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there are many ways to avoid lines/crowds at the major paris museums, it's too bad you did not do proper research before your trip
I did find out later that you could buy tickets in advance and skip the line outside... well, except I suspect you still had to go through a metal detector line somewhere. And would I have been able to get any closer the the Mona Lisa or Venus de Milo in the daytime? (I know it's less-crowded in the evenings they're open, but I was traveling with my 75-year old husband who was tired by the end of the day due to chronic health problems.)
In defense of the armed guard and the glass case for the Mona Lisa: didn't some nut throw paint on it once?
Disney World in Orlando Florida. Was unprepared for how crowded it was and the long lines. You don't see this on TV. Also very hot in May. We went many years ago so maybe it has improved. Luckily, we stayed at a hotel in the park so we limited our visits to early am and evening.
We did think about painting it white but decided not to.
I think the current £370 million refurbishment of Buckingham Palace might help.
The principal Royal Residence used to be St James's Palace, the Royals purchased Buckingham House a large townhouse built for the Duke of Buckingham in 1767 but it didn't become the Principal Royal Residence until 1837 and it was extensvely rebuilt and extended over the years. Other pribcipal Royal Reidences include Windsor Castle, Hampton Court (Henry VIII and Tudors) and the Tower of London.
Times square is Defiantly a let down if you go when all of the tourist are there. people everywhere (and stopping where ever), tour guide trying to get you on there buses or tours, the horrible costumes from kids shows that annoy families, and yes it's pretty dirty. If your gonna really experience it go in the morning on the weekend. I've had the experience of being there when it was empty (maybe 15 people).
Rockefeller is a let down whether its packed or empty.
The Forum in Rome. Admittedly it's been 20+ years since I was there, but I was surprised at how small the area is and how restricted you are to certain areas to view it. We had a tour guide who helped explain what we were seeing but it felt like we were so removed from the actual Forum itself that it was hard to appreciate.
Also, the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Again, 20+ years ago, but that was the epitome of "Huh. Looks just like the pictures. Let's do something else." Would've been a different experience if we were allowed to go in it but that wasn't allowed back then as they were trying to stabilize it. The cathedral and baptistery in Pisa were amazing, though.
I will never understand why people spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars to spend a week standing in line in the sweltering heat eating horrible food.
We were disappointed by Muir Woods outside of San Francisco. We love natural beauty and had heard rave reviews of this place, and it was basically a pretty non-descript forest with some large trees in it. Just kind of meh. Granted, we had just come from 3 days in the Big Sur region, which is spectacular. So maybe that set us up for a little letdown.
Minority opinion here, but I thought the Alamo was better than expected. We knew that it was basically a small church and didn't expect too much architecturally, but were very pleasantly surprised by the gorgeous gardens in the courtyard with palm trees and cacti and a koi pond. (And San Antonio overall is awesome - love the River Walk and Spanish mission trail!)
We were disappointed by Muir Woods outside of San Francisco. We love natural beauty and had heard rave reviews of this place, and it was basically a pretty non-descript forest with some large trees in it. Just kind of meh. Granted, we had just come from 3 days in the Big Sur region, which is spectacular. So maybe that set us up for a little letdown.
Quote:
Originally Posted by turkeydance
1. Alcatraz.
2. St. Louis Arch.
3. Jordan River.
Actually Alcatraz and Muir Woods were the only two good places we liked during the San Francisco trip.
And St. Louis Arch isn’t bad for first time visitors, IMO. Did u go up? I think it’s a marvel of engineering. There were zero deaths during the entire constrction.
And to OP,
City of San Francisco: Homeless everywhere, Open air toilets, urine and poop common in streets, rampant petty crimes, toothless police, trash in streets, over crowded and over priced.
What I found helpful sometimes is to watch YouTube videos made by regular visitors of the places you want to go before you get influenced by those flashy TV ads.
I think one such place for me was perhaps Mount Rushmore. It looked attractive in the photos but in reality you are at the base of a mountain and don’t experience the view that you see in photos cuz it gets taken by drones or thru helicopters.
Last edited by GoCardinals; 11-02-2018 at 08:18 AM..
The Amazon rainforest is just a woods. It looks, from within, just like a one-acre woods in a city park.
Which city park?
Amazon has caimans. Pink dolphins. Electric eels. Sloths. Anacondas. Dozens of species of monkeys. Piranhas. All kinds of smaller critters from bullet ants to scorpions. In the wet season it's wide with thousands of acres of trees partway underwater, in the dry season it's a lot more jungle. You can hack your way with a machete through brush for as long as you have the stamina to hack.
Which one acre city park is that?
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