Rome or Paris?? (good, about)

[What!]

Originally Posted by Minato ku

Have you ever been in Paris ?

Have you ever been to Istanbul?

Istanbul has had people from all over the world living and thriving for centuries, while Paris has gotten newcomers from other parts of the world recently.

Istanbul has Greece, Rome, Byzantine, and Ottoman history stamped from corner to corner. Paris has Roman and Frankish, and that's about it. And even then the Romans spent a much greater time developing Istanbul than in Paris. Rome has much more Roman history obviously, but that's about it. It adopted many things from the Greeks into the city, rather than being settled by the Greeks and made by the Greeks themselves.

In Istanbul you can hear more languages, dialects, and accents than Paris. Paris wants it only to be the main French without the accents.

Anyone who has been to Istanbul will tell you that it is a wild ride that is hard to grasp. Paris is much easier to grasp. Living there is easy, and can be stagnant.

I've lived in both Paris during much of 2004, and Istanbul during the summer of 2007. Paris advertises itself as being the romance, elegance, and most cosmopolitan city in the world. Istanbul doesn't try nearly as hard for affection yet it excites you down to your soul. I hope to live in Istanbul for the rest of my life when I leave the States.

[ihynes]

My parents were world travelers and preferred Rome to Paris, but said to visit in spring or fall, because it's too hot and crowded in the summer. I myself want to see both.

[Minato ku]

Originally Posted by What!

Have you ever been to Istanbul?

Istanbul has had people from all over the world living and thriving for centuries, while Paris has gotten newcomers from other parts of the world recently.

Recently recently less recently than you think, even in the middle age Paris was a pretty diverse city.
One of university center in europe.

Istanbul has Greece, Rome, Byzantine, and Ottoman history stamped from corner to corner. Paris has Roman and Frankish, and that's about it. And even then the Romans spent a much greater time developing Istanbul than in Paris. Rome has much more Roman history obviously, but that's about it. It adopted many things from the Greeks into the city, rather than being settled by the Greeks and made by the Greeks themselves.

This don't have any rapport about the today comopolitanism, it is the past. Poland was before the WW2 one ofm ost diverse country in Europe, now it is one of most homogenious.
I speak of the present.

In Istanbul you can hear more languages, dialects, and accents than Paris. Paris wants it only to be the main French without the accents.

Maybe Paris want to be it but it is for this case that it is. Do you hear arabic, chinese, african dialects, several creole, english, vietmanese, portuguese, italian, spanish, romanian, turkish, polish, japanese... in almost every street corners ? In Paris it is the case and without being in a touristy district.

How many african, asian (outside Turkey), carribbean, middle eastern has Istambul... few hundred of thousand for over 13 million inhabitants.
In Paris we speak in millions.

This is some average crowd in Paris.




(Note that in these pictures, it is often the white that aren't local or french speaker).

So yes Instanbul was once more comospolitan than Paris but it is not the case anymore.

[Tenzo]

Paris is an old hooker who wears to much makeup and thinks she is still young and pretty.

[bale002]

Originally Posted by What!

Have you ever been to Istanbul?

Anyone who has been to Istanbul will tell you that it is a wild ride that is hard to grasp. Paris (... Madrid, Milan, etc. ...) is much easier to grasp. Living there is easy, and can be stagnant.

... Istanbul ... it excites you down to your soul.

I agree with all that.

Originally Posted by What!

I hope to live in Istanbul for the rest of my life when I leave the States.

I wish I had had the wherewithal and guts to do that when I was in my 20s instead of going to some stagnant western European capital.

Congratulations and good luck!

[pigeonhole]

To Minatuko : your picture of the "average crowd" in Paris is revealing : everyone-Black and White- middle class, well dressed, it's a pretty homogeneous crowd, (and boring in my book), you have the same crowd in Manhattan, nothwistanding the official Western politically correct Golem of "diversity"....
ps and the MILF with that spinsters haircut -so typical of bourgeois Suburbia...

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by What!

Have you ever been to Istanbul?

Istanbul has had people from all over the world living and thriving for centuries, while Paris has gotten newcomers from other parts of the world recently.

Istanbul has Greece, Rome, Byzantine, and Ottoman history stamped from corner to corner. Paris has Roman and Frankish, and that's about it. And even then the Romans spent a much greater time developing Istanbul than in Paris. Rome has much more Roman history obviously, but that's about it. It adopted many things from the Greeks into the city, rather than being settled by the Greeks and made by the Greeks themselves.

In Istanbul you can hear more languages, dialects, and accents than Paris. Paris wants it only to be the main French without the accents.

Anyone who has been to Istanbul will tell you that it is a wild ride that is hard to grasp. Paris is much easier to grasp. Living there is easy, and can be stagnant.

I've lived in both Paris during much of 2004, and Istanbul during the summer of 2007. Paris advertises itself as being the romance, elegance, and most cosmopolitan city in the world. Istanbul doesn't try nearly as hard for affection yet it excites you down to your soul. I hope to live in Istanbul for the rest of my life when I leave the States.

Let me start off by saying that I myself would love to Istanbul some day; I am sure I would enjoy it. It has nothing to do with Rome vs Paris, but I guess Cornerguy is allowing the discussion to meander a bit, which is fine.
Now.
What!, I don't doubt your sincerity, but come on--"Lived in?"
I suppose I could say I "lived in" that flat in northern England in 1974, or the house in Javea, Spain during summer 1978, but the reality was that those experiences, however eye-opening and inspiring, were rather ephemeral: several months here, a few months there.
Those visits were certainly life-enhancing, but that's all they were--visits.

Of course everyone has his/her favorites.
And some people, at different stages of their lives, prefer what they consider to be a more stimulating environment--it's fun to read the different opinions, especially when you consider the different cultural filters from which these opinions sift.

Originally Posted by What!

I want to get married, but just not to American women. They all more or less have the same snobbiness, lack of sophistication and charm, and strong sense of undeserved entitlement in all of them.

So yeah, I'll get married, but getting married to an American woman is a disaster waiting to happen.

Hmm.
This adds an interesting frame of reference.

[Cornerguy1]

It has nothing to do with Rome vs Paris, but I guess Cornerguy is allowing the discussion to meander a bit, which is fine.

A little meandering is sometimes beneficial, but let's try and stick with the Paris-Rome theme -- Istanbul probably deserves a thread of its own.

[Amelia12345678910]

I like them both

[KARL_MARX]

Rome is a third world city, so I perfer the latter