Your Favourite European cities

[dutchfire]

My fave European city is London. I've never been, however, but it's my fave simply because it is the center of culture and refinement for pretty much the entire world. Nowhere on earth could ever top it. Not to mention it is the heart of our mother country.

Regarding the whole "city" thing, it's really simple. 500+ people and you get to be a city. 499- and you're a dirty stinking village. Markets, cathedrals, and so forth should play no part in it.

I have lived in a building with 500+ people.*

* I think. Didn't count them.

 

[Kyriakos]

Well, The Kowloon Walled City had upwards of 30K people. And City was part of what it was called, despite being a united block of hell.

 

[Camikaze]

The Hbf here doesn't have a proper supermarket (the latest shop closure there is Burger King, I think, at about 11pm). I'm fairly sure there are precisely zero 24h supermarkets in Munich. Though having to go to the Hbf would hardly be a proper solution to the problem.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

At least you can always get Wiener sausages and beer at the gas station.
Oh well Munich... What can you expect of a city where no building may be taller than the tallest church?

 

[Camikaze]

The only gas station I know closes for the night too.

 

[Lillefix]

I remember when I was younger. Around twenty years ago. From Monday to Friday shops were open no longer than around five o'clock. On Thursday slightly longer perhaps. On Saturday they closed around one or two o'clock. And Sunday everything was closed. The new government will also allow shops to be open on Sundays now, although the majority of people are against it. I've never even heard about a 24 h supermarket. Small seven-elevens yes, but big supermarkets?

I also don't understand what people have against Paris. It may not be the very best city in Europe. But it's not exactly the worst either. They have some magnificent museums and wide open spaces and parks. The skyscrapers are tastefully placed far away from the historic city centre. Good metro system, great train connections. Yeah sure there are many annoying elements but it's hardly worse than other big cities(unless you count the French as annoying elements).

 

[dutchfire]

Paris is expensive and full of dodgy street salesmen.

 

[Camikaze]

24h big supermarkets are indeed rarer and not entirely necessary. There just needs to be somewhere to buy basic supplies. 7/11s suffice generally.

There are certainly many cities worse than Paris, and it's somewhere people should go to at least once. But it's also likely to be a popular answer to the OP's query, and that misconception needs dispelling.

 

[Lillefix]

Paris is expensive and full of dodgy street salesmen.

I was there last summer. Around Louvre there are, as everyone who has been there knows, a lot of people(almost all black Africans for some reason) selling small replicas of the Eiffel tower. I saw one tourist being chased by 3 of them over a hundred meters. That was a hilarious. The trick is to avoid eye contact and just ignore them.

 

[schlaufuchs]

Paris Europe is expensive and full of dodgy street salesmen.

ftfy.

 

[Tee Kay]

Doesn't Paris smell like piss? Don't know, just rumours I've heard flying around.

 

[dutchfire]

ftfy.

Can you imagine how bad Paris is, if people who are used to the rest of Europe think it is expensive

 

[Cheezy the Wiz]

Doesn't Paris smell like piss? Don't know, just rumours I've heard flying around.

Something it has in common with New York then. I guess it must be downstream.

 

[Lillefix]

Doesn't Paris smell like piss? Don't know, just rumours I've heard flying around.

Paris is actually famous for it's sewers.

 

[Antilogic]

I should imagine that there is a certain amount of apples and pears here.

And this is what my English teacher used to say, but after that I've heard ~10 or more other theories about this and got confused.

I've even heard a theory that a town is simply any kind of settlement, including villages.

There is quite a bit of apples-pears-oranges-whatever fruit comparison you want to make. While there might be some common medieval root to how we use the terms cities, towns, and villages, every region has its own homebrew version.

Regarding the whole "city" thing, it's really simple. 500+ people and you get to be a city. 499- and you're a dirty stinking village. Markets, cathedrals, and so forth should play no part in it.

I have lived in a building with 500+ people.*

* I think. Didn't count them.

I asked the front desk at mine and I'm told the fully capacity is around 620 beds, plus overnight guests. Obviously, the number varies quite a bit depending on the number of people renting and time of year.

So yeah, Missouri...

 

[Formaldehyde]

I also don't understand what people have against Paris. It may not be the very best city in Europe. But it's not exactly the worst either. They have some magnificent museums and wide open spaces and parks. The skyscrapers are tastefully placed far away from the historic city centre. Good metro system, great train connections. Yeah sure there are many annoying elements but it's hardly worse than other big cities(unless you count the French as annoying elements).

I agree. It is a beautiful city and the subway system is simply amazing.

I have yet to find a bigger city that I really hated. I guess the closest would be LA due to the traffic problems.

 

[Wrymouth3]

Don't buy mysterious looking food from Berbers and Roma in a Seville alleyway at 0330.

 

[keli]

Don't buy mysterious looking food from Berbers and Roma in a Seville alleyway at 0330.

Still joining their impromptu dancing group under one of the bridges near Notre Dame can be a blast

 

[Richard Cribb]

1. Vienna
2. Minsk
3. Stockholm
4. Berlin
5. Oslo
I live in Szczecin. People tell me it was quite nice here many years ago...

 

[The_J]

I was there last summer. Around Louvre there are, as everyone who has been there knows, a lot of people(almost all black Africans for some reason) selling small replicas of the Eiffel tower. I saw one tourist being chased by 3 of them over a hundred meters. That was a hilarious. The trick is to avoid eye contact and just ignore them.

Same in Madrid around the Reina Sofia (but with bags and sunglasses).