Popular places you have no desire to visit

Did not know that.
One thing I've always wondered about how Europeans are so multi-lingual ... is it because the countries are so packed together that it's kind of like the U.S., where there's plenty of bleed over from one to the other? We all speak English here, of course, but there are plenty of regional differences and dialects we can easily sort through. Relatively minor things like the 20 different terms for "soda."
So for a Frenchman or a Swiss, is learning German akin to someone from California learning the ins and outs of "Southern" English?

 

I don't know how common it is for, say, a French person to know German, but damn near everyone I've come across has at least rudimentary English skills. I assume it's a pretty big focus in school.

Eleven years ago I took my first trip through European countries that were not native English speaking. I flew into Amsterdam and worried that I'd struggle to get around an airport without speaking the language. Turns out, all the signage at Schiphol Airport is in English. Most signs don't even have a Dutch translation. (And the people of Amsterdam all speak better English than we do. Better looking, too.)

 

New Orleans and Miami don't appeal to me at all.

If I visit the South, it will be during college football season to experience a Saturday in, say, Baton Rouge or Tuscaloosa.

Las Vegas also was underwhelming ... but then, I'm not a gambler, heavy drinker or chronic adulterer.

 

Just occasionally?

 

I've been through Miami, but not "to" Miami, if that makes sense. We've driven from Fort Lauderdale down to the Keys and back several times.
How in the hell does anyone figure out how to navigate South Florida's road system? Unlike many cities where it feels like there's two or three main roads, it seemed like there were 100 in and around Miami and they all went in different directions even though there's really only one major road heading west. Toll roads, toll roads you can't pay cash on, 300 different state highways, some more toll roads ... it was insane for a city that is literally squeezed into a corner of the country.
Last time we went I'd heard horror stories of people being on the hook for hundreds of dollars in fees and fines because they didn't have EZ Pass on their car and they got on a toll road. It took us six hours to make that drive because I got on U.S. 1 and was terrified of winding up on a toll road that only took EZ Pass and not cash. So I just stayed on that road all the way, through traffic and everything else.

 

I think part of it might also be that the political borders we see today haven't always been in place, and some areas (Alsace, Wallonia, Basque Country, southern Finland, etc.) are almost cultural and linguistic estuaries. The need to trade and the desire to travel probably have a lot to do with it, too. It's easier to do business with your next-door neighbors if you can speak their language, as opposed to hoping/insisting they learn yours. There's also enough overlap within linguistic families (i.e. Romance languages like Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian) to give native speakers who want to learn the others a bit of a head start -- allowing for faux amis, of course.

 

That's not true at all. Geez, look at a map, and do some Google.
All of South Florida is a busy place, but it's an efficient grid with plenty of options.

Just don't try that in Hialeah. You'll pull your eyes out.

 

I think there's some of that in there. It's also a point of emphasis in schools from an early age on. My daughter's first job in France was teaching English to public school first graders.

 

My wife and I were in Ireland in July. Was out first trip overseas and it was incredible, best trip we have ever done. Can't wait to get back to Europe and the UK.

Have been to Vegas a few times, absolutely no desire to go back. Way, way, way too overpriced these days.

Made my first trip to Chicago last weekend and as great as Wrigley is I have no desire to go back anytime soon. I'll take New York any day although I know others' mileage may vary.

Visit India? Gawd, no. That's one place even The Amazing Race can't make look worth visiting.

Whole lot of places I would like to see in the US: New Orleans, Austin (big on the music from both places), Seattle, the Keys, Boston.

 

Venice in winter is amazing. And empty.

And even in high-tourist summer, if you get to St Mark's Square early - as the sun rises - it's one of the most beautiful things you've ever seen.

Love Venice.

 

This is it.

Kids in most of Europe learn English early.

 

My daughter taught in Lyon. As a big city, a lot of her pupils were the children of North African immigrants. Some of them were learning English and French at the same time.