Iconic Cities

[floridaorange]

No vegas?

[sygazelle]

[QUOTE=hubbahubba;29516954]Sydney is awesome. Brisbane, too. Have fun on your trip![/QUOTE

I've not been to Brisbane. I'd like to on my next trip in that neck of the woods.

[HFW003]

For me there are many, and in no particular order:

Sydney
Melbourne
Vancouver
New York
Washington
LA
London
Edinburgh
Copenhagen
Amsterdam
Berlin
Vienna
Rome
Venice
Florence
Paris
Monaco
Nice
Singapore
Hong Kong

There are probably many more and I’ve included those I’ve been to.

[HFW003]

[QUOTE=sygazelle;29517803]

Originally Posted by hubbahubba

Sydney is awesome. Brisbane, too. Have fun on your trip![/QUOTE

I've not been to Brisbane. I'd like to on my next trip in that neck of the woods.

Yeah nah, I wouldn’t go to Bris Vegas.

Go to Melbourne instead. Much more cosmopolitan and will soon(ish) be the largest city in Australia again.

[iminhell1]

I was hoping to see a few places I'd like to visit eventually;
Istanbul
Athens
Bucharest

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by HFW003

Singapore

I was wondering if S'pore would show up. I lived there for a couple of years in the mid-90s. It was unique in my experience and was certainly iconic in its own way.

[HFW003]

Originally Posted by dradernh

I was wondering if S'pore would show up. I lived there for a couple of years in the mid-90s. It was unique in my experience and was certainly iconic in its own way.

I was there for the F1 and it is one big hot, sweaty shopping centre!

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by HFW003

I was there for the F1 and it is one big hot, sweaty shopping centre!

Spot on! OTOH, coming from 35 years living in San Francisco's fog, I found shorts, t-shirts and sandals 365 days a year to be quite the improvement!

Two things stood out in that city: it worked (everything ran on time), and the food, which was quite varied and generally excellent. It also didn't have to cost a lot. Otherwise, it was a pricey place to live - cars and real estate, especially.

[AntF32]

In no order
Bath - UK
Winchester - UK
Cairns
Vancouver
Amsterdam
Tokyo
Berlin
Luxor

[M_Six]

Bath is a great city. We spent a couple of days there once and wished we had more time.

[UncleWede]

Guadalajara

[wtwo3]

I don't know exactly what you mean by "iconic", but I guess I'll discuss some of my favorite cities that I've visited. I think what constitutes a city being someone's favorite is the experience they have when they're there. So an "amazing" city can feel like crap if you have a bad experience, but a basic, "unimpressive" city can be considered a favorite simply because of the positive experience you had - whether it be due to the company you had while you were there, the people you met there, or just the general pleasantness of being there.

From that regard I have a lot of favorites that were simply favorites because I had the best experiences there:


Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia:

Definitely an odd one. It's not really a vacation destination. I was there for a friend's wedding. What's a relatively basic, no frills city - was made awesome because of 2 things - the company I was with, and the fact that the people of Sabah were some of the nicest people I've ever met in the world. Even the customs officials smiled and welcomed me as they stamped my passport. It was shocking after the shit treatment I get when coming back to the US.



Oia, Santorini, Greece:

Probably down to this being our honeymoon destination. We went sort of off-season, so the crowds were smaller. The overall vibe was very relaxed, and we travelled the entire island in our tiny little rented Peugeot 107. Simpler times.... But of all the little towns on the island, Oia was by far the most "iconic". It's the town you picture when you think about Santorini.




San Francisco:

I need to caveat this by saying - it used to be one of my all time favorites BEFORE it went to liberal hell (not that I identify specifically as conservative or liberal... just that going into any one direction to the extreme is usually not good). But circa 2011 when I went with a group of friends, it was an incredible time.




Phoenix:

I have a thing for Arizona. The mountains, the beauty, the relaxed lifestyle, the weather (you hear the jokes about dry heat... but it's TRUE! I'd take that dry 100 degrees over the unbearably humid 85 degrees here in Chicago any day). I've been there at least 6-7 different occasions and have loved it every time. So much so that my wife and I have seriously considered moving there.



Cusco, Peru:

This was one of those awesome experiences. I took a guys trip to Peru with my brothers in law. We checked out Lima, and a couple other smaller towns, but the highlight (besides visiting Machu Pichu obviously...) was the couple nights we stayed in Cusco. It had big city feel with small town charm.




