# Which would be your second choice of country?



## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Alexander Dumas/ Thomas Jefferson/ Benjamin Franklin is reputed to have said: 
'Every man has two countries - his own, and France.'

France has undoubted allure - but is it true in your case? 
And if so - would you choose French *music * as part of the deal?

If it's not true, what would be your second choice of country, and why? 
Please - no political or religious posts. I'd like this thread to stay open.

Thanks in advance for any interesting, witty or informative replies. :tiphat:


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

I believe I have found mine. Germany has everything I ever wanted, and I cannot even imagine emigrating somewhere else. But just theoretically - Switzerland or New Zealand. Not much in the way of music, but both have gorgeous, incredible nature.

Now you've got me so very sentimental...





_Edelweiss, edelweiss,
Bless my homeland forever..._

I know this song was originally about Austria, but nevertheless...


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

On the whole, I agree with Dumas/ Jefferson/ Franklin - my second choice would be *France*. :trp:

I love the language - it's so sexy and romantic.

I love the music, especially the French Baroque - though a friend played us some Debussy on our piano last week, and it was dreamy.

And I love the style. French women have such a good taste in clothes.

*Vive la France!!! *


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## Taggart (Feb 14, 2013)

Despite the great appeal of French music - Lully, Rameau, Élisabeth Jacquet de La Guerre, Rebel, the Couperins - the French let themselves down with the bagpipes. Even the Breton pipes are but a shadow of the phìob mhòr. Although Rameau uses the musette de cour in his opéra-ballet "Les Fêtes d'Hébé" this does not convince me to adopt France as a second country. 

If I had to choose a second country it would be Spain for its scenery and culture.


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## elgar's ghost (Aug 8, 2010)

As I hate extremes in temperature it would have to be somewhere predominantly temperate if I was to live there permanently - in Europe that would probably mean Denmark or Germany. If I wanted to move to an English-speaking country I might opt for New Zealand. I've also liked what I've read about Uruguay - as far as Latin America goes it seems to be very stable and easy-going despite enduring some turbulent times in the not-too-distant past. Also, my late father was in Montevideo for a while during his stint with the Royal Navy and I remember him saying it was a great place.

As far as music goes, that wouldn't have any real bearing on my choice - I'd simply freight my CD collection over!


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## Kjetil Heggelund (Jan 4, 2016)

I've been to Spain several times and I play classical guitar so it's almost an easy question. Almost, since there's also fantastic and guitar-friendly culture in Italy, but I've never travelled there. Oh, the same goes for Germany, but I speak better Spanish than German. Actually Germany, I feel, has the most intriguing musichistory and culture. Oh...I once picked my city of choice to live and work as a musician, and that was Strasbourg, BUT that's France...my oh my. Better stay with my small-city blues in Hønefoss


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## Bettina (Sep 29, 2016)

Austria, preferably in the Heiligenstadt area. It would be exciting to live in the place that inspired so many of Beethoven's immortal works, and to walk in the great man's footsteps on the trails in the area.*

*By the way, in case anyone is planning to point out that I'm too obsessed with Beethoven, let me assure you that I am fully aware of this fact! :lol:


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

Definitely Austria and Vienna in particular.

A no brainier for me, given the respectful environment for classical music that thrives there.

Since that will most likely not happen, I hope sometime to take a tour of the Vienna area for several weeks, with an emphasis on the lives of the great composers who lived and thrived there, as well as giving me the opportunity to experience concerts and operas by the Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera.


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## FranzS (May 27, 2017)

France is not only my second choice of country, it is an obsession, I can't get enough of it: the food, the wine, the music, the art:
les andouillettes, Debussy, le pain aux raisins, Gracq, le cassoulet et cetera.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

France? I've been there before, but I don't think so. I do have a French last name. Well, kind of. My family uses an 'e' instead of the necessary 'é' at the end of our last name. I'd probably get kicked out of France for that. I'm obviously kicked out of Bettina's umlaut book!

Italy? I do have a thing for Italian Baroque music! I've been there before twice. I was actually once involved with an Italian woman from near Milan. Because of that, I think I'm eliminating this option! :lol:

Germany? Been here before. My father lived in various places in Germany as well. I took four years of German classes in high school, but I don't really remember much of it. It's a nice place, it would be high on my list.

Austria? See above, I've been there before and my father also lived in Vienna. I really enjoyed my visit to Austria.

