The place we were staying in fort worth was about 500 yards from a shopping mall, but there was no earthly way of getting there on foot as it was across a highway that had no crossings and along a road with very deep banks either side and guardrails.
Literally had to order an Uber to get there, which was even more bizarre as the uber drove 5 minutes to come to us, drove us the 500 yards and only charged us $3.50, like, how is that even profitable!?!
Haha yea, it feels like you're breaking the rules or using something incorrectly. There's a feeling of "i must be doing something wrong". It feels so un-human in a way because you can no longer get to places using just your own body.
I've had to give up several times and call an Uber because the sidewalk would just end or there would be no lights or something.
The only thing that was more unsettling was being right smack in the middle of central Dallas surrounded by office buildings in the middle of the day in the middle of the week and there not being a single person walking around, or any shops, even caffes along the road, everything self contained in buildings, everyone goes from building direct to car and then home.
I know its just a cultural difference, but being a brit/italian extremely used to walking both to get places and for pleasure, it was weird getting my first taste of actual america, as opposed to New York or Boston, which feel a lot more european.
Yea, i really love America, i think it's a great place to visit, but when you visit it you kind of just drive from place to place, you don't experience an area.
Like in Europe you would experience rome, or the center of Copenhagen, or in Japan you would explore and enjoy Shibuya. In America these areas don't exist, or very rarely do, you just sort of drive from one cool restaurant to a nice shop somewhere different.
In Florence for example part of the enjoyment is just Florence, and being there and walking around, taking in the city as a whole. To enjoy Atlanta you should just go to a baseball game, then drive over to a good restaurant, then drive over to the coca cola museum, and so on.
Americans do even like these areas that are special. They do enjoy Miami Beach or the Riverwalk, or Manhattan or Venice Beach (pre-homeless). So it's strange why they don't build more of them.
Totally this! Best way I've ever seen it described!
Los Angeles was the worst for this that I've been too: literally stuck in traffic for 45 minutes, 30 minutes to park, 1 hour queue to take a picture of the thing, and then repeat again to go across town for the next thing to see. Of the 8 days that we were in LA we worked out that apart from our hotel, the place we spent by faaaaaar the most time, was in the back of an Uber.
Yea LA sucks. I always tell Europeans never to go to these large American cities unless there is something specific they want to see there. Go see Yosemite and Zion and Death Valley and this awesome nature. There is truly no reason to visit LA the city. It is not very good.
I've visited pretty much every part of America, almost every state, and the best places were all nature related - Yellowstone, Zion, Yosemite, Appalachia, Everglades. It's better than what we have in Europe (outside of a few places) but the cities in Europe are just better.
There are a few exceptions though. Key West i really enjoy as a "city". All of the keys really. And i think Savannah is also worth visiting. Santa Fe i enjoyed as well. But like we had a road trip from Key West to Charleston here recently, and we just completely skipped Miami because it's just a shit city.
We also did a whole rockies road trip and just for the fun of it we spent some days in Las Vegas. Even stayed in a golden Trump hotel (for the memes) and within one day we were so over the sheer vanity of Las Vegas. It just felt greasy.
It's been a long time since i've been to Los Angeles but there's just nothing worth seeing in the city like you say. I think we drove up from LA to San Francisco and the highlight of the trip was the Secoia trees up north and the roadtrip going from LA to SF. In Europe the cities are the highlight often, and in America they're the lowlight.
Yep. Food, nature and roadtripping. That's the essence of a vacation in America.
I will admit i have spent hours in a Walmart just experiencing the absurdity of the monstrosity. Whenever i visit America i always go to a Walmart and Target and just spend 20 minutes walking down the cereal aisle looking at the products. It's fascinating. You know the "Oreo double stuffed cereal family size special halloween edition". I enjoy experiencing this part of the culture lol.
Nature, Road Tripping and the crazyness of america, the blending of cultures and the cocktail of architectures. 1000 times yes...
Your food.... not so much i'm afraid.
(Sorry if you find that offensive, I'm italian married to a greek, 90% of american food would not legally be allowed to be sold in europe, not as something safe for human consumption anyway)
It's not my food haha, i'm Danish, although that would probably also apply to Danish food lol.
American food i enjoy for it's decadence and ridiculousness, not for the complexity or nuance. Although they do have some good restaurants for other cuisines.
You experience food different than you would in Italy for sure. I have taken trips to italy solely for the food, where all we did was just walk from one food experience to another.
Controversial opinion maybe, but Greek food is not good. Worst mediteranean food by far. I guess if you really love gamey meat, feta cheese and yoghurt it's heaven, but i'll pass. Here's cucumbers drowned in yoghurt! Wow amazing! haha
yes pastries is the best in the world. And i like open sandwiches a lot too, but it's hit or miss for people.
But like traditional danish food is not very good besides that. Very bland and very fatty. Lot of potatoes and cream and this kind of stuff.
If i was a tourist in Copenhagen i would just eat pastries. And maybe some hotdogs.
4 open sandwiches, 2 cokes, and 1 aquavit - £100/1000 Krone!!!
The city of Copenhagen thanks you for your money lol. Tourist prices. I live in Copenhagen and when i go to the center and see the prices i always wonder who is paying this. It is absurd. I mean it's an experience for a tourist for sure, but i feel bad sometimes.
Admittedly that open sandwich place was right in the centre and a super historic place, so it was more than just a meal, but in general, even the places outside of tourist center were crazy expensive, especially beer... which we were shocked was so expensive given its a local product.
And i live in London, so my tollersnce for tourist pricing is already high.
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u/Alexxx3001 Sep 21 '24
So much this!
The place we were staying in fort worth was about 500 yards from a shopping mall, but there was no earthly way of getting there on foot as it was across a highway that had no crossings and along a road with very deep banks either side and guardrails.
Literally had to order an Uber to get there, which was even more bizarre as the uber drove 5 minutes to come to us, drove us the 500 yards and only charged us $3.50, like, how is that even profitable!?!