What does your city look like?

Joanne · What does your city look like?

A shame we lost all the beautiful pics from before, but please continue putting them up here :)

greg in noord-frankrijk

The object isn't very original but the view is nice.

Elaine

Greg, that sure does look bigger than the one they got over in Vegas. :wink:

Elaine

Deborah

Elaine, what's the house on the hill, and which beach is that?

Elaine

Joanne

Elaine, do they let people in that house for tours? Or is it just abandoned?

Elaine

André in Zuid-Afrika

Not exactly my city, but my country... 8)

Elaine

I just love Quang-Tuan Luong's photos of my city. He makes LA almost seem bearable. :lol: :wink:

El Pueblo / Olvera Street – where it all began:

LA Today:

Elaine

A few more:

André in Zuid-Afrika

Oh wow.... Elaine.... where to go, where to go, LA, SF.... :? :? :? :?

Deborah

André in Zuid-Afrika

Deborah

Benjamin [inactive]

Birmingham — the second largest city in England; a rather generic Northern European city, in all honesty (except for the physical appearance of the inhabitants, lol).

The Town Hall:

The Council House:

The Museum:

The Cathedral:

The Former Head Post Office in the French Renaissance style:

New Street:

Benjamin [inactive]

The International Convention Centre and Big Wheel:

The Bullring — apparently the largest shopping centre in Europe:

— also includes the Parish Church

Brindley Place:

Beetham Tower — the new skyscraper:

Benjamin [inactive]

And... my primary school!

Walker

Here are some pictures of my city.

Linköpings Domkyrka.

A few pics of Stora Torget.

Just a couple of random pics.

Folkungaskolan where I went to High School.

And here's the famous Rökstenen which isn't in my city, but in my region.

greg in noord-frankrijk

Elaine

Beautiful! The pictures you all posted are beautiful-- although, I must say, the Bullring leaves me cold. :?

And now, here's a picture of my summer home:

:P A girl can dream can't she??

André in Zuid-Afrika

Elaine

André in Zuid-Afrika

André in Zuid-Afrika

Ooo... this is pretty... reminds me of PG Wodehouse's books... :love7:

André in Zuid-Afrika

From Walker's (very beautiful pics) this one somehow attracts me... :wink:

Sometimes I think I'm a European at heart... :? The blood of my ancestors... :lol:

André in Zuid-Afrika

Actually I just remembered what that pic reminded me of. When television first started in SA (in 1976), there was a Swedish children's programme about a little boy called Emile, and he lived in a town similar to that one. Still remember the theme song... and great, now I have it in my head... :shock: :x

Walker

That picture is taken (not by me) at a very nice spot too, it's very close to the Cathedral, the museum and it's nice park, the Concert Hall and Ågatan, which is a street that leads down to the "center" where the squares and shops and bars are. And thanks, man, I'm glad you like the pictures. Your school looks nice too, very exotic!

André in Zuid-Afrika

Elaine

While searching for photos on the web, I came across these breathtaking photos of Southland beaches taken by a Steven R. Thompson. They're simply stunning! Of course, with the right filters and Photoshop at hand, one can make East LA look like Beverly Hills!

Palos Verdes:

Zuma Beach:

Elaine

Corona del Mar:

Hermosa Beach:

Huntington Beach:

Elaine

Manhattan Beach:

Venice Beach:

Laguna Beach:

Loic

All the photos are stunning and I am not being diplomatic! It's like I have taken a short odyssey around the world and visited three continents in the course of an afternoon.

KSa

Harrenys Targaryen

Home sour home:

[img]
http://images.snapfish.com/344%3A...DXROQDF%3E2323%3B3832483%3Aot1lsi
[/img]

Where I hope to commute during my university days:

Deborah

Walker

Nice pictures, Deborah! Interesting architecture, by the way. Especially them Stucco houses, and that red house has windows all over it.

Deborah

Walker, the Spanish Colonial/Mission/Mediterranean revival movements in domestic architecture hit their heights in the 1920s and 30s. Even after that period, stucco and clay roof tiles remained popular in housing in San Francisco (and other parts of California, as well). I don’t know when these houses were built.

Sometimes in SF you’ll see a Victorian house that has been desecrated by removing the gingerbread (the fancy woodwork) and covering the wooden exterior with stucco. I assume it’s done either because the woodwork and walls have deteriorated badly or because the owner doesn’t want to bother with the upkeep. Whatever the reason, the result is ugly. Years ago, a friend of mine bought one such house. The interior was still gorgeous, but the exterior was most unprepossessing.