Switzerland? See above yet again. I've been there before. Zermatt is an interesting place. A car-free town (at least when I visited some years ago). It's almost the total opposite of Houston where we have flat ground, lots of cars, and lots of heat. The McDonald's there is nicer than some of the nice restaurants in Houston. Switzerland is probably too expensive for my tastes, but it's nice.

Eastern Europe? I've never been into Eastern Europe, but my father lived in the former Yugoslavia and in the former Czechoslovakia. I supposedly have a long lost half brother who is ~30 years older than me in Poland. It's a long story probably not worth repeating! :lol: I once learned a little bit of Romanian due to a very hot Romanian woman I once knew. The funny thing is that I did not want to date her. She had no sense of humor! Don't ask me why I even bothered to learn one word of Romanian, but I guess she was just that hot!  I hope to visit Eastern Europe one day, but I can't really say whether I'd like to live there or not.

India? Been here, but would not want to live there. It's dirty and I feel that the people are always trying to rip me off (no offense to any Indians here, I know TCers would never do such a thing!). 

Canada? My parents lived there for a while. In fact, they were married there. I'll be visiting again this summer. This would probably be #1 on my relocation list. It would be the easiest option, but I don't know how well I would deal with the cold weather! Maybe Victoria would be an option.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Tahiti I'm thinking - Frenchish mite nicer.................


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## schigolch (Jun 26, 2011)

The United States of America.


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

I loved Budapest/Hungary; I could live there. Switzerland was also cool, but those folks love rules and regulations. Italy and France are too crowded and busy. I'll take Australia - a lot of space and variety.


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## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

I grew up just outside Manchester (UK) so when my family moved to California a loooong time ago, that seemed like a totally different world. Now I live in San Diego, a place which a lot of people only dream of visting but even so, I do have a dream of where I would like to live...

i would have a place on Vancouver Island in British Columbia, preferably just outside Victoria and would be there from late spring to early autumn, and then would move to Christchurch New Zealand and be there from late spring to early autumn. And where would I be between each early autumn and late spring? In San Diego of course!!


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## JeffD (May 8, 2017)

I grew up in a certain place, in a certain time, and while I can fake being a local (rather well) in a number of places, I cannot sustain the fraud. There is only one place I am home, like it or not.

That said, I would love to hang out for an extended period in a number of places. Some places for classical music and its history, some places for folk music and its history, and some places because more and better mandolins are available. (And some places just because it would be so cool to be there.)


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

If I was stinking rich I would choose England but as I am not I will settle for NZ but not in the cities.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Dan Ante said:


> If I was stinking rich I would choose England but as I am not I will settle for NZ but not in the cities.


Ozzie is better not so cold


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## SixFootScowl (Oct 17, 2011)

Haven't given it much thought, but perhaps Switzerland.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Definitely Spain, just for the weather and the ( mostly) nice people.


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## Krummhorn (Feb 18, 2007)

For me it's a three way split:

Denmark,
Germany,
United Kingdom

(Not listed in any priority order)


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## dillonp2020 (May 6, 2017)

France no doubt. I have loved France since my first trip to Paris at 8 months old. I go to Paris about two weeks a year, and it is always the highlight on my year. The culture, the people, the memories, they're incomparable. For a second I thought Switzerland may be up there, but no. Switzerland offers brilliant mountains for me to ski on, but so does France. France is my choice, and when I'm 64ish, I intend to retire there.


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

EddieRUKiddingVarese said:


> Ozzie is better not so cold










Right on mate, salt of the earth,,,,,,,,,,,


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

It's a coin-toss between Ireland and Slovenia.
The way things are in the UK just now, this is more than a hypothetical question!


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## Gordontrek (Jun 22, 2012)

Happy in the USA, but if I had to move away I would find a rural spot in Germany, maybe around Bavaria. I love the German language and find much of their culture fascinating. I find city life very distasteful, and much prefer wide-open spaces like I have here in Alabama. Photos of the greenery in Germany remind me of where I am, and old German castles, churches, etc. tucked beside mountains always give me a warm feeling. It gives the impression that life around there would be fairly relaxed and quiet.


