Woman 'dying to go home' as dream trip inspired by influencers 'just not real'
An Australian has dug into a generally beloved European city claiming it is "not all it's cracked up to be".
Last week another Aussie, Isabella Highfield, went viral after sharing savage review of the Amalfi Coast. The Sydney woman had visited the picturesque must-see Italian area in early August but left disappointed. She published a video which claimed to 'de-influence' the region.
While she admitted that the Amalfi Coast was "one of the most beautiful places she's ever been too", aside from the aesthetics she was not a fan. The tourist explained how long and complicated the journey into the area is, and how dangerous it felt. She left vowing never to return.
Now another Australian, the influencer Mikaela Testa, is getting in on the act. On 15 August she posted a video of herself in Italy, specifically on the island of Capri, claiming "it is not all it’s cracked up to be".
Take a boat trip for the ultimate peaceful experience (Getty Images/iStockphoto)"Influencers come to these locations and make them look so pretty and so photogenic and so amazing, but half of it is edited and filtered and just not real. I hardly see anyone mentioning any negatives, I don’t even want to mention them because I don’t want to be that b***h," she said.
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Mikaela, who has been travelling the world for the past three months, has now moved on to Barcelona. Unfortunately for the Instagram model, this hasn't cheered her up.
"It’s been three months, we’re just dying to go home at this point, we’re just hating, we’re being negative, you get to a point in life where you start to hate everything around you and you just need something stable. Like my own bed, my own TV and my cats," she continued.
The Australian complained that being in Europe requires a huge amount of walking and that they are burning "literally 3,000 calories a day" from walking up stairs. She claimed that her group was having to dump water over themselves constantly to survive in the heat.
Mikaela also urged people to avoid heading to Barcelona, arguing the Catalan city was not worth the hype. "I stand in p**s every single day, this place stinks, and it’s horrible," she said.
Testa went on to claim that all of her friends had their phones stolen and she talked about how bored they all were. During part of the video she showed her pals walking around the streets with their pyjamas on. "It’s 8pm, and yes we’re wearing pyjamas outside because there is no point in looking good for this city," she said.
Mikaela's criticism of a city which is one of the most popular in Europe among tourists did not go down particularly well. "Barcelona is amazing, what are you talking about," one comment read.
In response to the comment, the Aussie wrote: "Why does nobody mention the negatives like literally urine puddles EVERYWHERE and major crime, violence and theft in daylight!”
Her point about thefts and crime generally in the city was met with some agreement from people who had been victims themselves. "Went on a full train and my mum’s wallet got stolen right in front of me, also a guy too and he had it in his fanny pack in front of him," one person recalled.
Another added: "Barcelona was so rough for me. My phone and wallet got stolen."
While they aren't likely to welcome such harsh criticism, officials in Barcelona appear to be in agreement that something needs to change in the city. Earlier this year the local authority declared that the city was too busy.
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The mayor of the city, Ada Colau, said she wants to cut the number of cruise ships visiting Barcelona as part of a string of restrictions designed to prevent more tourists visiting, including limiting the number of hotel beds and new hotels in the city.
She told the Times: "The great challenge is tourism. Barcelona is a very densely populated city, hemmed in between the mountains and the sea, with restricted space. We can’t take infinite numbers of tourists. There has to be a sense of limits and order."
Each year 27million people visit Barcelona, which is around 16 times more people than its full-time population.
Deputy mayor Jaume Collboni has said Barcelona is trying to attract "quality over quantity" when it comes to visitors to the city. He said this means fewer people coming, but spending more money.
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