The MasterCard Global Destination Cities Index, now in the third year of the research, analyses a global network of 132 destination cities, their connectivity through cross-border air travel and associated expenditures.

“With the exception of Bangkok overtaking London to be in the top rank in the world, the lineup of the global top 20 in 2013 is the same as in 2012.”

Global Top 20 Top Destination Cities by International Overnight Visitors Another interesting statistics is how much the overnight visitors spend. “New York has retained its top rank in the world in 2013 with an estimated US$18.59 billion, followed by London with US$16.32 billion. Though ranked first in the world by arrival numbers, Bangkok is ranked
fourth in terms of visitor cross-border spending estimated at US$14.28 billion.”

Global Top 20 Top Destination Cities by International Overnight Visitor SpendI was curious so did myself a few calculations and the average spend is very high in Tokyo.

Europe Top 10 Destination Cities by International Overnight Visitors

North America Top 10 Destination Cities by International Overnight Visitors

Asia/Pacific Top 10 Destination Cities by International Overnight Visitors

Source: http://insights.mastercard.com/position-papers/top-20-global-destination-cities-in-2013/

This is my list from the cities I have visited. Initially I wanted to have some hard rules for example to have spent at least 3 days in a city, in order for the respective city to make the list but this means I would have had to leave Amsterdam out, and even if I was there only for around 9 hours, what I saw and had read about this city, was enough to deserve a spot on my list.

Also, it is only a ranking list, even if my initial plan was to do the rating as well. On a scale from 1 to 10 I would have given Vancouver 9 (no city is perfect), but how much should I have given Los Angeles? Is LA so bad to justify such a difference? So no rating and without further ado here is the list:

1. Vancouver
2. Munich – Munich, This and That
3. Amsterdam – Bicycles of Amsterdam
4. Kyoto – Kyoto
5. Hamburg
6. San Francisco
7. Seattle – Museum of Flight, Seattle Art
8. Sydney – Sydney, This and That
9. Quebec City – “My country is not a country, it is winter.”
10. Montreal
11. Toronto
12. Geneva – Switzerland Trip
13. Edinburgh
14. Barcelona – Sagrada Familia, Montjuïc Castle and Camp Nou
15. London – Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace

UPDATE *** I had a feeling I missed a city, and also a city made this list only not to have LA on it . So here goes Geneva and out with Madrid.

Samuel Johnson said : “Why, Sir, you find no man, at all intellectual, who is willing to leave London. No, Sir, when a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
I won’t argue with Samuel Johnson and I do not want to be tired of life, so London must be on the list. ***

Oops, my initial title was Top 10, and LA was not on the list so I decided to have a Top 15 list and LA still didn’t make it and neither Las Vegas.

What’s your list of cities you would like to live in (if you have visited them)? The comments might give me some ideas what to visit next.

Twitter @curbexcitement

Yes, I have been there and I liked the city, my post is here “My country is not a country, it is winter.”

Also, see my post about the Quebec City Airport Lounge, that was the best airport lounge I had been to before I went to the Star Alliance (I think it was Star Alliance as I was flying Air Canada) lounge in Tokyo.

The magazine received submissions for more than 370 cities, towns and villages.

The runners-up in various categories were:

Best Cuisine: Iles-de-la-Madeleine, Quebec

Best Destination: Port Hope, Ontario

Most Community Spirit: Welshpool, New Brunswick

Most Entrepreneurial: Chemainus, British Columbia

Healthiest: St. Albert, Alberta

Greenest: Craik, Saskatchewan

Most Artistic: Bouctouche, New Brunswick

Most Votes: Annapolis Royal, Nova Scotia

 
Twitter @curbexcitement

Gimli is a a town in Manitoba, Canada situated on the west side of Lake Winnipeg, the 11th largest freshwater lake in the world. They have beaches there and no wonder the lake being so huge it felt like an ocean.

Gimli means “Great Hall of Heaven” in ancient Norse mythology and I visited the city last year (only for a few hours). I liked it a lot, perhaps I exaggerate a little (not a lot) but I would spend there 1 week instead of going to a Caribbean island.

Where Gimli is situated

The town of Gimli and the surrounding area is known as New Iceland, and is home to the largest concentration of people of Icelandic ancestry outside Iceland.

Iceland’s flag is everywhere.

Also, there is a huge statue of a viking, height: 15 feet (4.6 meters)

And a mural about the ‘Gimli Glider’, the nickname of an Air Canada aircraft that was involved in a aviation incident in July 1983. On 23 July, Air Canada Flight 143, a Boeing 767-233 jet, ran out of fuel at an altitude of 41,000 feet (12,500 m) ASL, about halfway through its flight from Montreal to Edmonton via Ottawa. The crew was able to glide the aircraft safely to an emergency landing at Gimli Industrial Park Airport, a former Royal Canadian Air Force base.

