Travelling: stuff you like to experience

[Grog]

Like your sweetheart I'm not too much into museums either. I will walk EVERYWHERE, talk to people in pubs, sit for hours in gardens and parks, check out some galleries, eat anything local, shop at farmers' markets, cycle to see the sights... but the only museums I'm likely to visit are industrial/science museums and some historical exhibits. When my husband wanted to see the Louvres when we went to Paris I had to dig deep into myself.

[malkin]

I like museums well enough, but I know I'm more likely to visit them if the weather is nasty.

[Crankin]

We went to London and didn't go inside any of the museums or palaces... it was school vacation there, and some of the historical places had severely curtailed hours. We walked for miles, saw a show in the theatre district, shopped, ate, and we did do a one day tour of Stratford-Upon-Avon, which for me, was really work related at the time. DH took a lot of illegal pictures for me at Shakespeare's birthplace (you weren't supposed to use a camera); I used them for the next 4 years with my students.
I went into a few palaces/gardens when I was in Berlin and Pottsdam, but that trip was more for visiting my former exchange student. In Italy, it was all about the eating, scenery, and shopping, though we went into the oldest church in Florence, and one other art museum. We like exploring parts of towns that are off the beaten path. On the other hand, my bike tours in Europe had a lot of museums and history built in... I liked the brewery in the Czech Republic, too! We actually skipped some of the historical stops on that tour, especially on the days it was raining. I just wanted to get to the end of the riding on those days. But, we did do all of the historical side trips planned for after the riding day was over. Last year, when we went to Spain, we did tons of museums and palaces, both before, during, and after our tour.

[redrhodie]

When I was in Barcelona, I skipped the inside tour of Sagrada Familia in order to go to a bike expo. I kind of regret that, after seeing my friend's pictures of the inside. I was thinking it would be so crowded that I wouldn't enjoy it. Oh, well, it gives me a reason to go back!

[bmccasland]

I enjoy walking around, seeing gardens, street scenes, diving in to an interesting shop or bakery (my true weakness), but I also like seeing the inside of musems. I plot my course by museums / sites to see. I've seen a lot of country looking for the small museums (Museums of Wine in Paris). On the otherhand I've also enjoyed having an albatross fly overhead while sitting on a beach in Scotland.

I have found that it's often safer for everyone if I walk. Get to the destination, then park the car and walk. No one complains too much if you stop in your tracks and/or turn around and go the other way. Besides, you can't smell the bakeries in a car.

Haven't tried bike touring, but that sounds like fun. My French friend (who I've vacationed with), isn't much of an outdoors woman. She'd happily drop me off for the cycle tour and see me at the end. She will walk just about anywhere, so I have tricked her into hiking places, just not all day hikes in the mountains.

[indysteel]

I like a little bit of everything. For instance, I love Paris and have been 4 times since 2004, three times by myself and once with DH. I've been to almost all of the smaller museums and historic sites, but only once to the Louvre for a short visit. It's just too overwhelming. In London, I went to the Tate Modern, but not the British Museum. I tend to like fine art over historical objects and artifacts. I love guided walking tours but also like to wander aimlessly. I love quirky shops, but otherwise don't love shopping. I love people watching in public spaces, street markets and cafes. And, of course, I love the food.

I tend to do better in big cities when I'm alone (I love traveling by myself), but DH and I have more fun on active, outdoorsy trips and in more intimate settings. We tend to go hiking and the like together.

[shootingstar]

I am not certain if those of us, who do abit of art, may perhaps find certain art galleries in our travels, as something that draws us inside.

There are certain types of art media I enjoy in galleries and museums:

any paintings, mosaics, carvings (all media) and some textile/fabric art, some pottery, certainly, calligraphic pieces (because I did do dip-in-inkpot steel nib calligraphy).... Yes, stained glass art is interesting all, hence I'll pop into churches and cathedrals, even if only briefly. There's some really interesting local artistic interpretations of Christianity. Try going into a a local church in Hawaii.

because I've tried some of this art media and to see Masters' works is a treat for myself. So no, Louvre was a great place for me. So yea, I am the person looking longingly up close at the oil painting brush strokes, shading and then standing back to see the overall effect. It's a real learning experience --for me.
What is perhaps tougher to slog through, is that some of the medieval and renaissance artwork is heavily skewed to religious themes.

I get bored with seeing alot of china, jewellery, cutlery, armoury, clothing etc. of the past. Even though I am a decent seamstress and hence, have strong appreciation for complex clothing designs and embroidery.

I enjoy the local outdoor environment also. Yes, local farmers' markets are great places to get a more real vibe and cheaper food. This most definitely is true anywhere one travels. And is ideal for cyclists.

Science museums don't interest me as much unless, it's about the local flora and fauna. I love botanical gardens, interesting/beautiful parks and probably have gained in appreciation of gardens over the years. Several decades ago, gardens used to bore me.

Dearie doesn't mind going with me to some of these places with me, because sometimes I provide some commentary if I've done some advance reading or I know something or offer an interpretation how to look at certain pieces of art. From his perspective, though he doesn't want to spend tons of time. So at times, I just go off on my own happily for a few hrs. while he goes cycling off exploring....taking pictures of cycling infrastructure.

I can only take so much of standing around while he takes pics of local cycling infrastructure. Sometimes he needs a cyclist in the pic, so I'm the convenient model.

[Cataboo]

I sort of do different trips depending on who is with me...

If I do a trip with my mother & brother, my brother has mobility issues... So we usually will book a tour, a cruise, and do something that allows him to see/experience as much as possible with as little walking on uneven surfaces as possible... So we'll get a tour guide, do the museums and all the sites, etc. If I'm on my own, I'm reading a guidebook or four.

If I'm traveling by myself for a ski trip or a kayak trip, then... I am kayaking or I am skiing. So if I'm skiing in the alps or Canada or whatever, I've spent X amount of money on airfare & X amount for lift tickets - so screw seeing museums or culture or buying food, I'm skiing as much as possible. When I'm doing kayak touring trips, I can take my kayak to places that I can't get by car, bike, or walking and camp on utterly pristine places... So screw experiences culture, people, and the rest of that.

If I'm traveling to sightsee by myself - I'm generally trying to get as much off the beaten path as I can. So I will do some of the typical tourist stuff, but will try randomly talking up people and seeing where the local tourist sites are, etc. If I can get a rental car, I will.

I haven't done a lot of bike touring, and I don't really envision that I will... I don't get enough time to travel in any country that I see biking as a really efficient way of getting around... And anything that I see biking, I can see in a car. And I don't have to worry about leaving my panniers or it getting stolen when I'm in a car. I"m also way more likely to stop and take pictures when I'm in a car. If I"m on a bike, I get into "I can't stop till the top of the hill" or "I can't stop at the bottom of the hill, I gotta use the momentum to get to the top of the next hill" mode and I don't sight see as much. I will kayak tour or backpack, because what I can see by kayak or hiking, I can't see from a car. I could maybe see bike touring in Asia.

[kelownagirl]

Like your sweetheart I'm not too much into museums either. I will walk EVERYWHERE, talk to people in pubs, sit for hours in gardens and parks, check out some galleries, eat anything local, shop at farmers' markets, cycle to see the sights... but the only museums I'm likely to visit are industrial/science museums and some historical exhibits. When my husband wanted to see the Louvres when we went to Paris I had to dig deep into myself.

I was bored stiff of the Louvres after about 15 minutes. Luckily Erik was too. LOL. My favourite part was losing my Bus Hop ticket and having to walk all the way back to our hotel. We walk a lot too - we go into some museums etc and I do love to see them but I'm not much into the expensive touristy places.