That it is suprisingly pleasant
compared to how I imagined it. Mid-Eighties Beirut was my impression.
( Kroney, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:37, 2 replies, latest was 14 years ago)

I didn't know there are trees and grass there.

( tangledupinblue hairy badge with moving eyes, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:38, Reply)

Photoshop innit

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:41, Reply)

There was street after street of abandoned derelict tower blocks.
Grey, freezing drizzle blew constantly and the grassless, muddy scrub that passed for parks was plagued by feral dogs and mountain bike riding crack dealers from Moss Side. It was truly fucking appalling.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:40, Reply)

Or, to use the language of estate agents
It was a quiet neighbourhood, with a park and plenty of local colour.
( Kroney, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:42, Reply)

Honestly, Eastern Europe looks like Hampstead Village in comparison.

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:44, Reply)

Having been to a number of ex Soviet bloc cities
I can honestly say there are parts of the South East, in fact parts of Surrey, in which I'd feel more nervous during an ill-advised late night stroll.

Nobody beats the English for random acts of senseless violence, for example.
( Kroney, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:46, Reply)

Rightly so.
Small towns = trouble, from my experience.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:47, Reply)

We're famous world-wide for our prediliction for drinking and fighting.
I've actually got an amusing story that I shall tell you on Saturday about our reputation abroad. Whilst we're drinking, I mean. And probably shortly before we riot.

The ex, in a rare moment of sense, was entirely appalled by British society.
( Kroney, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:50, Reply)

The noble days of Empire truly are long gone, are they not?

( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:51, Reply)

Then, as now, it was the Saxon peasant underclasses
that murdered each other in doorways.
( Kroney, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:52, Reply)

True indeed.
The serfs have been revolting since the dawn of time.
( Monty Boyce, My cheese game is strong, Tue 17 Apr 2012, 8:54, Reply)