Overrated shite attractions

[Dunfermline Don]

I'd have to disagree here. Football stadiums are often really impressive pieces of architecture and tours are the only way to see them if there's not a game on. Most of them come with at least some sort of museum about the club and its history which I think can be good for helping you understand a club and even a city better. I've been to a few when I've been on holiday to football cities and generally found them interesting if a wee bit expensive in some places.

In the old days you could just walk into most grounds and have a wee look round. I remember on a holiday in London with my folks in the early 80s spending a day on the tube with my dad visiting Chelsea, Fulham,QPR, Spurs, Arsenal and West Ham. At every ground we were able to get in and have a look at the empty terraces(sad I know).
I think it was at Spurs someone said if the new stand hadn’t been under construction we would have been able to have gone to the club office and had a photo with the FA cup.
Wembley did have tours in those days though.

[Caledonian1]

1 hour ago, Dunfermline Don said:

In the old days you could just walk into most grounds and have a wee look round. I remember on a holiday in London with my folks in the early 80s spending a day on the tube with my dad visiting Chelsea, Fulham,QPR, Spurs, Arsenal and West Ham. At every ground we were able to get in and have a look at the empty terraces(sad I know).
I think it was at Spurs someone said if the new stand hadn’t been under construction we would have been able to have gone to the club office and had a photo with the FA cup.
Wembley did have tours in those days though.

Thats brilliant....good on your dad taking you round. Think I may have visited most of these grounds in the late eighties for a match - often having to leave early due to crowd disturbances.  The play off defeat of Chelsea to Middlesborough in 1988 was unbelieveable.....really scary.

i was in London last week and as I was at a conference at the Excel I went to see the London Stadium (West Ham v Rapid Vienna...incidentally a fair bit of trouble there too)  They have altered the stadium so that more of the crowd is nearer the pitch - I was in the Treveo

[shahid khan]

Blue Lagoon - Iceland. Thought Iceland was a magnificent country but this place was utter dreadful. Full of loud, overweight Yanks and extremely expensive to get in. You can visit other geothermal pools for about a tenth of the price. There's a reason why no Icelandic folk go here. 

Brighton. Really disappointing. Blackpool of the south in more ways than one. Hastings is far superior about 40 minutes away. 

Venice. Partly our fault this one but the whole place left us seething and desperate to leave. Went here on a day trip from Croatia. Over an hour coming off the ferry at border control and as we had the wee man's pram, was constantly being lifted up and over the bridges, dodging tourists everywhere. Sweating buckets. Also, 80 Euros for a gondola ride (which lasted less than half an hour). 

[tamthebam]

I like the fact that Storybook Glen (now apparently called The Den and The Glen) spawned its own internet memes:

I might use this one myself next time @Granny Danger posts something outrageous... 

[topcat(The most tip top)]

I went to the World Trade Centre, New York in 2003

It was just a big hole in the ground

Would not recommend

Edited October 6, 2021 by topcat(The most tip top)

[8MileBU]

7 hours ago, Bob Mahelp said:

I presume you mean The Vatican museum ? 

I know what you mean. Narrow corridors and a bazillion people. However, there's a lot of amazing stuff in there, it's just that you shuffle past everything very quickly trying to find space.

But....The Sistine chapel at the end of it is worth all the hassle. One of the most stunning rooms you'll see anywhere in the world. 

 

Sistine Chapel was stunning.

[Dunfermline Don]

Thats brilliant....good on your dad taking you round. Think I may have visited most of these grounds in the late eighties for a match - often having to leave early due to crowd disturbances.  The play off defeat of Chelsea to Middlesborough in 1988 was unbelieveable.....really scary.
i was in London last week and as I was at a conference at the Excel I went to see the London Stadium (West Ham v Rapid Vienna...incidentally a fair bit of trouble there too)  They have altered the stadium so that more of the crowd is nearer the pitch - I was in the Treveo