“At the time of the incident, Canada was converting to the metric system. As part of this process, the new 767s being acquired by Air Canada were the first to be calibrated for metric units (litres and kilograms) instead of customary units (gallons and pounds).
….
Instead of 22,300 kg of fuel, they had 22,300 pounds on board — a little over 10,000 kg, or less than half the amount required to reach their destination. Knowing the problems with the FQIS, Captain Pearson double-checked their calculations but was given the same incorrect conversion factor and inevitably came up with the same erroneous figures.

The Flight Management Computer (FMC) measures fuel consumption, allowing the crew to keep track of fuel burned as the flight progresses. It is normally updated automatically by the FQIS, but in the absence of this facility it can be updated manually. Believing he had 22,300 kg of fuel on board, this is the figure the captain entered.

Because the FMC would reset during the stopover in Ottawa, the captain had the fuel tanks measured again with the dripstick while there. In converting the quantity to kilograms, the same incorrect conversion factor was used, leading him to believe he now had 20,400 kg of fuel; in reality, he had less than half that amount.” From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Twitter @curbexcitement

Also, Vancouver housing market is 2nd least affordable in the world.

One of my future posts is a list of 10 cities that I have traveled to and I would like to live in. Vancouver is so far at the top of the list, but ‘unfortunately’ many people seem to think the same.

“The idea is that, ‘I want to be here so badly that I’m willing to pay higher rent and make lower salary,’ ” said Tsur Somerville, a real-estate expert and professor at the University of B.C.’s Sauder School of Business, in a Vancouver Province newspaper report.

Vancouver’s average house price was $621,300 and average household income $65,200.

Hong Kong is the most unaffordable and Detroit is the most affordable major market.

And going back to the list of expensive cities to live in,  New York and Los Angeles tied for being most expensive in the U.S. Globally, the two cities ranked 27th. Internationally, Tokyo was ranked the most expensive. This is a familiar position for the Japanese capital which has been the world’s most expensive city for all but a handful of the last 20 years. In fact, since 1992 Tokyo has been the ranking city in every year bar six. Only Zurich, Paris and Oslo were dubbed the world’s most expensive city during this time.

View from the Park Inn Hotel, Vancouver Mission Accomplished and Best Hotel View

http://twitter/curbexcitement

I was in Victoria, BC and I went to a levee. I shook hands with Lt.-Gov. Judith Guichon, she said ‘Happy New Year!’, I said ‘Happy New Year!’ but forgot to add ‘Your Honour’ and I had read this before in the FAQ from http://ltgov.bc.ca. In fact it was for ’How do I address a letter to the Lieutenant Governor?’ but I suppose when you speak to her (or should I write ‘Her Honour?’) you have to say it too.

At the end everyone sang “God Save the Queen”; I started to record but my iPhone ran out of battery in the middle of the anthem, and unfortunately nothing was recorded.

I have also seen in the Government House the ‘famous’ Christmas card sent out by Abbotsford police, that features its chief.

A few years ago I had a layover of some 8 hours in Amsterdam. I landed in the morning, left in the evening and that time was the most activity intense I have ever spent in a city (the advantage of having the airport very close to the city by train). I was fascinated by bicycles and took lots of photos, as almost every bicycle had a story to tell (see my series Bicycles of Amsterdam 3, Bicycles of Amsterdam 2). I also visited a few museums and among them the Rijskmuseum where the famous painting ‘The Night Watch’ by Rembrandt is.

I had always wanted to see this painting and finally I had the opportunity even if I had not been planned on purpose (it was cheaper to fly to Vancouver via Amsterdam with KLM).
And I was not disappointed, Wikipedia: ‘The painting is renowned for three elements: its colossal size (363 x 437 cm ~ 11 ft 10in x 14 ft 4in), the effective use of light and shadow (chiaroscuro), and the perception of motion in what would have traditionally been a static military portrait.’
I was there, so I had to buy a copy, reduced size of course, I wish I could have the place to put up a real size copy .

So at the end of the day I got on the train back to the airport. I put my knapsack on the rack and I ‘congratulated myself’ on the nice day I’d had and that I could rest now. And then I realized the tragedy, I did not have the cartoon cylinder with the copy of the painting. I grabbed the knapsack and jumped out of the train that had not left yet.

Where was the painting? I started to frantically run through Amsterdam going to the same places that I had been through from the museum to the train station. The flight was in some 2 hours and I was looking for a painting. Perhaps I left it by the bench where I had a sandwich. No, it wasn’t there. That was the maximum point I could reach without jeopardizing the flight so I decided to run back to the train station but I was still looking for my painting. I was on one side of a market square and I saw it, a light blue cylinder very visible even in the dim light of the evening. A man on a bench was holding it. I went to him, said it was mine, he clearly recognized me as he must have seen me leaving it there but he would not give it to me. I understood the ‘message’, happily gave him 5 euros and got my painting back.

Then again I started running like a mad man to catch the train. Got on the train, thank God they were often, arrived at the airport, ran through it as well and arrived at the gate where the security check was. They were just boarding so it wasn’t so bad but they took me aside, they looked into my bags and asked some questions, forgot what. I must have been very suspicious looking so distraught and all wet because of the sweat.

