OT: Pappelbon: "Philly makes you feel like you're in Paris"

[satyr9]

Matt, the Moulin Rouge is right on the edge of the Pigalle and is about the only place in Paris that is the way you describe, but it's a small portion of the city. It's the red light district of Paris. That area of the city is not the nicest neighbourhoods in general, but you're still really close to montmartre and a bunch of interesting stuf. Paris is freaking huge and there's far more of it that's not at all like your description.

Paris is a tricky city for expenses though. Great things to do for almost no money and great things to do for insane expense. If you're hostelling and doing it on the cheap, you gotta buy from blankeries and eat and drink outdoors rather than restaurants and bars (btw, if you're in that area head to sacre-coeur and eat your dinner on the steps overlooking the whole city.)

Anyway, too bad you had that experience, 'cause Paris is probably my favorite city (although there are lots that I've never seen, so it's no permanent position). Now Rome on the other hand is a boring pile of dogpoop.

[YogiStewart]

right around the block from moulin rouge. the only bad hostel i stayed in across europe.

one thing ill give paris, the guys selling street goods speak like 6 languages. its really quite impressive.

um, that's pickpocket central and very sketchy. has a beautiful church and a great view of the city...but its pretty much the part of Paris that you take the Metro to get to and you don't walk to.

we stay in le Marais (Jewish/Gay area). its the more laid back/legit part of Paris.

[Mattd97]

personally edinburgh was my favourite city. ljubljana too. but thats pretty far off topic. i also personally enjoy philly, but thats just from what ive seen on Its Always Sunny, as Ive never been there. see what i did there?

[Yosemite Dan]

we go to Paris and Philadelphia every year so this thread is pretty ironic lol. Philly is nice - better than Toronto nice, but that's it. And why Philadelphia every year? - to catch an Eagles game at the Linc. Pappelbon's a fool.

You must have only been in the nice parts of Philly because the times I've been there,the bad parts of Philly are 10x worse than the bad parts of Toronto and make up a a much larger portion of the city (like pretty much every other major American city where there are large segments you wouldn't want to travel thru even during the day). Overall Philly is not even in the same league as Toronto, let alone nicer.

[kwamebargnani]

*insert random city _____ makes you feel like you're in *insert random city _____

[gei]

we go to Paris and Philadelphia every year so this thread is pretty ironic lol. Philly is nice - better than Toronto nice, but that's it. And why Philadelphia every year? - to catch an Eagles game at the Linc. Pappelbon's a fool.

Are you seriously comparing Philadelphia to Toronto?

[Strav]

we go to Paris and Philadelphia every year so this thread is pretty ironic lol. Philly is nice - better than Toronto nice, but that's it. And why Philadelphia every year? - to catch an Eagles game at the Linc. Pappelbon's a fool.

Are you seriously comparing Philadelphia to Toronto?

no not comparing it really, I just said Philly was better. Toronto's too sprawly. I love Market St. and Chestnut St. in Philly - a stretch of streets where you find everything you need. And architecturally, Philly's quite beautiful. They have preserved their old architecture rather than tearing it down as they do here in Toronto. And if you take the double decker around the city, they have a ton of parks and the overall layout of the city is quaint and just works. You add in the fact that the city is about an hour train ride outside of NYC and what's not to like? And if you want to see the epitome of slums in N.A., you can walk across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge into Camden (Google street view Camden - it's crazy) if that's your thing.

[Jatt]

we go to Paris and Philadelphia every year so this thread is pretty ironic lol. Philly is nice - better than Toronto nice, but that's it. And why Philadelphia every year? - to catch an Eagles game at the Linc. Pappelbon's a fool.

Toronto > Philly and it's not even close, their downtown core is terrible, we went to Chinatown to get a bite after hitting a few of the bars, came back to all four tires being slashed, like most typical American cities, it has nice suburbs, a sports stadium complex well outside the city's core, but the actual inner-city itself is complete garbage. That and I've never seen a fatter population all gathered in one place ever, it's pretty gross when you walk around the malls and everyone smells like cheese, or they haven't wiped themselves properly, or a mix of both combined with fat sweat. It's like nobody gives a **** what they look like, walk through downtown T.O. mid-day and downtown Philly mid-day and it's just polar opposite, people here actually dress like they should, it's like comparing suits to track pants.

[Jatt]

we go to Paris and Philadelphia every year so this thread is pretty ironic lol. Philly is nice - better than Toronto nice, but that's it. And why Philadelphia every year? - to catch an Eagles game at the Linc. Pappelbon's a fool.

