What the fuck is wrong with the UK?

[Benny B]

Isn't the plane ticket alone a few grand?  I'm middle class, I don't have 5000+ to drop on a vacation.

Fly off-season and you can get to Europe for under a grand. A two-star hotel (or even a hostel) will give you adequate accommodations.

See the world, dude. And I don't just mean Europe. There really are few excuses, and it is one of the best educations you could ever give yourself. You'll see the commonalities in all people and lose some of the "us vs. them" mentality so many Americans have.

[King Shizzo]

Fly off-season and you can get to Europe for under a grand. A two-star hotel (or even a hostel) will give you adequate accommodations.

See the world, dude. And I don't just mean Europe. There really are few excuses, and it is one of the best educations you could ever give yourself. You'll see the commonalities in all people and lose some of the "us vs. them" mentality so many Americans have.

Good advice, but I have seen the movie "Hostel".  Most Americans are weary of staying in sub-par foreign establishments.  I don't want my head sawed off.

[King Shizzo]

I'm bumping this post because it is utter truth. Athens is a shithole.

The best thing ever is to travel there and then read all the shitty tourism guide propaganda books after the fact. One book I looked at has a nice old Greek man on the cover, kindly smiling at the viewer in the midst of a beautiful background comprising olive fields and the Mediterranean Sea. It talked endlessly of the historical sights and somewhere mentioned the hospitality of the country's people.

Meanwhile, when I went there the smog was out of this world and had even stained the pillars of the Acropolis, the traffic was shit, the garbage workers were on strike so there were giant piles of garbage on every other bloc, stray dogs were everywhere, every other vendor tried to overcharge upon determining I wasn't a local, and upon walking the streets I ran into a weird park area where dozens of Filipino immigrant women camped out on the dirty ground and waited to "service" disgusting old Greek men who would pull up and pick them up.

That sounds disturbing.  I would think that it would effect the tourism.

[Benny B]

Good advice, but I have seen the movie "Hostel".  Most Americans are weary of staying in sub-par foreign establishments.  I don't want my head sawed off.

LOL..."Hostel" was entertaining but not to be taken seriously, dude.    

Besides, I didn't mention staying at "sub-par foreign establishments." I haven't stayed at a hostel in a very long time, but some are pretty nice, and they are a way to meet other travelers, if that is your goal. And when I talk of a two-star hotel, most in western/central Europe are going to be clean and up to the standards of an American on a budget. You just may not have a top ranked restaurant on the premises, a pool etc. None of which you should be concerned about anyway, since you will be out sightseeing.

The beauty of the internet age is that you can research and see pictures of any hotel/motel/hostel you may be considering before you book the reservation.

[Raymondo]

I'm bumping this post because it is utter truth. Athens is a shithole.

The best thing ever is to travel there and then read all the shitty tourism guide propaganda books after the fact. One book I looked at has a nice old Greek man on the cover, kindly smiling at the viewer in the midst of a beautiful background comprising olive fields and the Mediterranean Sea. It talked endlessly of the historical sights and somewhere mentioned the hospitality of the country's people.

Meanwhile, when I went there the smog was out of this world and had even stained the pillars of the Acropolis, the traffic was shit, the garbage workers were on strike so there were giant piles of garbage on every other bloc, stray dogs were everywhere, every other vendor tried to overcharge upon determining I wasn't a local, and upon walking the streets I ran into a weird park area where dozens of Filipino immigrant women camped out on the dirty ground and waited to "service" disgusting old Greek men who would pull up and pick them up.

This was before the euro crisis, by the way. I somehow doubt things have gotten 'better'.

haha, aint' that the truth.

I remember the airplane on the descent towards the airport, me looking out the window and seeing this grey mass of clustered aparment buildings- like everywhere!

The vendor in the kiosk, trying to sell me a 500ml bottle of water for four euros... I was so astonished he would take the piss out of me like that I couldn't think of anything sarcastic to say so I just handed it back silently and left.

Havign arrived at the port to catch the ferry I saw these extremely tired looking Germans and I started chatting with them- it turns out the ferry workers had been on strike for two days straight and no trips were made! They were waiting to find out if there would be a strike that day as well...


Anyway, I finally made it to Santorini. I dare say it was worth it. Prices were very reasonable. You could get tanked for twenty euros a night. The beaches were as good as anywhere in Europe. The sea  was icy cold inside (outside the heat was 40+ Celsius). I still haven't figured that out.

