X is for...

X was always going to be for Xi'an. Not too much pondering required for that one. I'm not certain I've even heard of another X city - are there some in Mexico? I think so, but none that anyone has ever recommended to me.

Despite that, I did like Xi'an. I went for the pottery soldiers, and came away just really liking the city. The snow was crazy, the clearance crazier, the dumplings were everywhere and you could cycle on the city walls. Where else can you do that? Try and do that in Chester and you'll be tsked right off.

Plus Xi'an is somewhat immortalised for being laughed at by locals for eating weird meat off a barbecue. I think it was a ram's personal area. And if eating sheep penis doesn't make you like a city what does?

And yes,  you're right. I have started at this end of the alphabet because I thought it would be easier. Umming and Aahing because I couldn't decide between Arequipa and Asuncion (bad example, my experience of Arequipa was eating Domino's whilst racked with food poisoning whereas Asuncion was all about karaoke and pirate bar. Asuncion wins hands down - but you know what I mean), whereas this end of the alphabet the cities are fewer and further between. Or all in China. Either way:

X is for Xi'an.

Y is for...

Yichang was my first Y city, which was one of the last gaps in my city alphabet. I was never really happy with Yichang though, it didn't feel city-y enough. Have you heard of it, no of course you haven't. Now in it's favour Yichang is bigger than Leeds, but it's in China, so most villages are bigger than Leeds. It was massive, but had the feel of a provincial market town.

What I needed was a proper, culturally significant Y city.

Yogyakarta, the soul of Indonesia, with its temples, its gudeg and its extreme spiciness. That's a good Y, right? Well yes, but we could do better. How about if an internationally significant megalopolis, chock full of streetfood and pagodas, got its capital status revoked and its name changed so that it begins with Y? Thank you Rangoon.

Y is for Yangon.

Here's a Travellercliche in Y city fact for you. Avocado smoothies are lovely. But I've only had them twice (they're not readily available, presumably because they sound weird): once in Yangon, once in Yogyakarta. Maybe Y should be for avocado smoothie.

Z is for....

I went to Zurich off the back of a list. It was a "best cities in the world" list and it came second after London. I went there, and it was pleasant enough with its raclette and its crystal fairy lights. But holy moly was it expensive. I heard it was expensive and went braced for London-prices-plus. I felt violated when it was double-London-plus. So Z is not for Zurich.

Zagreb, now that's a proper city. My first accidental visit (we missed a rail replacement bus - evidently just round the corner has a different meaning in Croatia) gave me enough to leave me wanting more.

My second visit bookended one of my most ramshackle backpacking trips. The stolen bag / Transylvanian lightning strike / wrong flight one - it preceded this blogging lark, so you probably don't know about it. But Zagreb was ace. An oasis of only-slight-abnormality, compared to the fist-in-the-air bonkers of the rest of the trip. Great vibe, great city.

Z is for Zagreb.