Are you seriously comparing Philadelphia to Toronto?

no not comparing it really, I just said Philly was better. Toronto's too sprawly. I love Market St. and Chestnut St. in Philly - a stretch of streets where you find everything you need. And architecturally, Philly's quite beautiful. They have preserved their old architecture rather than tearing it down as they do here in Toronto. And if you take the double decker around the city, they have a ton of parks and the overall layout of the city is quaint and just works. You add in the fact that the city is about an hour train ride outside of NYC and what's not to like? And if you want to see the epitome of slums in N.A., you can walk across the Benjamin Franklin Bridge into Camden (Google street view Camden - it's crazy) if that's your thing.

I'll give you the architecture, it is quite brilliant, but as for the bolded stuff.....ummm...do you know Toronto at all or are you somewhere in the 905 pretending to know T.O.? Not being facetious, serious question, because if so maybe you should try getting on a double decker bus here and they can show you what you're missing.

[Lucky26]

am i the only one who hated paris? london great, amsterdam great, rome great, etc etc. paris? obnoxious. im sure if youre not backpacking on a budget and you never leave the 5 blocks surrounding the louvre and eiffle tower its great, but the rest of the town is ghettos, gypsies/beggers and agressive strippers. just my humble opinion.

yeah, its just you

Paris and Jerusalem are on my top 2 cities in the world list. Prague is probably #3.

didn't notice any beggars, didn't notice any strippers. the city is as far from ghetto as possible - the inner core of Paris is beyond affordable. most people who work in Paris stores come from the suburbs.

other than St Germain - the one street we hated - and the occasional waft of urine coming from the streets, its one of the best cities in the world. the food is incredible, the style is great, the city is beautiful, the women are really pretty and stylish and you can get around on a bike (!!!).

now, if i was a broke backpacker, would i love it as much? no. part of the fun is eating. but for 25 E a person, you get meals that would be 75 E in Toronto.

Can I go to this Paris you're talking about, or is it in the movies?

[Strav]

I'll give you the architecture, it is quite brilliant, but as for the bolded stuff.....ummm...do you know Toronto at all or are you somewhere in the 905 pretending to know T.O.? Not being facetious, serious question, because if so maybe you should try getting on a double decker bus here and they can show you what you're missing.

Live in Parkdale. And lived here all my life. If it wasn't for my ailing moms, I'd be long gone a while ago. What the hell's so great about this city? Seriously. Everything this city has I can count 20 others that have it better in N.A., and that includes two of them right here in this country.

[Rhettmatic]

Honestly, I felt Paris was overrated too.

But I've been to Philadelphia. They don't compare.

[Jatt]

I'll give you the architecture, it is quite brilliant, but as for the bolded stuff.....ummm...do you know Toronto at all or are you somewhere in the 905 pretending to know T.O.? Not being facetious, serious question, because if so maybe you should try getting on a double decker bus here and they can show you what you're missing.

Live in Parkdale. And lived here all my life. If it wasn't for my ailing moms, I'd be long gone a while ago. What the hell's so great about this city? Seriously. Everything this city has I can count 20 others that have it better in N.A., and that includes two of them right here in this country.

This is called Grass-Is-Greener syndrome, I've lived all across the states, born in small town Ontario and can tell you that a lot of self-hating Torontonians just love to see the negatives and pump up other places like it's some oasis, there's plenty great about this city (that's ALOT better than Philadelphia especially), we are one of the more greener cities in N.A. in regards to parkland, as for "finding everything you need in one spot", ummm there number of markets and shopping districts here compares or exceeds most other N.A. cities, but don't let that get in the way of the self-loathing. Sorry to hear about your mom btw.

[YogiStewart]

I'll give you the architecture, it is quite brilliant, but as for the bolded stuff.....ummm...do you know Toronto at all or are you somewhere in the 905 pretending to know T.O.? Not being facetious, serious question, because if so maybe you should try getting on a double decker bus here and they can show you what you're missing.

Live in Parkdale. And lived here all my life. If it wasn't for my ailing moms, I'd be long gone a while ago. What the hell's so great about this city? Seriously. Everything this city has I can count 20 others that have it better in N.A., and that includes two of them right here in this country.

just curious if you can type out those 20 other cities. i want to see your list.
In Canada, one can argue that Vancouver is better. Yes, it has mountains and an ocean, but the city itself is ugly. gross architecture. poor transit and poor street design. but are you going to say Mtl is nicer than Toronto? culturally, yes. Mtl is very run down and tired looking. if you like large concrete cinder blocks plopped down on vacant downtown lots, then yes, Mtl has the edge over Toronto.

my North American city list, in no particular order:

Toronto
Portland, OR
New York

then after that, i literally stop giving a ****.

[Rhettmatic]

^ I agree with you on Vancouver/Montreal Yogi but you're leaving out some pretty great American cities. (San Francisco and Chicago chief among them).