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## BalalaikaBoy (Sep 25, 2014)

I'm from the United States. My top pics would be:
1) United Kingdom. Contrary to what people have told me, I find the people of the England quite friendly. Obviously, they're not like the Italians or Spanish, but I enjoy their subtlety. It's like a friendly cat rather than an exuberant golden retriever which jumps all over you. Aside from that....yes, I am a sucker for the many accents of the UK and I love their body language. I don't know what it is, but English people have this certain type of smile that looks perpetually like a little boy opening a Christmas present (the fact that most of them have gorgeous blue eyes only makes it more dramatic). No one ever smiles like that in America. It make me look at 45 year old men and want to hug them like a teddy bear lol.
2) Poland. I haven't actually visited there, but their scenery is incredible, there aren't that many tourist and they have a sensible, conservative culture which is predominantly religious. While I enjoy the aforementioned smiles of the Brits, I don't so much mind the supposed lack of facial expression among the Poles. 
3) New Zealand. I haven't actually been there either, but as with Poland, the scenery is breathtaking, and they have some of the highest availability of health foods in the world (manuka honey, grass-fed beef, exceptionally clean drinking water)

Most of Europe is too bloody socialist for me.


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## Art Rock (Nov 28, 2009)

If I were single, New Zealand. Spent two holidays there, love the place. But my wife would veto it.

Until developments of recent years, the UK would have been a good alternative for us. But not anymore.

Germany would be the #1 alternative now. In fact, before we decided to settle definitely in the Netherlands, we have explored the German option (Freiburg and Cologne), but could not find what we wanted (House/gallery combination) within our budget.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

I'll toss a coin b/n North and South Poles


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

I'm a third culture kid, so my home country has felt alien - somewhere to come from, rather than to live in! I feel very little connection to my "native" culture, so the first part of Jefferson's phrase doesn't apply to me! 

I lived in both France and Belgium (France for a couple of months, Belgium for a few years) growing up, so feel comfortable in both! And I'm the resident French opera obsessive, so, yes, I like French music.

But my ideal self is a citizen of the world, rather than belonging to just one culture.


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## Tristan (Jan 5, 2013)

Probably Australia. There are some places in South Australia that look just like Northern California, except where we would have oak trees, they have Eucalyptus. I like a Mediterranean climate and a place where I can speak the language--Australia meets both of these requirements. 

That said, I'd also be interested in living in Italy since I have so much family there and have already been there many times.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Tristan said:


> Probably Australia. There are some places in South Australia that look just like Northern California, except where we would have oak trees, they have Eucalyptus. I like a Mediterranean climate and a place where I can speak the language--Australia meets both of these requirements.
> 
> That said, I'd also be interested in living in Italy since I have so much family there and have already been there many times.


Having met some Australians (especially during my visits to Europe), I do wonder whether they really speak the same English language as us. I can understand people from England, but the Australians have some interesting slang! 

I will say that the Australians seem like the ultimate party animals (perhaps only rivaled by the Brazilians). I don't think I can keep up with them! I've met a number of NZers as well. They like a good party as well, but they are a bit more restrained than their neighbors. :lol:


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

Tristan said:


> Probably Australia. There are some places in South Australia that look just like Northern California, except where we would have oak trees, they have Eucalyptus. I like a Mediterranean climate and a place where I can speak the language--Australia meets both of these requirements.
> 
> That said, I'd also be interested in living in Italy since I have so much family there and have already been there many times.


Yeah, just like Southern California complete with towns (Coober Pedy) with fake Space craft!


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## Guest (Jun 17, 2017)

I had no say in being born in Australia. Not even my first choice. Rather I'd live in Germany if i even had a choice.


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## Jos (Oct 14, 2013)

I'd happily live with my eastern neighbors; Germany.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Jos said:


> I'd happily live with my eastern neighbors; Germany.


Nice to hear that! :cheers:


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

My eastern Kiwi neighbours all live in Oz, mainly Sydney actually


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## Dan Ante (May 4, 2016)

jms said:


> I had no say in being born in Australia. Not even my first choice. Rather I'd live in Germany if i even had a choice.


What is stopping you?


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## ArtMusic (Jan 5, 2013)

I wouldn't mind living in England, a great place for the arts and people are friendly.


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

Born and live in US, but if I were to move, I could definitely live in Canada, at least the parts that aren't frigid in the winter (if there are any! Vancouver, maybe?). Also, I could live in South Korea, although I'd have to sharpen my language skills. My wife is Korean, so I've been there a few times. Love it!


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## Jacred (Jan 14, 2017)

T Son of Ander said:


> Born and live in US, but if I were to move, I could definitely live in Canada, at least the parts that aren't frigid in the winter (if there are any! Vancouver, maybe?). Also, I could live in South Korea, although I'd have to sharpen my language skills. My wife is Korean, so I've been there a few times. Love it!


