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?

NY was very underwhelming. Brixton meets Canary Wharf. And it smelt really weird.

To all the posters who have nominated Legoland - try going with 60 7 year olds on a blistering hot day. Truly shit! 😁

@GizmoBasil We ended up having a boogie by a pancake stand that had a radio on playing Britney

One of my highlights of Glastonbury c.2001 was dancing to the stereo at the Big Issue stand. Everything else was closed/rubbish!

Much of Cornwall is beautiful but definitely not Newquay. Eden Project makes an expensive and quite dull day out. Do not go to Penzance for the day - you will be disappointed- however jubilee pool is great. Don't move to Cornwall if you will miss the theatre, shops, good transport links. Be ready to drive 4 hours to an airport, 5 hours on a train to get anywhere..your chosen village might not have gas so you are heating with bottled gas or oil - pack jumpers because you can spend a lot of time feeling really cold and you will curse the poor wifi and lack of phone signal.

@MapleMay11

I would also say both Dublin and London

Dublin is truly awful.

Oh Dublin is so bad. Grey, grim and ridiculously expensive. And drug addicts are always standing outside the train station asking for change. And they will walk right into the bus station and ask you for money. So depressing. The rest of Ireland is much nicer. I always rush through Dublin

Hamleys - overpriced and tatty decor.
Air and Grace trainers - Hotter shoes covered in glitter.

@TatianaBis

the sheer number of people abso-fucking-lutely every-bloody-where, especially on the Metro, reduced me to abject fury.

Hmm you wouldn’t like London then.

I think a lot of people don't like London either , sorry.

I didn't. Way too many people on top of each other. And the underground seems so badly organized. There never seems to be a straight A to B train, even if the places are near each other. I remember that any time that I tried to get a subway train in London, it would always say

"take the red line to A" get off in A " take the green line to b"
Walk to C "Get the blue line to D" Get off in D"
"Take the yellow line to E". Then walk to your destination.

And of course London is ridiculously expensive.

^I think a lot of people don't like London either , sorry[

Why would I care?

The Da Vinci Code... threw it against a wall after less than a chapter.

A Shark vacuum cleaner... gave it away. Was really upset as I'd believed all the hype.

Gran Canaria was my worst holiday experience. Most of the restaurants sold burger, pizza and chips. Walking to the shopping area involved telling kerb crawlers to eff off.
The shopping area ( called the Kasbah back then, ) sold utter dross.
Hotel staff couldn't care less about anything and neither could the tour reps.

CadburyWorld ( as I've mentioned before) was a very disappointing rip-off.

Newquay was very disappointing and a bit sad too.

This one might be controversial, but I really didn't like Les Miserables. However, I don't like musicals much anyway.

[quote Wizzbangfizz]@Nannewnannew I've always wanted to go to the New Forest but that sounds horrendous [/quote]
It can get busy, especially in the popular spots, but it doesn't take much to find really beautiful, uncrowded ancient woodland and quaint pubs and restaurants. There are miles and miles of cycle tracks so you can avoid using cars altogether. Personally I enjoy the horses and cattle wandering around. They do sadly get killed by cars but it's not like there are corpses strewn everywhere (I've never seen an injured animal in over 40 years of visiting).

This thread is great. Making me feel a lot better about not being able to go anywhere or do anything!

@ejhhhhh

Los Angeles was a let down, as was Florida. I went as an older teen thoroughly expecting it to be completely fabulous, and it really wasn't. I guess it's only fabulous if you actually know people who live in the massive mansions and can attend lavish parties in them. When I think about it now, I realise you don't actually ever see much of LA in the movies/TV shows set there, infact you don't really see much of the US at all, unless it's New York or San Francisco or the Grand Canyon. There's a reason for that I guess. I'd love to see more of the US, but I wouldn't go back to LA or Florida.

I don’t think people realise how big some of the places and it takes ages to get places. Plus its all concrete and fairly anonymous with not much history. I get the same vibes re Australia especially if you’re not into beaches ( though intend to go sometime)

I did enjoy Washington though...lots of interesting museums and basically some history. Though the most depressing subway stations ever

@TatianaBis

^I think a lot of people don't like London either , sorry[

Why would I care?

Rude! I could say

Why would the poster that you said
"Hmm you wouldn’t like London then" to

care about what you said to her?

