friendly/unfriendly places
 

Is it multiple choice or essay?

I don't know, a. After all, what is life; why are we here? <BR> <BR>And did you mean Europe or this increasingly unpleasant Forum?

This was an unsuccessful attempt to cut and paste in a thread on Fodor's grab bag topic board. It looked like a wholesome alternative to the kill/canonize our fellow board member threads, so I thought it would be nice to put it here. Didn't work, obviously.

Great idea. I only posted after I'd spent 20 minutes searching for the thread you were trying to cut and paste. I had thought I'd seen it here, since this is the only forum I read. <BR> <BR>So, I'll kick off your question with a real answer... <BR> <BR>So far it would have to be Northern Spain, when I went on my own. people went out of their way to converse and be nice. It was great!

Our vote has to be for Antwerp. We speak as much Flemish as we speak Swahili. People took us by the hand and led us to the places we asked about. Bus drivers would draw us little maps on scraps of paper showing us how to get to museums once we got off their buses. Hotel people would carefully coach us on how to pronounce the Flemish names. What a joy!

Scotland gets my vote for friendly. Nicest people I ever met.We went into a pub in Nairn to ask about a boat that was tied up nearby. It was just beautiful! Of course, there was a man there who know the guy who owned it. Insisted on calling him up so my husband could ask him about the boat. Even bought us a drink! <BR>That's just one example . . . <BR> <BR>For unfriendly, I'd have to say the security people at the Frankfurt airport. They scare me to death!

I vote for Portugal for the most friendly country

Sandy, why do the security people in Frankfurt scare you - did something bad happen? We found them really friendly, just astonished that we would declare something coming into their country. They had to run and get a chart to tell us what to pay, and we all laughed about it. <BR>Anyway, to the original question - would have to say in my opinion Austria is the most friendly place I've been, and Yugoslavia the least friendly.

<BR>Nickie: When and where were you in Yugoslavia?

Most friendly: No contest. Australia. They're more friendly than people in my native state, Texas. <BR> <BR>Least friendly place: Norway, at least to single women traveling alone. Downright hateful. Have traveled extensively and have never encountered such coldness and hostility anywhere else.

Friendliest ? Japan no contest ! <BR>Unfriendliest ? Sorry Francophiles but that's got to be France !

Ireland, friendliest. <BR> <BR>England, least friendly.

Friendliest : Dutch & Spanish <BR> <BR>Least Friendly : Americans (very superficial)

Friendliest - The French (perhaps not so friendly in the really big cities - as would be the case in most cities), But in the small towns and countryside they are great. Also agree that the Dutch are generally really friendly & the Irish and Scottish also. <BR> <BR>I have met a few unfriendly people but cannot generalise to an unfriendly place.

Isn't it funny how the friendliest to one person will be the unfriendliest to others, and vice versa. <BR> <BR>My parents went to Europe for the first time in their 70's. They came back raving about the Norwegians and how nice they were to them. And on things like this, my parents weren't easy graders. Santa Chiara had just the opposite impression. <BR> <BR>Personally, I can't point to any particular country as friendly or unfriendly. Just to particular encounters - I try not to generalize to a whole nation. (Kind of preachy - sorry).

Friendliest: Italians, Portuguese, Spanish <BR>Nastiest: Only individual encounters with creepy people -- most people take pity on tourists, even me, a native New Yorker :-)

It also depends on your definition of "friendly". I was born and raised in a notoriously "cold" part of the U.S. - New England. If your car gets stuck in a snowdrift, the farmer brings out his draw horse or tractor and pulls you out. The extent of his verbal interaction will be "stand over there is it in neutral? Ayuh". In another part of the country, you'll get lots of conversation and smiles, but no one stops to help. Which place is friendlier? <BR> <BR>I like this sort of question; it makes me examine my perceptions - in one country, everyone was talkative and willing to strike up conversations in local drinking establishments and eateries; in another, barely got two words out of anyone, but on more than one occasion, someone helped me get on the right train by actually leading me by the hand and putting my suitcase on the train. No big sendoff smiles are waves goodbye, but they got me on the right train. Hard to say which country was friendlier....