Canada's not so bad! You could join me on the Ontario side of the border. Not far from Michigan, so the temperature is quite tolerable.


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## Templeton (Dec 20, 2014)

I lived in Berlin, in my late teens, loved it and have always thought that one day I will live there again. As I have grown older, however, the Far East has increasingly appealed, with Vietnam currently being top of the list. Will be returning to the latter again, next week, to further explore the options! Have to say though, I can understand the appeal of France, especially the South, for wine, food, weather and general joie de vivre. I think that we will probably just end up spending several months, at a time, in these and other countries, when the time finally arrives.


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## T Son of Ander (Aug 25, 2015)

Jacred said:


> Canada's not so bad! You could join me on the Ontario side of the border. Not far from Michigan, so the temperature is quite tolerable.


I've been around Ontario a bit, and it is very nice! Never in winter, though. One thing about Michigan is that, as I get older, the winters are getting harder and harder. My wife and I have talked about possibly moving south someday, but it would be in the US.


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## hpowders (Dec 23, 2013)

schigolch said:


> The United States of America.


Yes. On ruminating since my last post here, my first and second choices of a country to live in are identical: the USA!!

I originally picked Austria, as a Bach-up, but to learn German at this late date, would be a real hassle for me.

I need to keep things simple, Simon.


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## Xaltotun (Sep 3, 2010)

All my cultural heroes come from Germany, so that would be the obvious choice. But I have precious little experience on the _real_ Germany, I don't even remember meeting many Germans. So... I think my choice is the _imagined_ Germany in the realm of ideas, where I look at the imaginary mountains and the imaginary medieval churches and have lively but solemn conversations with the phantoms of Dürer and Leibniz and Kant and Hegel and Schiller and Schelling and Hölderlin and Goethe and Beethoven and Wagner and Panofsky and Benjamin and Auerbach and...

The second choice would be an imaginary Italy, with ancient Roman and renaissance and baroque architecture everywhere, I'm surrounded by marble sculptures and paintings of all the masters, conversing in a toga with Virgil and Cicero and Seneca and Marcus Aurelius and Dante and Bernini and Titian and Michelangelo and Ficino and della Mirandola and St. Francis and Canova and...

Maybe my ideal country is a shelf of books.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Xaltotun said:


> All my cultural heroes come from Germany, so that would be the obvious choice. But I have precious little experience on the _real_ Germany, I don't even remember meeting many Germans. So... I think my choice is the _imagined_ Germany in the realm of ideas, where I look at the imaginary mountains and the imaginary medieval churches and have lively but solemn conversations with the phantoms of Dürer and Leibniz and Kant and Hegel and Schiller and Schelling and Hölderlin and Goethe and Beethoven and Wagner and Panofsky and Benjamin and Auerbach and...
> 
> The second choice would be an imaginary Italy, with ancient Roman and renaissance and baroque architecture everywhere, I'm surrounded by marble sculptures and paintings of all the masters, conversing in a toga with Virgil and Cicero and Seneca and Marcus Aurelius and Dante and Bernini and Titian and Michelangelo and Ficino and della Mirandola and St. Francis and Canova and...
> 
> Maybe my ideal country is a shelf of books.


My sentiments exactly. Having said that, the Appalachian/Blue Ridge/Smoky mountains and foothills of northwestern North Carolina and nearby Tennessee, here in the U.S. where I am now, are so beautiful and familiar to me that I would naturally think of them as a life destination - if I weren't already here!

Having said _that_, Mrs. T would want to go home to her family's ancestral home, French-speaking Belgium, or to France (Country French is her preferred aesthetic). That would be fine with me, as it would facilitate my long-desired pilgrimages to Mahler sites.


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## TxllxT (Mar 2, 2011)

Xaltotun said:


> All my cultural heroes come from Germany, so that would be the obvious choice. But I have precious little experience on the _real_ Germany, I don't even remember meeting many Germans. So... I think my choice is the _imagined_ Germany in the realm of ideas, where I look at the imaginary mountains and the imaginary medieval churches and have lively but solemn conversations with the phantoms of Dürer and Leibniz and Kant and Hegel and Schiller and Schelling and Hölderlin and Goethe and Beethoven and Wagner and Panofsky and Benjamin and Auerbach and...
> 
> The second choice would be an imaginary Italy, with ancient Roman and renaissance and baroque architecture everywhere, I'm surrounded by marble sculptures and paintings of all the masters, conversing in a toga with Virgil and Cicero and Seneca and Marcus Aurelius and Dante and Bernini and Titian and Michelangelo and Ficino and della Mirandola and St. Francis and Canova and...
> 
> Maybe my ideal country is a shelf of books.


