Things you are supposed to find incredible but dont

The Mona Lisa

Ooh The Pyramids.   Shyte, look like they are out in the desert but in fact surround by slums and covered in rubbish.   Constant hassle including from police officers supposedly there to look out for you.

Not sure that puts the pyramids into room 101. Litter, slums and shitty cops don't make the pyramids themselves underwhelming. Like giving a restaurant a bad review because the taxi got stuck in traffic on the way there. 

I was never impressed by NY as a tourist but have been back a couple of times to stay with friends who live there and as a resident you see a different side and I can now see the appeal.

I forgot the context. But Bach came up and someone made the comment that his music was "a bit formulaic" (I think those were the exact words.) Another music-loving roffer was so distraught by this that he committed roficide by posting ban-inviting stuff.

I knew it was controversial, it is one of the few things Mrs P and I disagree on, but didn’t realise that had happened!

Soz (not soz) to anyone who is truly offended

Musicals. I hate being sat there forced to listen to shite songs sung at me by shite singers. It's uncomfortable. I love a good play, and love the fun sets and effects, but the songs. Oh god the songs.

Also, overly posh tasting menus. IT seems the highest end restaurants love to serve 19 course meals where each course is some sort of reduced foam on a spoon. I cannot with this. Just bring me the wine and a slab of meat with some chocolate dessert, thanks.

 

"Flying first class."

U wot mate? It's certainly over priced but I think the juxtaposition of lay flat beds and near private accomodations and kiss ass service on long haul flights to be one of the best things ever. I mean I get it, for 10 hours of pampering the cost is not worth it for most people but jeez how do you not like it compared to the alternative?

Out in patland finding good cheap restaurants is fish in a barrel stuff. Slap up Lebanese with completely fresh ingredients costs so little you don’t blink.

Haha Guy i guess I can see that...for me I love the attention..."more Dom please. Yes I would like a warm cookie, thank you for asking!" etc. I just don't understand how anyone would not prefer first/biz class to flying economy

Ohhh true enough goethe - you don't find it incredible! I guess incredible is a strong word to use. Fair enough. Incredible compared to economy is maybe where I'm thinking. Incredible compared to the cost? Absolutely not.

I think Guy is kind of right re 1st class. What actually matters on a 13 hour overnight flight is being served tasty food as soon as the plane takes off and then sleeping in comfort and silence. Full stop. No-one flying regularly gives a sh*t about what vintage of champagne they're being served or how many times the flight attendant uses their name or what aspirational toiletries you can wash your smelly armpits with.

 

I was equating first and biz as one...a lot of airlines apparently are shrinking or removing their first and just using biz class. Agreed its about the beds, privacy and food on offer. Although I very enjoyed having unlimited Krug in the first class american lounge in Dallas. I love that stuff and can never bring myself to buy it.

Also, overly posh tasting menus. IT seems the highest end restaurants love to serve 19 course meals where each course is some sort of reduced foam on a spoon. I cannot with this. Just bring me the wine and a slab of meat with some chocolate dessert, thanks.

Amen.  I don't enjoy fancy restaurants that much.  I have very simple tastes. 

Never flown first class but I was blown away by business class.  A little scrot from the North like me can't imagine how first class could be better than business class.  Unless you get a blowjob from a Victoria's Secret model, how much better could it get?

Cornwall. Undoubtedly a beautiful coastline, but ruined by the decimation of any actual communities living there. I find it a strangely bland place with horrendous traffic and simmering aggression in visitors and locals alike.   

Surprisingly small, the Mona Lisa, irl.

Like Jane Austen's novels, I am prepared to accept the narrative that it is exquisitely crafted, despite not being able to see it and finding it slightly dull.

Curb Your Enthusiasm.

It seems this is Statement TV, especially for Americans abroad - I Like Curb Your Enthusiasm Therefore I Am A (Wo)Man Of Great Erudition And Taste

I hate really attentive service. There's a real art to a waiter knowing when his presence is required. At Le Gavroche they used to be masters of it - not been in a long time (if indeed it's still there).

Religion/anything religious. In the sea with the lot of it.

That's swathes of classical music and art in the sea then?  Sorry Requiem Mass and pretty much everything Caravaggio painted.  In the sea.  You too Divine Comedy and Master and Margarita.  Get in the sea.

I agree with flying first class compared to business class. The service in first is excellent (except on Emirates in my experience) but the extra money for what you get over business is not worth it. Obviously I take the option of first when someone else is paying. Having said that, the people watching in first is very good.

"That's swathes of classical music and art in the sea then?  Sorry Requiem Mass and pretty much everything Caravaggio painted.  In the sea.  You too Divine Comedy and Master and Margarita.  Get in the sea."

Ok, might have been poorly worded.

To be fair I've never had a bad meal when flying first class but it's relative. Travel itself is shit. Anyone who worries about or is impressed by what champagne they serve hasn't flown first very much. The cabin crew can smell a noob before they pass security. As for people watching in first: you don't watch unless you go to the bar and no one is there to watch. There's nothing to watch. 

Opera is the only thing I've seen in a theatrical setting that is genuinely breathtaking. As a bonus I saw Puccini's Turandot, which includes 'Nessun Dorma', it was hilarious seeing a good portion of the male attendees suddenly perk up.

Both the Statue of Liberty and Leaning Tower of Pisa are decidedly underwhelming. 

Never been to New York, but hard agree on the Tower of Pisa.  If I want to see shonky building work I can go to Chesterfield. 

At least it keeps the scum out of Siena though.

I would put going to the theatre in this category, not because I don’t like plays per se, but because I absolutely do not have the attention span to sit through them.

I went to see Corin Redgrave play the lead in King Lear not long before his death. Alright, dull and excessively long play, the worst of Shakespeare’s tragedies by an absolute mile, but it appeared to me (no expert) to be a fairly strong cast and performance. It was f*cking PURGATORY sitting through it.  Lear is also one of those creative works, like the book American Psycho, which is far too long, rather self-indulgently so I’d say.

Flying First Class.

this is about service and I do not mean toadying.

i mean, boarding the plane in a non rushed quiet environment, having a drink and a chat before take off, a meal, if you want, as soon as you like afterwards and then being left to sleep undisturbed in pretty near silence as long as you want ( 15 mins before touch down iirc)

you can skip the meal by eating instead in a First Lounge restaurant before the flight in many places.

No seasoned First flyer gets excited about the drinks and the food it is 100% about the ease and simplicity of A to B.

you absolutely do not get this in econ or business class,

I generally enjoy Shakespeare if done well but agree King Lear is dull.  So I wouldn’t put theatre in the list but I would put King Lear - it is a profound psychological study but also a very boring one

Most contemporary literary novels in English.

David Mitchell is alright, I suppose, but there’s an awful lot of absolute toss out there.

Sports cars.

“Magic Circle” law firms.