Hong Kong:

Obviously before all of the political unrest. I've been 3 times and it's always been a unique experience for me. I'm not a huge fan of the food, but it just feels a bit different to be there. I've been to other large Asian cities - Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, etc, but Hong Kong still feels a bit different to me, and I like that.




Seattle:

Really only 2 reasons for this being here - Food, and the surrounding parks with Mt. Rainier. Not sure if it was a fluke, but I've had some of the best food in this country, in Seattle. Literally everything I ate there tasted incredible.

[2008M36MT]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

No vegas?

I don't think Vegas itself is iconic. The gambling there? Iconic. In other ways, it's literally a copy of what's in iconic cities or of iconic cultures.

[floridaorange]

With all the films shot there where the city practically was the star of the film, I think it's iconic or at the very least, "was." I went when I was 20, and I can still recall the feeling of driving down the strip in awe.

[dradernh]

Originally Posted by floridaorange

I think it's iconic or at the very least, "was."

LV is iconic, and in the same way that Macau is iconic.

[hubbahubba]

Originally Posted by wtwo3

I don't know exactly what you mean by "iconic", but I guess I'll discuss some of my favorite cities that I've visited. I think what constitutes a city being someone's favorite is the experience they have when they're there. So an "amazing" city can feel like crap if you have a bad experience, but a basic, "unimpressive" city can be considered a favorite simply because of the positive experience you had - whether it be due to the company you had while you were there, the people you met there, or just the general pleasantness of being there.

From that regard I have a lot of favorites that were simply favorites because I had the best experiences there:


Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia:

Definitely an odd one. It's not really a vacation destination. I was there for a friend's wedding. What's a relatively basic, no frills city - was made awesome because of 2 things - the company I was with, and the fact that the people of Sabah were some of the nicest people I've ever met in the world. Even the customs officials smiled and welcomed me as they stamped my passport. It was shocking after the shit treatment I get when coming back to the US.
Attachment 3027413


Oia, Santorini, Greece:

Probably down to this being our honeymoon destination. We went sort of off-season, so the crowds were smaller. The overall vibe was very relaxed, and we travelled the entire island in our tiny little rented Peugeot 107. Simpler times.... But of all the little towns on the island, Oia was by far the most "iconic". It's the town you picture when you think about Santorini.
Attachment 3027416



San Francisco:

I need to caveat this by saying - it used to be one of my all time favorites BEFORE it went to liberal hell (not that I identify specifically as conservative or liberal... just that going into any one direction to the extreme is usually not good). But circa 2011 when I went with a group of friends, it was an incredible time.
Attachment 3027417



Phoenix:

I have a thing for Arizona. The mountains, the beauty, the relaxed lifestyle, the weather (you hear the jokes about dry heat... but it's TRUE! I'd take that dry 100 degrees over the unbearably humid 85 degrees here in Chicago any day). I've been there at least 6-7 different occasions and have loved it every time. So much so that my wife and I have seriously considered moving there.
Attachment 3027418


Cusco, Peru:

This was one of those awesome experiences. I took a guys trip to Peru with my brothers in law. We checked out Lima, and a couple other smaller towns, but the highlight (besides visiting Machu Pichu obviously...) was the couple nights we stayed in Cusco. It had big city feel with small town charm.
Attachment 3027419



Hong Kong:

Obviously before all of the political unrest. I've been 3 times and it's always been a unique experience for me. I'm not a huge fan of the food, but it just feels a bit different to be there. I've been to other large Asian cities - Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, etc, but Hong Kong still feels a bit different to me, and I like that.
Attachment 3027420



Seattle:

Really only 2 reasons for this being here - Food, and the surrounding parks with Mt. Rainier. Not sure if it was a fluke, but I've had some of the best food in this country, in Seattle. Literally everything I ate there tasted incredible.
Attachment 3027421

So my firstborn son lives in Seattle, and we visit once or twice a year. It is an awesome city if you can get past the tweakers, homeless, etc, and enjoy the good spots.

As for Phoenix, well, I am partisan, so thank you for the mention. It is an AWESOME place to live. It used to be 2-1/2 months of sucky hotness that nobody should endure. This summer (and last) was absolutely bearable! We had one week in June where it was just too flippin hot to exist. The rest, as long as you have access to a private pool and AC, fantastic. Great golf at ridiculously cheap prices, year long property tax that keeps it sane. C'mon out! We need more people like you!