Lourdes, in France. Head and shoulders the most contrived, overhyped tourist trap, ever.

It is reputed to be the site where a French peasant girl saw apparitions of "Mary", a hundred and fifty years ago. How exciting. There are literally scores of second and third rate hotels and cheesy religious junk shops, all shoehorned around a … Read more

The Gold Coast. Maybe it's natural for me to dislike it so much since I've grown up an hour north of it, but it's not nearly as exciting as everyone thinks it is.  The beaches have VERY strong undercurrents, and they're dirty (but not nearly as much as LA beaches), it's very very busy and … Read more