What is your favourite city?

Devrim "Enternasyonalist Komünist Sol"
Posts: 2972 Joined: 15-07-06
Submitted by Devrim on 1 May, 2006 - 23:50.

Lone Wolf saying that if she ever came to Ankara, she would join us a reto-pop night (Actually, there is a Türkü club, done out in Spanish Civil war chic, which is much cooler), and the fact that I went to visit İstanbul for the first time in two years last week got me thinking about another thread.

I love living in Ankara, and it is a great place to live, but I could never describe it as a great city. As a tourist it would be a shithole. The only interesting things are the Anatolian Civilization Museum (actually people tell me it’s good. I haven’t been there since 1994), and the neo-classical Greek monstrosity that is Mustafa Kemal’s tomb.

What are you favourite cities, and why?

My top three (in reverse order) would be:

3)İstanbul: A beautiful city, I love walking by the sea, eating fish on Galata Bridge, drinking in the Çicek Pasaj and the nightlife.

2)Prague: I lived about 50km away when I was working for Skoda Auto. Great city, great people, and if you can get off the tourist track, a really good place to hang out.

1)Beirut: What more needs to be said. The Queen of the Mediterranean.

Devrim

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Lone Wolf "My Boots...Fit the Occasion Tonight. I'm Feeling Alright with the Crew"
Posts: 4286 Joined: 01-03-06 Location: E. London UK
2 May, 2006 - 00:02

Hi! Not as well travelled as most of you peeps I'm afraid due to lack of £££ def. not lack of spirit!

My three in reverse order would be:

3) Ephesus in Turkey for what is/was its architectural beauty (presumably it's OK to pick a ruined city? You didn't say it had to be intact. At least Ephesus is one city guaranteed to never contain a McD's!)

2) Rome for the sheer grandeur (though v. angry at urban wealth and poverty side-by-side angry - not that it's great if its not side-by-side obv. but the hypocrisy of the whole wealthy church thing pisses me off).

1) Amsterdam - def. my fave city. Friendly peeps, great atmos., minimal legal presence. They have a great cultural/social massive free street party each year at the end of April - Queens Day. It's fab but haven't had the £ to go for the last couple of years. Has anyone been to this? Have taken lots of peeps over the years - kinda LW guided tour. Vondelpark is amazing. Best choc. cake ever is to be found in the Dam. smile

georgestapleton "an indistinguishable part of a nationalist front sticking up for Irish independence"
Posts: 1463 Joined: 04-08-05 Location: Dublin, Ireland
2 May, 2006 - 01:39

1. Dublin - obviously

2. Naples - Cos its mad

3. New York - cos its full of deadly grumpy americans. Americans outside of NY are just to polite.

Serge Forward
Posts: 1233 Joined: 14-01-04 Location: Leicester, East Midlands
2 May, 2006 - 02:08

Bratislava, Halkida, Paris, Dublin, Nagykanisza, Leicester (in no particular order).

aketus "I'm not in London!"
Posts: 320 Joined: 16-02-06 Location: Melbourne, Australia
2 May, 2006 - 04:25

One day I'll leave the country and dig this thread out of the grave with a proper answer.

I'll let you know what I think of Rennes this time next year, though. Family reunion or some shite.

I haven't been to all the capital cities of Australia yet. It's a big place. I like Adelaide coz no one's awake there and it looks nice. I liked Hobart because they have a 24 hour bakery. I'm a simple person grin

oisleep
Posts: 2726 Joined: 20-04-05
2 May, 2006 - 07:08

belgrade & warsaw

the button "jesus christ, john, have you actually even read any marx?"
Posts: 5636 Joined: 07-07-04 Location: Lewisham, London
2 May, 2006 - 07:52

1. London

2. Paris

3. Barcelona

Which, by incredible coincidence, are the only three cities that I've spent any length of time in. Apart from Munich. Well-travelled I'm not.

Grace "Christ, I'd rather just have the semen"
Posts: 1520 Joined: 19-07-05 Location: Oxford/Ipswich
2 May, 2006 - 08:02

Oxford, London, Giessen. I haven't been to many cities and these are the only ones I've spent time in without my family there to piss me off.

jef costello "Beautiful, just like Nuremburg"
Posts: 9469 Joined: 09-02-06 Location: Self-flagellation: bad for the skin, good for the soul
2 May, 2006 - 08:17

London its a shithole but I love it

Paris like london but smaller, cooler and more relaxed.

Granada: because its awesome.

Not been many other places tho I must admit, never really had the cash. Now I do my mates have fucked off and got real jobs.

Next year will do some serious bumming around Europe once my work finishes, I'm thinking Marseille, Toulouse, Berlin, Hamburg, Prague, Vienna and Rome.

Anyone got any other ideas?

