So what IS your least favourite country..

Egginacup

Luxembourg and Switzerland.
You just feel like you're not wanted in either place.

Kips.

gramar

anto9 wrote: »

Cant understand people saying Belgium.Bruge and Antwerpen ,are beautiful .Brussels is not so great but does have some nice parts .

Belgium is as boring as it is flat. And it's very flat. Bruges is it's only saving grace. Been there on a few occasions and found both the people and the places to be dull and dour.

DarkyHughes

whisky_galore wrote: »

Good for him. Have no idea who that is.

I'll give ya a clue ALNI <- are the letters but you have to sort them out into the right order.

Magico Gonzalez

bb1234567 wrote: »

Its not that bad my father lived in Riyadh during the 80's and while it was strict the crime rate was almost non existent and quality of life was very reasonable for most people, so hardly that bad compared to a lot of other african and middle eastern countries..and that was also during the 80's it is more relaxed and westernised now

Ah well, if your Da say's it was alright 30 odd years ago it must still be grand.

Despite the beheadings, the opression of women, the draconian laws in respect to personal freedom, the extremely dubious foreign policy and the fact that the locals will never treat anyone but their own as an equal.

Despite all that, it's probably grand.

anto9

Berserker wrote: »

Lol, we are thinking about planning a holiday to that part of the world later in the year. Trying to decide where to go and we were thinking about Vietnam and Thailand.

I found Siagon much better than Hanoi but even Hanoi i found interesting .You will love Thailand .I like it so much that i am living there now full time .

anto9

gramar wrote: »

Belgium is as boring as it is flat. And it's very flat. Bruges is it's only saving grace. Been there on a few occasions and found both the people and the places to be dull and dour.

The North Belgian people i found more friendly than the Dutch ,who tend to put them down.I dont see the landscape being flat equals dull.

crockholm

I found the Flemish people to be some of the most welcoming,genial folk I have met to date,haven't met too many Walloons to be honest-yes the terrain is flat but it is immaculately kept and maintained often with splashes of colour from the tulip fields and down south the rolling hills of the Ardennes are vivid with their extensive beech woodlands.

Give me Brugge,well maintained,polite,charming over the stinky cesspit Venice any day.

Antwerpen is beautiful too,but the roving gangs of young north africans looking to do you and your wallet harm in around the beautiful centraal station is a blight on the place.

Magico Gonzalez

Belgium minus Brussels = pretty nice. Great beer, picturesque towns and cities. Great food.

Brussels is really quite grim. It must be the politicians and gravy trainers swilling around the place that give it the grim vibe. Ghent on the other hand is a great wee place for a day out.

anto9

Magico Gonzalez wrote: »

Belgium minus Brussels = pretty nice. Great beer, picturesque towns and cities. Great food.

Brussels is really quite grim. It must be the politicians and gravy trainers swilling around the place that give it the grim vibe. Ghent on the other hand is a great wee place for a day out.

Yes the BEER ,how could i forget .They have a huge variety,(i think i read over 400 Breweries ) and so many different glasses to go with different beers.:D

anto9

>>Antwerpen is beautiful too,<< I used go there a few times a year to buy Cigars .You may be interested to know that they have a Red light area with women in the windows ,like Amsterdam ,about a 10 minute walk from the Train station.
On one trip there i stayed on an old sailing ship which had been converted into a Hotel .Really charming .http://www.booking.com/hotel/be/marjorie-ii.en-gb.html?sid=8aa6dda706e33aa0e1c937f35ed2ac27;dcid=4;checkin=2015-07-08;checkout=2015-07-09;dist=0;group_adults=1;group_children=0;no_rooms=1;srfid=888e0f7297ff9c9c8f36310cea526af730324e5cX67;type=total;ucfs=1&

SpaceTime

Magico Gonzalez wrote: »

Belgium minus Brussels = pretty nice. Great beer, picturesque towns and cities. Great food.

Brussels is really quite grim. It must be the politicians and gravy trainers swilling around the place that give it the grim vibe. Ghent on the other hand is a great wee place for a day out.

They completely wrecked Brussels architecturally in the 50s and 60s is the main problem. It has nice bits, they're just completely overshadowed by horrendous stuff that was put up in the name of progress.

