Seasonally Geographic Mount Rushmore

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Pretend that you're a GARJILLIONAIRE and you can own four cribs in four different cities, and you spend each season in one. What are your four cities, and which when?

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Moi:

Fall: Chicago

Fall in Chicago is dope, there are all sorts of changing trees and other such greenery, and you get some snow near the end, but not the kind that destroys your soul like Winter snow. Perfect place for the lead-up to Christmas, mad Christmas markets and all that shit. Get some ill cinema viewings in, and you can bang your way to New York as well for more cinemas and museums. Better than New York for living though (imo) because people are friendlier in the Midwest. But maybe if I'd spent 4 years in NYC like I did Chicago I would prefer NYC, who knows.

Winter: Los Angeles

Fuck LA, but it's okay. This one is loose. Like...maybe I mean San Diego, or Palm Springs, or something. Not necessarily LA proper. SoCal though for sure. The weather is dope, you can fucking play tennis in Winter and it's not scorching hot but it's dry as shit, a meteorological couplet you can't experience in every city. Also there are ill cinemas if you're in LA itself. Lots of sports, 2 hockey teams and 2 basketball teams in LA. That's dope. I would just chill here and watch sports. Can even catch some 1000 level tennis at Indian Wells.

Spring: Berlin (need to learn better German first)

I have never been here, I am just guessing here. But Berlin seems very dope from my research, and I am excited to explore it.

Summer: Vancouver

Vancouver in the Summer is dope. It's the only dry time, but it doesn't get too hot. I love Vancouver and am from here so obvs I'm gonna take it for one season, and this is Van's best season.

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Cmon let's see yours, guys!

[brian d]

just based on places i've been:

spring: seoul, i like cherry blossoms
summer: porto, jacket weather in the summertime is nice
fall: somewhere in switzerland (you said i'm a gajillionaire), lots of nice hiking before the snows get bad, or maybe the lake district in northern italy
winter: los angeles, i've spent enough time there to get used to it so it's kinda nice and livable if you stay off the main highways at the wrong times

[MrCarmady]

spring - melbourne. got a great vibe from it when i went and i like a cold winter but i am a hay fever sufferer so will take two autumns for the price of one. loads of cultural activities. was tempted to go for winter there because of the australian open and the cricket season but i think it's too hot for me to seriously contemplate.
if the southern hemisphere is cheating, then i'd go for berlin. shame to miss the film festival but i think everything else you can think of substitutes well for it.
summer - london. love my city but the weather, the crowds, and everything shutting early are the three obvious drawbacks (money is the fourth but we're not counting that, right?). summer takes care of all three - the city empties out a bit, the weather is great, and people start drinking early so you don't feel like you're shortchanged by last call. loads of nice parks, hikes in the area, etc.
autumn - vienna. was gonna go with munich but would be nice to live somewhere new, vienna seems like it gets the balance right. tempted to go for boston because of new england fall foliage but gotta rep for central europe at least in one spot here, right?
winter - new york. city that never sleeps, meaning a cold dark winter can be spent in every indoors space imaginable to man, from the best cinemas and theatres to restaurants and bars. looks romantic in the snow and shit.

[MrCarmady]

the la winter argument is pretty solid with indian wells, hockey and basketball and the weather, but i don't think i could live anywhere where you have to drive everywhere.

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i haven't spent enough time in LA to know but i wonder if there are beachy areas where you can reasonably walk to everything you need. like stars hollow on the pacific, is what i'm thinking. is that just ojai (although ojai's inland)? brian, you ever venture up to ojai?

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autumn - vienna. was gonna go with munich but would be nice to live somewhere new, vienna seems like it gets the balance right. tempted to go for boston because of new england fall foliage but gotta rep for central europe at least in one spot here, right?

this sounds nice. i was going to go the german-speaking world after graduation until covid hit. do you speak german? did you study it in school?

[Silga]

I am not well traveled and so my knowledge of good places to spend different seasons is fairly limited. Haven't been to US or Canada (on top of the list of the places I want to visit).

