Comments on: Experiencing the quintessential of a place

Question: Experiencing the quintessential of a place

nitsuj — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:12:35 -0800

I like to travel, and generally try to visit and take part in the unique things a place has to offer. Even so, I still find joy in experiencing the quintessential (if often cliché) things to do in a place. Drink a pint of Guinness in an Irish pub, for instance, or run with the bulls in Pamplona. What are the other "You must ____ in ____!" experiences around the world?

By: thenormshow

thenormshow — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:16:07 -0800

Kiss your partner at the top of the eiffel tower in Paris.

Skate on the Rideau canal and have a beaver tail in Ottawa.

Eat chicken wings in Buffalo, NY.

Ride a gondola in Venice.

By: Bunglegirl

Bunglegirl — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:20:15 -0800

Eat a hot dog in Chicago. No ketchup!

By: fourcheesemac

fourcheesemac — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:26:23 -0800

Hunt caribou in Alaska.

By: meerkatty

meerkatty — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:26:44 -0800

Smoke pot in Amsterdam.

By: puckish

puckish — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:27:15 -0800

Eat crabs in Maryland.

By: gyusan

gyusan — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:29:55 -0800

Ride the footboards of a cable car in San Francisco (the Hyde street line).

By: box

box — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:30:31 -0800

Get mugged in Central Park.

By: msali

msali — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:31:24 -0800

Hang out at Lifeguard stand number Nine (Posto Nove) on Ipanema Beach in Rio. Whilst there, drink the juice straight out of an ice cold coconut. Then have the person who sold you the coconut, crack the thing open with a machete, and slurp out the glorious insides with the little makeshift coconut spoon that he hands you.

By: so_necessary

so_necessary — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:37:01 -0800

Tomato fight in Buñol!

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:42:08 -0800

Go to a sauna at someone's summer place (and get drunk before, during and after) in Finland.

By: fire&wings

fire&wings — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:57:35 -0800

Be looked down upon by a French person in Paris.

By: idiopath

idiopath — Sat, 16 May 2009 09:57:51 -0800

Go to Powells City of Books in Portland, Oregon.

Eat sugar on snow in Vermont.

Drive real slow through the mountains in the fall admiring the leaves in Vermont.

Mountain bike at Moab.

Drink alcohol on a street corner in New Orleans.

Lose your money gambling in Las Vegas.

By: Zambrano

Zambrano — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:13:56 -0800

Have lunch here.

By: Sifter

Sifter — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:16:20 -0800

Cross the scramble crossing in Shibuya, Tokyo.
Drink belgian beers, each in its own unique glass, in Bruges.
Eat Fish and Chips by the British seaside.
Moan about public transport in London.

By: Zambrano

Zambrano — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:17:30 -0800

Drink a Bellini here.

By: bonobothegreat

bonobothegreat — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:19:43 -0800

Canoe trip through Algonquin park.

By: Zambrano

Zambrano — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:20:20 -0800

Sneak a quick picture in here.

By: DevilsAdvocate

DevilsAdvocate — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:38:29 -0800

Kiss the Blarney Stone.

By: WowLookStars

WowLookStars — Sat, 16 May 2009 10:38:55 -0800

Watch a sunset on Santorini.

By: FergieBelle

FergieBelle — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:01:45 -0800

Stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizona.

By: jgirl

jgirl — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:07:17 -0800

Watch the July 4th fireworks on the Mall in Washington, DC.

Attend a presidential inauguration or the first day of a new congress.

By: PercussivePaul

PercussivePaul — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:10:58 -0800

- Watch the Palio horse race in Sienna.
- Go for a swim in the Aare River in Bern.
- Visit the Alhambra in Granada.
- See Michelangelo's David in Florence.
- Visit Parc Guell and La Sagrada Famillia in Barcelona, and walk La Rambla.
- Hike up a mountain in Vancouver (try the Grouse Grind).
- Bike or jog the seawall in Vancouver.
- Walk across the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.
- Smoke some weed in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
- Hike to the bottom of the Grand Canyon and back (or take a mule ride).

By: St. Alia of the Bunnies

St. Alia of the Bunnies — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:13:08 -0800

Eat barbecue in Eastern NC.

By: tke248

tke248 — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:16:30 -0800

Body Surfing on Sandy Beach in Hawaii

By: mrmarley

mrmarley — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:19:11 -0800

drink Manzanilla with seafood at the Bajo de Guia area of Sanlucar de la Barrameda, Spain

By: kestrel251

kestrel251 — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:21:05 -0800

Take the ferry in Sydney (best views of the opera house & bridge).