It helped give me an appreciation of the uniqueness of each stadium, every one had something distinctive going for it unlike the identikit soulless new grounds today. The Shelf at Spurs, Marble Lined entrance to the main stand at Arsenal, The Cottage at Fulham, Shed end at Chelsea, Etc
I ended up going to work in London in 87 and used to try to go to a different ground every week depending if one of the big ‘northern’ teams were in town or if it was a local derby. Most games you could just turn up on the day and pay to get in. There was always a threat in the air at some games but I didn’t see too much trouble. It might be a bit stereotypical but every time I saw a Millwall game there was a always a bit going off somewhere in the ground.
Due to where I was living I ended up going to Palace more and more and eventually ended up getting a season ticket when they got promotion in 89. That came in handy when they reached the cup final at the end of that season. I managed to go to all the games in the cup run and a few away matches on their football specials including a 9-0 defeat at Anfield.
Football fans at the time in England were probably considered as worse than drug dealers but there was a comradeship among them and a humour on the terraces that was soon to disappear when Sky came along and Fever Pitch was issued.
I feel luck to have been able to go to football at that time.

[Caledonian1]

9 minutes ago, Dunfermline Don said:

It helped give me an appreciation of the uniqueness of each stadium, every one had something distinctive going for it unlike the identikit soulless new grounds today. The Shelf at Spurs, Marble Lined entrance to the main stand at Arsenal, The Cottage at Fulham, Shed end at Chelsea, Etc
I ended up going to work in London in 87 and used to try to go to a different ground every week depending if one of the big ‘northern’ teams were in town or if it was a local derby. Most games you could just turn up on the day and pay to get in. There was always a threat in the air at some games but I didn’t see too much trouble. It might be a bit stereotypical but every time I saw a Millwall game there was a always a bit going off somewhere in the ground.
Due to where I was living I ended up going to Palace more and more and eventually ended up getting a season ticket when they got promotion in 89. That came in handy when they reached the cup final at the end of that season. I managed to go to all the games in the cup run and a few away matches on their football specials including a 9-0 defeat at Anfield.
Football fans at the time in England were probably considered as worse than drug dealers but there was a comradeship among them and a humour on the terraces that was soon to disappear when Sky came along and Fever Pitch was issued.
I feel luck to have been able to go to football at that time.

I actually seem to have sent that last message without finishing it or realising it was posted....was going to look out a photo I took of the London Stadium to show how bizarre the Trevor Brooking stand is now that they have moved the pitch to the other end...and added what looks like a temporary / moveable stand to behind the goals at the Trevor Brooking....this was my view....huge area of say 20m dead space between tiers.

Incidentally during the summer off 88 i stayed in a house at 148 (I think) Holmesdale Road....I would look outside my bedroom window and first thing I would see was a sign "Visiting Support Only"...I was directly across the street from Selhurst Park...never been once though as I moved out the morning they played their first game of the season v Liverpool

 

[LondonHMFC]

3 minutes ago, Caledonian1 said:

I actually seem to have sent that last message without finishing it or realising it was posted....was going to look out a photo I took of the London Stadium to show how bizarre the Trevor Brooking stand is now that they have moved the pitch to the other end...and added what looks like a temporary / moveable stand to behind the goals at the Trevor Brooking....this was my view....huge area of say 20m dead space between tiers.

I used to have a season ticket in the Trevor Brooking Lower at Upton Park, affectionately known as the "Chav Corner" as like it is now it was beside away fans so there was always a back and forth going on. Without veering massively off topic, the reason for the whole meccano look is down to Brady's deal with the LLDC. The only way it will become a proper football ground is if it is knocked down and built up. Maybe one day.

Incidentally, the other month I was in the area on a Sunday (unfortunately) and passed a pub near the ground that had some questionable Irish folk songs being played. I hadn't realised that the Brother Walfrid East London CSC watch their games in a fairly well known West Ham pub. 

[Dunfermline Don]

I used to have a season ticket in the Trevor Brooking Lower at Upton Park, affectionately known as the "Chav Corner" as like it is now it was beside away fans so there was always a back and forth going on. Without veering massively off topic, the reason for the whole meccano look is down to Brady's deal with the LLDC. The only way it will become a proper football ground is if it is knocked down and built up. Maybe one day.
Incidentally, the other month I was in the area on a Sunday (unfortunately) and passed a pub near the ground that had some questionable Irish folk songs being played. I hadn't realised that the Brother Walfrid East London CSC watch their games in a fairly well known West Ham pub. 