I found a description of the red house in a real estate agent’s website.

http://www.gloriasmithhomes.com/properties/224Filbert/Index.html

It says it’s turn-of-the-century, but in another website it was listed among a group of houses that were built in the 1870’s. I wouldn't necessarily trust the real estate agent's information because she also says the house is on Russian Hill.

Walker

It's terrible when people can't see the cultural value of things, even though maintenance of those things may be costly. It's rather upsetting.

Guest

Bergen, Norway:

Fredrik

Ooops, I guess you all could guess that the previous poster was me!
More Bergen:

Fredrik

And just one more:

André in Zuid-Afrika

Eish, Fredrik, those pics are beautiful! :love4: Actually, Bergen is on my list of places to see. I've seen pictures of it before, and friends of mine were there about three years ago.

Deborah

Wow, that's a beautiful place! I like the wooden church -- reminds me of Kristin Lavransdatter. :wink:

Harrenys Targaryen

Orv, min yndlingsby i Norge!

I have got to visit at least twice, first to stroll the Hanseatic docks and later to visit the birthplace of Baron Holberg.

Loic

Sigh.....what a dreamy place it is. Perfect spot for a honeymoon.

Fredrik

Yes, you are all welcome to Bergen. We already have loads of tourists here in the summer months (Gateway to the Fjords, you know), but there is always room for more. :D

Yes, the stave church (the ca. 30 unique stave churches are Norway's most important contribution to the world's architectural history) is rather Kristin Lavransdatter-like. It used to be medieval like her, but some years ago it was burnt down by Satanists! Now there is a reconstruction on the spot, and the tourists are happy again. :P

loic - feel free to spend your honeymoon here! As it probably will rain all the time (Norway's wettest city, great for the skin!) you can spend a lot of time in bed...

Harrenys - I am not sure if Holberg's birth house still stands, but he was born in Bergen and the hole where Niels Klim started his subterranean journey is in Bergen, reportedly, close to the university.
But you don't have to like Bergen for my sake! I'm a stranger here myself (born and bred in Sandnes, Rogaland), and often hate Bergen (i.e. the Bergen weather = rain). I thought your favourite Norwegian town would be something more southern, på den bløde kyststribe, where people speak a dialect that people in Bergen may mistake for Danish. I myself have been asked by drunk youths from western Norway if my southwestern dialect is Danish, and I am not even from Kristiansand, which has a regular ferry service to Denmark!

Elaine

Oh damn! Another place I'm going to have to add to my itinerary.

Harrenys Targaryen

Well, Fredrik, Bergen is admittedly torrential, but definitely temperate - kind of like the American Pacific Northwest. Given a choice between a place with four seasons, e.g. Chicago, and one with incessant rain throughout the year, e.g. Seattle, I would select the latter within a heartbeat. I never was an outdoorsy person, and I still favor the study over the sands.

You know, as a reference point for explaining my preferences, I should mention that my favorite Swedish city is Uppsala. As for Denmark's, I (unsurprisingly) like them all equally.

Walker

Harrenys Targaryen

I would say that the university and the Linnaeus experiments create an atmosphere worthy of a title such as "Oxford of Scandinavia".

Plus, with buildings like these...

...drab weather almost seems tolerable. (Overbearing clouds are no match for refined architecture!)

So I envy you for having dwelled in Sveriges nordligste større by. :D

By the winter solstice, average Chicago temperatures have dropped to below 5*C. They continue to plummet, reaching the nadir (within the negative teens) sometime in late January/early February before rising back to above the freezing point by mid March.

KSa

Harrenys: I agree. Although I've never been to Uppsala but I have a friend who goes there regularly (he has some scientific co-operation with the Uppsala Univesity) and always brings back beautiful pics. I also agree that the University and the Old Town make this special ambiance.
I heard about Uppsala for the first time as a child when I read "Nils Holgerssons underbara resa genom Sverige" ("The Wonderful Adventures of Nils") by Selma Lagerlöf, and one of the chapters was devoted to the Nils's visit to Uppsala.
By the way, it's a lovely novel...