There's even a term "Brusselisation" (in French bruxellisation and in Dutch verbrusseling)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brusselization

To completely feck up a nice city with horrifically bad planning.

ghogie91

I hated Portugal

anto9

^I hated Ireland ,most of my life ,but the old Ireland i knew has totally changed for the better I.M.O.Having recently turned 60 i go way back .LOL

somesoldiers

gramar wrote: »

Belgium is as boring as it is flat. And it's very flat. Bruges is it's only saving grace. Been there on a few occasions and found both the people and the places to be dull and dour.

Agree- used to go out with a girl from Antwerp. Fun was sitting in the pub playing board games, you do not sit at the bar and are frowned at if you have more than one pintje (which apparently means "little pint", how can you have a little pint, a pint = 568mls love) an hour. You are also weird if you have more than 2 fillings in a sandwich.


used to sneak off to Planet Sexy every chance I got which made it bearable

Pardon me vrouw kunt u me helpen

anto9

somesoldiers wrote: »

Agree- used to go out with a girl from Antwerp. Fun was sitting in the pub playing board games, you do not sit at the bar and are frowned at if you have more than one pintje (which apparently means "little pint", how can you have a little pint, a pint = 568mls love) an hour. You are also weird if you have more than 2 fillings in a sandwich.


used to sneak off to Planet Sexy every chance I got which made it bearable

Pardon me vrouw kunt u me helpen[/QUOT<<<



Answer by me ,
Irish Women are pretty dower and ugly in most cases ,and that is why i married a foreigner .There are exception like Clair Daily of course.

weldoninhio

DarkyHughes wrote: »

I'll give ya a clue ALNI <- are the letters but you have to sort them out into the right order.

Is anyone else completely baffled??

weldoninhio

Turkey for me, never been. Will never ever.

DEFTLEFTHAND

weldoninhio wrote: »

Is anyone else completely baffled??

He's talking about Bray Republican Seamus Costello, founder of the INLA.

murpho999

weldoninhio wrote: »

Turkey for me, never been. Will never ever.

Why don't you go there and then make a proper judgement? Istanbul is a beautiful city. Places like Epheses, Cappadoccia and Pammukele are well worth a visit.

The people are also very friendly and the food is very good.

Amazed reading this thread how many people comment on countries that they have never been to.

jobbridge4life

murpho999 wrote: »

Amazed reading this thread how many people comment on countries that they have never been to.

In fairness I took the thread to be more of an almost tounge in cheek thread rather than travel review if you know what I mean.

crockholm

murpho999 wrote: »

Why don't you go there and then make a proper judgement? Istanbul is a beautiful city. Places like Epheses, Cappadoccia and Pammukele are well worth a visit.

The people are also very friendly and the food is very good.

Amazed reading this thread how many people comment on countries that they have never been to.

At a guess,it could be for the same reasons that Israel and the USA were mentioned,people not native to the area moving in and colonizing,eradicating much of the previous occupants and their history/cultures.

Or it could be something entirely different.:o

FrKurtFahrt

murpho999 wrote: »

Why don't you go there and then make a proper judgement? Istanbul is a beautiful city. Places like Epheses, Cappadoccia and Pammukele are well worth a visit.

The people are also very friendly and the food is very good.

Amazed reading this thread how many people comment on countries that they have never been to.

I've been to Istanbul, and won't be back. I was robbed before I got off the plane (granted that thief could have been non-Turk), and then once again by a taxi-driver. I found the people to be scammers - right, left and centre.

Massimo Cassagrande

Of the "eurozoners" - Austria. Pleurgh, apart from the scenery. Asshat people and a very odd vibe to the place. After that, not a country, but a part of one - Barcelona. Hated every minute. Yet others rave about it...

PowerToWait

Belgium has a rep for being boring. But some young 'uns might be amazed to learn that it produced some of the best acid house / techno / hard house / trance ever heard.

Antwerp rivalled Berlin for its rave scene. And was in fact the epicentre before Berlin took over.

Hardly what you'd expect from "dull and boring".

Besides, Ghent has 300 breweries or something silly.

Cold War Kid

Yeah anyone I know who lives in, or has lived in, Belgium says it's brilliant.

Youngblood.III

Northern Ireland...that fcukin accent. ..grrrrr

Meangadh

murpho999 wrote: »

Amazed reading this thread how many people comment on countries that they have never been to.