[YogiStewart]

^ I agree with you on Vancouver/Montreal Yogi but you're leaving out some pretty great American cities. (San Francisco and Chicago chief among them).

its been 15 years since I've been to San Fran. I just remember that it was really touristy. would have to go back again to prove that wrong (which might happen within a year).

Chicago - i was only there once and it was brief. so i'm opinionless.

so adding those two cities, we're up to...around 5 cities? waiting for another 15 great US cities.

[dagger]

Every city has pluses and minuses. I'm just back from Spain. Seville, Madrid and Barcelona are cool and have a strong vibe, the people are fun (but also intense about their politics and sports) but Spain is going down the drain and all of those cities, when you peel back the tourist facade, you see a lot of people struggling to get by. Barcelona is one of the most amazing cities, but there is dog **** everywhere and the first, second and third thing you hear is how someone you know was ripped off by pick pockets or purse snatchers. You'll get all kinds of security advice for hiding your wallet, camera - "don't even hang a bag on a chair, someone will snatch it." You have none of that in Toronto, our petty crime like that is small. I don't think twice about being robbed in downtown Toronto.

I like Chicago, within a 5 km radius of the million dollar mile, but once you start leaving the prosperous commercial center and vibrant inner city, it deteriorates rapidly and becomes a cesspool along with an endless number of 1950s vintage burbs without any character like Bloor West Village, the Danforth, Kensington Market, Beaches, but that inner core, including a lot of nice Manhattan-like housing for those with coin, is certainly enjoyable to visit.

My favorite US cities are NY, Chicago, Denver, SF, Charleston (South Carolina) and Minneapolis. Atlanta has its pockets like Buckhead, but is otherwise mediocre.

I'm from Montreal and have visited every Canadian city of note except Regina and Saskatoon, and all have virtues. Montreal downtown is exciting, but just go beyond Westmount to the west, or Carre St. Louis to the east, and it is dreary and mundane. Neighborhoods like Park Avenue that used to have a definite Danforth-like character have become indiscernible from other poorer neighborhoods. The linguistic and ethnic tensions, the never-ending nationalist politics, the intolerance towards newcomers, the highest income taxes in the country - I miss none of that. I worked in French and still speak it rather well, and I didn't flee Montreal like a lot of anglos. I was a journalist and in my heyday there that was an exciting and rewarding thing to do, I ultimately left because there aren't a lot of english language journalism outliets in Montreal and I had exhausted my potential there and took a media-related job in Toronto. I fully understand why visitors love Montreal, and I understand and appreciate why kids go there for university. But for me, Toronto just works a lot better. It's virtues are a little more regionalized, like seven China Towns, the McMichael in Kleinburg or Rouge Park or Niagara Falls. But people of different races and religions and ethnicities seem to blend well together, because of high real estate prices people keep up their properties, invest in them, beautify them. I'd feel different if I was commuting in from Whitby or Barrie every day, but as a mid-town resident, I feel quite comfortable and yes, a little bit smug about what I have here.

[Strav]

I'll give you the architecture, it is quite brilliant, but as for the bolded stuff.....ummm...do you know Toronto at all or are you somewhere in the 905 pretending to know T.O.? Not being facetious, serious question, because if so maybe you should try getting on a double decker bus here and they can show you what you're missing.

Live in Parkdale. And lived here all my life. If it wasn't for my ailing moms, I'd be long gone a while ago. What the hell's so great about this city? Seriously. Everything this city has I can count 20 others that have it better in N.A., and that includes two of them right here in this country.

just curious if you can type out those 20 other cities. i want to see your list.
In Canada, one can argue that Vancouver is better. Yes, it has mountains and an ocean, but the city itself is ugly. gross architecture. poor transit and poor street design. but are you going to say Mtl is nicer than Toronto? culturally, yes. Mtl is very run down and tired looking. if you like large concrete cinder blocks plopped down on vacant downtown lots, then yes, Mtl has the edge over Toronto.

my North American city list, in no particular order:

Toronto
Portland, OR
New York

then after that, i literally stop giving a ****.

Well, I can only mention cities I've been to:

Vancouver
Montreal - lived there for 5 years during my University days
Chicago
NYC
Portland - glad you mentioned it
Seattle
San Fran
San Luis Obispo
San Diego
Indy
Philly
Boston
New Orleans
Austin
Savannah
Charleston
Santa Fe
Minneapolis
Boulder

[YogiStewart]

having been to Mtl, Van, NTC, Portland, San Luis Obispo, NO, Boston and Minneapolis, i would say that you're really stretching things to say that all or most of those cities (SLO isn't a city, is it?) are all-around better than Toronto.

Minneapolis is VERY underrated, as is Portland. Boston is very overrated (i've been there countless times and found it charming but very boring). NO is gross. poor and run down and gross, but with charm, but still gross.