{"id":28907,"date":"2018-09-26T09:32:40","date_gmt":"2018-09-26T13:32:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.runkevinrun.com\/?p=28907"},"modified":"2018-09-26T09:40:08","modified_gmt":"2018-09-26T13:40:08","slug":"september-26-2018-the-third-most-disappointing-european-tourist-attraction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/?p=28907","title":{"rendered":"September 26, 2018 – The Third Most Disappointing European Tourist Attraction"},"content":{"rendered":"

The bloom is definitely off the rose. \u00a0It\u2019s dreary, overcast, and blustery… so windy in fact that at times I might as well have been a street mime pretending to walk against wind, that\u2019s how little forward progress I could make. \u00a0A cold, light drizzle had me pull my umbrella out, only to have the wind invert it into a rain cup instead of a rain shield. \u00a0And this being a run Kevin run story, the restaurant I went to was closed today I not for maintenance. \u00a0Well, of course.<\/p>\n

So I overpaid for a middling sandwich … and this still being an rkr post, splurged on a gelato. \u00a0As I said earlier, it\u2019s an expensive town and this bonus treat was a dear USD$5.50. \u00a0I regret only the cost on that one.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve sought refuge in the Black Diamond library. \u00a0Too confused about how to check my backpack and get a clear plastic bag to go into the place, I\u2019m camped out in the \u00a0annex coffee bar.<\/p>\n

The number one biggest European tourist attraction disappointment is supposedly the Mona Lisa. \u00a0It\u2019s much smaller than people expect and for various security reasons (ahem, Robert Langdon) you\u2019re a good 15 feet away from the plexiglass enclosure, baking it seem even smaller. \u00a0I saw it a few years back and it was fine. \u00a0But the Louvre is an amazing place and if you can\u2019t find something in there impressive, architecturally, artistically, or people-watchingly, I don\u2019t know what to tell you.<\/p>\n

The second biggest disappointment as almost universally echoed by various European tour guides in multiple countries, is the\u00a0Manneken Pis<\/span> in Brussels. \u00a0I saw that last year on my European tour<\/a>, and yeah it\u2019s pretty lame. \u00a0But there are plenty of frites places and 1 euro waffle stands that I didn\u2019t care.<\/p>\n

And the third biggest disappointment on European tourist attractions is here in Copenhagen. \u00a0It\u2019s the statue of The Little Mermaid.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

The last guide I had asked how many of us been there yet. \u00a0A number of us raised our hands and he asked us if we had the typical tourist experience, which he described as anxious excitement building to a crescendo as you walk through the park getting closer and closer … until you see it and utter a monotone, one syllable word:<\/p>\n

\u201cOh.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

I suspect every guide purposefully downplays the thing as a strategy to lower your expecatations. \u00a0That way when you do see it, you\u2019re pleasantly surprised. \u00a0It\u2019s fine and I appreciate the mid morphing legs to fins or fins to legs or whatever is happening \u00a0there on the sculpture. \u00a0I actually enjoyed it more for the people watching, as I and the other tourists scampered about like kids on a playground. \u00a0It was silly and dumb but then isn\u2019t so much of life taken far too seriously? \u00a0I mean, she\u2019s #notmymermaid, but she\u2019s okay.<\/p>\n

\"\"\u00a0<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This by the way is my mermaid:<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

***<\/p>\n

I will say that the walk out to the statue is filled with fountains and sculptures that, like the Louvre or waffle stands above, means even if you are underwhelmed you really should be able to find something to enjoy in it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a> \"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

And by the way, I was far more disappointed in the Merman and His 7 Sons underwater piece.<\/p>\n

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People kept trying to point it out to me in the shimmering water and I even went back at night to see if it was better illuminated. \u00a0I saw at best a vague outline but I might as well have been told to see a sailboat in one of those damn stereogram things. \u00a0I\u2019d have had just about as much luck.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
I don’t know — it looks like a giant blob.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Is that’s head? It’s fin? Ugh. This is really disappointing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I did hear in winter time the water level sometimes drops and freezes, such that merman\u2019s outstretched arms stick up and it\u2019s both hilarious and terrifying.<\/p>\n

I found this on pinterest via a google image search.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The bloom is definitely off the rose. \u00a0It\u2019s dreary, overcast, and blustery… so windy in fact that at times I might as well have been a street mime pretending to walk against wind, that\u2019s how little forward progress I could make. \u00a0A cold, light drizzle had me pull my umbrella out, only to have the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-28907","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28907"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28907\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/runkevinrun.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}