Harrenys Targaryen

Yeah, I should consult the Andersonville museum and/or the North Park library to see if either holds an original copy på det svenska. I've already been allured by illustrations that I haven't yet beheld...how typical of myself. :P

Walker

Uppsala does have an "Oxford-feel" to it and that's probably why I never felt quite at home there. All that old tradition stuff just became a little too much for me, even though you weren't obliged to participate in any grand gatherings. It's seems much more relaxed here in Linköping. It's a rather beautiful city, though. The picture you posted shows some of it indeed. But my favorite part(s) is probably around Fyrisån, the stream that runs through central Uppsala.

(taken from google)

Beware, though, it's windy in Uppsala and the accent there is somewhat whiny.

And another thing, the tap water in Uppsala is disgusting; it smells and tastes bad; it feels rough on your skin,; it leaves white spots on your glasses that won't come off if "all" you have is washing-up liquid, and if you want any foam when you take a shower you have to use like a gallon of shampoo.

The magic ingredient: lime

This may seem insignificant but being used to "clean" water it was bothering. The first time, especially, when I came back here for a visit and washed my hands... it was delightful. The water felt so soft and smooth on my hands. And when I'd taken a shower I actually felt clean.

Porthos · Tell me about it

<<Greg, that sure does look bigger than the one they got over in Vegas.>>

Interestingly, that's one of my favorite hotels on the strip. I lived in Vegas for the last three years, so I know the town inside and out. My other favorites are the Venetian and Bellagio. You just gotta love that water show with Andrea Bochelli's vocal accompaniament. What part of L.A. do you live in Elaine? I'm from Long Beach/Lakewood, and also East Los/Pico Rivera/Montebello. I was in Vegas for the last three years, and I just moved to Central California, about an hour north of Santa Barbara.

Harrenys Targaryen

Walker: Wow, is the Fyris that bad? (I assume that it's the main reservoir.) I wonder what's going on at the sedimentary level...

Elaine · Re: Tell me about it

Guest · Re: Tell me about it

I live in Echo Park. I'm somewhat familiar with East Los-- my family lived in Boyle Heights until I was 7. Where exactly in Central California did you move to... and may I ask why?[/quote]

Well, we moved to Vegas three years ago after 9-11 when my mom lost her job at Boeing due to mass layoffs. She hated Vegas, and I got into some trouble with cholos over here, so she took a promotion with Boeing in Central California at the Air Force Base. I live in Santa Maria, CA now. I hate it here. I'm more of a metropolitan guy myself, and from a teenager's perspective, there ain't a whole lot going on up here. But there's no traffic, and the local scenery is beautiful, not to mention the weather, so that part's nice.

Porthos

The above post was from me. I forgot to log in.

Porthos

<<El Pueblo / Olvera Street – where it all began: >>

Right off of Olvera Street is a little sandwhich shop that's been there since the turn of the century called "Phillipe's". Everybody just calls it "Felipe's" though. Have you been there before? And if your family is into boxing, you might have heard of some of my family members who were boxers in L.A. Have you heard of "Keeny Teran"?

Walker

Elaine

Porthos

Yeah, I don't know why they call it that. So many of those ancient places in L.A. have really gone down hill in recent years. Croney's hamburger/hot dog/chili tamale stand has taken a nose dive. Mario's Tacos sucks righteously now. Yeah, I have a lot of boxers in my family from the Pico Rivera/East Los area. Manny Valenzuela, Keeny Teran, etc.

I don't think I'll really ever have a home city. I have a gypsy streak in me. I'm going to live all over the place. I think I'll live in Spain for a while.

fab

One of my two cities :

And the other :

Deborah

Welcome, fab! As for the first of your 2 cities...*sigh!* Very Nice!

Benjamin [inactive]

Benjamin [inactive]

I suppose I actually have another town, because we own a house there and we go there quite a lot. Ashbourne, a small market town in Derbyshire (North Midlands, England) with about 7,000 people and about 20 pubs.

The Market Square:

The Gingerbread Shop:

St Oswald's Church:

The Old Grammar School (now apartments):

The Almshouses:

Benjamin [inactive]

Ashbourne is situated right next to the Peak National Park. Here are some pictures of Dovedale, in the countryside about 5km away:

The church in Dovedale:

Pauline

Hallo

After i've seen all your beautiful photos, I've found some pictures of wallonie :

Benjamin [inactive]

Unfortunately, only the last picture shows. But it's very nice! It reminds me of the towns in the Cotswolds (Southwest England) and the Odenwald (Southwest Germany).

Pauline

Porthos

Benjamin! How did you get your pic on there? All of a sudden, everyone has there pic on their posts.

