Charles de Gaulle: CDG hands down, although the staff there are fine. It's just a dirty airport that badly shows its age. It needs to be burnt to the ground and rebuilt from scratch. I think it's way beyond being able to be remodeled.

Dublin: For a country that is masquerading as a first world nation, the biggest airport is like ellis island - it's crowded, confsuing, inefficient and outdated. As a matter of fact, the only thing that seems to have changed there in 30 years is the size of the crowds, which have grown exponentially. Flying internationally there is bad enough when its transatlantic, but within the EU they stick you into this little area about a 1/2 mile from the regular terminal that is crowded like a bus station; hell, it LOOKS like a bus station, and you still have to walk out the the tarmac and line up and get on the plane. this isn't a problem in, say, phoenix, but last i checked it often rained in ireland.

Philadelphia: to anybody out there,if you are flying in from Europe, and you have to connect in Philadelphia, you are missing your flight. I used to work for Lufthansa there, and I would say about 20 people from each flight would miss their connection because they either could not figure out where to go for their connection, or did not have enough time to get from one terminal to the next. And most of the people who work there are clueless and could not care a lick about you. You are lucky if you have never had to go through that experience in your life.

Jordan: Sadly, Petra in Jordan. I didn't exactly expect to have it to myself, but I also didn't expect (1) to have to smell donkey/camel shit for the entire walk through the Siq to the Treasury, I didn't expect (2) to see some Bedouin trinket stall in front (literally) or even inside every ruin, I didn't expect (3) to have quite so many people tugging at my arm to buy something, and I didn't expect (4) to see quite so much garbage in some of the "backcountry" locales we sought out to get away from (1), (2), and (3). I did expect the voluminous vomit of package tourists, though, so I can't really complain about that.

Morocco: Chefchouan, Morocco: The Euro stoner tourist vibe was so heavy that it was almost oppressive, leaving a noticeably heavy tourist imprint on what would likely otherwise be a nice town. Like Disneyland for the hash crowd, I have no need to go back.

Croatia: Many people (and guide books) had built Croatia up to be some sort of absolute paradise and overall it was OK (I loved Plitvice park) but it definitely didn't live up to my expectations. Nice country but not amazing - more expensive than I expected (groceries surprisingly so) and finding sobes (rooms for rent) was a major pain in the ass sometimes. Give me Greece any day over Croatia.

Sarajevo: I'm afraid I am going to be unoriginal and go for Sarajevo too. A very enjoyable place to hang around for a week or so. In addition to what everyone else said, I love the feeling of being close to the mountains, and the views you come across walking around the hilly suburbs.

Tirana: The most Balkan of all the capitals. Ripped-up pavements, mosques, bazaars, Communist monuments and the wildest colour scheme of any city in the world. The mayor Edi Rama has unleashed artists to repaint hundreds of apartment buildings, even if the residents didn't know about it. Now all the Communist grey has been replaced with lurid pink, orange, green, yellow and purple, often just on one building. Blloku must have more bars and cafes per square metre than anywhere this side of Bangkok.

Sofia: At first look horrible, but after couple of days fantastic, Sofia is a very young city (tons of students) and has lots of night life. The city centre is compact and overall very nice. One can ski/hike on Mt. Vitosha, only 20 mins from the centre.
 

Varna: Varna is well worth a visit in the summer, it's a great city. Lively nightlife, laid back attitude and nice beach. It's also a good place to base yourself to explore the rest of the Black Sea coast. Resorts like Sozopol and Nessebar are very pretty, but packed with tourists in summer and accommodation is pretty hard to find and can be very expensive. Varna is the only place along the coast with youth hostels and the prices (food, drink, taxis etc) are much cheaper than elsewhere as there are not so many Western tourists.

Sofia: I think one of the major problems is that the city doesn't have a central focus for people (and tourists) to congregate. Instead, it has many smaller areas -- parks, squares, etc. -- that take a little more time to see and appreciate. It's also not as pedestrian friendly as some other major cities in the region. And it doesn't have a quaint and historic "old town" like some other Bulgarian (and Eastern European) cities. Since it's the major transit hub for the region, you'll probably be heading to Sofia anyway. For that reason, I'd say it's worth a full day, and perhaps two, depending on how much time you have to travel.

Nessebar: If you will be there when the weather is warm, it is a nice place to go and walk around all the little shops that are there. It is beautiful as well --since it is its own peninsula.

·Puffins: Look for them in the summer months - after 25 June thru August. Many places are off limits b4 that due to nesting. Go to Westmann Islands in Aug (look for actual dates) when islanders help baby puffins head to the sea,near Dyrholaey or the Snaefellnes Penisula.

·Glaciers: Between Kirkjubæjarklaustur and Hofn is Jökulsárlón - fabulous colors where glacial ice breaks into smaller pieces and escapes to the North Atlantic.

·Black Sand: Oh, I would have to add Vik as a great photo op -- the black sand beaches and rocky formations in the ocean are quiet amazing, as are the surrounding cliffs! Some of the bus tours go there, but might not offer you a lot of time to take shots. One I went on stopped in Vik for lunch and I skipped the meal to take photos, but could have used a lot more time.

·Laos: There is a hmong food market about 8kms out of Vientiane. I have seen some pretty strange things there. As you head out of town past the southern bus station there is a junction where route 13 heads right. The left is towards Bancun, route 10. About 2 kms along on the left in the afternoon you will find that market.

·Malaysia: in Malaysia, Kota Baru's Central Market, Kuala Terengganu's market (before it moves into new hygenic and soulless surroundings) and especially the Sunday morning market along the river in Temerloh (1 hr 45 mins from KL). There's a long post on the latter at eatingasia.typepad.com, look in the Beyond KL (or sth like that) section on the sidebar. Also Pudu Market in downtown KL.

·Cambodia:
Mahachai, about an hour out of Thonburi by train, is another nice one. The train stops right in the market. In Thonburi where the ride starts (Wong Wian Yai) it is all markets and food vendors. There are few if any westerners at either end.

·Staring: Wherever you are, AVOID staring at Albanian males. Prolonged eye contact is offensive for Albanians, and in many cases has been a cause for fights.

·Talking: When having a friendly discussion with an Albanian, it will most probably drift towards POLITICS. This is one topic that Albanians spend probably 40 - 50% of their time talking about. My advice to you is DO NOT get involved in such discussions. Albanians can become very passionatly involved in such conversations, and it is no news that friendships have gone sour because political views did not match!

·Blood Feuds: You may have heard of the so-called "Gjakmarrje" (Blood feud) which is still present in northern Albania. If there is a quarrel about land and a male from a family gets killed than the victim's family has the RIGHT to kill another male member of the murderer's family (or the murderer himself). My dear friends, blood feuds in NO WAY affect foreigners. First of all it is unlawful by the Code's rules; second of all you'd have no reason to get involved.