By: modernnomad

modernnomad — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:36:51 -0800

drink a singapore sling at the raffles hotel, singapore.

By: Lotto

Lotto — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:41:51 -0800

Eat fish and chips on the beach anywhere in the UK. Bonus points if it's raining slightly.

By: ubersturm

ubersturm — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:41:55 -0800

Beer garden in Munich.
Maybe clam chowder in Boston?

By: webhund

webhund — Sat, 16 May 2009 11:50:28 -0800

Drive the Atlantic Highway in Norway (preferably on a cold, wet, windy, stormy day).

By: sickinthehead

sickinthehead — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:05:41 -0800

Smoke a joint in Amsterdam

Eat a cheesesteak in Philadelphia

By: radioamy

radioamy — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:13:48 -0800

Take a tour of Monet's gardens in Giverny (outside of Paris). It's like walking through a painting!

By: Grlnxtdr

Grlnxtdr — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:19:02 -0800

Get some lobsters in Maine.

By: felix grundy

felix grundy — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:22:44 -0800

Touch the statue of St. John on the Charles Bridge in Prague. (It's supposed to bring good luck, and is worn to a clean shine by being constantly touched. Right hand only, as I was firmly told by the Czech person next to me, who grabbed my hand when I went to touch it with my left.)

By: lukeo05

lukeo05 — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:25:56 -0800

Ping pong show in Bangkok

By: lunasol

lunasol — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:27:33 -0800

- Ride a chicken bus in Guatemala.
- Eat the best meal of your life, bought from a roadside food vendor in Thailand, while sitting on a plastic chair.
- Ride the train, second class sleeper, across a good chunk of India. Be sure to drink many cups of chai sold by chaiwallas.
- While you're in India, also make sure to get your fortune told by a vedic astrologer. I take great comfort in the knowledge that I will live to be 87.
- Go to a Red Sox game at Fenway Park.
- Spend a lazy summer Sunday morning in Central Park, eating a bagel with lox and cream cheese and reading the Sunday Times. Winter version: do this in an Upper West Side coffee shop/diner.

By: flif

flif — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:43:05 -0800

You must bike in Copenhagen.

By: cosmac

cosmac — Sat, 16 May 2009 12:58:55 -0800

Buy a chicken and watch it be fed to the tigers in Harbin, China.

By: transporter accident amy

transporter accident amy — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:01:30 -0800

- Smoke a joint in Amsterdam
- If you're not into that, drink a beer at In De Wildeman in Amsterdam
- If you're not into that, eat fries with mayonnaise (or fry sauce) in Amsterdam

By: elliemm

elliemm — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:07:23 -0800

Have a brat in Sheboygan!

By: number9dream

number9dream — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:28:25 -0800

Visit the Imam Mosque in Iman Square, Isfahan (Iran).

By: puckish

puckish — Sat, 16 May 2009 13:46:16 -0800

Stand on the equator in Ecuador.

Take the Staten Island Ferry in New York.

Get fast food on the Champs-Élysées in Paris.

By: ctmf

ctmf — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:06:39 -0800

Ride a camel in the desert and swim in a cool oasis outside Dubai, UAE or thereabouts.
I recommend against doing the quintessential Bangkok thing.
Ride on top of a train in India.
Throw a boomerang and play a didgiridoo in the Austrailian outback.

By: abdulf

abdulf — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:08:57 -0800

"Houston, we have a problem"

Visit the Johnson Space Center/Space Center Houston in Clear Lake, Houston. You get to see a Saturn V rocket and some other neat mission control stuff.

By: JauntyFedora

JauntyFedora — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:34:25 -0800

Drink absinthe in Prague
Go to Oktoberfest in Munich
Do La Tomatina in Buñol
Eat a Mozartkugel in Salzburg
Hold a koala/try Vegemite in Australia
Eat gelato in Italy
Go to the Highland Games in Inverness
Climb Kjerag in Norway and stand on Kjeragbolten

By: musofire

musofire — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:54:40 -0800

Go to a strip club in Montreal.

By: Morrigan

Morrigan — Sat, 16 May 2009 14:58:47 -0800

Ice skate in Central Park (in season) and walk across the Brooklyn Bridge.

Touch the tomb of Marie Laveau (asking for something) in New Orleans. If your petition comes to pass, you must go back and make an offering.

