People Reveal Which Tourist Attractions Around The Globe Aren't Worth The Hype
Some tourist attractions are pretty obviously going to be at least a bit lame; like the world's biggest rubber band ball: it might be mildly interesting the first time, but that's about it.
Other common tourist destinations seem like they should fascinating and majestic, like seeing the Mona Lisa. Turns out, they're not all quite as great as they're made out to be.
Reddit user u/superlemondaze asked:
"What is a tourist attraction you've seen that was 100% not worth the hype?"
Pick Your Museums Wisely
Amsterdam has banners all over advertising the Torture Museum. Spoiler alert: humans are really fixated on shoving things into other humans' butts. There, I saved you fifteen euros.
The Museum of Prostitution, on the other hand, is fantastic. It's a really candid look at how sex work really operates, which is very unglamorous even when it's legal, and the overall message seems to be, "if you must, here's what you need to know and here's what you're supporting if you do."
Overpriced And Underwhelming
The pawn shop from Pawn Stars. A guy who was with us in Vegas insisted on going, and the rest of us got dragged along. We got corralled through the store and there was literally nothing worth a second look there. F*cking waste of time.
I was particularly annoyed at the prices of used musical instruments there. I've been selling drums for 10 years, and I'm not about to buy a kit for higher than the new price just for the honor of having bought it there.
It Was Still Disappointing
A lot of people are familiar with the National Aquarium in Baltimore. It's a really nice one, but never made sense why the National Aquarium was in Baltimore. Why wasn't there an aquarium in DC itself? There's a zoo, museums of all sorts, why no aquarium? Well, there was. It was in the basement of the Commerce Department building. It moved buildings in the city over time, but it was the longest operating aquarium in the country, being open for about 140 years.
...and it was exactly what you'd expect an aquarium in the basement of a federal office building to be. Dark, smelly, and nothing very good in it. Everyone leaving had the same reaction..."my expectations were low, and that was still disappointing." It closed, for better or worse, in 2013.
Look At Everything Else
Mona Lisa, no. The Louvre, yes. Spend your time looking at everything else.
I literally just walked around the outside of the building bc even that is just....wow
Not Even The Most Amazing Spot
The glass bridge over the grand canyon.
Total rip-off tourist trap.
- It takes HOURS to get there from Vegas
- They charge you $20 to park in an empty desert
- They charge you $30 per person to take the bus from the parking to the attraction (it's like walking from parking into a mall - no distance at all!)
- Then they charge you $30 per person if you actually want to walk on the bridge
- You cannot take pictures or bring a camera onto the bridge, but they will sell them to you, of course.
- There is one overpriced place to eat where they sell you canned food heated up in a microwave for big money... or you could drive 5 hours back to Vegas...
Just Go To Miami
I live in Atlantic City and I'm amazed that people actually come here for vacation. It's just a few crappy casinos and some run down strip clubs. If you go one street off the boardwalk you're in the slums. The food is good but incredibly overpriced.
I went to Miami for a mini vacation since the plane tickets were so cheap and it's pretty much the same place as Atlantic City just without a boardwalk or casinos. Water and a bunch of overpriced stores.
Avoid The Popular Places
That famous Philly cheese steak place in Philly. Awful service plus the food downright sucked.
As a Philadelphian, I can confirm. There's Pat's and Geno's, they both suck and no one should go there. Literally a cheese steak from a food cart is better. John's roast pork, Ishkabibles, Delesandro's, Jim's, are all pretty good and widely recommended.
Desert And Some Water
Burj Khalifa tower. $75 to get to the top, nothing to see besides dessert and some water, and the worst mall with over inflated prices.
It's A Rock
Plymouth Rock
Put bluntly, this attraction is massively lame, no one even knows if this is the right rock or even if there was a rock.
Don't Go On Sunday
Takeshita Street in Harajuku. Went on a Sunday, and I couldn't move my elbows an inch without bumping into someone, no matter where I went, and pretty much every shop had a 30+ minute line. There was also hardly anyone there actually dressed in the kind of fashion you to go to Takeshita Street expecting to see, which isn't exactly a problem on its own, but it essentially meant that I was dealing with being a sardine for hours on end with no real payoff beyond shopping for overpriced fashion goods once I survived the lines. I love Tokyo, but I definitely won't be going back to Harajuku anytime soon.
