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Favourite city?


Xela

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So, what is your favourite city in the world and why? I'm a big fan of exploring sprawling cities and metropolises when I am on my travels and am lucky enough to have been to a fair few over the last ten years or so,

My favourite is Hong Kong... its got it all. Amazing skyline, great food, hedonistic nightlife and plenty to keep you occupied during the day. It would be a great place to live and work. It just edges out New York in my opinion, although I am a massive fan of the Big Apple as well.

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When it comes to living somewhere, I prefer to be in a more rural area. However, it's great to go and spend a few days away in a great city. There are plenty on my list that I'm yet to visit, but thanks to cheap flights I have managed to see a few despite being a student until relatively recently!

Amsterdam is probably my favourite city. It's beautiful, and has everything without being too big. Very easy to get around. I love the liberal attitude to life over there.

Barcelona is also amazing and I'm hoping to get back over there early next year to watch a Barça game, as I only managed to do the stadium tour last time. Also, the Sagrada Familia is the most impressive building I've ever seen.

Prague is lovely, as is Florence.

It'll probably be Barcelona again next for reasons mentioned above, but after that it's a difficult decision where to go. Tallinn, Budapest, Venice, Rome, Paris, Bruges, and many more are all on the list.

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My favourites outside of this country are Köln and Riga. The former because I spent a year living nearby and most weekends there, just love the atmosphere of the city and there is so much to do for both tourists and also once you get to know more about the place. The latter is just a beautiful capital city, lovely old town and gardens everywhere.

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shanghai, amazing place

What makes it amazing? Was meant to be going there this year but due to my mate losing his job, its been put on hold.

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the mix of tradtion of the future

nanjing road -

Nanjing-Road-Shanghai.jpg

yuyuan gardens -

Yuyuan-Garden-15.jpg

then you have the bund and jackie chans french quarter

the pudong is hard to explain, it just has a kind of magical glow to it thanks to all the lights and massive buildings, the 4th tallest building in the world (world financial centre, the bottle opener as i like to call it) didnt even seem that tall because its next to the jin mao tower, everything looks huge, its also a really weird experience leaving the city (i travelled to suzhou which was really nice too) you are driving for an hour an still everything is over 10 floors (some sort of rule that if it isnt over a certain number of floors you cant have a lift so everything is tall, the scale of the city is absolutely insane, there are triple stacked roads -

shanghai-timelapse.jpg

then the number of brilliant looking buildings is far higher than anywhere else that ive been, the museum, exhibition centre, the hyatt that you can look down (jin mao) then you throw in the train and the crazy airport

its just an amazing place

167136_10150132396460917_3489771_n.jpg

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Again .. so many to chose from

Budapest was the first city that really drew me in but I could equally say St Petersburg , Damascus , New York , Beijing , Cairo or Istanbul .. even vegas ( i love it there but I couldn't bring myself to vote it my fav :-) )

all very different but all have their own appeals and charms ... I hope the Syrians recover from the current conflict and more people get the chance to experience Damascus , it has this magical feel to it

but , as i can only pick one I'm opting for Pyongyang

Had the most amazing visit when i was there , i think the fact it wasn't at all how the western media / world would portray it that just added to it's appeal ... and to witness the military parade during our visit (one of very few westerners ever to have been permitted to see it ) was just the icing on the cake .. It does have it's problems , that was evident no matter how hard our guides tried to avoid us seeing it , but it we received a very warm welcome and it was the trip of a lifetime and one I certainly won't forget ... and not just for the scariest flight i've ever encountered in a Tupolev Tu-134 that really should have been retired 30 years ago

so yep , my vote is going to Pyongyang

Shanghai is one i've always wanted to visit , somehow I've made it to China 4 times without ever going there , but next years trip the plan is to visit Nanking (amongst other places ) and Shanghai is only a 75 min train ride away and will be my port of exit (after a few nights stop ) .. so fingers crossed I'll finally tick it off the list

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Love Santa Monica, its a place I have been to a few times and would be happy to keep returning to it. Also Las Vegas, its unashamed, and I love that.

I also have a soft spot for Brussels, really good restaurants there if you go searching.

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The Sagrada familia

it's a wonderful and yet strange building at the same time isn't it ... it's like the builders thought they would use up all the materials left over from a previous job

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Of places I've been to, Rome. But 90% because of the food.

my mum is like that , How was your trip to <<insert country>> , oh it was amazing they had prawns this big that were fresh and served with such and such ..great mother but how was the world famous landmark etc etc ...

but i'm not much of a food buff so maybe that's why i don't get it

Not having a dig at you btw , it's just you've revived a sort of private family joke .. My brother and I if we go to a country will text each other to say for example , That Sagrada familia is crap , you can't get decent prawns in it

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Another vote for Rome here. Just a stunning city. I went there with no expectations but it completely drew me in. The fact you can pretty much walk from one end to the other and see everything worth seeing and there is plenty to see. To also think that a modern European capital can function in and amongst its own ruins and ancient architecture was quite surreal too. Obviously the food is nice too. The people were accommodating and friendly; remember this is a capital city with hustle and bustle. It also has the weather. As I say, just so much to do and see and it can all be done on foot (with the exception of the Stadio Olimpico which needs a taxi).

Before going to Rome, Barcelona was my favourite city, but afterwards it wasn't even close. Highly recommend it.

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Another vote for Rome here. Just a stunning city. I went there with no expectations but it completely drew me in. The fact you can pretty much walk from one end to the other and see everything worth seeing and there is plenty to see. To also think that a modern European capital can function in and amongst its own ruins and ancient architecture was quite surreal too. Obviously the food is nice too. The people were accommodating and friendly; remember this is a capital city with hustle and bustle. It also has the weather. As I say, just so much to do and see and it can all be done on foot (with the exception of the Stadio Olimpico which needs a taxi).

Before going to Rome, Barcelona was my favourite city, but afterwards it wasn't even close. Highly recommend it.

little tip for anyone thinking of going to Rome is this limited numbers trip where one can tour the tombs underneath the Vatican ... I've been 3 times to Rome and not got in on this trip but I think if you can give a couple of months notice (and be flexible with dates which i couldn't) you might be able to get in

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it's a wonderful and yet strange building at the same time isn't it ... it's like the builders thought they would use up all the materials left over from a previous job

I went twice this year may and September to Barcelona, the Sagrada looks like a big melted candle from a distance, when you get closer and see the carvings in the stone its awesome, especially when the first stone was laid over 120 years ago and it still isn't finished, we went up one of the tower's and crossed a bridge to another tower, even half way up the view over the city is epic, an ambition of mine is to go back when its finished (est 2027)

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