Pauline

find your picture. get the URL ( in properties ). Paste the URL on your message.

befroe the URL write :

[img]

after the URL write :

[/img]

Good luck !! :-)

Pauline

i think I've undertsood incorrectly !! you are asking about the picture of his face under his name ?

Then go to Profile and then Avatar. To put your phtot as your avatar, click Browse and find your photo in your files. I think it's how to do this :-)

fab

A little journey in Paris, in the well known and less famous Paris...
The beautiful one, the ugly one... The romantic or the violent, the rich and the poor, the old or the new...

[img]http://user.it.uu.se/~nbh/Fun/Paris/tn/pict0107.jpg.html[/img]

Porthos

Fab,
If it's not too much trouble, could you post a few pictures of Parisian teenagers? I just kind of want to get an idea of how they dress. If they all dress the way I've seen French teens here dress, then it's safe to say that most would get their asses kicked in some schools where I went.

Pauline

I've put some photos of Wallonie on my message, but Benjamin told that it isn't possible see those pictures, except the last one.

On my computer, they are all visible, so my question is : who can / can't see the photos ?

If it's not possible for nobody see them, please tell me what mistake did I make so that I can resolve the problem.

Thanks :)

Porthos

Pauline, are you going to stop visiting Antimoon?

Pauline

Tiffany

fab

" If it's not too much trouble, could you post a few pictures of Parisian teenagers? I just kind of want to get an idea of how they dress. "

Actually, I think that among teenager the dresses are very "international" and they tend to dress following the American fashions.
But I also think that it can be very different in the different social classes. Most youngs from the poor suburbs tend to dress on a very "American" way (such as hip-hop/Basket styles, with headcaps as a uniform). This way of dressing denotes deeply a kind of population who is generally of Black African or North African origin. This population tend to listen a lot of rap and such styles.
Concerning other social groups It can be very different. Generally teenagers like to affirme themselve into a "subgroups", some are "gothics", "grunge" or other "fashion", etc. this can be very different.

Uriel

French rap has to be one of the funniest things I've ever heard. There's a language that just doesn't seem suited to that form at all!

fab

Uriel,

Don't believe that French rap is unusual, since the early nineties French rap has been very prolific. It was said at that time that France was "the second country of rap".
I personally never liked this kind of music except a few things. Around the mid-nineties we had some rappers who tried to make more quality texts, following the tradition of the "chanson à texte". But the bad commercial violent rap, gangsta'style took over quickly.

fab

To answer LAA,

Some teenagers

http://georgesalainphotos.online....0ac%20%20Tour%202003%20-%2007.JPG

http://www.mjs39.org/img/maniflyon.jpg

http://www.e-vocable.com/visitor/vbienvenue.html

http://www.indymedia.be/files/noncpe_1.jpg

http://www.blada.com/data/Image/photos/normal_HJzRj2fz.jpg

http://www.ijacy.org/images/ALIJA310106-01.JPG

http://www.ac-clermont.fr/actuali...rt-lyceen/2004Goncourtgroupe3.jpg

Don't think that all girls are dressed like Alizée ! :lol:

Generally teenagers between 16-19 tend to have a "rebel" dress, almost "hyppie" and generally very leftist political ideas that come with.

While generally the younger teenagers (10-16years) tend be dressed very "fashion" and "lolita style".
In schools a lot of very young girls tend be be dresses in a quite provocative way. The problem is that they generally don't realise that it could be seen as provocative, and most of them are just following the fashions of the pre-teenager pop-stars and programs such as "star academy".

Last time I saw my little cousin who is 11 years old, she was dresses as almost Britney "spears style" to go to school... While she was not even yet a teenager. It begans much too young

Loic

Porthos

Porthos

Well, that only provides further proof for my debate with Greg on Antimoon. American pop culture permeates fashion, music, and such things all over the world, even in the most anti-American country of the western world, France.

But, the way those French youths are dressed would be considered poor imitations of American style dress. And for Americans to see white people follow the "gangsta" subculture, we usually laugh. They look like posers, but Europeans don't seem to realize that. Last year I met some kid from Eastern Europe who went into detail about the rivalries at his school between the "rappers" and the "rockers". And as he related this to me in his thick Slavic accent, I about had a siezure from laughter.