Small Slights That Made People Feel Majorly Betrayed By Their Significant Other
Reddit user _Halboro_ asked: 'What was something fairly small that made you feel betrayed by your SO?'
NEOM on Unsplash
When you're in a relationship, the things your significant other—or sig-O—does hit different.
Teasing remarks you'd laugh off from friends can feel like a knife in the heart when your romantic partner says it.
Minor slights can easily become major issues in your relationship if you feel vulnerable.
Reddit user _Halboro_ asked:
"What was something fairly small that made you feel betrayed by your [significant other]?"
Unequal Devotion
"When he was doing a work contract overseas I sent him love letters every two weeks to feel connected."
"When he got home and unpacked I found many of them unopened."
~ athenasplanet
"My high school girlfriend lent my hoodie to someone else."
~ Responsible_Roll7065
"Gah! I had a University BF lend My hoodie to a girl (who was a smoker, too. 🤮)."
"There were at least 15 other single guys there that could have stepped up and lent her their sweaters, but mine was up for grabs!"
"And when I got it back it reeked. So, annoyed with him on multiple levels."
~ Au-stellar-12
Unequal Effort
"My sister was in the hospital and he didn't do the dishes while I was gone for 3 days."
~ shirleytrix
"When he got Covid, he was quarantined downstairs. I waited on him hand and foot."
"Three days later, I got Covid but while he was feeling better and still quarantining himself, I had to be sick and care for our son."
"I was stooped over the counter trying to make him dinner and he just went back downstairs. I’ll always remember that."
~ Lychanthropejumprope
"My sister, nephew, and mom went on a vacay for about 9 days including travel days."
"When she and my nephew got home, the sink was full of dirty dishes and so was the island in their kitchen. Their island is HUGE, bigger than what I would consider average for a home."
"There were also trash bags just sitting around the house and it was just absolutely disgusting."
~ Ill-Stomach1871
"It's small, but one year we were both working 15-18 hour days but had Thanksgiving off. I planned the menu, he didn't give input."
"I ordered the ingredients online during my lunch break to pick up after work because I didn't have time to shop."
"I woke up early, made everything. Cleaned the dishes and the kitchen after."
"All he did was complain."
"I made too much. I had too much wine (3 glasses over 7 hours)."
"After all that work and not even a compliment or a thank you?
"Yeah—we divorced. That was our last Thanksgiving together."
~ azorianmilk
Unequal Consideration
"After complaining for months that I never got to sleep in, despite being the only one to get up to the kids in the night, he finally let me sleep in one morning."
"I woke up hearing him quietly saying to the kids 'Mummy’s had long enough; go wake her up'."
"I only had maybe an hour extra. He always had several."
~ a-nony-mouse33
"I'm almost always up first. I tend the pets, get the kids going and make coffee. 20 min routine."
"Every morning I'd bring him a cup of coffee and open the curtains to let some sunlight in and then leave and he would play on his phone and sip coffee for half hour while I tended the kids and got to work."
"Then he complained that just because I was up didn't mean he had to be up."
"Guess who doesn't get hot coffee in bed anymore."
~ MsFlippy
"My ex would skip the songs I liked that came on the radio."
~ violet_hydrangea
"Was on my way back from Turkey with a nice stash of dried fruit from Afghanistan (imported to Turkey)."
"Declared it on my customs form."
"Got detained for agricultural reasons, said they would let me go but had to take the dried fruit."
"I looked and looked but could not find it. Was detained for hours."
"Turns out my girlfriend ate it all while I was asleep on the flight."
~ neuro_exo
Unequal Humor
"We were going through airport security together."
"She went first and when she was being screened, pointed at me and said 'make sure you check my boyfriend, he always has knives' as a joke and then I got detained for a search and questioning and almost missed the flight.
"And no, I didn't have any knives other other contraband on me. Then she got mad at me for almost missing our flight."