No one cares that much. We are all sharing our opinions

”Hmm you wouldn’t like London then.”

I am sure you are right, @TatianaBis. As I’ve got older, I’ve found it ever harder to cope with busy city crowds - but I would prefer London to Paris, if I had to choose.

Oh yeah I also didn't like Liverpool.

I loved Manchester.

@JokeTheCoalman

I was so excited to go to the Louvre but in the end was just too big and so busy. I got irritated with people taking selfies of themselves with the art. I started sweating profusely and just had to get out of the place or I might have done something I regretted. Paris on the whole...I don't see anything romantic about it and couldn't find a decent restaurant for love nor money. Would love to visit other areas of France but Paris is not for me.

French people find it hilarious that Paris is seen as romantic. They don't see it that way at all. They think it's Venice. Venice is an overpriced museum IMO.

Royal Ascot - one of the worst days of my life. Nowhere to sit, at all. On my feet in new heels all day and had blisters. Left in a very bad mood.

Ibiza as a clubbing holiday - still my favourite place to go on an all inclusive relaxing holiday (hippie market is great!) but went aged 21 with my best friend and wasted a lot of money for not a great time. Ushuaia was awful.

Harrods.

Pokey, impossible to navigate, I was expecting something much...grander?

Give me Liberty's any day.

Morocco. I didn't feel safe there at all, either walking or eating any of the food, which I also didn't enjoy.
I just felt hassled the whole time by men. It was awful. I will never go back.

New Year's Eve most years. I've always had the feeling everyone else was having more fun elsewhere.

LA. Traffic jams everywhere. Caught a 1 second glimpse of the Hollywood sign. Didn't bother getting out of car due to parking difficulties.

In same area, Venice Beach was rubbish. Californian Blackpool.

New Year in Bergen. Ill DH, awful loud youth hostel, everything closed, terrifying fireworks all around us.

I love my soda stream, even though had needs replaced quickly. I live by the sea and I love it.

I am a pretty positive person so I am not usually underwhelmed by cities, places etc - I can usually find something to love there. I didn’t love New York quite as much as I thought I would but that’s probably just because I love other cities more.
However - Cosmopolitan cocktails. Dreamed of trying them as a teenager watching SATC. The reality was really disappointing and ‘meh’!

Ugh. Morocco- well Marrakech. Colder than I expected and all the food had fucking raisins in it. Yuck.
Kenya, specifically Diyani Beach. 5 star hotel for our honeymoon was more like 3 star, no air conditioning or minibar, and DH got food poisoning or something probably from brushing his teeth from the tap. We couldn't wait to leave.
Thailand. Been a few times and hate it. Filthy, poverty stricken and the child sex trade is everywhere. Absolutely disgusting and I hated it. Beautiful beaches but no better than other Asian places.
On Bali however, I agree that Kuta is a shithole but other parts of the island are heavenly. Seminyak, Ubud, Nusa Dua all have amazing hotels and food but you really need to go to the higher end. I got special deals as I was a local (lived in Asia for a while) otherwise you're looking at a few grand for a week worth every penny

[quote masterofthechef]@RhubarbFairy kids were 8 and 9 and really loved Efteling

Now the Lake District, on the other hand, was a bit of a disappointment, not as nice as the Scottish Highlands, queues everywhere, hillwalks a bit like a high street used to be on a Saturday.[/quote]
Now, I've always lusted after The Lake District but something has always put me off. We're often told to not go the the usual hotspots like Bowness etc... but it's hard to know where to go to avoid the crowds and tourist tack.
So we've never bothered.

As to The Highlands... I'm not sure that you can beat it. Perfect.

@KatherinefromKensingtonHighSt

I had a very similar upbringing to yourself. Poor, but diverse and plenty of community spirit. It’s not like that now though. Yes it’s poor, but the diversity and community have left the building, and all that remains are high crime ghettos.

I would much prefer to be sitting your side of the fence. You’re not missing much, but you’re doing so in relative comfort.

You’ve managed to pull yourself out from poverty by hard work. Yes it’s not the be all and end all but your kids will still be better off for it.

Clarins One Step Cleanser, £22 or something. Greasy residue, skin didn't feel clean even after several wipes.

Give me Johnson's Clean & Clear any day £3