Benjamin [inactive]

fab

"Well, that only provides further proof for my debate with Greg on Antimoon. American pop culture permeates fashion, music, and such things all over the world, even in the most anti-American country of the western world, France"

First, I don't think France is the "most anti-American" country of the world as you claimed. Some people are anti-American other are pro American. And the majority is not all of these categories. Most people have things in the American culture and other they don't like. Most people don't think the USA as been somthing homogenous that should be rejected as a whole. But I think it is true for other things, we have also among teenagers strong cultural influences of japan, thru the Manga and high tech culture. We have influences of the arab world.
It is possible to like aspects arab world such as food, music and other and in the same time rejecting the ultra religious attitude that a lot of muslims have. The same for the USA, we can appreciate some aspects of the culture and in the same time don't like so much other aspect such as the imperialist attitude of the political and economical leaders of this country.
I tend to think that in this point we are generally maybe a bit less manichean than Americans, who, for exemple can tend to reject every thing french because they didn't like some political choices. I think most of us make completly the difference beetween politics and the people of a country. I persoanlly never seen any person wha had boycotted american products because he didn't agree with the politics of the USA.

Yes, it is true that most french people are anti-American in the meaning of "critical of the model of society and American politics". Most American people misinterpret this as a systematic attitude against everything which is American or English-speaking.
You just have to watch french TV, listen french radios or see how french teenagers dress themselves of use so much english-based words to see that it is not at all an anti-American country.

The reality is also that we live since the end of WW2 in a society which is in the economical orbit of the USA. Since this time we have recieved so much mediatic products from the USA, and we all have been raised in this "american" pop-culture that a lot of us don't even realise that it is of American origin (I don't speak specifically about France but most of the world).

I tend also to think that when we grew up we tend to return to our own specific national identity, and take more distance from the American fashion in which we have grown.
I tend also to think it has somthing to see with the socio-cultural level. The low- social classes tend to be very much "americanized", because they passed a lot of their time whatching American products on TV (clips, series, films). And this is on of the big part from where they get a lot of their cultural references (I think it is sad). Some of them call their children "Brian", "Brandon" or "Shanon" - and it denotes a class of population with a ver low cultural level.

To answere the question, I think that most countries of the world have today a love/hate relation with the US. And this is becaus they feel that the relation is only one way.

fab

" Yes, that's probably true. Here, it is quite normal for working class teenagers to dress in that style — they're what's known as 'chavs' in British slang "

Yes, benjamin, in France the people who dress like that are called "jeunes de banlieue" or "jeunes des cités". Very mostly originary from African immigration.

What is sad is that most of them have very poor cultural references due to the lack of roots to their new land due to social isolation, that is why their unique reference with society is the cops and the TV, especially very commercial programs such as musical clips and American movies. They tend to think them better if they dress like the rappers they see in the movies, while in fact it makes them a caricature of what is worse in the American society.

Porthos

Well, Fab, I can't speak for people in France, but I can speak of Americans' perceptions of how the French view us. We usually get the impression that the French are anti-American, because we're stupid "Anglo-Saxons" who don't know how to have the "joie de vivre" and the "savoir faire", who obsess about money and material things. We're fat, have no taste in food or style, overly religious, crude, unsophisticated, arrogant, and imperialistic. Likewise, most Americans view the French as wimpy, and cowardly, and overly effeminate, and far too arrogant. These are the stereotypical views of Franco-American relations, at least the way most Americans view it.

I always thought of the French as surrender monkeys and cowards, until recent years, as I've grown more enlightened with age. But, many Americans percieve Frenchmen as being that way.

French people and gangsta rap just doesn't mix. It makes for a good laugh, yes, but not for authentic rap music. I think the Slavic guy I was talking about sounded even worse. He dressed in big baggy clothes, and would bust out with a rap, right on the spot, in his thick Slavic accent. He was like a clown.

Elaine

Benjamin [inactive]

Porthos

This reminds me. Two days ago I was watching the new version of Godzilla on TNT I believe, and in the advertisements, one of the reasons listed for watching the movie was to "make fun of the silly French". There are still strong anti-French sentiments among Americans, especially in the red states, as Elaine mentioned. Those of us from the blue states seem to be a bit more modern and progressive than those from the heartland or the deep south.

Fredrik

greg in noord-frankrijk

Joanne

It has been breathtakingly beautiful around here lately. I'm glad some people were able to photograph Central Park and put their pictures up on their webpages. I just love walking through Central Park during the fall.

I don't care if it does take me forever to get to where I'm going!

Deborah

I love Central Park in the fall! (Or any season, for that matter...)

Kirk

Deborah

What does your city look like?

Tell me about it

Re: Tell me about it

Re: Tell me about it