All this talk on my blog about what’s ‘real’. I remember when LOML and I first saw The Sphinx in Egypt and it was beyond disappointing. You know how you see all those Egyptian photos like this…
… and the Sphinx looks really enormous?
Well, it’s not.
It’s only about the size of a truck – a bit bigger than dump truck, a bit smaller than a Pajero. Having associated this gigantic Sphinx with the majesty of Egypt for so long it was… disappointing to find that one could walk around it in about 15 seconds. The pyramids were at least 100 times bigger.
From that moment on when something on our travels did not live up to its reputation, we decided it was suffering from “The Sphinx Effect”.
The Sphinx Effect was in operation across the world.
Big Ben was… just a clock and not a particularly big one at that. Having viewed it for herself and finding it afflicted by The Sphinx Effect, my mother continues to call it ‘Little Ben’ to this day.
Have you ever been to the Pantheon in Rome?
It looks like a building worthy of some space and landscaping, right? Sadly it’s actually cramped into the busiest piazza imaginable and the stunning view above is achieved through the doors of the Maccas 5 metres across the road.
While there are many, many other examples of the Sphinx Effect in operation, we’ll stay in Italy and visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
* It is my experience that whenever someone says this to you about someone, you really must go out of your way not to meet them. It never ends well.
[Den Lille Havfrue image from here; Sphinx image by Jerry Burns; Little Ben found here; View of the Pantheon from Maccas found here; Pisa leaning from here]
Rhi@FlourChild says
This comment has been removed by the author.
BabyMac says
Have you been to the Big Potato down the road from my house?
Don’t.
It looks like a big pile of shit.
I am beside myself about seeing you this Saturday – YOU were someone I “knew” I had to meet but you did NOT disappoint. Like Paris – sometimes things are as good as they look/sound x
Chantel says
Stonehenge – you get a much better view driving past on the motorway :o)
Mel @ Coal Valley View says
I understand completely what you are talking about – I suffered the sphinx effect when I saw the Collosseum in Rome for the first time and I have heard foreigners say the same thing when they see the Opera House for the first time too.
I’m going to envisage the Eiffel Tower to be the size of my letterbox to avoid the sphinx effect when I get to see it for the first time in December – nothing is allowed to disappoint on THAT trip!!
Maxabella says
Sphinx… See, told you I was a loser!! x
Maxabella says
I can’t handle it now, Rhi. I’m editing… x
Mrs Bok - The Bok Flock says
LOL!!!! I love your asterisked side note! 🙂
I try to manage my own expectations so I don’t get the sphinx effect…(love it!) but I’ve really found that effect rampant at work lately. Maybe I’m just getting older and grumpier!!
I loved Paris. Was totally expecting to be disappointed. I wasn’t! Adored it. It’s the sphinx antidote!
Then again I loved the pantheon too … Rome amazed me with all of it’s crumbling historical buildings just crash bang in the middle of modern daily life. How lucky the Romans are to have that. Drive down the street, oh! There’s the colosseum! Walk to the bus stop….casually pass another ancient fountain or building.
Tall buildings always give me the bleh sphinx effect.
Seana Smith says
Oh but I loved the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but then I am a builder’s daughter. Adore the Opera House and the Coliseum and all aged ruins of Greece (was a young Classicist at the time). Hmmm….have never seen the Sphinx and had no idea it was little; expectations adjusted!
My mum always says: ‘Keep your hopes high and your expectations low.’ Good advice, Mum.
Miss Pink says
Mr Black doesn’t believe you. I told him we will have to travel to see for ourselves.
FTR I do believe you but I just want a holiday to Europe!
wendy hill says
The opposite happens to me when being hooked up. I avoid them by nature of course or nervousness that perhaps theyve been told the same about me, then they eventually become my best friends for life! It has happened to me three memorable times now and next time ill be listening, x
Karen Wilson says
I’m currently suffering the Sphinx Effect with motherhood…..
And I totally felt the same about “Big” Ben. Actually a lot of my London sightseeing was like that….
And thanks for saving me the trouble of travelling around the world to see many of these “AMAZING” things… LOL
Mili O says
I had to laugh at the mermaid. I have not been but my husband tells a great story about how he wasted a whole day trying to find it and it was the biggest dissapointment. After living in London for a while though, i must say i do like Big Ben.
Aureart says
Ciao, Hi there
Ah . . .Yes, the Sphinx Effect . . .Ahaha . . .funny !
do they looks really enormous?
You’re ironic. . .
Ciao dall’Italia, Greetings from Italy by fellow Artist Aurè
maybe there’s the Sphinx Effect even in the Aurè’Art ? ! ? . . Ahaha . .
InkPaperPen says
I definitely felt like this when we went up the Eiffel Tower. Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE Paris, but I’m not one for views and I was forced up the tower by a friend who said you can’t come to Paris without going up the tower. I say you can. We got up the top and I said great, we climbed it, lets go back down now.