Holly, I should have said the former Yugoslavia. Went to Ljubljana, Zagreb, Belgrade, Novisad, Polanka, Obrovac, Brcko, Sarejevo, and Banja Luka(my family has relatives over there). Our car was disabled, my brother had soup spilled on him twice, my mother was pushed into the street countless times - and those were the nicest things that happened.

Nickie: Oh. I don't think I would like that, either.

<BR>I really appreciated Elvira's analysis, 3 messages up. What IS "friendly"? There are some cultures in which people are more - for lack of a better word - "shy". But they are very willing to be helpful and can become very warm and friendly if the social situation gets them past the awkward step-one. I think this is what is going on with the totally opposite impression of Norwegians, mentioned above. I've never been to Norway, but it's a character trait I've seen in a number of merican of Norwegian ancestry. <BR>As to which type of person you'd rather run into in your travels - the naturally effusive type or the reserved but helpful type - well, that all depends on you and on your circumstances at the time.

Sicilians -- effusive PLUS helpful (except in Palermo) What more can you ask for? <BR> <BR>Also friendly -- English (especially in York), Greeks anywhere, southern Spain <BR> <BR>Not so nice --Rome

England is on the whole the friendliest place I've ever been to, especially the northern parts and the south coast. I don't know what they did to upset Frank, above! I think you have to sometime translate the english mentality, and realise that sometimes people are being friendly even when they seem a little curt. I always find whatever I ask for, people go out of their way to help. I like it so much, I moved here! <BR> <BR>Turkey is also a friendly place in most places. <BR> <BR>Least friendly? Atlanta airport, hands down. <BR>

I must admit that Hartsfield Airport at times can be ugly! I live in Georgia and fly in and out of Hartsfield several times a year. The security people at the entry to the flight concourses are surly, incompetent, and just downright, old fashioned RUDE. I think they were raised in a situation where no politeness or manners existed. <BR> <BR>Returning internationally to Atlanta is a real jolt. After being in Europe and going through customs and immigration control over there, coming home is like you were a newly released criminal. <BR>The Welcome Mat is missing. <BR>Immigration officals are yelling to get in this line; then get in that line with all of the politeness of Marine Corps DI's. I frankly resent it. I am not an alien, I am not seeking illegal entry, I am not a deportee, hence I find such actions and attitudes to be the epitome of arrogance and an insult to the traveling public. <BR> <BR>For those of you who have not had that experience, I suggest going elsewhere to avoid it. For example this past time, the baggage tag on my checked luggage had gotten torn off in handling. The baggage person barely spoke intelligible English, then he had to make a major production out of putting a new tag on it. You have heard of Southern hospitality? Well Hartsfield isn't it by any stretch of the imagination; I think the term antithesis applies. I really cringe when I go through the process and realize that this hostility, incompetence, and surliness is the first greeting many foreigners receive in the US of A. <BR>The irony of the situation is that the immigration and customs people make such a big, even ugly, deal out of getting into the US, even getting home, while illegal immigrants and illegal drugs pour into the US via other routes! <BR>Well, I cannot control the situation, and I don't think it is going to get better any time soon. It will probably get worse because there is no sign that the number of passengers going through Hartsfield is going to decrease. <BR> <BR>

I must admit, whenever I go to the US I do dread going through Immigration and Customs. I've been the East coast and the West Coast and the immigration people are so scary. I think Boston was the worst, maybe because I was on my own, but waiting in line in immigration was so intimidating. <BR>In Miami my friend and I hadnt been given a customs form to fill in and they were quite rude to us and then trying to get a form from someone was such a major deal. <BR>God, I hope the UK immigration and customs arent that rude to overseas visitors!

I'll go for Mexico as the most friendly. The people are fun-loving, yet reverent. But as these things are complex, I'd add that a Mexican woman can be mighty haughty if she thinks another female is in any way, shape or form crowding her territory.

I found Costa Ricans and Canadians to be tops in the "friendly" department. <BR> <BR>Least friendly: probably Switzerland. <BR> <BR>I liked what Elvira said very much. Growing up in the midwest, I thought midwesterners were very friendly. I had always heard that the cliche of "southern hospitality" was not really true and that the friendliness that southerners exhibit was only on the surface. But when I moved to North Carolina, I couldn't believe how sincerely welcoming southerners were -- inviting newcomers to their homes for dinner, etc. <BR> <BR>