I know what you mean but as a woman I can pretty much imagine the countries I would hate without even visiting them, simply because I am a woman. And I'd imagine most men would dislike those countries for the same reason, as I'd like to think that they'd rather women were treated equally too.

I mean if I can't walk around without covering my head or without being accompanied by a male relative or even in some cases be allowed to drive, then those countries can f**k right off. Maybe there are some great parts to them, maybe they could have beautiful scenery and even maybe some friendly people, but I have no interest visiting a country where women (and I have no doubt, many men) are treated as ****tily as they currently are.

weldoninhio

murpho999 wrote: »

Why don't you go there and then make a proper judgement? Istanbul is a beautiful city. Places like Epheses, Cappadoccia and Pammukele are well worth a visit.

The people are also very friendly and the food is very good.

Amazed reading this thread how many people comment on countries that they have never been to.

You must have missed the part where I said I would never go there. If I won an all inclusive holiday with thousands of spending money, I'd turn it down. Would hate to have to go there.

murpho999

weldoninhio wrote: »

You must have missed the part where I said I would never go there. If I won an all inclusive holiday with thousands of spending money, I'd turn it down. Would hate to have to go there.

Didn't miss that part at all, that's what I responded directly too.

I would definitely recommend Turkey as a good place to visit.

I would though turn down the all inclusive holiday though.

murpho999

FrKurtFahrt wrote: »

I've been to Istanbul, and won't be back. I was robbed before I got off the plane (granted that thief could have been non-Turk), and then once again by a taxi-driver. I found the people to be scammers - right, left and centre.

I would not deem a theft on a flight or being ripped off by an airport taxi driver as a fair judgement of a country. Taxi drivers at airports all over the world are notorious for ripping people off.
Especially when public transport from Istanbul airport is so easy (way better than Dublin), but no everyone there is out to scam you!

keano_afc

Mr_Spaceman wrote: »

It is, actually, whether you like it or not.

Nope, province of the United Kingdom.

Gongoozler

Meangadh wrote: »

I know what you mean but as a woman I can pretty much imagine the countries I would hate without even visiting them, simply because I am a woman. And I'd imagine most men would dislike those countries for the same reason, as I'd like to think that they'd rather women were treated equally too.

I mean if I can't walk around without covering my head or without being accompanied by a male relative or even in some cases be allowed to drive, then those countries can f**k right off. Maybe there are some great parts to them, maybe they could have beautiful scenery and even maybe some friendly people, but I have no interest visiting a country where women (and I have no doubt, many men) are treated as ****tily as they currently are.

I'd be mad to visit countries like that to experience the cultural differences. Sure with places I'm Europe you'd hardly know you've left the country.

Son Of A Vidic

From my own experience it would be France. With its grossly overrated and mostly disgusting cuisine. A hyper-inflated sense of its own importance and a populace who tend to be incredibly rude and ignorant.

DEFTLEFTHAND

Corvus Maximus wrote: »

From my own experience it would be France. With its grossly overrated and mostly disgusting cuisine. A hyper-inflated sense of its own importance and a populace who tend to be incredibly rude and ignorant.

I like them because they're self assured and confident, they don't have the same hang ups and insecurities certain other countries have and they really don't give a dam about what any other nationality thinks of them. Italians would be similar in that regard from my experience.

DarkyHughes

SpaceTime wrote: »

They completely wrecked Brussels architecturally in the 50s and 60s is the main problem. It has nice bits, they're just completely overshadowed by horrendous stuff that was put up in the name of progress.

There's even a term "Brusselisation" (in French bruxellisation and in Dutch verbrusseling)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brusselization

To completely feck up a nice city with horrifically bad planning.

Plus I bet the Congolese really hate Belgium.

efb

anto9 wrote: »

Cant understand people saying Belgium.Bruge and Antwerpen ,are beautiful .Brussels is not so great but does have some nice parts .

Because the other countries I've been to were nicer

DarkyHughes

DEFTLEFTHAND wrote: »

He's talking about Bray Republican Seamus Costello, founder of the INLA.

I was only thinking of him because I was his grave the other day. The headstone is bloody huge.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeQVWCrCyBw

Yeah|!!!. For the record I also favor guerrilla tactics in Parliament. Imagine Gerry & Mary Lou ambushing Enda & Joan in the Dail with AR-18's.

whisky_galore

DarkyHughes wrote: »

Plus I bet the Congolese really hate Belgium.

