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Old 01-12-2008, 05:47 PM
 
Location: Holly Springs, NC USA
3,457 posts, read 4,637,682 times
Reputation: 1907

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My brother took a trip over to Italy recently and was amazed at how rude the people were. He said that he and his wife were walking down the street in Venice just minding their own business and trying to enjoy the sights and folks would walk between them while they were holding hands. They would bump right into them and just be plain rude to them in general.

So much for the ugly American. Can anyone say if this was just a unique experience or is all of Europe like this now?
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Old 01-12-2008, 06:11 PM
 
Location: Land of 10000 Lakes + some
2,885 posts, read 1,971,109 times
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No. I had a similar experience in Venice. Don't know if Venetians absolutely hate the fact that their city is completely overrun with tourists. You really don't want to be there in summer; it's literally jam-packed, even hard to walk in some places. I have also heard that Venetians have an arrogant attitude towards Italians from other - is it - provinces? in Italy.
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Old 01-12-2008, 06:22 PM
 
2,141 posts, read 7,846,094 times
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I went to Ireland in October and the people were really nice and friendly.
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Old 01-12-2008, 06:22 PM
 
Location: South Central PA
1,565 posts, read 4,297,067 times
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Eh... France is bad (got spit on by a gypsy for refusing to give her money), but every other country I've been in have been more than pleasant. For me, it seems the more rural and off the beaten path you go, the better you are treated. (Spent 4 days in an area of greece in which we were the only americans, all the other tourists were germans and albanians, and it was the best time i've had in my life)
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Old 01-12-2008, 06:31 PM
 
Location: Assisi, Italy
1,845 posts, read 4,219,678 times
Reputation: 354
Quote:
Originally Posted by BigHouse9 View Post
My brother took a trip over to Italy recently and was amazed at how rude the people were. He said that he and his wife were walking down the street in Venice just minding their own business and trying to enjoy the sights and folks would walk between them while they were holding hands. They would bump right into them and just be plain rude to them in general.

So much for the ugly American. Can anyone say if this was just a unique experience or is all of Europe like this now?
Hi

I wouldn't call it arrogance. These people are just clueless. I live in Umbria. The way they drive and park, if they did it i he states, there would be fist fights.

The other week, I was walking with my son up a narrow staircase. The people in the other direction were walking four across to block the whole way.

This kind of rudeness is generally found in tourist areas and is generally committed by other European tourists.

It is just not the Italians though. We Americans, contrary to popular belief, are very aware that if we transgress against other people, that there are sometime disproportionate consequences. So we don't do it.
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Old 01-12-2008, 06:36 PM
 
19,198 posts, read 31,384,344 times
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Haven't been to Venice for a while, but was in Germany in November, and one of the things you notice there is how thoroughly courteous people still are in every sort of setting. It's nice to know that there are still places where people in general have some appreciation for manners...
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Old 01-12-2008, 06:46 PM
 
365 posts, read 697,244 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BigHouse9 View Post
My brother took a trip over to Italy recently and was amazed at how rude the people were. He said that he and his wife were walking down the street in Venice just minding their own business and trying to enjoy the sights and folks would walk between them while they were holding hands. They would bump right into them and just be plain rude to them in general.

So much for the ugly American. Can anyone say if this was just a unique experience or is all of Europe like this now?
Hi, I never went to Italy, but I did visit England, and France and Portugal and Germany while we lived in Spain, I had a bad experience on a tour bus with a British tour guide, he was really rude to a group of us, and told us all to sit down, so he could talk, we had barely gotten on the bus, and he started really going at us... but I found the other countries to be ok, Germany I couldnt get a woman to sell me a cake tho, she purposely avoided me for some reason even when I tried to speak to her ...it was stupid, I knew it was because I was American, she looked like she was having a bad day anyhow, in France we could not get ketchup either, they seem to be insulted if you ask for it for french fries, but the rest of the food made up for it...We lived in Rota, Spain, I never once felt like I met a rude person there, and my daughter had Spanish babysitters until she was almost four, they were always good to her and to us, so I hope he didnt leave Europe with a bad impression, I MISS IT SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH, I loved it there...I still have wonderful dreams about it...
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Old 01-12-2008, 06:58 PM
 
Location: Land of 10000 Lakes + some
2,885 posts, read 1,971,109 times
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Insulted at french fries? Maybe acted rude because - did you call it french fries? They serve it all the time - known as "frites"
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Old 01-12-2008, 07:07 PM
 
365 posts, read 697,244 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Lillietta View Post
Insulted at french fries? Maybe acted rude because - did you call it french fries? They serve it all the time - known as "frites"
no it was the ketchup, they didnt want to give us any, lol.. or maybe they just didnt understand what we wanted, never was sure... it was at a bistro in the morning too, but the food was out of this world....I still dream of the kind of sandwich I had with the fries, it was awesome, this was in Versailles.
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Old 01-12-2008, 07:52 PM
 
Location: Earth
24,620 posts, read 28,196,400 times
Reputation: 11416
I think we get the responses we look for.
I live in Asia, have lived in Europe twice and have rarely had bad experiences.
I see American kids (and sometimes parents) behaving poorly, and being LOUD, in many cultural settings.

FYI, most people don't know you're american. You could be from any other english speaking culture.
Do you speak any of the language of countries you're visiting?

I've traveled to dozens of countries (including Italy) and my experiences have been easy and conflict free.

If we cannot communicate, it is not the other person's problem/issue.
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