Message: My husband who is African-American, and I, a white woman, will be traveling to Rome for 6 days this fall. I have been reading all of the wonderful tips and suggestions for travel to Rome and we are really excited about our first European trip. <BR>The warnings about pickpockets and gypsies are well taken,and they don't frighten me, they only prepare me for a more enjoyable trip. I am concerned, however, that we will meet resistance and hostility at our hotel, restaurants, tourist sites, and so on. Can anyone shed some light on the state of racism and the acceptance of mixed race couples in Europe and especially Rome. Thank you in advance, and I will continue to check all of <BR>the great suggestions until our trip in September!!

I don't specifically know about Rome's opinions of mixed race couples but I can tell you that I find Rome to be very cosmopolitan and welcoming to tourists, especially Americans. There are people from lots of different countries making their homes in Rome now, including many from Africa. But I do know that if you go to some small off the beaten path village your husband may cause some excitement, and just because there are some (esp. little kids) who have never seen a black man. Rome is a great place to start of European travels. Feel free to e-mail me directly if you have other questions.

Don't know about Rome but my wife (who is from India) and I (white) had no problems in London (in fact it's never occured to me that we would have problems anywhere). <BR> <BR>Enjoy your trip.

My husband (English - white) and myself (Indian) wentto Rome in Feb, had no problem, but then it never occurred to us to expect any. <BR> <BR>Sometimes just expecting racism causes one to misinterpret innocent but unfamiliar behaviour to racism when it is down to local behavioural differences. <BR> <BR>Kavey

My husband and I do not expect racism when we go places. Otherwise we would hardly feel like venturing out. I would, however, prefer not to be blind-sided.

I'm from Italy, in a small town near Milan, and I can tell you to come without fear in Italy. <BR>In a city like Milan, which is very cosmopolitan you'll have no problems, surely less than in some US states... <BR>I think the situation in all Italy, expecially in Rome, should be the same. <BR> <BR>enjoy your trip here! <BR>bye <BR> <BR>

My friend and I (white) traveled with a white guy and a fairly dark African-American guy to what was then Czechoslovakia to a village which used to be a cooperative farm. In other words, we were literally in the middle of nowhere in a former eastern bloc country. (My friend's father had been born there). I have rarely received such an enthusiastic welcome. They were so happy to see us even though they didn't know who we were. They took us around everywhere and had no problems with the black guy. There were some young girls who came up to him, said something in Slovak to which the guy replied "Da" even though he had no idea what they had said. Then they touched his arm in fascination b/c they had obviously never met a black person. The guy didn't mind at all. In fact he said that people there and in Budapest, where we also went, tended to look at him with interest b/c he was exotic. But he wasn't offended at all. <BR> <BR>My boyfriend (Dominican) and I travel a lot and we have never had any problems due to our "mixed" relationship.

Our experience traveling (white man, black woman) has been that we are treated better in any other country than we are in the US. This includes Europe, North Africa, Latin America, Bermuda and the Caribbean. The only place where we encountered strange behavior was at our hotel in Bermuda, where the Americans insisted on staring at us and generally not being very friendly. We encountered no problems in urban or rural areas in Europe (not Italy, but Spain, France and Holland) and generally seemed to get better treatment than the typical American tourist couple.

I just came from a trip from Europe, and had no problem. (i'm black). You'll find that normally, the most racist ones are the Americans when compared to European countries. While in italy, i stayed in a remote part of the country with a caucasian family there. I was given no opposition what-so-ever. Only until I come back to america that I notice my skin colour.

Kathy, I am originally from California, moved to Arkansas (the southern USA where some are still fighting the Civil War) 19 years ago. My 31-year-old blue-eyed, blonde daughter married (2nd) an African American man. I have the cutest 8-month old bi-racial grandson. I noticed when I was recently touring in Holland and France that interacial couples seem to be accepted without any undue attention unlike here in the south. I told her to move to Paris! Enjoy your trip.

<BR>Kathy - I think the moment you step off the airplane into the terminal, you'll blend right in with all the other travelers from all over the world just in the airport itself. You will never see such a wonderful mixture of color, language/sounds, dress, even JFK over here can't compare. You'll have a great experience.

No one will even notice in London which is a thriving multi-cultural city.