Interesting Barking

[AtW]

Nah, it isn't - just Churchill wants his bone.

[Troll]

I've been to Barking... it really isn't that interesting

HTH

[Mich the Tester]

I've been to Barking... it really isn't that interesting

HTH

In a few weeks time I have to go and spend two weeks in Barendrecht for clientco. If you think Barking isn't that interesting, you really should see Barendrecht. It's a soulless, cultureless hole, built as an overspill for Rotterdam and has nothing to appeal to any aspect of human emotion other than depression.

The only lodgings are to be found in the 'bastion hotel' (an awful chain; I imagine that hotels in North Korea provide more inspiring surroundings and entertainment) or a nearby Worst Western.

Happily, it's 8 minutes on the train from Dordrecht, which is quite a nice place, otherwise I would either jack in the contract or top myself.

[Troll]

In a few weeks time I have to go and spend two weeks in Barendrecht for clientco. If you think Barking isn't that interesting, you really should see Barendrecht. It's a soulless, cultureless hole, built as an overspill for Rotterdam and has nothing to appeal to any aspect of human emotion other than depression.

Happily, it's 8 minutes on the train from Dordrecht, which is quite a nice place.

Never really got on with the Dutch or their cities.

But I only know the towns from a limited number of visits & the people from those I meet on holiday (although we do have a Dutch in the dev team here)

Is there a standout town / place to visit in Holland?

[Mich the Tester]

Never really got on with the Dutch or their cities.

But I only know the towns from a limited number of visits & the people from those I meet on holiday (although we do have a Dutch in the dev team here)

Is there a standout town / place to visit in Holland?

Haarlem's a nice place with plenty of good restaurants, fine buildings and trendy boutiques for the laydees.

Delft is pretty good; lively town squares, nightlife, quite cosmopolitan due to university.

Maastricht is worth a detour on the way to Germany; very laid back place with quite a 'southern' European feel.

Rotterdam is a tip, but if you ask nicely I can give you one or two addresses for satisfying gastronomic urges.

Amsterdam is a stinking, festering tuliphole full of British chavs, American druggies and other assorted scumbags. Just a shame that some of the country's finest art collections are displayed there and exposed daily to the halitosis of the average Amsterdam tourist.

Utrecht is nice in the city centre, but the rest of the place is a failed 70s concrete jungle.

[RichardCranium]

I spent 4 days in Middelburg last month.

It's like Swindon but without the culture or nightlife.

I couldn't find a drink in the first evening - everyone goes to bed at 9pm and everything shuts.

The highlight of the place is the building housing the council architect's archive because it has a sloping glass wall which does not match the rest of the town. It is full of filing cabinets, just like you would expect of an archive.

I could not get any internet access anywhere.

For the other 3.9 days I just wandered around, bored witless.

It does have a 'monument' to slavery which, while I was reading the plaque, was urinated on by a dog being walked by a local. So that was nice.

It also has bicycles. Lots and lots of bicycles. I now know what bicycles look like.

[Troll]

It's like Swindon but without the culture

[Sysman]

Maastricht is worth a detour on the way to Germany; very laid back place with quite a 'southern' European feel.

Rotterdam is a tip, but if you ask nicely I can give you one or two addresses for satisfying gastronomic urges.

Seconded on Maastricht. I found Arnhem quite pleasant too.

Never again Veenendal. Everything shut, crappy Ibis and it always seemed to be Bible Week. Even the folks who worked there were quite emphatic that they didn't live there.

I met a couple from Rotterdam who had emigrated to Leeds. One of the reasons they quoted was to get away from violence.

[moorfield]

Is there a standout town / place to visit in Holland?

Schiphol Airport.

[Drewster]

I've been to Barking... it really isn't that interesting

HTH

Oi!! I lived in Barking for most of my childhood and teens its very inter....... Oh hang on... yeah you are right it really isn't that interesting!