And the end of the story, I framed the painting and here it is:

The place was Taronga Zoo, Sydney. It was closing time but I did not listen to the announcements that asked visitors to start heading to the exit. I had arrived late (as usual when I visit something) and wanted to cover as much as possible. Towards the end of the opening hours I was practically running from one place to another, trying to make out the instructions on the map in order to find the kangaroos. One cannot visit Australia without seeing kangaroos – so far, I’d only seen them in the form of steaks in the grocery store.

After seeing them, I ran back to the tiger’s enclosure for “the confrontation”. There was no one else around. It was almost surreal, just me and the tiger. He was sleeping so I started using my telepathic powers: I sent the tiger messages informing him that I was finally there, ready to confront him, and I did not know what fear meant.

The tiger must have felt my powerful presence because he woke up and looked at me. I looked into his eyes and he held my gaze. I did not take even one step back, instead I transfixed him with steely eyes. Mere words cannot do justice to the intense drama of this scene.

Finally the tiger could stand no longer my unwavering stare, and he closed his eyes in defeat and went back to sleep.

The tiger wakes up

The confrontation

Acknowledging defeat (back to sleep)

At that moment I felt the song Eye of the Tiger by Survivor was for me too:

This is a follow-up in a more positive note than yesterday’s post Barcelona, the City I Won’t Visit Again.

Sagrada Familia is a large Roman Catholic church in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, designed by Catalan architect Antoni Gaudí (1852–1926).  The construction started in 1882 and it has not finished yet, the anticipated completion date being 2026 (144 years). This long duration intrigued me and I was curious what are the longest construction projects.

And sure enough there is already a list compiled Top 10: Longest Construction Projects , everyone likes top 10 of this or that

No.1 The Great Wall – started: circa 400 B.C., completed: circa A.D. 1600, duration: 2,000 years
No.6 York Minster Cathedral – started: A.D.1220, completed: A.D. 1472, duration: 252 year
Once finished Sagrada Familia will be here and the Coliseum will no longer make the list.
No.7 Sacsayhuamán – started: circa A.D. 1445, completed: circa A.D. 1508, duration: 63 years
No:10 The Coliseum - started: circa A.D. 70, completed: circa A.D. 80, duration: 10 years

Montjuïc Castle offers a very good view over the city and its harbour and is worth the trip.  ”From this castle, the regent General Espartero indiscriminately bombarded the city with 1014 mortar bombs when the city revolted against his dictatorial rule. Espartero is notorious for his declaration, “Barcelona should be bombed once every fifty years”. The following year, after defeating Espartero in an uprising, the Catalan General Prim launched over 2500 bombs on the city and its people when –dissatisfied with Prim’s backsliding and lack of support for Catalonia– the city rose up against him. Prim overcame the revolt but was eventually killed by his opponents.” From www.barcelona-tourist-information.info/montjuic-castle.html 

No trip to Barcelona is complete without visting Camp Nou and the FC Barcelona museum (the second-most visited museum in Catalonia). The stadium is the largest in Europe and the 11th largest in the world in terms of capacity. And again a list but this time of the largest stadiums in the world in terms of seating capacity:

1. Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the USA (297,000 capacity)
2. Rungrado May Day Stadium in North Korea (150,000 capacity)
3. Salt Lake Stadium in India (120,000 capacity)

Generalissimo’s Cup (Franco was the Generalissimo)

FC Barcelona Anthem (El Cant del Barça)

Other photos

They are statues, not people sleeping

Barcelona is the first city I will say I won’t visit again. No other city that I have visited in the past 20 years left me such a bad taste and it is a pity as it is a very beautiful city.
 
It was sickening to see so many pick-pockets. Nothing has happened to me but still I did not like it. I thought that perhaps it was only me, some anecdotal evidence that there were (much) more pick-pockets than in any other city but I came across this list compiled by TripAdvisor:

Global Pickpocket Top Ten 2010 (vs 2009)

1. Barcelona, Spain (1)
2. Rome, Italy (2)
3. Paris, France (5)
4. Madrid, Spain (-)
5. Athens, Greece (9)
6. Prague, Czech Republic (3)
7. Costa Brava (Alicante Province), Spain (-)
8. Lisbon, Portugal (-)
9. Tenerife, Spain (-)
10. London, England (-)

Barcelona was no. 1 in 2009 and 2010 and I am quite sure the situation has not changed in 2011/2012.

I have compiled a list of pages that could help the tourist in Barcelona. However, it was dis-heartening to read some stories of people who knew about Barcelona’s reputation and took all precautionary measures and they were still pick-pocketed.

Robbed in Barcelona? What I did + tips to beat the pickpockets
Barcelona Safety – Learn and Apply The 16 Safety Guidelines to Safeguard Your Personal Safety
Barcelona Pickpockets – Real Life Stories And Tips on How to Beat Them

Perhaps this is the way to visit Barcelona, they seemed to be from the Secret Service (was someone from Obama’s family in the group of tourists?).