I was surprised at how arid the city and its environs were when I visited compared to what I'd seen on travel videos. Also, this felt more like smaller older village-y buildings as depicted in the videos I watched, but the majority of the city feels very contemporary and rather dull. In fairness, I did not stay as long as I'd planned to visit here, but it's mostly because there wasn't much life on the streets and the vibe wasn't that of an inviting, welcoming, walkable city with plenty of signage, maps, aseos, benches, cafes/restaurants, flora, etc. that invite people to stay a while.
In contrast to the boring block buildings, the Renaissance architecture did pop out as special (though I think it'd do that anyway).
It's possible I missed parts of the city that are more welcoming and well-structured for leisure engagement. What I saw, however, was not as exciting as I'd expected of a UNESCO World Heritage city. read more