My whole life I relate not to a country, but to a city: St Petersburg. For a long time this 'second choice' just was "a shelf of books" + a shelf of CDs, but this year we hope to visit Piter for the fifth time. Well, meeting the real thing happened to be quite OK. We reread Oblomov and now I know where the places are that are mentioned, where Oblomov lives and where his 'friends' want him to go. Of course my experience is and will remain condensed to a few weeks in the summer with flowering Lilacs







and:







but somehow the Piter of Mandelstam, Akhmatova, Goncharov, Pushkin and many many more is just present there as well, which is a true comfort. Of course I shouldn't forget the Piter of Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and many many more. So the ideal Piter and the real Piter, they live up to each other... That's a miracle, that never fails to amaze me.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

^^^ Lucky you, Txllxt!
Thanks for all the lovely photos, on this and other threads. :tiphat:


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

Xaltotun said:


> All my cultural heroes come from Germany, so that would be the obvious choice. But I have precious little experience on the _real_ Germany, I don't even remember meeting many Germans. So... I think my choice is the _imagined_ Germany in the realm of ideas, where I look at the imaginary mountains and the imaginary medieval churches and have lively but solemn conversations with the phantoms of Dürer and Leibniz and Kant and Hegel and Schiller and Schelling and Hölderlin and Goethe and Beethoven and Wagner and Panofsky and Benjamin and Auerbach and...





TxllxT said:


> So the ideal Piter and the real Piter, they live up to each other... That's a miracle, that never fails to amaze me.


So do the real Germany and the "imagined Germany". Not sure about the others, but the spirits of Beethoven and Wagner are very much alive. And the mountains are not imaginary at all.


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## Vaneyes (May 11, 2010)

Wall or no wall, 1,000,000 Americans live in Mexico.

Article re San Miguel de Allende...

http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/24/americas/mexico-american-expats/index.html


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## Pat Fairlea (Dec 9, 2015)

ArtMusic said:


> I wouldn't mind living in England, a great place for the arts and people are friendly.


I am glad to hear that someone still thinks this to be true of our ever-more wealth-obsessed, xenophobic and small-minded country. Sorry for the sudden splosh of cold water - I have just come back from colourful, friendly Spain.


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## chill782002 (Jan 12, 2017)

I really like Amsterdam, I could happily live there. Great museums, friendly people. I even like the canals!


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Pat Fairlea said:


> I am glad to hear that someone still thinks this to be true of our ever-more wealth-obsessed, xenophobic and small-minded country. Sorry for the sudden splosh of cold water - I have just come back from colourful, friendly Spain.


England? 
I still like it here, myself - warts and all. 
There must be a pocket of friendly & music-obsessed folk in seaside Norfolk, so I'm lucky.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

chill782002 said:


> I really like Amsterdam, I could happily live there. Great museums, friendly people. I even like the canals!


And the Netherlands in general is a great county to be.


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## Vronsky (Jan 5, 2015)

I think my choice would be between four cities (I'm more related to cities): Manchester (UK), Thessaloniki (Greece), Boston (US), Quebec City (Canada).

Manchester because of the music I grew up with. Manchester's popular music is still one of my favourite things. 

Thessaloniki is still a crossroad of many cultures, great architecture and I really like how the city is organised. They struggle with economic problems and protests in the past ten years, and now with the migrant crisis they have additional problems, but if I'm judging only the city, it's a great place.

Boston, sailing through Charles river, museums, theaters, BSO etc. If you need additional fun, NYC and Philly are not far away. And I like the European style of Boston.

Quebec City, I was thinking between Rovinj (Croatia) and Quebec City, I choosed QC because is bigger city, more options and alternatives, and QC beauty is very underrated. Winters are long and harsh, but Canada's friendly sentiment can make up for that. Another plus, Montreal is near.

I love port cities. There's something special about port cities.


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Vronsky said:


> Quebec City, I was thinking between Rovinj (Croatia) and Quebec City, I choosed QC because is bigger city, more options and alternatives, and QC beauty is very underrated. Winters are long and harsh, but Canada's friendly sentiment can make up for that. Another plus, Montreal is near.
> 
> I love port cities. There's something special about port cities.


Hopefully QC lives up to your description. I'll be visiting it here very soon. Visiting QC has been on my list of things to do for quite some time now so I'm glad that my visit is almost here.

