Non-Americans rando thoughts on the US

[Ghost of LL 15539]

On 1/8/2023 at 7:47 PM, gmr548 said:

My father had a professional acquaintance - German I think - who would regularly come over, rent a Harley, and wander the American west on holiday.

European cities generally beat American cities, especially once you get past America’s A game. But the west; the west is the crown jewel of this nation.

The western 2/3rds of the country gets all the press for natural beauty, but there's plenty in the East.  And it's a lot more accessible to people coming from Europe.

I think Bar Harbor and the Maine coast broadly is as beautiful as anything to be found in the West.  And you can go just a couple hours outside New York and be in the Poconos and see some stunning natural scenery.  And the Everglades aren't exactly my thing, but it's a pretty damned unique area.

[MissingInAction 25134]

The drive from Chattanooga to Knoxville is some jaw dropping shit. 

[gsoda3 3275]

On 1/8/2023 at 8:00 PM, Patricio Swayze said:

Wait, there isn’t great Pho in Paris? I have only been to Paris once over 20 years ago, but considering France’s former colonies, it would seem they would have a few good Vietnamese restaurants.

last time we were there was 2016.  at that time there were a few places in paris but it's not as widespread as you'd think it'd be and it's not as good as you can get in texas.  they'd come a long way since the early 2000s however.  it was virtually nonexistent back then.

[MaybeACoordinator 8349]

On 1/8/2023 at 12:29 PM, Chopper said:

It's more of a statement about New York City women in particular imo and many other Americans, as well, who realllly like a man with an Irish, Aussie or English accent. I'm not going to speak for ROTW about what "they" think about American hospitality when they visit the US. I will say, having lived in a few different European countries, I was treated very well by the locals. I've also traveled somewhat extensively in other European countries, China and SE Asia, as well, and can't recall a negative personal encounter. Okay, it just hit me - there were a couple Russian gals who were less than polite.

The comment about being treated well by strangers in NYC and wondering if it was because of his Irish accent (lol), as well as the expressed love for Arby's fries, soda refills (fast food), cheap burgers (fast food), humongous portions for cheap prices (fast food), cereal, and other cheap food, make me believe the writer spoke with mostly a bunch of teens and 20-somethings to get the quotes. 

Here's what I would generalize. Europeans living on the continent, even Parisians, on average are much more pleasant than Londoners.

 

Absolutely true. The key with Parisians is to at least try to speak a little French, to not assume they all speak English. They almost always do, but they appreciate you making the effort to fit in. Londoners are just dicks.

17 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

The drive from Chattanooga to Knoxville is some jaw dropping shit. 

Chattanooga's natural setting is easily the prettiest east of the Rockies. It's almost like Bavaria or the Alps.

 

As for diversity of cuisine, I lived in two cities in a shitty part of England (Preston and Blackpool in Lancashire) and even 25 years ago it was decent. As everyone knows there's killer Indian to be had. What surprised me was that in Blackpool of all places, our neighborhood Chinese takeaway was amazing -- to this day, some of the best Chinese I've ever had, and I've had many a meal in Houston's Chinatown. In Preston, the local kebab place (run by an emigre from Soviet Georgia) was likewise incredible -- time and time again I risked mad cow disease for that dude's beef/lamb mixed kebab.

The pizza sucked, but that's mainly because the English have shitty taste in toppings -- tuna, corn, pineapple -- than any flaws with the dough or whatever. There was decent Italian aside from those subpar pies though; Preston also had McDonald's, KFC (the first in England, as a bronze plaque attests), and an American bistro if you wanted comfort food from home, and you could go native with great fish and chips or meat pies and pasties.

All that made it stack up to a third-tier American city like Nashville, where I spent much of my childhood in the 70s and early 80s, and where there was exactly one Chinese restaurant, no Mexican food worthy of a return trip, terrible pizza (until some Arabs got to town), and one mediocre Italian place that the locals regarded as Michelin Starred greatness. That whole Nashville hot chicken deal was not yet invented, but man do Black Tennesseans like their BBQ hot -- there was this place called Mary's I discovered as an adult that never, ever closed (it was a front for the local numbers racket kingpin) and you paid dearly the next day for a 4AM chowdown on their 'cue. (It was kind of the Whataburger of Nashville because of those hours, but it was also in the 'hood, so there was more of a thrill in going. And I did know one dude, a cabbie, who got jacked there. They took his cab and his 'cue and he was more upset about the 'cue.)

But yeah, neither in England nor Nashville did you have anything close to the diversity that Houston already had by the late 70s, but that's changing. I see recent events on the world stage have apparently sent a large number of Syrians to Preston, as there are shisha lounges all over town. Nashville now has a real barrio and you can get authentic Viet food too. Houston just continues to get more diverse -- the hottest place in town is a West African-inspired joint in Montrose. I've fairly recently sample Uighur fare, the food of the Garifuna people of Central America, Nepalese, Afghan, many regional Chinese cuisines, Mexican sushi, and hey, Houston even has solid brisket these days.

If we ever arrive at true peaceful globalization it will be through food. 

[Trey3216 15350]

18 hours ago, MissingInAction said:

The drive from Chattanooga to Knoxville is some jaw dropping shit. 

As are some of the winding roads in WVa.  The drive from DC to Gettysburg is beautiful as well.  

[Ghost of LL 15539]

34 minutes ago, Trey3216 said:

As are some of the winding roads in WVa.  The drive from DC to Gettysburg is beautiful as well.  

Yeah--that's something those east coast cities have over Austin or Dallas or Houston.  From New York or Philadelphia or Boston or DC, you can drive two hours and be in some of the most beautiful natural areas on the continent.

Austin and Dallas are as far from a national park as any place in America.  And that kind of sucks.

[huge 3795]

I lived outside Chattanooga for a summer in college @Bookman and I was blown away at the scenery.  I wish I had had more time and interest in exploring ir further.

I did get to go white water rafting in Polk County next door, which was a real life Deliverance area.  Holy shit the rafting was fantastic.  Atlanta Olympics held their rafting events in the area IIRC.

Edited January 11, 2023 by huge