"LIKE WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN HERE EMILY‽‽"
~ ThadisJones
"When we were signing our first lease she joked with the landlord about how rowdy I am, to 0 chuckles or even a smile.
"I wanted to bang my head into a wall."
~ NCAA_D1_AssRipper
Unequal Respect
"I had a friend who dumped his girlfriend when he overheard her making fun of his (admittedly, rather nerdy) sister to her friends."
"He said it wasn’t just about loyalty to his sis, it was about not wanting to be with someone who has to put others down to feel better about herself."
"Always thought it was admirable."
~ whitneywestmoreland
"The most extreme case I know of is my dad and the girlfriend he had before my mom came along."
"He and the gf were high school sweethearts and had been together for three years. They were both dying to see Back to the Future 2, a movie that had been highly anticipated for years."
"He had a family emergency the day it came out so they agreed to see it the following Monday. He found out from friends she went to see it with a douchey guy friend my dad never really liked."
"He was so hurt and she was so unapologetic—her attitude was 'I’ll go see it with you too! Why did I have to wait?' even though they’d agreed to see it together. He told her they needed to take a break."
He fully meant for it to be temporary, just until he cooled off, but then he met my mom when he went to see the movie by himself…and he never looked back.
"He does feel a bit guilty though because his ex was pretty devastated when she found out he’d met someone else and wanted to end things for good."
~ levoyageursansbagage
People felt these were minor slights, but many seem pretty major from the outside looking in.
Most ended the relationship being described.
I guess it's proof positive that little things—good or bad—mean a lot.
There's this ongoing, universal joke that no one reads user's manuals for new items, so often items aren't built or used quite the way they were intended.
But some products, whether there's a user's manual involved or not, will be used for activities that they were in no way designed for.
Redditor OfficialDampSquid asked:
"What product is rarely used for its intended purpose?"
Clothespins
"Clothespins have spent years keeping bags of chips closed in my house, not a minute hanging up clothes."
- jpiro
"Great in the shop as mini clamps, specifically when gluing the linings to acoustic guitars."
- Fluffy-Anything-5528
Free Parking Corner
"The corner that says FREE PARKING on the Monopoly board."
- DanielleAntenucci
"I don’t know one single person who plays that game correctly. It’s insane how house rules caught on and became almost universal."
- Dr_broadnoodle
Cotton Swaps
"I’ll be deep in the cold, cold ground before I use a Q-Tip correctly."
- PM_DEGRADING
"95 percent for cleaning electronics. Five percent for cleaning your ears."
- Fried-Pig-Dogs
Bubble Wrap
"Bubble wrap. It was invented as a wallpaper in the 1950s."
- fuzzysarge
"Just mist down your windows with plain water and the bubble wrap just sticks by itself."
"I didn't know this trick when I had to make a bathroom more private. As a stopgap, I just sprayed the windows with fake Christmas snow."
- RedditZamak
For Surgical Purposes
"K-Y Jelly was originally developed as a surgical lubricant."
- JiveChicken00
Fixes Everything
"Duct tape. Works on everything but ducts. (They make a special tape for that, and it’s not called duct tape.)"
- ImpliedSlashS
From War to Screen Doors
"WD-40 was originally created to stop nuclear missiles from rusting."
- ShoopufJockey
Great for Kids Crafts
"I want to say pool noodles. I see a new craft for them weekly and rarely see them actually in a pool."
- gigieileen
Baking Powder Uses
"Not 'rarely used' per se, but the amount of baking powder not used for baking things is quite high."
- DayOk6350
"You can use it to instantly set super glue and create a stronger bond that is as hard as plastic and nowhere near as brittle as a regular superglue bonding."
- Happy-Personality-23
The Question Is In the Name
"Glove compartment in a car. Who actually has gloves in them? I think they are a throwback to when people had driving gloves."
- Urbanredneck2
Yardstick Purpose
"Yardsticks."
- procrastinatorsuprem
"When I was in school, all the teacher ever used it for was to smack the chalkboard to get everybody's attention when the class was acting up."
- Rich_handsome
"We use it to push the button on the smoke alarm, get spider webs on the ceiling, and every once in a while measure how deep a snow storm is."