By: EmpressCallipygos

EmpressCallipygos — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:01:32 -0800

There's a new travel-tip website, Trazzler, which is entirely devoted to recommendations exactly like this -- contributors post very specific and distinct experiences one can have in specific places. (Full disclosure -- I am one of said contributors; albeit, one of a great many.)

By: crinklebat

crinklebat — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:05:32 -0800

Ride a jeepney in the Philippines.
Eat at a night market in Taipei.
Shop for electronics in Akihabara.
Eat sushi at 5am after gawking at the Tokyo fish market.
Chocolate con churros for breakfast while nursing a hangover in Spain.

By: gudrun

gudrun — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:13:01 -0800

Go to the Tulum ruins in Mexico, but don't spend a lot of time looking at the ruins themselves, since other Mayan ruins in the Yucatan are more impressive. Instead, swim at the beautiful beach there below the ruins (wear your suit under your clothes, since there aren't really any changing facilities).

By: joshers13

joshers13 — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:14:48 -0800

Eat a steak dinner in Buenos Aires.

By: slimepuppy

slimepuppy — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:34:36 -0800

Visit Greenwich and take a cheesy photo of yourself straddling the Prime Meridian and set your watch to exact GMT.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:50:27 -0800

Snorkel in the Great Barrier Reef.

By: Sys Rq

Sys Rq — Sat, 16 May 2009 15:52:16 -0800

Kiss the cod (get Screeched) in Newfoundland.

By: futureisunwritten

futureisunwritten — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:12:55 -0800

Kiss the cod (get Screeched) in Newfoundland.

Yep, we'll keep this one alive so long as there's mainlanders willing to pay for the privilege.

I suggest taking a bike ride in Amsterdam. While high.

By: Ghidorah

Ghidorah — Sat, 16 May 2009 16:39:02 -0800

Get to Ibu Oka before the lunch rush (before they sell out) in Ubud, on Bali, for the best pork lunch in a styrofoam take-out container you'll ever have.

Have your picture taken at a temple in Kyoto with a group of Japanese junior/senior high school girls on their school trip, all in uniform, all flashing the peace sign, all while standing in the midst of a temple that is several hundred years old.

Walk through the Qingping market in Guangzhou. Note the amazing variety of wildlife available, from scorpions to badgers, for consumption by people braver than you.

By: hmca

hmca — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:01:22 -0800

Bungy jump in Queenstown, New Zealand

By: box

box — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:12:54 -0800

Buy electronics in Akihabara.

Watch a pro football game at Lambeau Field, a baseball game at Fenway Park and a college football game in Notre Dame Stadium (there are, of course, other candidates for each of these).

By: wallaby

wallaby — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:25:23 -0800

Go to Carnaval in Salvador, Brazil.

By: kjs4

kjs4 — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:34:22 -0800

Catch a ferry in Sydney
Eat a doner in Berlin
Eat a pretzel in Munich
Vodka in Russia
Goulash in Hungary
Fried cheese in Prague
Zurek in Poland

It is vaguely possible that I am obsessed with food.....but I do love trying out the local street fair.

By: kjs4

kjs4 — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:34:52 -0800

And poutine the fries in Canada.

By: jasondigitized

jasondigitized — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:47:31 -0800

Victoria Peak in Hong Kong
Helicopter Ride on the Napali Coast in Kauai, Hawaii
Stop at Bell's Beer in Kalamazoo
Jet Boat Ride in Queenstown, New Zealand
Carnival in Trinidad
South Beach in Miami
Pat Pong or Soi Cowboy in Bangkok
Horseshoe Bay in Bermuda

By: saul wright

saul wright — Sat, 16 May 2009 17:54:02 -0800

get an egg cream on the lower east side, nyc.

By: Arbac

Arbac — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:00:20 -0800

Float in the Dead Sea

By: nzydarkxj

nzydarkxj — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:16:20 -0800

Share a mate in Paraguay or Uruguay

Take a picture with a tango dancer in Buenos Aires

Manipulate the perception of distance in your photos in the desert (Northern Chile/Bolivia, Egypt, etc...)

Ride a funicular in Valparaiso, Chile.

And I was going to say what Puckish said, except that its more cliche to stand on what is not the equator in Ecuador.

By: bluestocking

bluestocking — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:32:48 -0800

I was told that I had to eat at Carnivore in Nairobi, Kenya. [I didn't.]

By: gman

gman — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:12:39 -0800

Poaching in the Congo.