Another was the DMZ in South Korea…it was not at all what I was expecting…
Posie Patchwork says
Nice work on the spelling, like i’d have noticed?? Go easy on the Pantheon, our favourite hotel is the Hotel Pantheon, just a few metres away, love it, it’s ‘our’ hotel from our honeymoon to our second honeymoon, in all it’s 500 year old glory & 13 rooms. I’m not one for churches so i don’t care that it’s small. What i find more ‘iffy’ about the Pantheon is that it has a big shiney McDonalds opposite, nice & classy.
The Parthenon, that is something i’d like to see up close, it was bloody closed from Greeks striking when were we there, argh!! So to us it could be any size, love Posie
Tas says
Love this post.
Totally agree about the Pantheon and Big Little Ben. Paris, the city of love, greeted us with a rubbish-fouled train station and the smell of wee along the Seine.
I actually like the Leaning Tower. Well, we loved buildings in that area as a whole.
I can’t think of many examples from my travels. But I do remember realising that the postcards in Santorini had been doctored. They looked fabulous but had been cut and pasted and the postcard view didn’t actually exist (So of course I had to buy a couple for our album lol)
Rhi@FlourChild says
sory sorry sorry Maxabella! I felt so bad after I commented :/ I actually had to go check it several times in case you were using the correct Egyptian spelling or something!
I will think of you every time I see a picture of that little cat now 😉
x Rhi
Life In A Pink Fibro says
So much of life suffers from the Sphinx Effect. Buckingham Palace? Boring building. Eiffel Tower? Meccano set. Still, I’d rather be there and be a bit ‘meh’ than not go at all.
Mum on the Run says
Yes. Most of stereotypical Europe was one big disappointment.
Turkey, however, was an unexpected joy.
Might have to adopt your term too.
🙂
Jen says
Damn expectations! If they’re high they always seem to dissapoint. I loved Rome and all that we saw there, but I think that’s because I wasn’t really that keen to go and so had very low expectations. But I also loved Eiffel Tower and Stonehenge, maybe I’m just easily pleased?? (oops, that makes it sound like you’re not easy to please, I didn’t mean it like that)
aquariann says
What a shame those famous structures disappointed you so much in person! I had no idea the Sphinx was as small as a truck – it always looks so monumental in photographs.
Mrs Average says
Seen the Mannekin Pis in Brussels? You will never have suffered truely with the Sphinx effect unless you have spent 2 hours finding the damn thing (ok, after a few Belgium beers which probably didnt help)….. it was in the middle of quite an undesirable housing estate!
I used to work in Parliament and had the pleaseure of looking onto St Stephen’s clock tower every day from my office. But after years of hearing Big Ben chime he did get on my nerves….. because perhaps he was a little too big and noisy!? No Spinx effect there for me I’m afraid.
MonetPaisley says
Movies! If people tell me its a must see I am always disappointed…. I am a little averse to a blockbuster these days….. Give me a clever concept on a smallish budget anyday…
Megan Blandford says
It’s like when you hear all these amazing things about a movie – it never lives up to your expectations.
And the Sphinx? How disappointing! At least I’ll be prepared now for when I see it… one day…
Michelle says
Definitely the Little Mermaid in Copenhagen. I felt sorry for her being stuck where she is.
Not sure that it is the Sphinx effect but travelling by bus from Moscow to St Petersburg there is NOTHING to see on the way.
Amy xxoo says
The one thing i can think of right now is Central Park in New York City – the park itself is great ( and huge! ) but all the locals i spoek to raved about the “boat pond “, how fun it was and pretty… i get there and its little more than a concrete pond with kids racing tiny plastic boats. Blah!
trudi@maudeandme says
I loved seana’s mum ‘s quote.
High expectations alot of the time lead oneway- down.
Tracey says
i’m laughing about the spelling. And that person*
Amelia {Weddings, Babies... Everything} says
I’m lucky enough to have been to most of the places you mentioned and I have to say the biggest disappointment was the Leaning Tower of Pisa. I couldn’t believe how small it was!
The Sphinx for me was still amazing, partly as I was still in awe at seeing the pyramids! 🙂 xx
Cherie @ 'a baby called Max' says
Years and years ago I got set up with a guy, because my friend said, “you two would be perfect for each other”.
It was a blind date. And when I saw him, he looked like a Ken doll that I used to play with when I was a kid.
… And he knew it. He was the most conceited person I’ve met to date; talked about himself the entire time, laughed at every single one of his not-at-all-funny jokes, confessed that he used steroids and I would be perfect for him as I could inject (being a nurse).
The sphinx effect.
NEVER expect the person who was supposed to be ‘perfect for you’ to even remotely perfect for you, lol.
I had to ask my friend if she even knew me at all after that date, haha.
Another fantastic post MB xx
Kelly says
Wow you have gotten around haven’t you? I have always wanted to see Stonehenge, one day. I will keep the Sphinx Effect theogy in head if I ever get there.
