awful. As with a PP Alcatraz absolutely made it worth the visit as it was amazing. But I’d never go back!

Yes, we enjoyed Alcatraz, fascinating.

Vienna - I thought it would be a lovely city break by myself. Not a single person smiled at me the entire weekend I was there and a woman was incredibly rude to me on the subway. The Freud Museum is incredibly dull too. The only vegetarian options in many restaurants is deep fried cheese.

I have fun where ever I go but I was ready to come home. Milan is also a rubbish city that I thought would be good.

My favourite country in Europe is Greece.

@ToffeeNotCoffee

Glad someone else has said Wicked the musical. I got so bored I wandered off in search of something to eat.

Oh it’s such a relief to hear others were disappointed. I have a friend who has gone 10 times and loves it. I went once and couldn’t understand the appeal. I agreed to go a second time because sometimes you’re not in the right mind set to enjoy. But..nope. It was boring: boring songs, boring characters though the occasional goodie. Sadly I couldn’t wander off or even admit that I found it boring when she loved it so much

Dyson Airwrap. It does exactly what it says on the tin and effortlessly styles my hair into bouncy curls and waves. Which drop out in about 20 minutes. Biggest waste of £450 ever.

@Sarahtrue11

I think the places are are told to go to are often a bit shit. We are toldthat good places for holidays are Spain, Italy, Greece, New York, LA etc. We are influenced by the media to go to the same tourist destinations.

It is the places off the standard tourist trail that are amazing.

I remember going to visit Romania , and some one said to me "why would you go there , it will be a dump".

Romania is stunningly beautiful. I loved my visit there. It is gorgeous.

Similiarly when I went on holiday to Albania, someone told me that it was bound to be shit and poor. It was gorgeous. A really beautiful country, Really nice

Am so glad to read that, I am off to Romania and Albania when covid allows.. I’ve cancelled twice already. Can’t wait!

The US is definitely hit and miss. I've loved going to both LA and SF BUT I was staying with a friend who said I'll show you the cliches and then we will fuck off and do something thats actually nice. You definitely have to know what to do and where to go!

I loved Seattle and Boston. New York was definitely 'interesting' and scary. I'd like to go again, but its another one which is 'do your homework'.

The less said about Vegas the better. Its interesting to visit for an evening to look at how unbelievably awful it is. I think we went into the casino once and just watched what was going on. Its like a bad night out in Blackpool with Americans who think its really cool.

I have to say that getting out of the big cities has been wonderful though. California is wonderful. I've done a couple of road trips which were AMAZING.

I really want to go back, but I think I'm inclined to do 'the bit in the middle' next time.

@snowqu33n

Marriage Living in a remote country area (beautiful but lonely, hard work and so much driving) Working in a ski resort Malta in winter (yep, another thumbs down for that place) Losing weight and being slim A handsome boyfriend

Ooooh you’ve got a life I want to read about!

Lourdes was very disappointing. I was staying nearby, we went for the day expecting some kind of spiritual experience. It was like sick Catholic Blackpool. Loads of shops with cheap plastic tat and loads of people on wheelchairs and hospital beds being wheeled around. Grim.

@Sarahtrue11. I agree, Romania is a really beautiful. Amazing food, great people, very scenic and just seemed so big.

@HerRoyalNotness

Niagara Falls from the Canadian side. The falls of course were great but the town is a shit hole, filled with arcades and all sorts of crap. I was so disappointed, and I fear I might have spoiled MIL visit there. She’s always wanted to go and made the best of it but i couldn’t believe how rubbish the town was.

I had planned to spend a week there but luckily I was warned. Thank goodness. As you say, apart from the Falls it's a dump (although I did see a skunk which was very exciting). Instead of spending the week there I left after one night and got a bus to a small town nearby called Niagara-on-the-Lake which was just beautiful, like something out of an old movie.