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?

Outdoor fire pits

Bag of wank

The Northern Lights in Iceland.

@the80sweregreat

I ve always wanted to go to Bali. Maybe I won't bother now!

Just don't stay in Kuta would be my advice, it's like Benidorm for Australians. Stay in Ubud and go for the temples not the beaches - if you want beaches go to the Gili islands off Lombok.

Yes yes to New York! Not worth the flight time /jet lag/ money! London is much nicer and more fun.
I can’t understand why some of my friends have been to New York multiple times and rave about it. I did the sightseeing ticked the boxes and honestly wouldn’t bother again.

@Sarahtrue11

Los Angeles

I thought it would be glamorous. It was one of the worst places I have ever seen. Homeless people everywhere, and the most aggressive homeless people I have ever seen anywhere. I saw a homeless man in a wheelchair shouting at an Asian woman, calling her an Asian bitch, and then he ran over her foot in the wheelchair.

Homeless people pushing trolleys of belongings on every street.

Crack addicts everywhere. People having full conversations with themselves on every street corner.

I was in a McDonalds in Los angeles, and a man came in and said "Hey John ! There you are", and walked over and sat down in a booth and had a full conversation with some one who wasn't there . In the middle ofhte day.

I went to Santa Monica beach, and it was full of crack addicts shouting at people that were not there.

I went to Echo park, which is a very beautiful park in LA, and the whole park was full of tents with homeless people inside. It was like a little shanty town.

Violence and guns everywhere.

I think it is the worst place that I have ever seen

Chicago was the same.

I was there for a medical conference. It was November and bitterly cold. There were homeless people sleeping in doorways - and this included children - small children. I saw a woman in Muslim dress - presumably an immigrant, going through a skip of thrown out food and handing it to her children - the oldest looked about 8.

Many, many people with the sort of deformity you just don't see nowadays in the UK thanks to the NHS - cleft lip, those big neck boils like an egg under the skin etc

The way black people were spoken to was (on the whole) dreadful. The food was awful even in decent restaurants. People strode straight past you as though you hadn't spoken if you tried to ask directions in the street, and all night long the sirens of police cars and ambulances were sounding as they went back and forth past the hotel.

City itself is beautiful - but it must be an absolute hell to live in.

University. Was so lonely & homesick. Hated living in digs, missed green space, hated not earning any money. Fucking debt for years afterwards.

Paris. Loads of dodgy-looking men lurking around, trying to aggressively sell you tacky shite or nicking tourists’ rucksacks. Stunk too. I love France, have a second home in a beautiful rural area but Paris is horrid. Parisians so RUDE as well. I literally had my drink thrown at me in a cafe overlooking the Louvre. It ruined things.

Having a career. Takes ages to become professionally qualified, you’re worked like a dog, the day-to-day work isn’t what you ultimately envisioned & you have no decent quality of life. It’s not worth the money when you’re a) so stressed that you struggle to mentally be present for the ppl you love & b) you don’t have any time with the ppl you love. Much prefer a humble job that pays less, delivers more actual enjoyment in an area of interest & you can leave it at the door at 5pm.

New Year’s Eve. Hate hate hate it, hate the expectation, the fact nothing fucking changes apart from a few numbers & the fact that you feel so bloody pressurised to ENJOY yourself, when actually you just want to go to bed. My mum & dad typically have a fraught row on New Year’s Eve where they threaten to divorce one another, no-one’s got any money, it’s ages before the sun comes back & everyone’s cold, tired, flat & fed the fuck up.

In conjunction with the above - New Year’s resolutions. Why do ppl put that unsustainable expectation on themselves at what is a shite time of year for motivation? They never last, you just feel more depressed when you turn out to be the big fat fucking failure you knew you were before Jan 1st

Yosemite absolutely stunning (30 years ago)
Venice glorious (25 years ago)
Recently:loved Stockholm
Bologna
Vienna
Very disappointed by Florence heaving with tourists with selfie sticks
Paris expensive, unfriendly and food not that impressive

This my favourite thread for ages! Thanks OP

I was very impressed with Albania. I would really recommend it.

It has these Unesco world heritage towns, like Berat, which is a really old town with a castle surrounded by Mountains.

The Friends finale. I always thought it was a bit anti climactic

We went to Venice last summer when it was quite empty. Magical and unforgettable. We can never go again now having seen it half empty with no cruise liners

@whataboutbob

Not quite on the same scale but Captain Corelli ‘s Mandolin. Everyone raved about it, I dutifully read it to the end and found it very underwhelming.

