Obsessed with countries, England in particular

Post Reply New Topic

I already live in England, but I sure as heck would like to not live in this time period! I hate it. Everyone has got so rude. Everyone seems to hate each other for no reason. I would live with my own car in a quiet but modern cottage in North Yorkshire with two rabbits, a dog and hamsters.

I've always loved Spain, not the horrible tourist resorts, but proper spanish country! I love the culture, climate, language, architecture and the sumptuous food! Only Italian food comes anywhere close! Getting to Spain from the UK has never been easier and I try to go most years. If I didn't love Spain so much, I could have seen so much more of the world. Outside of the UK (apart from Spain), I've only ever been to Paris (twice) and North Africa.

I too love Medieval history, but the reality of Medieval Europe is seriously grim! So little value was attributed to human life!

I hate to squash your dreams but apart from some carefree summers the 70's in England were drab and depressing; too many shades of brown, chaffing and sweaty synthetic fibres, swirling disorienting patterns on carpets, strikes, power cuts, crass and boorish popular entertainment, dreadful music, stagnant economy and high inflation. I most definitely do not wish to go back. Things did improve somewhat by the late 80's and early 90's.

I'm a xenophile, so I do have an obsession with quite a few times and countries. I would love to live in Spain or Russia, but most especially in tsarist Russia, or Spain during Phillip II's reign.

I don't think christmas was celebrated in medievel times. But anyway I love spain and have spent christmas there before.

It was. This from the Alliterative Morte Arthure, for example, speaking of Arthur:

"Afterwards at Carlisle, he holds a Christmas,
That well-known conqueror, and held as a lord,
With dukes and peers of diverse realms,
Earls and archbishops, and others enough..."

In any case, Christmas was co-opted from the pre-existing "winter is here, best kill and eat anything we're not going to feed through the winter months" tradition - Blodmonath and all that - which is common sense for people living in that sort of way.

As far as places go, I've a liking for the Kerguelen Archipelago, 'cause it's a zillion miles from anywhere in the middle of the ocean. Shame it's a tundra-y dump, but I'd move there instantly if given the chance!

If you ask me, My faviorte nation besides my homeland is Russia, I can relate to there history.
I know alot about Russian millitary hardware (like Migs, Sukhois, And Hind Gunships )
There anthem and the Soviet Union has always been an inspiration to me

Wow, yes. Count me in. At one point in life I did have an equally romantic, sensory pleasing view of what I thought it would be like if I lived in certain parts of the US. That is, the deep south. Either that, or parts of the midwest. Maybe we could have swapped. I'm in Scotland though.

This came about because I found out how well I got on, relatively speaking, with people in the US especially the south (including females!) because of being able to contact them via the internet. The southern US really did seem like THE place to be, THE place where the grass was greener.

I think these types of romanticised, sensory pleasing views have a habit of letting you down like a slap in the face though, by their very nature. I used to see the southern US through rose tinted glasses, but I'm sure you could have told me things about life there that would knock the rose of my glasses if I still maintained a romanticised view of the region.

While I can partially understand the appeal of Russia to some people, my knowledge of Russia and Russian history (in large part due to me and my family being Russian) makes me sort of question that inclination...life in Russia has nearly always been very difficult, if not for the entire population then for large portions of it. There are certainly good things to be said about Russian culture, but I can't say that I would have wanted to live there myself (except perhaps to live in a place that may have accepted me more readily).

Isn't it like that everywhere, though? There are always both positive and negative consequences to modernization. Although I bet that there was plenty of rudeness in other historical periods, albeit expressed in a different manner!

oh i like your posts so much
you make waking up to a freezing cold house sound appealing for cripes sake

i quite like fantasising about living in past eras too (i'm already english). maybe edwardian or victorian

I'm obsessed with America; New York in particular. I don't know what it is, it's hard to explain, I just love it even though I've never been there. Of course those of you who have will probably tell me I'd hate it, but still...

The cottage the OP describes sounds so inviting. It reminded me a bit of the cottage used in the 1960s movie First Men in the Moon. I sometimes think the simpler times would be nice---and that setting in England sounds appealing to me. One of my favorite short stories is Edward Bulwer-Lytton's "The Haunted and the Haunters." The townhouse used in the story is a real place in London. And in real life it is supposed to be haunted. That townhouse has always sounded so inviting to me. I think it would be so cozy having a townhouse in 19th Century London overlooking the busy street below from the front and a beautiful courtyard in the back. Here is a picture of the house in that story.

I've actually been to New York for extended periods of time, and I still love it! I think that it's often quite different from what people would expect, though.

I like your avatar, by the way. He's an awesome character.

Ever since I was a little kid I've wanted to go to Japan. Live in Japan. Eat Japanese dishes. Read and write and be able to translate Japanese. At times I've done nothing but watch subtitled anime or read manga series. Or play Japan-only games on modded systems, region-free discs and emulated ROMs. Someday, I will travel to Japan and visit many places. I want to go to Tokyo Tower, Scramble Crossing, see some Shinto shrines, etc.