Visitor’s views: Mark Christensen’s ‘sarcastic travel guide to Lincoln’ has sparked varied interest, as he talks about his view of the city as a Lincolnite from the US.
A visit to the city of Lincoln can conjure impressions of award-winning streets, iconic attractions and fascinating history. But what do visitors to the area really think?
A new video guide to Lincoln has been sparking some varied interest as traveller, teacher and musician Mark Christensen shared his take on the county. Travelling from the US, the ‘sarcastic’ video guide depicts a view of Lincoln UK from a US Lincolnite.
Mark Chistensen is from Lincoln, California and has also lived in Slovakia. After earning a Masters degree at St Andrews University in Scotland, in Sustainable Tourism, Mark has enjoyed travelling and teaching across Europe.
Tourist Mark Christensen made a ‘Sarcastic travel guide to Lincoln’.
“Since I also used to work in media production, I decided that I would take videos of the cities I visited and create short, informative episodes to highlight my tourist experiences of the city”, says Christensen.
“The point is to be informative and highlight my own experience, but also add in my own mildly funny and sarcastic personality”, Mark said.
“I obviously enjoy every place I visit, but I also like to give a jab or two for fun. I think I was especially harsh on Helsinki, which was a city I actually didn’t enjoy very much.”
Among familiar scenes of Lincoln landmarks in Mark’s video, attractions and some ‘comical’ street names, Mark also highlighted a few mild criticisms.
“I was taken back by all the shopping,” Mark said. “That’s more my own criticism of western consumerism – related to the whole sustainability thing.
“The first thing I noticed about the town was all the red brick houses, which I think made it extremely beautiful. And, of course, many of the British road signs, houses, etc. reminded me of Scotland.
“Another great thing I love about the city (and maybe English culture in general) is all the signs that give very specific warnings. The conversational signs are fun and, I think, very unique. I haven’t seen anything like that outside of Lincoln.”
The figures for 2012, from the Lincolnshire Research Observatory, showed that 17,419,000 people visited the county, with just over 14 million visiting for the day.
Mark Christensen’s trending video guide gives a unique look at the city through a tourist’s eyes and adds a subtle element of comedy.
“I’ve had a lot of comments from Lincolnites on Facebook and it’s interesting to see how people react,” Mark said.
[button url=”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Esa7inTDE5E” title=”Youtube”]Watch ‘The sarcastic travel guide to Lincoln’ on YouTube[/button]
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