Is there anywhere in your country that really surprised you when you visited?

3 comments

1. Valkenburg in the south, close to the border with Belgium. Most of the Netherlands looks the same and I if you’d drop me in a random place i wouldn’t be able to tell you where i am (north, east, west). It’s just all flat with some farmland between villages and the occasional river or canal. Most cities have a similar look and feel as well.
   But the south of Limburg looks very different. Not just the scenery (hills!) but the towns are also different.

2. The first time I went to Alto Adige.

   It was really interesting to be in a part of Italy where most people spoke German as a first language! And the landscapes were extremely different from my home region (Sicily).So too was the weather,the food…everything.

3. I visited a friend’s cabin way up in the Arctic, on an island with a permanent population of 1. The guy had broadband internet and there was a (semi) regular ferry service.

   The cabins were basic, but that’s something Norwegians like. It’s kind of a weird humble brag. “My cabin’s so shit, it doesn’t even have running water” actually means “I’m more of a rugged outdoorsman than you”.