Spring - London. I've lived in London for almost 3 years and always loved the city during spring. Everything blooms way earlier than here in Vilnius and it is also a time when I used to walk the most instead of using public transport all the time. Lots of great places to visit during the springtime. Also a good time to travel outside of London for places like Cambridge, Kingston, etc..

Summer - Vilnius. I think Vilnius is an ideal place to spend the summer. It is not a city by the sea (three hours drive to the Baltic coast), but I'm one of those people who don't need a beach to feel good during the summer. It is warm, but rarely too hot. From 20 to 30 degrees Celsius. Recent years saw a decrease in precipitation, so it is fairly dry during the summer too. Also, aside from this messed up year of pandemic, Vilnius gets a lot emptier during the summer as most people take vacation elsewhere so one can enjoy the perks of everything the city has to offer without the crowds.

Autumn - Lugano. Probably the most beautiful and picturesque city I've ever been to. I've visited Lugano in September and it was an ideal place to be. It's like the best version of Italy with the Swiss quality to it. I always prefer lakes compared to the sea and Lake Lugano provides gorgeous scenery. It's a short train ride to Milan for good connection to every destination. I would learn a little Italian too.

Winter - Singapore. I know I would hate the never-ending rainstorms, but I have the best memories from my two-week stay in Singapore more than a decade ago. Anyway, I would just enjoy the hot weather as compared to the horrid winters in Vilnius and I would eat the best food every day. Also, great connections to the rest of South-East Asia that I still haven't visited.

I also need a fifth season somehow just to put Amsterdam there. It is probably my favorite European city and I would just go and visit it during any season.

[brian d]

i haven't spent enough time in LA to know but i wonder if there are beachy areas where you can reasonably walk to everything you need. like stars hollow on the pacific, is what i'm thinking. is that just ojai (although ojai's inland)? brian, you ever venture up to ojai?

i've wanted to go to ojai (they have a cool bookstore there) but haven't made it yet. i don't get to spend much time in california since i moved away about 8 years ago. i've just been spending christmas there for the past few years. not sure about stars hollow, but for the most part it's tricky to find places in the general la area where you just walk where you want to go. i'd think you'd need to live in maybe like downtown pasadena to do that, though as far as places to live that's not a bad one, with somewhat decent public transit.

[Holymanm]

Summer - Vilnius

coming there one day! baltic tour 2021, i hope...

[Silga]

Summer - Vilnius

coming there one day! baltic tour 2021, i hope...

Great idea! Let's hope that tours to all destinations will be possible at least by the Summer of 2021.

[MrCarmady]

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autumn - vienna. was gonna go with munich but would be nice to live somewhere new, vienna seems like it gets the balance right. tempted to go for boston because of new england fall foliage but gotta rep for central europe at least in one spot here, right?

this sounds nice. i was going to go the german-speaking world after graduation until covid hit. do you speak german? did you study it in school?

I did do German in school as a kid but then my family ended up moving to Munich which is where I learned it properly. Vienna/Berlin/Munich are all sufficiently international that you could probably get by with not very much German. Definitely recommend all three.

[sally]

is there a country without a shitty government and a population half full of violent idiots? i vote to live there. but no idea where that is. maybe 20 years ago i would have said finland

[rischka]

yeah i can't even think of one. very disturbed to see Q anon spreading around the globe

[deleting traumatic photo]

[greennui]

Lisbon - Cuz of the romantic image I've got of it thanks to the movies.
Marseille - Cuz of the romantic image I've got of it thanks to the movies.
Brighton - I used to live there for a short while and can def see myself living there again.
Winter = Somewhere warm, far away from Scandinavia.

[sally]

Lisbon

i thought that, then i remembered vanda, i don't wanna live there

also second on the warm thing. it's august and i am considering putting the heating on

[rischka]

i do remember a lovely town called colonia del sacramento in uruguay, across the río de la plata from buenos aires, where wintering could be nice



and valparaíso in summer ♥ and there's that beach near celestún in yucatán for the spring/fall. ok i did better

[Holymanm]

Spring: Kyoto

Summer: Vancouver

Fall: Trieste

Winter: Madrid

...and Spring: Calw

[Umbugbene]

...and Spring: Calw

You've been to Calw? Beautiful town, like so many in Germany. I was there 9 years ago long enough to walk around the Altstadt.