I'll be watching this thread...

We could do places within cities too:

London, Primrose Hill (went to fireworks this year it was amazing)

Paris, Champ de Mars on a summer evening

Granada, there is a hill opposite the Alhambra, its illuminated at night, people just chill out, have a few drinks, a few joints, a few people play guitar well.

Steve "J'aime une sorcière de prolétaire"
Posts: 1057 Joined: 27-06-06 Location: Preston Lancashire
2 May, 2006 - 08:17

Manchester. smile

Edinburgh

Preston (no not really)wink

martinh "Wears loud shirts for the poor & oppressed"
Posts: 849 Joined: 08-03-06 Location: South East London
2 May, 2006 - 09:28

Ought to be London but that'd include north of the river

so:

Seville

Edinburgh

Amsterdam

All combine being nice places to look at as well as nice places to spend time in. (and generally good food).

Have also had great times in Madrid, Bologna (definitely top for food), Punta Arenas, Prague, Barcelona, Merida (Spain), SF, LA (surprisingly - I thought I'd hate it and I didn't have a car), Sydney, Hobart, Adelaide (nearly made it into the top 3 but I felt I didn't know it well enough), Melbourne, Napier, Auckland, Norwich (no, really), Dublin, Belfast, Berlin and Frankfurt. Spent a couple of days in St Petersburg once as well and liked what I saw (even though it was freezing). Might get to go back in 20 years smile

Venice I liked but it doesn't seem real as no one lives there except for the super-rich and tourists. Plenty of places in Spain or Italy I've spent a day or two in that feel like they'd be fun to linger in.

Though as someone who's never lived more than 15 miles from where he was born can I really say I know anywhere else at all wink

Regards

Martin

Steven. ""Best hair at Unison conference""
Posts: 1625 Joined: 27-06-06 Location: London
2 May, 2006 - 10:38

I've only ever properly lived in London, only been to other places as a tourist. Ask me again in 20 years.

Grace "Christ, I'd rather just have the semen"
Posts: 1520 Joined: 19-07-05 Location: Oxford/Ipswich
2 May, 2006 - 10:41
martinh wrote:
Norwich (no, really)

eek Whereabouts in Norwich did you go?!

martinh "Wears loud shirts for the poor & oppressed"
Posts: 849 Joined: 08-03-06 Location: South East London
2 May, 2006 - 12:20
Grace wrote:
martinh wrote:
Norwich (no, really)

eek Whereabouts in Norwich did you go?!

It was some time ago, but I spent a couple of weeks there just pootling around and at least one time was when there was the Solidarity Centre. My mate at the time lived on Unthank Road (great name) and had a dog so we had long walks with said dog, drinks, etc.

And this was in the era when one district of Norwich still smelled of rolos. wink

Regards,

Martin

Peter "Australian: therefore a liar and a cunt"
Posts: 542 Joined: 09-03-06 Location: Canberra
2 May, 2006 - 12:30

vancouver, montreal, san francisco, seoul, berlin, belgrade, barcelona, paris, sydney.

least favourite: Denver, Calgary, maybe London but I've only been there in winter.

There's a certain sameness to cities everywhere, same shops, same traffic, same cops, same unhappy looking people.

Pete

the button "jesus christ, john, have you actually even read any marx?"
Posts: 5636 Joined: 07-07-04 Location: Lewisham, London
2 May, 2006 - 12:31
martinh wrote:
Ought to be London but that'd include north of the river

Very true. Top of my list should, of course, be lovely Lewisham, which (as we all know) is a city in its own right.

Peter "Australian: therefore a liar and a cunt"
Posts: 542 Joined: 09-03-06 Location: Canberra
2 May, 2006 - 12:36
martinh wrote:
Adelaide (nearly made it into the top 3 but I felt I didn't know it well enough),

I haven't been to Adelaide since I was 11 but everyone I know who's from there couldn't wait to leave. Actually I'm mainly thinking of a gay mate who's mum was a CofE minister.

Pete

Devrim "Enternasyonalist Komünist Sol"
Posts: 2972 Joined: 15-07-06
2 May, 2006 - 13:12

When I started this thread I was talking about places to visit. Maybe people misunderstood that, but Leicester,Preston... confused

Ankara is a great place to live, but I wouldn't say that it is a great city to visit.

Lone Wolf, Ephesus is an interesting call. I have never actually been there. Have you been to Hattusaş, the old Hittite capital? It is nearer to home for us. There are no McDonalds there either. It is very nice in the spring, or autumn whan it is not too hot, and there are no tourists. Maybe I will try Efes in the summer. Turkey is a big country, though. Travelling from Hakkari to Edirne is further than going from London to Warsaw.

I have never been to Rome, or Amsterdam though I have been to Milan, and spent a week in Utrecht visiting relatives when I was a teenager.