Upton Park was one of my favourite grounds to go to,so compact and always a passionate crowd. If I hadn’t lived at the other side of The Smoke I may have gone there more. I do remember going to a league cup game in the late 80s against Liverpool that they won either 4-0 or 4-1. Paul Ince played a blinder for West Ham that night and the atmosphere was rocking. I used to like that quirky box/shelf terrace they had in the corner of the north bank.

[Enigma]

13 hours ago, Arabdownunder said:

Has Madam Tussaud's had a mention? Completely pointless idea. Just shite.

They've got a new waxwork of Zoella and some other wicked YouTubers!

[BFTD]

I went to London Zoo in the mid-Nineties, right around the time they were about to be shut down and were shipping animals out to other places in preparation. Obviously there were plenty of empty enclosures, but the worst part was that they had a couple of animals that were doing the thousand-yard-stare, swaying-on-the-spot thing that creatures in captivity do when they've lost their mind from lack of stimulation. Quite distressing.

Long time ago, though. You'd hope a lot will have changed since then.

['WellDel]

1 hour ago, Enigma said:

They've got a new waxwork of Zoella and some other wicked YouTubers!

I've just googled this person see what she does as I'd absolutely no clue. 

Probably a generational thing, but if I was forced to go back to Tussaud's I'd be expecting to see instantly recognisable faces of film, sport, politics etc. or famous historic scenes. Not some lassie that gives make up tips on the Internet.

All these 'influencers' making fortunes simply by plugging products and fleecing their gullible followers blows my mind.

Anyway ,on the subject. Tussaud's was shite when I went around 10 years ago, and is evidently even more so now.

 

[Melanius Mullarkey]

10 hours ago, Dunfermline Don said:

In the old days you could just walk into most grounds and have a wee look round. I remember on a holiday in London with my folks in the early 80s spending a day on the tube with my dad visiting Chelsea, Fulham,QPR, Spurs, Arsenal and West Ham. At every ground we were able to get in and have a look at the empty terraces(sad I know).
I think it was at Spurs someone said if the new stand hadn’t been under construction we would have been able to have gone to the club office and had a photo with the FA cup.
Wembley did have tours in those days though.

I remember doing this at Easter Road when I was wee.  We were in Edinburgh one day when my old man (Albert Hibscunt) took me for a we wander. Ended up in Albion Place and he says, oh look its Easter Road.  Walked in at the corner and onto the pitch. Nae c**t was there. 

 

[Fullerene]

On 05/10/2021 at 10:42, Jeff Venom said:

Sydney opera house for me was underwhelming. It's iconic and all that, but was smaller than I expected irl, and looked like it needed a proper clean in the outside. Nice (if dated) inside mind.

But it has the world's deepest car park.  Could be really exciting if you are into that sort of thing.

I'm not.  I am just saying ...

[RH33]

Anyone remember Leith Waterworld? 

[Hibernianification]

5 minutes ago, RH33 said:

Anyone remember Leith Waterworld? 

An outstanding water-based attraction, although the flumes paled into insignificance compared to those found at the commie pool 

[Left Back]

8 minutes ago, Hibernianification said:

An outstanding water-based attraction, although the flumes paled into insignificance compared to those found at the commie pool 

I remember going to the commie a few years back for the first time since I was a kid.  No flumes any more.  Seething didn’t even begin to cover it.

[Enigma]

1 hour ago, 'WellDel said:

I've just googled this person see what she does as I'd absolutely no clue. 

Probably a generational thing, but if I was forced to go back to Tussaud's I'd be expecting to see instantly recognisable faces of film, sport, politics etc. or famous historic scenes. Not some lassie that gives make up tips on the Internet.

All these 'influencers' making fortunes simply by plugging products and fleecing their gullible followers blows my mind.

Anyway ,on the subject. Tussaud's was shite when I went around 10 years ago, and is evidently even more so now.

 

Maybe having a little stroll down Oxford Street, taking in the funny t-shirts, would be more your thing?

[Hedgecutter]

12 minutes ago, Left Back said:

I remember going to the commie a few years back for the first time since I was a kid.  No flumes any more.  Seething didn’t even begin to cover it.

What was the name of the near-vertical flume there?

Had nothing on the Dundee Cannonball though.