Less cringe making but slightly sad were the two big texans we met in the Torres tasting hall outside Barcelona who insisted on being Canadians wherever they went as they had heard that European's don't like Americans. Texan Canadian is pretty weird and we finally convinced them to ease off.

OK, I get that it's not just Americans, but as an American I think I'm more attuned to how my fellow countrymen act out when traveling - I guess I sort of take it personally.

At the same time, I will never forget sitting on the beach in Hammamet, Tunisia, one gorgeous morning in a pleasant, quiet reverie amid lovely surroundings - cobalt sky, lapping waves, the perfect sunny beach day - when suddenly a troupe of middle-aged portly Germans showed up. They proceeded to set up a folding table on top of which they set a cooler full of beer, and then disrobed and started drinking and singing. Nothing ruins a quiet beach day quite like a half-dozen fat, wrinkled, naked, loud, drunken people.

I don't have any American tourist stories. All I can think of right now is some loud talking every now and then. Not embarrassed by it and certainly not the worst behaviour I've seen out of all fellow tourists I've seen not at their best (I hope).

But I think people choose to talk about Americans because this site is by and for Americans*. They are Americans, it's who they notice. Fodors is American, and it's who they notice. It's the nature of the site. So when something negative is discussed, it's not very different than when anything else is discussed here. Nothing wrong with that, if that's what it is, but this means that Americans are going to be the core subject material as they/we talk about themselves/ourselves.

* - yes, I know a small fairly percentage of users are from elsewhere, but are generally not the target audience here. See post-tsunami Fodors blog entry where it was stated that Japan was again "safe for Americans to travel." Or the rules of any contest.

This is becoming a thread about Texans and not about Americans (Are Texans Americans? )

The absolutely worst tourist behavior that I've seen was from an Italian woman in China. She kept screaming - yes, screaming at the top of her voice - in Italian at a couple of completely dumbfounded young clerks who couldn't understand her and couldn't figure out what she wanted. When my companion, who was born in France of Italian descent, and I walked up and offered to help her - she gave us the coldest stare and then - continued to scream at the clerks as if we weren't there! Just had to walk away shaking our heads (but we did tell the frightened clerks not to get too upset). Hope that poor woman got what she wanted.

annettafly: welcome to Fodors! Please don't let the bad apples in the barrel get to you. There will always be a few - you'll learn to recognize them soon enough. Enjoy Fodors!

>>"Why couldn't they do this in August when the weather's better?"<<

There is a story (apocryphal?) of someone in Windsor Castle asking why it was built so close to the airport.

The most IRRITATING behavior I found one year when we went to the Canary Islands for a few days while my husband attended a conference. Of course we wanted to use the pool and relax on the loungers.

In four days we never came down to the pool to see ONE EMPTY lounger. VERY early in the morning the Germans would come downstairs, place beach towels on every single lounge chair they needed, then go up stairs to snooze, shower, read and later have breakfast.

All the chairs were either occupied, or the majority, had towels on them waiting for their "owners" to finish their morning routine.

Then first day I was a bit intimidated by another guest ( obvious friend of the German couples who had "saved" their lounge chairs, so I relented on moving the towels until they came back.

But by the third day I was so sick of that , and the hotel did nothing to remedy it, that I just folded the darn towels, put them on another chair in a pile and told my kids to lay down.

I have now seen signs in some hotels and at the beach notifying clients NOT to "save" pool /beach furniture.

One of the worst I've experienced . . . one time at The Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London, the 40 or so in attendance were standing there in the dark next to Traitors' Gate while the Yeoman Warder is explaining what we will see. He says we will have to maintain total silence so are there any last questions? . . and the &^^%$*# behind me bellows out "<i>Yeah -- do you know the score of the Steelers game?</i>"

Funnier - last time I was in Harrods upstairs in the shoe department -- there was a biggish haired blond Texan (yep ) wearing her money belt as a outer garment

<<They proceeded to set up a folding table on top of which they set a cooler full of beer, and then disrobed and started drinking and singing.>>

I think I'd have been jealous more than irritated!

lincasanova - "saving" pool chairs is one of my BIGGEST pet peeves. Grrr.