Dev

revolutionrugger "Putting the "class" back in Class Struggle"
Posts: 945 Joined: 23-03-06 Location: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
2 May, 2006 - 13:41

BALTIMORE MUTHER FUCKA!!! and montreal is quite nice. Paris is really really pretty, pretty fucking boring that is.

rkn "Root Knot Nematode"
Posts: 7629 Joined: 17-07-06 Location: London
2 May, 2006 - 15:11

Prague was quite cool.

Damascus.

New York.

Who said Beirut? Man i found it boring... but theres many sides to every city i guess!

Serge Forward
Posts: 1233 Joined: 14-01-04 Location: Leicester, East Midlands
2 May, 2006 - 15:17
Devrim wrote:
When I started this thread I was talking about places to visit. Maybe people misunderstood that, but Leicester,Preston... confused

Funny you should say that, but people from Prague and Berlin have stayed at my gaff in Leicester and they loved it here. A comrade from Japan is visting me this summer partly because she heard from the Berlin comrade that it was an interesting place to visit, and partly because of my excellent entertaining and hosting skills (heh heh, modest bugger, me). So make of it all what you will!

knightrose
Posts: 1963 Joined: 08-11-03
2 May, 2006 - 15:19

Galway. Thessaloniki, Manchester - in that order, I think.

At the very arse end comes London.

Refused "LibCom's official social secretary"
Posts: 6193 Joined: 28-09-04 Location: Newcastle-Upon-Tyne
2 May, 2006 - 16:55

See location.

Coconut man "Will probably be a liberal MP in 5 years"
Posts: 167 Joined: 13-02-04 Location: Norwich
2 May, 2006 - 17:23
Grace wrote:
martinh wrote:
Norwich (no, really)

eek Whereabouts in Norwich did you go?!

Whats that supposed to mean? Norwich is awesome.

WillsWilde
Posts: 338 Joined: 16-03-06
2 May, 2006 - 17:27

New York (tho' too dear to wear everyday')

San Francisco (ditto)

New Orleans (R.I.P)

Chicago

damn, i get around

Bodach gun bhrigh "banned"
Posts: 589 Joined: 07-07-05 Location: The mighty Alba
2 May, 2006 - 18:04

Oslo, although I was only there briefly.

London, cause anywhere's better than Glasgow

Landerne, which is more of a town.

The wee town in Luxembourg with the bulletholes in the walls we won a volleyball tournament in.

Oban, again, not really a city, or anything more than a village, but really nice.

georgestapleton "an indistinguishable part of a nationalist front sticking up for Irish independence"
Posts: 1463 Joined: 04-08-05 Location: Dublin, Ireland
2 May, 2006 - 18:05
knightrose wrote:
Galway.

confused

But thats a village. grin

And there's no one from galway to correct me. 8)

OliverTwister "Tied directly to Bekken and the Philly camp"
Posts: 2204 Joined: 10-10-05 Location: San Francisco, USA
2 May, 2006 - 18:25

LA for the fusion of mexican, euroamerican, afroamerican, and asian cultures (god i sound so liberal).

Berkeley for the bay view at night from the hills.

Baltimore for RevolutionRugger and Flint smile

That's about all the cities i've visited

Spartacus "Of Walking Abortion"
Posts: 1234 Joined: 20-09-03 Location: Tainan, Taiwan
2 May, 2006 - 18:34
knightrose wrote:
Thessaloniki.

eek but it's like birmingham with slightly older buildings! or doncaster! the sun and sea is pretty much all it has going for it.

mine would be paris, barcelona and munich. but in about a years time it'll probably be a bunch of russian, chinese, korean and japanese cities. actually, edinburgh was pretty lovely, i think i'd need to visit it more before adding deciding, it does have a volcano in the middle and rather cool places to go out, and my mates' room there is about as big as my house in birmingham, has a chandellier and an open fire! now that is classy. bit wet though.

revol68 "MILF Hunter"
Posts: 17522 Joined: 23-02-04 Location: Belfast
2 May, 2006 - 18:40
OliverTwister wrote:
LA for the fusion of mexican, euroamerican, afroamerican, and asian cultures (god i sound so liberal).

Berkeley for the bay view at night from the hills.

Baltimore for RevolutionRugger and Flint smile

That's about all the cities i've visited

what fusion? They all hate each other! tongue

knightrose
Posts: 1963 Joined: 08-11-03
2 May, 2006 - 18:50

The point about places is the memories they bring back, surely. I had a great time in Thessaloniki. That's why it goes in my list. Although London is where I grew up, I realise that it's turned into a bit of a shit hole - only marginally better than that monstrous blob between Manchester and London which claims to be the second city, yet somehow cannot seem to muster more than one decent football team at a time.

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