- procrastinatorsuprem
Treadmill... Closets
"Treadmills at home."
"Or any exercising equipment at home... ends up being a clothes holder."
- shubidoobie
Mouths Instead
"Listerine was originally sold as a floor cleaner."
- mtgkajhit
"Listerine was one of those products which was marketed to do literally anything to do with clearing."
"It was also used as a medical antiseptic during surgery."
- Woffingshire
Great for Crafts
"Pipe cleaners."
"Does that count if they’re called “chenille stems”, brightly colored, and for sale alongside kids’ craft supplies?"
"Because if that does count, so should Play-Doh. It was originally invented to clean wallpaper, but once kids started playing with it (it had been nontoxic from the beginning IIRC) they changed the marketing and sold it in lots of colors."
- DBSeamZ
Cell Phones
"Mobile phones, used for anything, except for making phone calls."
- FatCat_85
"Mobile phones are used for their intended purposes, but that purpose has just changed over time."
These products are all a great example of how products can have multiple purposes, which technically means we can have fewer items in our homes, which means fewer things to clean!
And if cleaning the floor is a concern, apparently we can use the Listerine... while brushing our teeth. Who knew?
As children, when we saw grown-ups behave in certain ways, we more than likely promised ourselves we would never be like them.
That we would never lose our temper at minor things, groan over the slightest ache in our bodies, or choose work over fun.
However, when adulthood creeps up on us, certain things about the person you become you have little to no control over.
As a result, you might find yourself screaming at children for being too noisy or going to bed at 9:15 instead of seeing a midnight screening of your favorite movie and realizing that you have become the very thing you've been trying to avoid your entire life.
Redditor UglyLikeCaillou was curious to hear what type of person the Reddit community ended up becoming, despite vowing they wouldn't, leading them to ask:
"What type of person did you swear to never turn into growing up, but did anyway?"
Letting It Out Can Ease The Pain...
"The one that makes noises when I get up off the floor."- tutohooto
The Wise Know The Vital Importance Of Being Silly
"I swore I’d never stop being goofy."
"That I’d always try to find the positive and wouldn’t give up hope."
"But then life happened."
"It’s hard staying an emotionally sensitive and caring person when so many people are just plain mean."- Lucky_Garbage5537
It's Possible, Even In A Room Full Of People...
"I never thought I would grow up to be so lonely, but here I am."- oldbaldgrumpy
Sad Season 2 GIF by FriendsGiphyTemper Temper...
"An angry person."
"Life and people are just too much all the time."-Jumpy-Air-3385
Some Call It Frugal, Others Call It Cheap....
"The kind that put something back cause the store brand was 20 cents cheaper."- penndelnj
A Far Too Common Occurrence
"I never thought I'd live paycheck to paycheck by my age."
"I thought I'd be on my way to being financially independent by now, in fact."
"It's always been my goal, I was willing to work so hard from such a young age and never scared to make sacrifices but unfortunately my people-reader is skewed and all I ever really got was taken advantage of."
"It's not too late, I'm smarter now and I'll get there."- FriendCountZero
2 Chainz Pockets GIF by MOST EXPENSIVESTGiphyWorking Hard For The Money...
"A corporate slave."- lapdanze
"My dad was an engineer and I vowed to never be like him in any way."
"Growing up, I always said over my dead body would i become a corporate slave chained to a desk."
"Guess who is a desk jockey engineer now."- Lame_usernames_left
Watch Your Mouth!
"If my child self met my adult self, he’d tell me that I shouldn’t say so many bad words."- BarthRevan
The Apple Doesn't Fall Very Far From The Tree...
"My dad."- PolarBearChuck
"The most relatable one, nobody wants to become their parents, it’s horrible (unless you have good parents)."- Fine-Macaroon-3202
season 2 episode 6 GIFGiphyThe Comfort Of Your Own Home...
"A homebody."
"In my early 20’s I would never miss an opportunity to go out on Thurs, Friday, or Sat night and couldn’t understand why my parents would ‘waste’ a perfectly good weekend night, just to stay home."