There is a line of C S Lewis’’: “You too?” Said with astonishment because it’s so unexpected to meet someone with the same view.

So whataboutbob - you too? I remember reeling in disappointment. If you think the book is a disappointment - watch the film 😳

I had to go to New York and Las Vegas and didn't want to and really enjoyed them... Probably because I was expecting not too, or possibly from sun stroke in the case of Las Vegas 😂

Did not enjoy San Francisco (stolen camera, rude people, not able to see Alcatraz) or LA (I just don't get the attraction).

Did enjoy the Pyramids (25 years ago) although Camels are fucking terrifying and I will never go near one again as long as I live!!!

Paris is weird, I have been four times and every time liked it less. I don't think I'll go again, the magic that I thought it had when I was younger is definitely gone.

Aside from that. Children. Dogs. Every job I've ever had.

Agree Florence is a hell of large tourist parties. I love Rome and Venice though. Also Paris, but not tourists' Paris, I have my own things I like to see.

Disappointment for me is retirement. TBF, I spent the first 18 months of it selling my flat and the second year of it in lockdown/moving/in lockdown again, so I am hoping it will improve a bit. I seem to spend far too much time doing not very much (eg mooching around on mumsnet, and whose fault is that?).

@theDudesmummy

Oh another one, Mombasa in Kenya. Amazing and awful in a totally different way from what I expected.

I thought the beach part would be the highlight of the holiday (amazing sandy beaches, warm sea etc), but it was spent fending off literally dozens of very insistent men trying to sell you crap and looking you up and down in your swimsuit (I was a lot younger then, no-one would be looking at me now!).

The best and most memorable part of the holiday was the fab exotic casino, filled with characters out of a Somerset Maugham story...

Oh jeez don’t remind me of Mombasa! I’ve tried to block that out of my memory- it was just awful!!

@hollieberrie

I've just remembered a hotel we stayed in at Disney Florida - the kids were in the pool when a klaxon went off. The pool was cleared. DH asked the pool guy what was going on. It was 'an unidentified object and it sure ain't a snickers bar' Oh the disney fantasy life!

A bit shit in the literal sense

hitsvilleuk Just came on to say what a coincidence it is that I saw Les Mis large and pregnant and queasy too! I was too hot, so sipping cold water and having to keep nipping to the toilet so missed a fair bit of the show. What a waste of a trip to London!!

Amsterdam
It was boring and I didn't like the flatness - I felt very hemmed in with no hills to go up and get a view. It left me quite disorientated.

Didn't like the food and felt like most people were tourists.

The Anne Frank museum was superb but otherwise it was a waste of a weekend.

I also found Paris disappointing.

@Mapletreelane

Paris. Smell of wee everywhere, very dirty,.groups of men everywhere either trying to sell you tat or just being generally anti-social, so many beggars on streets and metro. Didn't feel safe at all. Been there four times and each subsequent time tried to keep an open mind but was just disappointed.

I am a huge francophile and speak French and have spent much time is some beautiful places there, but Paris has disappointed me. And I've lived half my life in London so not cityphobic. Puzzles me why i can't see past the bad things and enjoy Paris .

Paris has changed loads imho! I used to love it (been 5 times from age 18). Hadn’t been since having kids, so 20+ years ago. Went two Xmases ago - was fucking freezing & too busy/dirty and the hawkers at the foot of the sacre-coeur - so aggressive. I have always loved it in the past so was a bit gutted. We were in hotel rooms (kids had own room as too old to share w us really) and so had to be out all day.

A lot of the big European cities are very samey. Anywhere with too many people on top of each other, is not great.

@hellswelshy

Ah poor Nikki Grahame has died. Just saw it on another thread.

@Lweji yes we realised that when they took us past the water company offices which is mini version of the Gherkin in London.

We went for DH bday to see the football.
The football was the only thing we all enjoyed. Las ramblas was meh, we had tapas in once place and it was under whelming. Took the underground a few times and we were stared at all the time! No idea why.

We loved Amsterdam though! And New York... and San Fran, and Vegas.... so can't agree with people on those!

England. My parents were British so I grew up on English literature, and I was so excited to go there. But it was dreary, expensive, crowded, rubbish everywhere, never stopped drizzling, everybody looked pissed off.