Dealing with Tourist Traps

As anybody that has travelled out here knows, tourist traps are all over the place. Some of them are easy to avoid (don't go to the restaurant on the main square that offers a "tourist menu" and provides pictures of all their menu items). But it's hard to avoid the beggars, panhandlers, and rose-sellers that approach everybody tourist looking and asking if they speak English. Ali has almost thrown a few punches when an ambitious "traveling vendor" thinks the best way to turn a "No, Grazie" into a sale is to shove his wares in her face and continue harassing her.

With that said, we've had a few more interesting and memorable experiences with these people.

Part I: Venice, September 1-4

Ali and I didn't exactly blend into Italy. We're much more conspicuous than the people walking around with Rick Steves and a fanny pack. But we still don't really look Italian and the constant Rainbow wearing is probably a dead give away. So we always get approached by people asking us if we speak English. Our usual response is to say "No" which of course they realize means we do because we understood their question. Either way, it's usually enough for them to get the idea that we aren't the best targets for them.

In Venice, we kept being approached by girls (probably late teens or early 20s) asking us if we spoke English. To me that's just a dead give away that something is amiss. This was early enough in the trip that I didn't just keep walking or ignore them. Many people know I have issues talking to anybody that talks to me. Ali loves it, especially when it's crazy people on public transportation. So in this case, I said yes, but kept walking. She tried to get me to stop by saying "Do you want to sign against drugs?" We kept walking, but that statement really confused me. What do you want me to sign exactly? What good would me signing something do? I'm not a registered voter in Italy? I don't think petitions have a whole lot of weight in Italy. So we kept walking, but the question intrigued/confused me.

So we saw these girls a number of times all over Venice as we were walking around and each time they were targeting tourists and asking if they spoke English. Finally, the 4th time we passed them my curiosity got the better of me and I asked what was going on. She said they were former drug addicts that were living in a halfway house in Venice (unlikely was my thought) and were asking people to sign to support them and then perhaps make a small donation. I told her good luck and walked away. I think Rule #1 is if somebody is only looking for English speakers, something is probably amiss. Apparently they did not think Italians would sign to support them? It was strange. Either way, "Do you want to sign against drugs?" is a question that will stick with me.

Part 2: Bologna, September 5

We were eating dinner our last night in Bologna when a rose vendor approached the table. You've seen these people everywhere. They offer any couple a rose. If the guy says no, they shove it towards the girl hoping she'll take it. If she says no, they place it in her face. Then Ali almost punches them. Sometimes they leave the rose on the table if you are eating and then come back later to ask for their payment. Apparently, some tactics work because there are always plenty of girls walking around with lone roses.

During our dinner at Trattoria Belfiore, three gentlemen selling roses approached us within two minutes of each other without knowing about the others. The last guy offered a rose to the table next to us which consisted of a couple and the girl's mother. They said "No, Grazie" and he approached us. We also replied "No, Grazie." At that time, he began raising his voice and saying something in Italian. The basic gist was that it was selfish of us not to buy roses and that it wasn't right that everybody was so polite when they said no instead agreeing to buy roses. Apparently realizing we didn't speak Italian and he wouldn't get very far with us, he went back to the table next to us and started berating them. Based on a few words and hand motions, the general points was: "Why is everybody so polite when they say no. You people sit here and say no, thank you. You're so polite about it. You sit here enjoying your meals. What about me? How are my children supposed to eat? How can you just sit here and be so polite saying no without worrying about how my children are supposed to eat?"

He didn't seem to have an ultimate point beyond how unfair things were, but that didn't stop him from yelling for about three minutes straight. Nobody from the restaurant seemed to mind and the family he was yelling at just sat there quietly. Finally, after a few minutes, and with no sign that he was going to slow down, Ali yelled out of nowhere "Basta! Arrividerci!" with a graceful brush of her hand. I think the guy was as surprised as I was and he mumbled a few more things and left. I was impressed.

Part III - Avignon, France

We had some time to kill in Avignon before catching our train. Ali wanted to go to the H&M and since the H&M was horribly designed and did not have any chairs, I went outside to sit in the shade. As I walked outside I was approached by a guy asking for something in French. As I usually do when French is spoken, I stared at him blankly. I could tell he was asking for something, so I began to walk away. Then he said in perfect English "I just need three cents for bus fare." The "I need X for bus fare" routine is common, but usually you ask for a little more than three cents. You gotta do a lot of volume to make anything three cents at a time. I told him I didn't think I had it, because I really didn't think I did. But I pulled out my change and found a couple of dimes. At that point he grabbed one of the dimes, and gave me seven cents change to get the three cents he originally needed. I expect that will be the only time I ever receive change from somebody asking for money on the street.

Venice, Italy (September 1-4) (He Said)

At the beginning of September, we made it to Venice. I had been looking forward to Venice the entire trip. I had heard so many different things I really didn't know what to think: I love Venice, I hate Venice, Venice smells, Venice is like Disneyland, etc. After our three nights there, I think we'd both agree that neither one of those sentiments is exactly wrong. It was dirty, over-touristed, and overwhelming at times, but in general we both really enjoyed it. It was definitely different than the other destinations we have been to thus far, but that's probably unsurprising. We didn't go out to big dinners because there seemed to be other things worth doing and we didn't see all of the sights because walking around was just as much fun.

Perhaps the most interesting part of our three night trip was our constant presence at CommieFest 2009 outside of the Venice fish market. It was about a two week event. I'm not sure what was being said or what they hoped to achieve, but they did sell cheap food and E1.50 very, very large glasses of wine which we took to a little dock on the side of the Grand Canal to drink with the local cool kids arriving by motor boat who also had no qualms about pretending to be Commies in exchange for cheap wine. Alas, I ended my political career for 3 euros of wine.



Erin and Ryan suggested that we go to Piazza Santa Margherita and get some pizza and enjoy the scene. We did that our second night there and went back again the last night. We split some greasy pizza on a bench which seemed to be what most of the other people were doing.



We ventured to a gelato place recommended in one of our books (Gelato Alaska). Here is Ali with a scoop of stracciotella and a scoop of Orange-Arugala.



As was suggested by professionals (my grandparents) and amateurs (Rick Steves), we took a cruise down the Vaporetto #1 at night to see the sights. Given the darkness and the moving, none of these picutres came out, but here is Ali enjoying the cruise.



A lot of the other things we saw weren't photographed (or are being saved for Ali's post (which is sure to be awesome (she made me say that))), but we also did a tour of the Doge's Palace, St. Mark's, and a trip to Murano to see hand blown glass (Ali's idea). We saved a lot of the museum/artsy stuff for another trip.

We also passed the Bridge of Sighs numerous times. We crossed the bridge during our tour of the Doges Palace, but you really don't get the full impact of the sight unless you see it from the outside:



As anybody who has been to Venice knows, the Bridge of Sighs is named because every remaining Venetian resident sighs as they pass it lamenting what has become of their city.

Between getting lost and pretending to be Reds for a couple of nights, I think we both found Venice a lively, enjoyable city. I understand why some people don't enjoy it. It's certainly overwhelming and packed with tourists. But it was also extremely quiet outside of the tourist areas and all the locals that passed seemed to know each other. I'd happily go back again.