wes fowler

Another posting from a few years back:<BR><BR>Earlier this evening I responded to a query &quot;The things I forgot to bring &quot;. It had prompted a large number of responses listing a ton of items, from ziplock plastic bags, toilet paper, bungee cords to deodorant soap, bubble wrap, headache remedies, Kleenex and plastic eating utensils and paper plates that various folks considered to be essentials for traveling. I responded somewhat sarcastically that Europeans had recently emerged from the primordial muck, had paved some of their roads, encouraged the growth of electricity and flush toilets and actually had stores where one could shop. I suggested that the list of essentials such as those above could all be purchased with relative ease in Europe and tried to suggest that shopping for such incidentals gives the traveler wonderful insights into the customs, perceived fads and needs, cost of living and daily routines of Europeans.<BR><BR>I find the excuse to shop for such essentials an excellent opportunity to meet and interact with &quot;real&quot; Europeans, that is, citizenry not affiliated with the tourist, travel and accommodation industries; no concierges, waiters, desk clerks, tour guides, ticket agents, train conductors, fellow travelers, sales clerks in souvenir shops and the like. <BR><BR>Not speaking a foreign language fluently has never hampered me from seeking out a headache remedy in a pharmacy or toilet paper in a grocer's. Doing so has often been a great conversation starter between storekeepers and their patrons and myself and has led to many interesting and memorable encounters. So, having said that, I'm curious: how do you manage to get to know the &quot;real&quot; Europeans and their life styles? What ploys do you use and with what success? Any memorable experiences?<BR><BR>

scarlett

One year we rented a flat in London instead of staying in a hotel room. Bought flowers, groceries, went to the local wine store, where my husband struck up an instant friendship with the owner. <BR>I made my own friends with the girls that worked at the local pharmacy, where I was buying shampoos and lotions and potions that they don't sell in the US.<BR>Taking buses and trains instead of taxis. <BR>Eating in small neighborhood places that no one had heard of, instead of picking a place out of a guyide book.<BR>Of course it was easier in London, since we speak English (American style - but not being cocooned in a hotel that takes care of things for you is a good way of being a part of where you are.<BR>Next we want to do the same thing in Italy.

Stevie

I didn't have to find them. Wherever I went, they were already there.

Al

Have your hair cut in a small town.

Susan

Go to the local farmer's market and buy produce, use the post office, shop at a grocery store, have a manicure (not at your hotel), go to ANY town event like a fair, school play, wine festival, use an internet cafe.

zoe

get sick like I did once on a trip to Provence - you really get to know a lot of people that way! I came down with a really horrible flu and had no idea what to do but the B&amp;B owners of where I was staying drove me their doctor who then drove me to another doctor who spoke English and they took wonderful care of me during and after my illness. They couldn't have been nicer!

zoe

get sick like I did once on a trip to Provence - you really get to know a lot of people that way! I came down with a really horrible flu and had no idea what to do but the B&amp;B owners of where I was staying drove me their doctor who then drove me to another doctor who spoke English and they took wonderful care of me during and after my illness. They couldn't have been nicer!

Mel

You live among them. We are living in a little, Medieval village in the Alps de Haute Provence for 3 months. The people here are &quot;real&quot; -- real French people; they are hard-working, friendly, and they love to help us with our pitiful French. We see them at the markets, the caf&eacute;, playing p&eacute;tanque, and at La Poste. They work in the biscuit factory, the Office de Tourisme, the schools and the gas station. They like to spend time talking, so one just spends time out among them, and before long you've found them (and they've found you!). To me, real Europeans are about people, not commerce. It's more important to spend time talking with a friend, neighbor, co-worker than it is to make a Euro. In larger citites it may be more difficult to find this type of person, but the same is true of any large city around the world. If YOU take the time to just be there, and slowly get to know them, you'll find real people. Living among these wonderful people has given me a new perspective on the importance of taking time to be with people, and when I return to the U.S. I plan to take their people-oriented sensibility with me.

JTS

Sorry, but I find some attitudes here a bit simplistic. Europeans are just like anybody else. Some are wonderful, some beat their wives, some are intellectual, some are neo-Nazis, some are generous, some will rob you. They aren't a quaint, unspoiled race waiting to be discovered by people daring enough to get out of four-star hotels and go to the grocery store.

mimi taylor

I agree with the last poster. It's the same as here. If you go to a shop here in Boston, and you find a snotty sales person(as in Paris) they most likely were not from Paris to begin with but arrived for work and had an &quot;attitude.&quot;I have made friends in the countryside. One couple would be considered a yuppie family, into all the same things as here. Another lives off the land, we eat everything they grow or raise.

Bob Brown

I have rented apartments for a week at a time in several locations in Switzerland and Austria, and I have stayed in private guest houses that were family owned and operated.<BR><BR>In Heiligenblut this past September we stayed at Landhaus Christof which is run by the Kramser family. The youngest child, aged 4, took a liking to my wife. She speaks no German, and the 4 year old spoke no English. But he would run in the breakfast room, jump in her lap, and whisper something in her ear, giggle, and run off.<BR><BR>The good part about it was that we could visit a little with Frau Kramser, and we spoke some with the older of the two daughters, who worked at a restaurant where we ate. <BR><BR>In Langenfeld in the &Ouml;tztal of Austria, west of Innsbruck, we shopped the markets for food, and in general &quot;lived&quot; there for a week. We did the same in Saas Grund, Switzerland, and in Lauterbrunnen.<BR><BR>

Bob2

Try staying well away from tourist areas, especially ones that are frequently mentioned here

Susan

In reply to JTS's snotty post... the question wasn't about traits of various Europeans, be they...wonderful, wife beaters, neoNazis, generous, or robbers.<BR><BR>The question was about where to meet locals and I maintain the any necessary service or store is one place. There is nothing &quot;simplistic&quot; about that reply. Believe me, there ARE Europeans in the grocery store going about their daily lives.

Deborah

WOW!! I love the haircut idea - that's a great way to interact! I also found that staying late when a cafe closed was fun. I own a restaurant in Canada, and I found in Italy, if you stay and you are friendly, they will let you help clean up!!! Fabulous way to get o know how things are done, what it's like to earn a living, etc. I love it!<BR>

xxx

<BR><BR>I always enjoy shopping in grocery stores, specialty food stores (like bakeries), and at street markets. <BR><BR>

SAM

I live in a moderately popular area for tourists and I find that I react differently to tourists &quot;en masse&quot; from the way that I react to individuals from anywhere. So if you want to interact with real local people, do not follow each other round in groups, but branch out, do use local shops and facilities where other tourists do not venture.

to

topping

xxx

Stay away from large US military communities, you will find yourself wondering where the locals are. They are too busy counting the euros they are making for charging exorbitant rents to the military. The military gets a cash housing allowance, and the locals build, rent and move to other villages where there are no AMericans.

xxx

Sort of similar to the idea of going to grocery stores: try frequenting open-air markets, esp. now in Europe with the Fall season. Usually there will be small, hot-drink stands, serving up stuff like &quot;Gluhwein&quot; out of a vat; and at those, you'll find some of the most talkative, local, and of course &quot;happy&quot; locals around...

uncle sam

Offer a couple of socialist programs, about six weeks vacation, tell them they cannot be fired from their jobs and you'll be mobbed with &quot;real&quot; Europeans!<BR><BR>US