By: gman

gman — Sat, 16 May 2009 19:18:49 -0800

Shoot a cow with an RPG in Cambodia.

By: kch

kch — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:24:42 -0800

Ask a (Japanese) tourist to take your picture in the Rocky Mountains (Canada), especially at Lake Louise.

By: exphysicist345

exphysicist345 — Sat, 16 May 2009 20:41:27 -0800

See the view from the observation deck of the Empire State Building in NYC
Go ice fishing in January in Minnesota
Drive down Lombard Street, the world's crookedest street, in San Francisco
Eat Rocky Mountain Oysters in parts of western North America

By: forallmankind

forallmankind — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:02:23 -0800

When in LA it is imperative to drive up the PCH in a convertible.

By: SisterHavana

SisterHavana — Sat, 16 May 2009 22:09:15 -0800

Watch a baseball game at Wrigley Field in Chicago!

By: ambient2

ambient2 — Sun, 17 May 2009 01:23:01 -0800

Skate in Rockefeller Center.

Go to Kuwait Towers on a clear day.

Go to Shaybah in Saudi Arabia.

See the redwoods in the SF Bay Area.

See the Indy 500 in Indianapolis.

See all the stars in the sky anywhere there's no light pollution and a clear sky.

See Gatorland in Central Florida.

See the sun rise or set in Texas Hill Country when the wildflowers are present.

By: Zambrano

Zambrano — Sun, 17 May 2009 09:30:14 -0800

Watch an F1 race in Monaco from a table at la Rascasse (and do it soon, before Ferrari leave the sport).

By: gushn

gushn — Mon, 18 May 2009 08:19:15 -0800

Have an Inka Kola with your meal in Peru
Drink ouzo in Greece
Eat a Xiaolongbao in Shanghai
Sip dragonwell tea in Hangzhou
Take a picture with your reflection at the bean in Chicago
Eat jerk chicken in Jamaica, 'mon!

By: backseatpilot

backseatpilot — Tue, 19 May 2009 07:42:45 -0800

Some recent trips:

Changing of the guards at Buckingham Palace
Visit the top of the Empire State Building, especially at night
Drive the Coast Road in northern California
Attend a ceremony at an Indian reservation in New Mexico
See the most photographed lighthouse in the world in Portland, Maine (self-link)
Walk the Freedom Trail in Boston

By: talldean

talldean — Fri, 22 May 2009 05:59:52 -0800

Take a picture with Elvis in Vegas.
Walk through Manhattan in the snow.
Take pictures of the monuments in Washington, DC.
Watch the sunset over the Pacific.

By: kapu

kapu — Fri, 22 May 2009 14:06:36 -0800

Have a beer at the Tin & Lint in Saratoga Springs, NY

By: allkindsoftime

allkindsoftime — Sat, 23 May 2009 02:12:52 -0800

If I read it correctly, this entire thread has (count em) only 2 references to the African continent, and both of them are shite - there's much better eats in Nairobi than Carnivore and the other one was a joke. Allow me to round out your list with the 6th continent (you'll have to find someone else to speak to Antartica).

- See the great whites breaching off of Seal Island, outside Cape Town, South Africa
- Climb Table mountain in Cape Town
- Tour SoWeTo in Johannesburg
- Safari in southern Kruger Park, SA
- Take the world's highest abseil in the mountains of Lesotho
- Surf / dive off the coast of Mozambique
- See the Quirimbas Archipelago off of Mozambique
- See the sand dunes in Namibia
- Pole through the swamps of the Okavango Delta in Botswana
- Raft the Zambezi river between Zambia and Zimbabwe
- Hop in Devil's Pool at the top of Victoria Falls
- Snorkel in Lake Malawi
- Climb Kilimanjaro in Tanzania
- Explore Stone Town / Zanzibar off of Tanzania
- See the massive migration in the Masai Mara - Kenya / Tanzania
- Explore Nairobi in Kenya
- Dive off the coast of Lamu or Malindi in Kenya
- Walk with the chimpanzees in the hills of western Uganda
- See the gorillas in northern Rwanda, or in Congo
- Visit the ancient slave castles on the coast of Ghana
- See the desert outpost of Timbuktu in Mali
- Explore Dakar in Senegal
- See Isle de Gore off the coast of Dakar
- Visit Africa's smallest country - The Gambia
- Swim with the whale sharks off of Djibouti

I haven't gotten to the more touristy bits of North Africa yet, but that should give you a start.