"Now I get it. MAN, do I get it."
Derogatory Term, Or Term Of Endearment?
"I remember learning what a nerd was and thinking 'thank God I'm not a nerd' as I went home from school to play Pokemon Emerald and talk on Pokemon message boards about the upcoming Diamond and Pearl games."- hectoByte
Early To Bed, Early To Rise
"The dad that gets up at 4:30 am to exercise, and is ready for bed by 9 pm."- GreyPilgrim1973
Work Out Pain GIF by I Want You Back MovieGiphyBeauty Comes In All Sizes...
"Overweight."
"Not super big, but not skinny anymore."- hoosierhiver
One Can Indeed Be The Loneliest Number...
"Crotchety, single old lady."
"I'm only sometimes crotchety, but I'm almost fifty and still single!"- GimmeUrNachos
Love What You Do! If You Can...
"An office drone."
"Redditing as we speak to avoid looking at yet another ghastly eyesore of a spreadsheet.'
"Why have we done this to ourselves as a civilization?"- onemanmelee
Still Waiting Office Tv GIF by The OfficeGiphyGrowing up can be scary, hence why we always promise ourselves we won't turn out a certain way.
Even so, some things about the type of person we grow up to be are completely out of our control.
And rather than bemoan our current situation, it's always best to embrace it and enjoy the precious time we have on Earth with our family and friends.
And maybe cut our parents a little slack for the behavior we judged them so harshly on as children...
People Reveal The Most Absurd Reason They've Seen A Marriage Called Off
My aunt and her ex-fiance were often hailed as the gold standard by my family when it came to romantic relationships. They were perfect for one another and had the healthiest relationship most of us had ever seen. My cousins and I all hoped to emulate their relationship someday.
Then, the marriage we'd all been looking forward to was called off.
Why? My aunt liked to hang toilet paper "over" (which is the right way), and her ex-fiance liked to hang toilet paper "under." When her ex-fiance replaced the toilet paper, my aunt would be annoyed that the toilet paper was hung under, and would complain, but that's where it ended.
When my aunt replaced the toilet paper, her ex-fiance would go so far as to change the position of the toilet paper every time he used their bathroom, and she couldn't take it anymore.
My cousins were so confused. That seemed like a ridiculous reason to call off a wedding. Being a few years older than most of them, I knew realistically, their issues were less about toilet paper and more about the fact my aunt's ex wasn't willing to compromise. However, the party line was that the wedding was called off because of the toilet paper, and to this day, we still tease my aunt about it (who, by the way, found another man, and has been happily married to him for 12 years).
Redditors know people who have called off their own weddings for absurd reasons and are eager to share the stories.
It all started when Redditor AnuragSlNGH asked:
"What's the most absurd reason you've heard of someone cancelling their marriage?"
Prophecy
"One of my friends was engaged and is Catholic. Her husband had to convert and he had a dream where he was in a Catholic Church but not getting married, he was a priest. So he had a vision of becoming a priest and now the wedding is off."
– Southern-Pay9792
All About The Money
"I was going to be a guest at a wedding and found out it was canceled 2 weeks before the date. The bride found out that the groom had gotten a significant discount on the price of the venue and she was insanely angry that anything at her wedding cost less than premium."
"Keep in mind, this was her dream venue that she had chosen. She was just mad that her fiancé was “cheap”. Or something."
"I was never super close to either of them, but the last I heard they never ended up getting married."
– NotSureWhatThePlanIs
"Guy dodged a bullet there."
– thefman
"No doubt, my wife and I high-fived when we got a discount on our venue."
– Old_Employer2183
What's In A Name?
"My cousin called it off 3 days in advance because the bride and groom couldn't agree on whether to hyphenate their last names, or use his."
"In retrospect, there was a significant class/ culture divide of which that was merely one symptom."
– thefuzzybunny1
"I used to work with a guy whose last name was West. When he married a woman with the last name Wild, she said she was happy to take his name. He told her that she was insane, and they were not under any circumstances passing up the opportunity to be the Wild West family."