Right now I'm with Magpies and Rischka... any place that isn't sliding into fascism.

@bure: Chicago in the fall is one of the LAST places I want to be. It's so bleak once the leaves fall off the trees and the cold gloomy weather sets in.

[Holymanm]

My favourite town in the world! I went there on a little pilgrimage to see the birthplace of my favourite author, Hesse, but I was blown away by the place itself. Very nice people; great stores and restaurants for such a relatively small place; lovely big and little parks, nearby ruins to trek to; mountains and trees and water all around that general region (also enjoyed just about everywhere in Stuttgart, Tübingen, Reutlingen, etc.). And I got an autograph from NHL veteran Marcel Goc, who's from the area. Magical place!

Why on earth did you go there, though? You're the only person I've ever encountered - including Germans (including Germans from Stuttgart right there!) - who's ever even heard of it!

[Umbugbene]

Really? That's pretty funny! I have a friend in Unterreichenbach nearby, and on one of my visits I checked out Calw for the Fachwerk.

If you like Calw I highly recommend Schwäbisch Hall, Germany's best untouristy town. Tübingen and Esslingen are pretty great too. Oh, and Blaubeuren for its setting. I actually made a ranking of my favorite German towns... maybe not surprising considering what we do all day on this forum.

[Umbugbene]

Ah, just caught the Kim Ki-duk allusion

[Holymanm]

Definitely some superb fachwerk there! And I will add those to my list for when I'm back in the region at some point; thank you!

List of favourite German towns... only thing better might be list of favourite German bahnhöfe

[Umbugbene]

List of favourite German towns... only thing better might be list of favourite German bahnhöfe

Never thought of doing that! The Uelzen Bahnhof would be near the top... it was renovated by crazy Viennese architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser with colorful tiles and organic forms all over. The Wiesbaden Hauptbahnhof is the handsomest I can think of from the outside. Leipzig's is enormous with an awe-inspiring main hall, even bigger than Stuttgart's though probably not as big as Milan's.

Here are my favorite German towns below 100,000 pop.:

1. Bamberg
2. Rothenburg ob der Tauber
3. Schwäbisch Hall
4. Nördlingen
5. Dinkelsbühl
6. Blaubeuren
7. Miltenberg
8. Duderstadt
9. Wertheim
10. Michelstadt

[Monsieur Arkadin]

I believe the fall should be spent in Romania. Sinaia is a great fall town in particular. And before the snow falls you don't have the ski tourists, so you have a mostly empty gothic town to yourself. Fucking amazing.

I'd take L.A. winters, and as bad of a rep as L.A. gets (even from me) once I moved away I missed it a lot. Spending the winter there each year would satisfy all my urges enough that I'd feel just fine hating it for the other 3 seasons of the year while I'm gone.

Spring I'd spend in Palestine (Bethlehem or Ramallah), because I have too many friends there and too much nostalgia for it, but it's absolutely miserable in both the Summer and the Winter. So you have to choose your seasons carefully.

Summer in Taipei. Monsoons are part of the aesthetic experience of Taipei for me. Plus you still get plenty of good weather to enjoy, and the nights are warm so you can wander the city from night market to night market.

[liquidnature]

Maybe it's because I'm still young and full of energy, but I love to the take the seasons at their most extreme - I love winter to be cold and snowy, not mild and sunny. Spring - flowery and warm. Summer - hot and dry but bursting with water and greenery, with plenty of outdoor adventuring. Autumn - cool and festive, with turning leaves.

Haven't traveled enough to make a proper list like most here, but they'd probably all be cities or rural towns in the western USA / PNW.

[thoxans]

yeah, i also haven't traveled for shit, shamefully enough. the summer in vermont is nice. you can skinny dip in rock quarries during the day, and warm up next to a bonfire at night