It's official: BXL tops A'dam

[English assassin]

Ah, well, you know as much about Owen as we do then.

Dussert is apparently a "Traducteur d’un obscur poète rosbif - le britannique Wilfred Owen" hence the question.

BTW I struggled with un drôle d’animal. With the aid of google I think an (idiomatic but old fashioned) translation would be "a queer fish", is that right?

Maybe they should film him? There was a very good series of Maigret here in the 1980s and the repeats always make me want to visit France and make world-weary comments while sipping an armagnac in a corner cafe somewhere. Surely the honour of Belgian detectives needs to be rescued from Hercules Poirot and the ghastly Agatha Christie? European rapprochement through crime fiction, the EU has funded worse.

Annnyway..., back to la belle epoche, cocktails, and the opera.

[Vladimir]

But I live smack dab in the middle of the bloody Bible Belt, on Goeree-Overflakkee, as rural as it gets (though you can usually find me in glorious Rotje Knor), and the core of our village looks almost exactly the same as the core of Amsterdam save perhaps the height of the buildings (in Amsterdam they're marginally higher... wow).

I just find that most Dutchmen -- that is, those not from Rotterdam -- view the concept of "city" exactly like they did five centuries ago... yawn. Real cities are Rome, Istanbul, NYC, Paris (though everybody knows it's crackin' in Paris outside of the city core! ), Miami, and yes, Rotterdam... that's where it's up. Amsterdam, Utrecht -- anything in the Benelux not Rotterdam... it just looks like a freakin' village! Get me outta here and back to the urban environment!

I agree with your opinion of cities. They should be a center of modernization and not quaint little things that would look good in a museum.

[Adrian II]

Surely the honour of Belgian detectives needs to be rescued from Hercules Poirot and the ghastly Agatha Christie?

I don't think anyone on the continent has ever taken Agatha Christie seriously, even when she was writing about Britain.

[Louis VI the Fat]

Ah, well, you know as much about Owen as we do then.

Ah wait that's right, that character translated obscure English poets. I wouldn't call Owen obscure, but just like that guy who wrote 'In Flanders Fields' and who's name unfortunately eludes me for a moment, he's known for just one single poem. But both had the good fortune to write that poem about WWI though. Poems which are still read today because they encapsulate one of the most tragic moments in our history. Both would have been long forgotten, indeed would never have left the mists of obscurity were it not for a few brilliant lines of poetry they scribbled in the trenches.

BTW I struggled with un drôle d’animal. With the aid of google I think an (idiomatic but old fashioned) translation would be "a queer fish", is that right?

I do not know the meaning of 'a queer fish'. Maybe it's an English expression I'm unfamiliar with, but it sounds like something an online translator would come up with. Me, I'd translate un 'drôle d’animal' as a 'funny creature'. Somebody who is odd, in a singular kind of way. You can also use it for things instead of persons. You'd use it to express a certain bemusement, used if you think someone or something is weird but you mean that not in an unsympathetic kind of way. Consider:
L’homme est un drôle d’animal social, n’est-ce pas? 'Man is a funny social creature, isn't he?' I.e., humans are peculiar in that they're social.
Ou: l'Union européenne est un drôle d'animal. 'The European Union is a funny creature'. (If creature can be used here) It emphasises the EU's singular and odd nature here.

Et: le Marsupilami est un drôle d'animal belge. Hehe.

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

Let's ditch the city bashing, too. Instead, why don't you explain to us what makes Rotterdam the best city in the world?

I don't know. I hear the bombing improved it.

[Fragony]

What so great about skylines, only blocks the sun. And a skyline you can build, everywhere. And they are... everywhere. Frankfurt or New York, looks the same to me, the same boring buildings. Oh it's high it's shiny yay. And no Rotterdam has no soul, it has tall buildings but not the energy of New York. It's just about nothing. And what city life, having to take cap when you change plans isn't metropolian, it's just a hassle.

[Adrian II]

I don't know. I hear the bombing improved it.

Rotterdam est une drôle de ville.

[Kralizec]

I don't know. I hear the bombing improved it.

You're German, you're not allowed to joke about that

[The Wizard]

What so great about skylines, only blocks the sun. And a skyline you can build, everywhere. And they are... everywhere. Frankfurt or New York, looks the same to me, the same boring buildings. Oh it's high it's shiny yay. And no Rotterdam has no soul, it has tall buildings but not the energy of New York. It's just about nothing. And what city life, having to take cap when you change plans isn't metropolian, it's just a hassle.

Once again: it's a matter of opinion. The mistake you're making is presenting yours as fact.

My opinion is that Amsterdam/Brussels/Antwerp/Utrecht = overestimated villages; your opinion is Rotterdam = soulless pile of glass and steel.

Thread over. Well, as far as I'm concerned

[Fragony]

Once again: it's a matter of opinion. The mistake you're making is presenting yours as fact.
[/SIZE]

In a 'city x' tops them both kind of way huh

Not that I am so crazy about Amsterdam, disneyland for adults

[Adrian II]

I think I made a mistake in my initial post by comparing Brussels to Amsterdam, even though it was meant as a compliment to Brussels and certainly not as a sneer against my home town. If the negative posting doesn't stop, I suppose this thread has served its purpose and can be locked.

Yes, I must be growing mild in my old age.