Napoleonic & ECW wargaming, with a load of old Hooptedoodle on this & that


Tuesday 9 June 2015

Hooptedoodle #176 - Don't Visit Scotland - Tourist Scam Exposed

Boring
I was very impressed by a BuzzFeed item which you can access here - extracts from TripAdvisor giving customer reviews - the genuine lowdown on overrated tourist attractions, and quite right too. It's about time someone had the courage to publish stuff like this, I think.

Dreadful tales of castles which have been allowed to deteriorate, untidy countryside and even mountains without a cafe at the top. It makes me ashamed, to be honest. If these poor people never come back, I could hardly blame them.

And as for that lake - it's a lake, right?

Boring

12 comments:

  1. All is now clear to me. What Dunottar needs is UPVC double glazing and some arcade games. That'll have the crowds rolling in...
    I am reminded of the student on my son's Geology course who complained of field trips where the core activity was 'looking at rocks...'

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  2. Well that's saved me a trip, I'll just go to Bali again.
    These Trip Advisor reviews are priceless. I went on once to correct "reviews" left by people who had travelled to Alaska, only to find that it lacked the customer service they were accustomed to.
    My favourite of these: "Culloden ... just the walk around and look at guns and reconsecration of the battle and ware battle clothes (sic, sic, sic, illiterate clod)". Sounds like a bloody theme park! What more does it want?

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  3. The history (that's, like, "history") of some of these places appears to have been either overlooked or ignored. History, by definition, is old-fashioned, and not trending. History consists of a story about who Katy Price was married to last year, and it had better be pretty short, and have plenty of exclamation marks.

    It is faintly depressing, I guess, but everyone is entitled to their opinion, even ignorant bastards, and if they don't come again then I for one shall not miss them. Anyway, ignorance is nothing new - I've studied it for years.

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  4. Correct - there are plebs, and have always been plebs (did plebs exist before Rome I wonder.... or did they just have a different name).. I think I have a (fairly jaundiced) theory that human beings have an inherent tendency to laziness... they have to work to make cash, so do (reluctantly), but literature/history/classical music/reading books also requires effort, but they don't have to do that..... in 50 years time we'll all be red necks... :o(

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    1. Hmmm - interesting - maybe the guys who came to be known as plebs in Roman times suffered ultimately from having a complete life role defined for them. A bit like chavs now - I can't be expected to know anything, I'm a chav. It's all about job descriptions!

      You are definitely right - on the face of it, it would be a poor show if everyone liked the same things, but it makes you wonder why some of these people chose to visit such a place for a holiday? - on second thoughts, maybe they deserve some credit for venturing into the unknown...

      Nah - ignorance wins the day - the extension of the same logic would be that knowing nothing at all means that everything you can't manage to do is a brave attempt, since everything is unknown.

      Maybe being rednecks will be fun, what do you think? I have to say that I have known a few people who made a lifestyle out of not knowing anything - that way they could not be expected to do anything, and could not be blamed for anything. It's a sort of human equivalent of being a toadstool.

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    2. "Ignorance is bliss"... 'nuff said...as the young people say

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    3. Given that even a large percentage of good old BBCTV is composed of programmes on cookery, antiques, house renovation and the trading of the same, quiz shows and a variety of competitions ,the future doesn't look bright. Classical music is now just hours and hours of Andre Rieu and what used to be called high cluture stops at about three feet six. I really do thank God (if there is one) that this too, too solid flesh will melt, thaw and resolve itself into a dew before we've all finally slipped beneath the surface of the silage tank.

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    4. There was a short, shocked silence before the applause started.

      That's marvellous Gary - heartfelt and uplifting! How does the ocean rock the boat - how does the razor find my throat?

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    5. I just had a vague recollection of a Tolstoy quote - something about Russians being conceited because they knew they couldn't possibly know everything, therefore they didn't need to know anything and were conceited because they could claim they knew nothing.
      Solved it - these people are Russian - unless I got the quote wrong.

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    6. Excellent - this is real progress - though it bothers me a little if Tolstoy himself was Russian - can we take his word for this?

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  5. Love it! These chaps really know what they are talking about ... "Lol". I cheated and took my own entertainment to liven up the scenery in Glen Etive :-)
    https://notquitemechanised.wordpress.com/2015/04/12/highland-fling/etive-falls-1/


    Kind regards, Chris.

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    1. Checked out your picture - super. Mind you, I don't see a single ice-cream van or proper public amenity, and I can see the headlines now: "Grandmother unwell after river cruise".

      I recall (a lot of years ago) visiting Yosemite and being staggered (I think that's the word) by the extent to which they had asphalted the access areas - not only could you get a wheelchair to some astonishingly remote bits of Yosemite, you could actually drive a bus there, so the punters did not have to leave the air-conditioned environment. Scotland is not, nor should it be, like an American National Park, but you can maybe understand where some of the daft expectations come from. [In my own defence, I did travel by mule up to the waterfalls - never been so terrified in my life, nor so delighted to see an asphalted restaurant car park when i got down again...]

      As we have said, ignorance is nothing new. My own beloved Uncle Harold, after he had visited Venice in about 1960, declared that he hadn't been impressed - he said there were too many Italians, and the place could do with a good coat of paint. Mind you....

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