The Sphinx Effect happens to me when sometimes when I order something online and then it arrives and its not as good as I thought it would be.
Queensland Girl says
Closer to home I found that the Opera house was a bit disappointing up close, all concretey and wood panels, not my thing, and once you’ve seen a bridge well… they do look spectacular in photos from a distance though!
Kellie says
Love the edit!! Hehe!! 😉
We have a Big Penguin in a town called Penguin. As a kid, I used to think it was ginormous. Now I’m an adult, it’s still ginormous. Maybe that has something to do with the fact I’m on 150cm tall! 😉
Marci Jane says
Haha–I loved this post!! I feel the Sphinx Effect whenever I meet someone who has been built up as Larger Than Life and it turns out they are Just a Person. I have no desire to meet celebrities whatsoever!!
Surely Sarah says
For me it was the Mona Lisa – absolutely tiny! But the one thing I missed was the one thing that a friend told me is spectacular – The David statue in Venice. Apparently humungous! On my list for my next trip definately.
Paula says
Great post, Ms M – seeing the Colosseum covered in scaffolding def qualified as a Sphinx Effect for me. And could add (in general) mass hordes of crowds swarming any tourist hot spot.
Anonymous says
Excellent post! I went to Paris and I thought it was a sh*thole! My sister who lives in the French Alps warned me but I ignored her. She doesn’t go near the place, she can’t stand it nor the people. Paris = Sphinx Effect to me. Noni xx
Sannah says
Love you calling it the ‘sphinx Effect’. It sort of reminds me of that old story about 2 men in a hospital room, (that i am sure i am not going to remember right, but just go with me ok?!).
There were two old men in a nursing home. Neither could get out of bed. One old man’s bed was next to the only window in the room. The other man couldn’t see out the window. The old man next to the window would, each day, tell the other man about everything that he could see. The beautiful spring flowers, the snow on the ground in winter, the children playing in the park. The old man who wasn’t near the window loved to hear all of this, but over time he grew resentful that his bed wasn’t near the window. He was jealous that the other man could see everything and he couldn’t. Eventually the man near the window died, and the other man was moved to the bed by the window. He was so excited to see everything that the other man had talked about, but when he look out he discovered that the only thing visible from the window was a brick wall.
Moral?
I guess sometimes our imaginations (and the photos we see) are better than the real thing. Perhaps I should just go and get a couple of travel brochures, and imagine visiting exotic destinations – might be better than the real thing 🙂
Another great post Maxabella!
Vanessa says
Ok, so now I feel too-less-travelled to comment.
But I fell in love with the Eiffel Tower which surprised me, given it is just a metal structure.
Most of all, I adore Monet’s tiny pink house and breathtaking water garden.
_vTg_ says
So… What are your best “live up to their reputation” toilet places?
I think definitely a few cases of “size doesn’t matter” in the post and the comments…… Just saying….
Jodi @ The Scribble Den says
OH NO! I love all those places and wasn’t disappointed at all. No sphinx effect for me. I didn’t judge on size but wonder.
As for me personally the sphinx effect is any social event where I don’t know anyone. I build it up, up, up into this huge ordeal and imagine myself fumbling, bumbling and embarrasing myself through the night until I am left all alone in the corner.
In reality it is always fine, no big deal at all.
Does this qualify? LOL
Rhonda says
I am loving this name of The Sphinx Effect. I am trying to think of an American attraction that might work, but I’m coming up short right now.
Bristol Parenting Cafe says
I love your terminoology and might have to adopt it myself. I find it works for famous people – they’re always a lot shorter in real-life than I expect them to be.
AMY says
Very interesting…..I Love learning information like this!
Thanks!
sassandspice says
I’ve never been to Egypt and I’m disappointed to find out that the Sphinx isn’t that big! I found the Mona Lisa to have the ‘sphinx’ effect as it is quite small and surrounded by bullet-proof glass. There are always hundreds of people gathered around clicking like mad on the cameras as well so the whole experience is a major let down. x
Sarah says
I must tell you that I adored all the buildings you have referred to. I guess that maybe it was the quirkiness of them that appealed to me rather than their size. I tell you what had me utterly enthralled of all the sights I have seen was Stonehenge. Maybe it was the icy cold wind whipping around us that day but I couldn’t help wondering for weeks after where they’d come from and what they ‘meant.’ And they were just a clump of grey old stones. Anyone for romantic dreamer?
missbossypants says
I had a “sphynx effect” of my own when I went to the Rodin exhibition in Sao Paulo Brazil in 1995…. Rodin’s “The Thinker”…. it’s tiny. and not as exciting as I wanted it to be.
Although I’m still proud that I’ve seen it in person!
The Coffee Lady says
The Trevi fountain. It’s packed into a shopping arcade. How on earth do people stand far enough back to take photos of it?
I do quite like Big Ben, though.