[RocketSwitch625]

As a person born in the UK, I can quite honestly say that my country is fucked now and it's mainly due to uncontrolled immigration and crime. Unfortunately there is no going back. It's all Tony Bliar's and Gordon Brown's fault. There is no longer freedom of speech and the country is full of ugly lefties who seem to be in love with all the parasites coming into Britain. If you say what you think about the whole situation, they lock you up and give you a criminal record.

How most Britons feel in 2012:

Your typical British lefty:

[Parker]

Many Americans are confused about this and have the audacity to call Obama "socialist." If they only knew.

They are just parroting what the right wing TV and radio shows say...

[garebear]

I didn't know 333386 roller skated.

Ironically, 33386 contributes more than you.

You're just trolling and, if I don't agree with you, your posts are incoherent gibberish.

[garebear]

I pointed out why your post was logically incoherent, broseph. I didn't even mention whether I agreed or not.

It's ok, you are doing the best with what you've got. We all have different abilities and some have more ability than others. Some take 10+ years longer than usual to get a modicum of an education and some don't, etc. This is nature's way.

Yes, you did point it out.

For instance, one of your poignant questions was which universal healthcare I was talking about.

I thought maybe you had seen the news in the last couple of weeks, but I guess I was wrong.

Anyway, there were a couple of stories (maybe even more , I wasn't counting) about a new universal healthcare being declared constitutional in America.

I'll be sure to be more thorough in my posts from now on, seeing as how you have a little trouble "keeping up with things".

It's strange that someone who is so clearly of such (self-confessed) superior intellect would need this, but I know you're smarter than me. After all, you just said it on GB.

[bigmc]

lots of copy and paste intellects in this thread

[bigmc]

My dear sir,

I'm really more interested in pointing out dumb things people say (there are ample opportunities) and hopefully correcting the errors rather than trying to manage others' perception of my intelligence or lack thereof (I could care less).

One such dumb thing you keep saying is that universal healthcare is equivalent to a specific piece of legislation (the ACA). As I mentioned in that thread, the ACA is not universal healthcare. It is a piece of legislation ostensibly geared towards realizing a sort of universal healthcare. But universal healthcare isn't the same thing as any specific piece of legislation that tries to establish it.

This really isn't that hard of a distinction to understand, and once you get it you'll understand everything I said in that thread, i.e., that it's silly of you to criticize those who oppose the legislation as if they are necessarily against universal healthcare. They may like the idea of universal healthcare but be opposed to the ACA, because they aren't the same fucking thing!

so to sum up you love the cock

[phreak]

Ok, let's get this straight for those who give a shit about official languages:

Holland: Dutch, Frysian and Nedersaxon.
Belgium: Dutch, French and German

Dutch is spoken in Holland, Belgium and a small part of France (Dunkirque area)

Related: Afrikaans, 1st language for a few million white people in South Africa, next to English.

Amd Limburgs is not a language, Friko....    where are you from, btw ?

Nou, gelukkig niet uit Limburg!    Wel het pittoreske Dordt.

[RagingBull]

 Another big problem with England is no one brushes their teeth. Also it wouldn't hurt to fix those crooked teeth either.

   That's very funny!

[Irongrip400]

Isn't the plane ticket alone a few grand?  I'm middle class, I don't have 5000+ to drop on a vacation.

Shizz, get married, and get a good travel agent. My wife and I went to Italy and Germany for two weeks, stayed in five star hotels, had a euro rail pass, and air fair from the states as well as Munich to Berlin and it only cost us $6,600. Granted we saved about $1,100 because her company is based out of Italy and they paid for her ticket, but either way, it was much cheaper than I thought. I would highly recommend it. Also, to the dude who said Florence was awesome at night, that's the truth. We stayed at the Savoy, and at night the lights in the square were awesome. It is an expensive city, but worth seeing. Also, Rome was the shit. You could literally sense the death that happened when you visit the Colesium.

[GigantorX]

As a person born in the UK, I can quite honestly say that my country is fucked now and it's mainly due to uncontrolled immigration and crime. Unfortunately there is no going back. It's all Tony Bliar's and Gordon Brown's fault. There is no longer freedom of speech and the country is full of ugly lefties who seem to be in love with all the parasites coming into Britain. If you say what you think about the whole situation, they lock you up and give you a criminal record.