Houston is a port city. I quite like Houston, but I don't know if there's anything particularly special about it aside from it being Klassik's hometown! :lol:


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## musicrom (Dec 29, 2013)

Besides the two countries I have lived in, if language wasn't a barrier, I would want to live in Finland. I visited Helsinki for less than a day, but it was amazing. Something about it connects with me. It just seems like a nice and peaceful place. Plus, it has a great classical music tradition - Sibelius is the best, and there a number of great living composers from there right now. 

If language was a factor (for me, English > Russian ≈ French > Spanish > Italian > other languages), Canada seems like the most reasonable option, maybe even Québec.


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## Ingélou (Feb 10, 2013)

Klassik said:


> Hopefully QC lives up to your description. I'll be visiting it here very soon. Visiting QC has been on my list of things to do for quite some time now so I'm glad that my visit is almost here.
> 
> Houston is a port city. I quite like Houston, but I don't know if there's anything particularly special about it aside from it being Klassik's hometown! :lol:


Surely that is 'special enough'?


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## Klassik (Mar 14, 2017)

Ingélou said:


> Surely that is 'special enought'?


I like the way you think! 

One thing I would miss if I moved from Houston is the great diversity here. You can go to the grocery store or something and see people of many different ethnic backgrounds. It's one of those things you take for granted living here, but I really notice the lack of diversity when I travel. There other other very diverse cities (New York, Toronto, LA, and London come to mind immediately), but very few can compare to Houston.


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## SiegendesLicht (Mar 4, 2012)

TxllxT said:


> My whole life I relate not to a country, but to a city: St Petersburg. For a long time this 'second choice' just was "a shelf of books" + a shelf of CDs, but this year we hope to visit Piter for the fifth time. Well, meeting the real thing happened to be quite OK. We reread Oblomov and now I know where the places are that are mentioned, where Oblomov lives and where his 'friends' want him to go. Of course my experience is and will remain condensed to a few weeks in the summer with flowering Lilacs ... ... but somehow the Piter of Mandelstam, Akhmatova, Goncharov, Pushkin and many many more is just present there as well, which is a true comfort. Of course I shouldn't forget the Piter of Shostakovich, Tchaikovsky and many many more. So the ideal Piter and the real Piter, they live up to each other... That's a miracle, that never fails to amaze me.


I visited St. Petersburg once when I was a teenager. Back then I was a fan not of Akhmatova and Pushkin, but of Russian rock (bands like DDT, Kino and Aquarium - maybe you have heard any of them?) Piter was the place where this music was created and that provided the unique melancholic-and-rebellious atmosphere behind it. I was there on a weekend in October, and what particularly impressed me was this:









Peterhof and the Gulf of Finland beneath a rainy grey sky. Years later, I fell in love hard and fast with another city with a lot of water and rainy skies - the one I call my home now :tiphat: The two cities, Piter and Hamburg really have a lot of similarities.


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## Tallisman (May 7, 2017)

Italy, Italy, Italy!!! 

Gimme a small town in the hills with a piazza with a fountain and a small beaten up old apartment with a view over the hills and it's almost not close...

But it still doesn't come close to Britain, my home, with gorgeous London, the countryside, and Elgar :kiss: 
No, I'm staying here, folks.


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## ST4 (Oct 27, 2016)

Considering that I don't live in the country I was born in, I don't know if I can answer this question :lol:


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## Jeff W (Jan 20, 2014)

I'd have to pick either Wales or Germany. Wales because my family emigrated from there many, many years ago (over 200 now). Germany because the areas I visited (Ramstein and the Black Forest) were so beautiful.


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## EddieRUKiddingVarese (Jan 8, 2013)

I'll vote for Pitcairn Is or maybe even Easter Island
Then I would be free to play my desert Island discs


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## Portamento (Dec 8, 2016)

Greece! Give me Xenakis and olives - I'll be good to go.


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## Oldhoosierdude (May 29, 2016)

_ "what would be your second choice of country, and why? " _

Kentucky.


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## Totenfeier (Mar 11, 2016)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> _ "what would be your second choice of country, and why? " _
> 
> Kentucky.


I know of ONE good reason to live in Kentucky - is it the one you're thinking of?


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## Bulldog (Nov 21, 2013)

Oldhoosierdude said:


> _ "what would be your second choice of country, and why? " _
> 
> Kentucky.


It won't take you long to get there.


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