<<last time I was in Harrods upstairs in the shoe department -- there was a biggish haired blond Texan (yep ) wearing her money belt as a outer garment>>

Oh my G-d!

basingstoke; I'm confused where has a Bassoon come from?? Do you call meat balls "bassoon" in most languages?>>

according to my italian dictionary, the italian for bassoon is "fagotto". [not sure why!].

annettafly - whilst "she who cannot be named" can be a right royal pain in the fundament, she does in fact know a hell of a lot about Italy. which IMHO makes her even more irritating!

thanks for sticking with us.

now for my "horrible american" story. [there may of course have been horrible people of many nations saying unacceptable things in my hearing over the years, but with few exceptions, I couldn't understand them]. this was at the Abbey at Melk in Austria, of all places, in the cafe, where there was a party of american youngsters, from a school so far as i could tell, and this one girl caught my eye, as she was very loud, and very unhappy. nothing on the menu suited her, not one thing, and in the end she decided to have an ice-cream which had to be in a bowl, not a cone, as she told the german-speaking and long-suffering waiter, who clearly had no idea what she was talking about, there being an ice-cream stall about 5 yards away if she could be bothered to get up and get one. after about 10 minutes of this comedy, he finally got it, and presented her with the ice-cream in a bowl. not one please or thank-you uttered throughout, and nor did the teacher sitting at the same table remonstrate with her about her behaviour, which to me was the most shocking thing about it. it was most embarrassing and as soon as we could, we moved to another table.

there. in return, you have my permission to post a story about horrible brits.

My SO was dining solo in a Paris restaurant. The loud and rowdy American men (from NH) sitting at the next table asked him where he was from. When he said MA they said loudly, "oh, you're a Mas*hole!" (A not nice term sometimes used in the NE area).

He was so embarrassed and shocked he wished to be invisible.

I have never had an incident with a terrible Brit ann! Sorry to disappoint. We have met so many wonderful Brits who have actually invited us into their homes and we have remained friends for (in one case over 20 years)!

We did meet some horribly obnoxious German school kids once while in England.

As far as Americans (we pretend we are Canadians - joking of course) I've come across some who start complaining in lines about how much more efficient or "better" it is in the States. I always want to respond by saying, "so go home!!"

Maybe she who will not be named was exiled from the States. I tend to take her advice with a grain of salt as every thing seems to be skewed a bit.

I love the idiot who wore his money belt on the outside. It is both a figurative and literal reflection of what he is.

<i>according to my italian dictionary, the italian for bassoon is "fagotto". [not sure why!].</i>

Here's an etymology:

http://www.etimo.it/?term=fagotto

Apparently a bassoon can be disassembled into various pieces, which form a "faggot" (in the sense of a bundle of sticks).

OK annhig - here's one for you (but from YEARS ago - late 70's). A group of us were waiting to fly back to either Stansted or Luton (can't remember which) from Munich/Oktoberfest. Three lager louts/football hooligans/maybe just drunks, were striding through the airport singing rude songs . . . wearing plastic German/Nazi helmets.

>> VERY early in the morning the Germans would come downstairs, place beach towels on every single lounge chair they needed, then go up stairs to snooze, shower, read and later have breakfast.<<

They're famous for it in the UK. But the only answer is to be forthright. As my mother was once told, in no uncertain terms, in a bus station in Blackpool, "It's bums saves seats, not bags."

(Back to the bassoon: the other theory for the etymology of the Italian word, also given at the link in my previous post, is that bassoons were made of beechwood--"faggio" in Italian.)

We have had problems with German tourists, as well, on Tenerife, many years ago. Plenty of towels on all the chairs, when we decided to lie poolside after breakfast, but no-one around. We decided to dump a couple of towels into the pool and lay on the loungers. About 3-4 hours later, some Germans came by and asked if we had put the towels in the pool. Of course not, they were there when we got here. LOL.

Also had problems with some Russian tourists lineing up to get into the Uffizi Gallery. There were 2 Russians in front of us and maybe about a dozen other people (not Russian) behind us. All of a sudden Ms R in front waves to a couple of people coming down the courtyard, and slots them in front of us. She continued to do this until there was about 25 people extra in front of us. We were really pi**ed of with her behaviour. If it was a tour group, surely they could have got in line behind, and meet up in the gallery.

I haven't had problems with American tourists, apart from hearing the odd quite loud one on occasion. I did meet some really nice, helpful ones on my solo trip to Florence, earlier this year.

That is interesting jah - I learned something new today. Other than one maker in Brazil who uses a local wood, the Bassoons today that are made of wood (the cheaper ones are not) are made of various types of maple, each type giving the instrument differing characteristics. I can see how beech could have been used since it is similar to maple in many ways.

Thanks jah, that makes sense - Ilearned something new today. Looking it up, I found that beech is of the genus fagus, family fagaceae. With the exception of the cheaper plastic ones, modern bassoons are made of different types of maple, each lending differing playing characteristics. Beechwood is close to maple wood in many ways.

sorry for the double post.