Number 10.
Tokyo, Japan: Tokyo is an amazingly big, bright, fast moving crowded city. It has a little for everyone. Tokyo is alot like New York in that the average person seems to always be moving from point A to point B but the less popular or known areas are full of great small mom and pop noodle houses. Tokyo for a massive city, has very little serious crime and people are honest in regards to prices, lost and found, etc. Its a shame its so expensive.
Number 9.
Mexico City, Mexico: Mexico City or the DF, would place much higher, if its negatives were lower. The good, wow very cities in the world pack as much history into one place(albeit, the DF is a huge area). Mexico city's history spans well over a thousand years as a large urban center, the capital for a few distinct people. Teotihuacan is a sight in its own right, add in the Spanish imperial period, beginning of the Republic and you have a city literally packed with history.
Being a city of 20-25,000,000 people and the capital of Mexico, it has food from the entire country(and the world).
The climate is very agreeable due to its elevation and latitude, it enjoys warm days but never overly hot and cool evenings. The negatives? Unlike Tokyo, in the DF you must take safety into account, you can't just grab a taxi off the street because unlicensed cabs do still rob people or set up robberies. High speed robberies are common, so are ATM express kidnappings. Ahh this is Mexico, I guess.
Number 8.
Vancouver, Canada(when its sunny)
Vancouver, Canada next to Rio and a few places has one of the best placements of any city, water is basically on three sides of the downtown, a big amazing Stanley Park next to downtown, the Canadian rockies rising up on a clear day, quite a scene. Vancouver is a busy city, but even in downtown, it has a sort of neighborhood feel, lots of cafes on the sidewalks, people walking their dogs and it sets a nice backdrop. Culturally Vancouver is an immigration mecca with waves of Chinese, East Indians, Eastern Europeans and others moving into the city in the last 15 years. I think its safe to say Vancouver has the best Chinese food from San Diego, US to Alaska on the west coast of North America.
What sucks? Well those big mountains sure make for a pretty picture and supply great snow but they also make sure Vancouver gets more then its fair share of rain. On the plus side, a week of great weather in the winter in Vancouver will really draw people to outdoor activities.
Number 8:
New York City.
New York City? Yes, NYC...Wall street came crashing down, finance industry is a wreck and even some rents dropped, but New York is still a dynamic, world class city. Whats the best thing about NYC? Maybe its sheer amount of representation from the entire world, being the headquarters of the UN and a large finance hub helps but so does its image of an immigrates dream.
NYC has history, architecture, energy and a unique feel compared to other American cities(which tend to want to be stale boring downtowns with cookie cutter suburbs), Not NYC, in NYC people love the city, love living in the busy, noisy, crowded city and love all the benefits it offers.
Number 7:
Istanbul, Turkey
Pop Quiz, What city can you visit and go to Europe and Asia at the same time? Thats right, Istanbul. The only city in the world to st rattle two continents. That bridging of Europe and Asia is symbolic of Istanbul too, its a bi-polar city, not quite fully European, not quite in the "middle east". Its Islamic but tries to remain ultra secular.
Istanbul is a place where there is literally history coming out of the streets, you will pass under ancient aqueducts, can visit centuries old churches and mosques. Rome, Byzantine Empire, Ottoman Empire, Modern Turkey, it has it all, right here!
Number 6:
To be continued....
To be continued....
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