How most Britons feel in 2012:

Your typical British lefty:

That is sad my friend. In the U.S. we can only read the blogs and such because most of the shit doesn't get reported over here. I remember the French Riots years ago, it was Muslims and Muslim youths destroying everything...apparently it was quite obvious to the locals but over here in the U.S. it was "youth riots" and in France it was the same. Talk about white washing. If you have unfettered immigration where the govt. bends over backwards to "make comfortable" those coming in and makes no demands on those populations to integrate that host nation will find itself ripped to pieces in the near future. Especially when language/religion is involved.

Funny thing is, those Liberals you have pictures of will get fucked just like the rest.

[deadz]

wc

[GigantorX]

And by the way, I will be traveling to London over Thanksgiving (6 nights) with my wife and another couple or two. Any suggestions on where to stay, where to go, where not to go etc? We were thinking of going to Paris for a day and other such excursions as well. My wife spent a semester studying in Wales and traveled quite a bit but that was years ago.

Any tips?

[pluck]

And by the way, I will be traveling to London over Thanksgiving (6 nights) with my wife and another couple or two. Any suggestions on where to stay, where to go, where not to go etc? We were thinking of going to Paris for a day and other such excursions as well. My wife spent a semester studying in Wales and traveled quite a bit but that was years ago.

Any tips?

Never been to Paris, but going there for a day would be the biggest cock tease.

I made the same mistake of going to New York City for a day and I probably saw/experienced 1% of what the city has to offer.
I'm going back for 4 nights in a couple of weeks.

Do yourself a favor and do at the very minimum no less than 3 nights in Paris or similar place.

[Immortal_Technique]

Today is July 7th, the 7th anniversary of the London bombings. You d think there d be people on tv remembering the events of the day etc etc but No, theres some bitch on the news just now telling us the "men who did this are victims too" she condemns anyone who calls them murderers as they are not murderers they were desperate men who need our love and prayers as much as anyone else killed on 7-7.
Fucking left wing liberal fucks! 

America = over patriotic morons. You have no awareness how you look to the rest of the world pledging allegance to a flag like zombies whilst celebrating the genocide of the ACTUAL (native) Americans.

Hiroshima + Nagasaki = two worst terrorist bombings of all time.

No awareness full stop (period).

[polychronopolous]

America = over patriotic morons. You have no awareness how you look to the rest of the world pledging allegance to a flag like zombies whilst celebrating the genocide of the ACTUAL (native) Americans.

Hiroshima + Nagasaki = two worst terrorist bombings of all time.

No awareness full stop (period).

He calls 300 million people morons and then in the very next sentence misspells a third grade level word. 

[Immortal_Technique]

He calls 300 million people morons and then in the very next sentence misspells a third grade level word. 

Solid political point you make there, moron.

[bike nut]

America = over patriotic morons. You have no awareness how you look to the rest of the world pledging allegance to a flag like zombies whilst celebrating the genocide of the ACTUAL (native) Americans.

Hiroshima + Nagasaki = two worst terrorist bombings of all time.

No awareness full stop (period).

Without Nagasaki and Hiroshima you Brit/French guys would be speaking German right now. So kindly fuck off and maybe thanks Americans for bailing your sorry asses out time and time again.

When the Muslim scum overrun the U.K., rest assured they'll come running to the U.S., for help/money first.

[polychronopolous]

Solid political point you make there, moron.

Just clarifying! 

[Radical Plato]

Without Nagasaki and Hiroshima you Brit/French guys would be speaking German right now. So kindly fuck off and maybe thanks Americans for bailing your sorry asses out time and time again.

When the Muslim scum overrun the U.K., rest assured they'll come running to the U.S., for help/money first.

Like bankrupt America has any money! 

[James28]

And by the way, I will be traveling to London over Thanksgiving (6 nights) with my wife and another couple or two. Any suggestions on where to stay, where to go, where not to go etc? We were thinking of going to Paris for a day and other such excursions as well. My wife spent a semester studying in Wales and traveled quite a bit but that was years ago.

Any tips?

North London or Central as possible. Everywhere else you'll be dealing ethnics. As what's to see, buy a book or check online. Tons to do.