What in your country/area is totally normal but visitors get excited for?
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When I was a kid we hosted two Trinidadians as part of an exchange in the Autumn and they'd never seen the leaves falling - they were worried that all the trees were dying off. This isn't a "stupid foreigner" gag, it was probably just the thing that shocked them the most. They loved the trains and the narrowboats.
I had a similar experience with an exchange student who visited in february. She very worriedly asked why our trees didn't have any leaves and was amazed when I said that just happens in winter and they come back.
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Raccoons.
The tourists visiting Mount Royal park in Montréal are often charmed by the raccoons. Enough so that they feed them and some even let the raccoons climb on them. The city tries to warn people but they obviously ignore the signs. So now we have gangs of raccoons begging for food near the two most popular view points.
I go camping in provincial parks and the same seems to happen there. It's obviously also locals doing this but, people feed the raccoons, they come back, they harass you for food, they can carry rabies, and it's annoying as hell. I watch people hiking and camping in other countries, like the UK, and I'm constantly jealous that they can keep their food and cook near their tents. Doing this here will result in frequent annoying visits from raccoons (if not bigger animals).
For your consideration.
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
The locations of past atrocities (N. Ireland).
Not even joking. It's a huge part of our tourism industry. It's like those Jack the Ripper tours in Whitechapel. Living here, you barely even think about them, but visitors act like they're meeting Taylor Swift when they spot a bullet hole, bless 'em.
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When I visited the US I was excited to see squirrels running around. We don't have squirrels where I'm from. We took pictures.
It must have looked like we were excited to witness a cloud in the sky.
I grew up in rural US, squirrels everywhere. Still fascinated by them! Moved to the southwest, was sad there weren't trees and squirrels out here. Then saw my first (closely followed by like a dozen more out in the area) ground squirrel!
Some touristy areas they will line up all cute doing tricks for scraps of food. They've learned our oohs and aahs generate treats.
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I'm originally from the Orlando area and worked for Disney for a while. Tourism folks there pass stories around and have their own folk tales of sorts. Your question reminds me of one of them.
Central Florida has anoles, little lizards, absolutely everywhere. A woman was working the front desk at a hotel, and a couple comes up to check in. She tells them the room number and hands then the key. A few minutes later the husband runs back up to the desk and tells her that "there's an alligator in our room!" "An alligator?!" She replies and they both rush to the hotel room, where she finds the wife screaming and pointing at the couch. "The alligator is under there!"
The front desk worker lifts up one end of the couch and spots a four inch green anole. She catches it and sets it outside.OP, I've never been to the UK, but don't you have hedgehogs? How common are they?
I nearly stepped on one the other day. They only really come out at night, and I was walking home across a dark park. You don't see them very often, I think I've seen maybe 3-4 in my life.
Other wild animals like squirrels are super common. I've also seen plenty of foxes and sometimes badgers.
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This is what I was going to say.
In the late 1800s when Jasper Cropsey was exhibiting landscape paintings in the UK, folks didn't believe that his colour palette was accurate
https://collections.brandywine.org/objects/2656/autumn-on-the-brandywine-river
Yup I live right near the Brandywine. PA gets beautiful fall colors! They're also great along the Delaware up near the Water Gap (but I'm biased because the Delaware is my favorite river)
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Chipmunks did it for me. They look and act so much like cartoon critters I couldn't believe what I was seeing.
I love chipmunks! Such a big squeak from such a tiny body, plus I love their pointy tails
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If you're in the UK, then here in the US, it's the sounds.
Crickets, frogs, birds, beetles, giant wasps, small mammals. The spring and autumn are wild with sounds.
My partner is a Brit in an industry where many get stationed here, and they all say the same.
Edit: And if you're outdoorsy, the geography, of course.
Don't forget cicadas!
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I grew up in Portsmouth, England. Some my friends would come to school from the Isle of Wight on the hovercraft service. We all thought the hovercraft was pretty cool, but I only recently found out that it's the only commercially operated hovercraft in the whole world.
I grew up in Gosport and enjoy the looks I get when describing that we needed to get a ferry across the harbour if we wanted to go to a club like Walkabout. I hear the overnight ferry stopped running so you're screwed trying to get home late now.
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
Mountains. We got a lot of em
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Ok. Need a picture of that.
I'm not putting that into a search engine on works WIFI.
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username checks out!
how did you get them?
So only between cities is it without speed. Which I didnt know when I first got there. The next time I was just being dumb, showing off, and didnt notice
The worst part is when you get a ticket, especially at night, they essentially flash bang you to get a clear picture of your face. So not only are you speeding but now your blind for a couple seconds.
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
cactuses
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
Evergreen trees. I know they're a big deal to people who visit but I grew up around them and think they're kind of boring.
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Bikes! I live in Copenhagen and they're everywhere of course. I love seeing people at a big train station taking pics of cycle parking being overfull
Same, im in The Netherlands.
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I'm originally from the Orlando area and worked for Disney for a while. Tourism folks there pass stories around and have their own folk tales of sorts. Your question reminds me of one of them.
Central Florida has anoles, little lizards, absolutely everywhere. A woman was working the front desk at a hotel, and a couple comes up to check in. She tells them the room number and hands then the key. A few minutes later the husband runs back up to the desk and tells her that "there's an alligator in our room!" "An alligator?!" She replies and they both rush to the hotel room, where she finds the wife screaming and pointing at the couch. "The alligator is under there!"
The front desk worker lifts up one end of the couch and spots a four inch green anole. She catches it and sets it outside.OP, I've never been to the UK, but don't you have hedgehogs? How common are they?
I typically see one about 4 times a week, no clue if its the same one or not, they all look pretty much the same.
Its very very very common to see them flattened in the roads though, which is a shame.
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Hahaha. That's definitely wtf.
Thankyou.
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Lakes. My small city has 330 lakes. There are more lakes in Canada than the rest of the world combined.
Ontario has lakes bigger than some countries
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
IDK. Nobody visits me.
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I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
The trees. They’re big. I frequently pass by Douglas firs that are 100+ feet tall and 6+ feet in diameter. They’re just normal around here, but you realize that isn’t common when you travel to other places and all they have are spindly 30-foot-tall pines or wimpy looking deciduous trees. We have some that are notably big even for this area and are definite tourist attractions, but there are also so many that are objectively massive, but we just overlook them.