– transluscent_emu
Ban 4
"They realized after everything was already planned, invites sent out etc. that they didn't like the date. They moved it to 2025 so there wouldn't be a 4 in their wedding date."
– MarkmcZack
"Their kids are just gonna jump straight from 3 to 5."
– TripodTheSuperCat
Yikes!
"Bride cancelled the wedding a week before because she was a hardcore disney adult and she was offered a temp job at disney and felt she "couldnt miss the opportunity of her dreams.""
"We live quite a few states away from disney and she said she couldnt do the long distance. Really she just wanted to party like a frat bro in Florida without any repercussions."
"She made a "songs to have sex to" playlist on their shared spotify a few days after they broke up. It absolutely crushed him."
"Oh man, what a sh*tty chick."
"Sounds like he dodged a bullet in the long run, but that must have hurt a ton at the time."
– Sunshine030209
Where's The Ring?
"My friend's former fiancé was a nice dude. Firefighter, easy to talk to, treated her well and got her a nice ring. Every now and then the ring would go missing but he would eventually find it, safe and sound."
"She had a good job, too, and was giving him thousands of dollars a month to fix up a house they had bought to live in after they'd gotten married."
"Turns out, dude was living two lives or attempting to at the very least: he's married for 10+ years and had two kids, the engagement ring was his wife's and he stole it back every now and then to "find" it for her. There was never a house, he never bought one, and used all the thousands he had been given solely on cocaine."
"Needless to say, they cancelled the wedding."
– Zenthoor
Last Minute Non-Planning
"They did nothing."
"They picked a date, sent mails with it to invite people. And then did nothing until a week before said date."
"Of course they could not rent the venue they wanted nor find another one. They couldn't find caterer, dresses etc on time."
"But also, legally, they couldn't get married in such short notice."
"So, they cancelled the wedding, and will get married later."
"It's been 5 years. They're still not married."
– Marawal
"kinda sounds like they're made for each other, lol."
– alohamoraFTW
Worst Prank Ever
"The best man said in his speech that he slept with the bride about 2 weeks before the wedding. All hell broke loose. The groom demanded that the marriage be cancelled. It took a few days to get the truth out & for the groom to finally listen. The best man thought it be a great prank. The groom was apologetic to the bride, but she didn’t forgive him. Because he believed in others’ lies & won’t let her talk."
"He is a big AH. While hunting for the truth, found out best man has a history of sleeping with groom’s past GFs & crushes. Still trying to figure out why groom stayed friends with this AH. Awhile ago, bride found out groom is still friends with AH."
– RottweilerBridesmaid
What God Says Goes
"My uncle and ex aunt called off the wedding because “God told them to wait” a month before the wedding. They lived across the country so my parents had to fly with three children under 10 years old and the tickets were non-refundable. My uncle called my dad with the new date, about 6 months after the original date."
"My mom called him later and when he asked if we would be coming to the wedding she said that she spoke to god and he told her to bring her kids to Disney instead. My parents still joke about it today and my uncle divorced that wife a year or two later. Happy ending though, he married his best friend about a decade later and they are truly perfect for eachother. She really is a wonderful woman and we couldn’t be happier for them."
– Big_Meesh_
I Wouldn't Give Money Either
"They didn't have enough donations from friends and family."
"They set a date, and when they sent out the invitations, they included a line stating invitations returned without the required minimum would not get seated in the hall, another not allowed into the wedding. The bride and groom would make an appearance outside in the parking lot so they could have a chance to congratulate them, though."
"They received... $0.00!"
"Why? Their minimum was $100. $250 if you wanted food. $500 included "cake service." For alcohol $50 got you 6 drink tickets, and I think the cheapest drink was 2 tickets, and some were 10."
– Demorant
The Future's In The Food
"My Italian uncle canceled his wedding because the bride's family (not Italian) would not serve lasagna at the wedding reception."
"He ended up marrying an Irish woman whose family was okay with serving lasagna at the reception."
– rockyroadicecreamlov
"This actually seems reasonable to me. It doesn't have to be about lasagna but about communication, compromise, and treating the groom as an equal partner. It's indicative of what the entire relationship might be like."
– metmerc
Yup, sounds about right.