They don't whinge about them as much as we do about the English.

bnt

Never been to Italy, but I've had some nicely laid-back times in the south of France, including Cannes (which is close to Italy). If you try to judge France by Paris alone, you'd be as bad as a tourist who judged Ireland by Dublin. Worse, actually, since France is so much bigger and more diverse.

Worst country I've visited? Probably Swaziland.

DarkyHughes

whisky_galore wrote: »

They don't whinge about them as much as we do about the English.

How much do you whinge about them? They didn't even make my top 3. There sort of a large version of us.

Meangadh

Gongoozler wrote: »

I'd be mad to visit countries like that to experience the cultural differences. Sure with places I'm Europe you'd hardly know you've left the country.

I get what you mean, but the fact is that there are countries I wouldn't be able to even visit, either because of their laws regarding women or because it wouldn't be safe for me (as an outsider, male or female). I travelled on my own in Europe once and have gone travelling numerous times with a bunch of girls in places all over the world. I'd rather my holidays were like that, where I experienced different cultures and still felt safe.

Ok, perhaps these places are not as culturally extreme as say, Saudi Arabia or parts of Africa, but I'd rather wait for them to catch up with the rest of the world a little regarding their human rights before I go exploring.

whisky_galore

DarkyHughes wrote: »

How much do you whinge about them? They didn't even make my top 3. There sort of a large version of us.

I don't.

Areyouwell

France. Never again.

somesoldiers

Morocco- dirty, smelly, kip, where the locals will badger you to within an inch of your life til you buy something off them (they call this "their culture").

FrKurtFahrt

murpho999 wrote: »

I would not deem a theft on a flight or being ripped off by an airport taxi driver as a fair judgement of a country. Taxi drivers at airports all over the world are notorious for ripping people off.
Especially when public transport from Istanbul airport is so easy (way better than Dublin), but no everyone there is out to scam you!

The taxi-driver in this instance had nothing to do with the airport. It was a taxi from one part of the city to another - no where near the airport.

weldoninhio

As of today, all of N Africa/Turkey/Saudi stares. I'd even be wary of the Canaries. Not too much security when you get the day trip across

RIP to all who didn't make it and respect to the Welshman who used himself to protect his fiancé and their unborn baby.

Amprodude

Australia - people are mainly ****.

snowstorm445

In terms of places I've visited, Northern Ireland was probably my least favourite. Lovely scenery in places, people are friendlier than many of down here would have us believe, but some Northern towns are absolute dives. Add in the fact that parts of Belfast (and Derry to an extent) effectively function as a warzones (and two of Belfast's biggest attractions, the peace walls and the Titanic, are based on tragic loss of life) and it gives the whole place a really sad air to it.

In terms of every country in the world, I can't decide on giving the honour to North Korea or Saudi Arabia. On one hand you have the former; the world's last Stalinist dictatorship with a scummy, obese leader who executes members of his family on a whim, and who presides over a country-sized prison which is quite content to imprison and starve millions of its people if it makes them deferent and passive. It tries (and fails) to build a pathetic façade of prosperity to shield its gross inequality and hardships. People in the west usually the refer to the country humorously, but in reality it is one of history's most depraved regimes and a blight on the human race. On the other hand, the latter is a ridiculous cartoonish country run by ancient, decrepit lunatics, who have sculpted a country that again, has the image of wealth, but is built on outrageous human rights violations and religious insanity. Its an outright theocracy, and the lunacy of Wahhabism is allowed to curtail the basic rights of women, kill gays and apostates, and to generally promote extremist, backward behaviour the world over. It gets a free pass on many of these things essentially because firstly its a Western ally (which is itself an utter disgrace) and secondly because of the Western cultures general taboo on protesting about anything Islamic related (even extremist versions of it). There is literally no reason why either country should exist, and both of them can wallow in their disgusting pit as holding the title of worst countries in the world, as far as I'm concerned. Rant over.

fryup

cherryghost wrote: »

Wasn't fond of Tunisia at all. I can see all the advertisements in Dublin about 'Come to Tunisia!' and I cringe every time. The place is run down, the tourism industry has taken a nosedive since its troubles and there's no maintenance in many areas as a result. Also the people are pretty unpleasant to deal with.

^^^ posted before the tragic events on friday

if the tourism industry has taken a nosedive, it will be non-existence after this

bolopapa

China.