Yep that’s right , you hit the nail on the head first time -Dundee. That’s Dundee in case you didn’t read that right. It’s all very nice and I enjoyed walking round the RRS Discovery but I didn’t quite pitch it into my top ten world cities... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-tayside-central-41761399 What’s your unexpected top ten city in the world?
Rouen in northern France. Stop over on way back from Milau to Calais ferry few years back. We got talking to a mad Dutch Hells Angel type somewhere north of of Milau, he said it was cool stop over. Turned out to be right. Sat outside one of the bars right next to the gothic cathedral on the night time with a very large Leffe, just watching the world go by (and very nice 'the world' was too ). Would also offer up Merano in northern Italy. Very nice.
Its all relative. If you came from Aleppo you would think Bradford is quite nice. I don't come from Aleppo and therefore think Bradford is a shit hole.
I used to visit Dundee for ASDA (they had two stores there). On my first visit, I left my city centre hotel around 6-30pm (it was winter, so dark by then). There was a bloke on his hands and knees crawling from one side of a main road to the other. I stopped to ask if he was in need of help. In a strong Scots accent, he told me to feck off, as he was making his way to the bar across the road, having just left the one on his side. It (unfairly) tainted my view of Dundee somewhat for a while...
Dundee? Dun fuckin dee? No way. Wall Street? Uber cool yanks in Manhattan? There you go then.... Must be right.
I used to get as far as Aberdeen in those days (3 Asdas there) - that's where I discovered how different an Aberdonian accent could be from the rest of Scotland....
Unexpected - Jerez de la Frontera, but it's very small for a city. Bruges is nice, Berlin as well as "coolest", but I'm too old for it and Vienna probably the best in Europe. In the UK, for unexpectedly nice, I'd go for Lincoln. Maybe Cardiff.
Big cities aren't really my thing, but Auckland has a laid back style which was both a surprise and very enjoyable. I don't know of any city in the UK which beats Amsterdam, Barcelona, Firenze Vancouver or Austin. Edinburgh has been fun though!
Living less than 15 miles from Dundee and having worked there for over 30 years as well as having lived in the city for about 10 years, I can't say I'm surprised. Dundee seems like the least cultured UK city to me but over the last few years they have indeed been making an effort. I guess it is all relative. Oh, and there 3 Asdas now.
