Just me, or have others been on the receiving end of rude behavior in Italy?
 

I have just returned from a week in Italy (Venice and Florence)and we were a little shocked by some rude behavior of shopkeepers, waiters, and citizens in general. First, I want to say that we do speak a little Italian, not fluent but certainly enough to order a meal and purchase tickets. We always spoke Italian first and then only English after our sign language failed and when we didn't know a certain word. We were never rude or demanding, and always waited patiently in line. Several times we were made to wait while other Italians jumped ahead of us in line (whether it be at a shop or ordering a cappuccino) I don't think they understand the concept of waiting. Don't even get me started about restaurants. One evening in the Piazza near the Uffizi we walked away from 2 restaurants - after being seated. The first we were beginning to order our meal: first though pane, Acqua - no gas. The waiter then said in English "Need to order all at one time. We said "Si, si," because we were then just about to order the antipasti when he then just walked away. The second restaurant, several yards away was completely empty (not a good sign)except for what looked like an American or European coulple. They had not been served nor did they have menus. After we were waved to a table, we sat down and waited for 5 minutes. The restaurant was filled with 5 or 6 waitstaff who were all seated at tables, talking, reading, etc. In other words, not serving the patrons. I'm not sure if the citizens are just tired of tourists - especially during the busy summer months, but this was beyond rude. Aren't the tourists their bread and butter? I know there are some very nice people in Italy because we met them at our last hotel there in Florence - The Allesandro near the Ponte Vecchio. Oh and the one taxi that we took and were completely robbed. I had lost the map of Florence and when we got out of the train station we didn't know how to get to our hotel and didn't want to hassle. Little did we know we were only 2 blocks away but we paid 15,000 before we knew what hit us. I was aware of taxis in Italy but with his smile as he took our money I knew we had the words sucker all over us. I loved my trip but this did put a bad taste in my mouth.

Hi Eva, <BR>I would never say "it's just you" but <BR>I went to Florence and Venice for the first time last fall and experienced none of the unpleasantness you described. <BR>My only explanation would be that you had bad luck indeed. <BR>

Hi Eva, <BR>I would never say "it's just you" but <BR>I went to Florence and Venice for the first time last fall and experienced none of the unpleasantness you described. <BR>My only explanation would be that you had bad luck indeed. <BR>

Scroll down to the ITALY WARNING posting. You are not alone.

I think your first mistake was waiting patiently in line. You have to figue out the procedure to get what you're after, approach and seize your chance. What you see as being polite is what some (most?) Italians see as being slow. Italians understand enough about waiting to know that they don't like to do it. I agree that people who are less patient will go ahead of you, and they may even push you a little in crowds. "The restaurant was filled with 5 or 6 waitstaff who were all seated at tables, talking, reading, etc. In other words, not serving the patrons." In other words, not yet ready to serve? It sounds to me as if the staff had just finished their own meals. They could have made you stand outside until they were ready to serve you -- would that have been more polite? So you walked out; ultimately, your most effective weapon against what you perceive as rudeness is to deny 'em the almighty dollar (which may turn out not to be so almighty after all). "Oh and the one taxi that we took and were completely robbed....we didn't know how to get to our hotel and didn't want to hassle." In other words, you make a purchase that you later decided was foolish -- this is robbery? Cabbies don't give directions or advice, they take fares. For all your driver knew, you had just turned your ankle and couldn't walk 2 blocks. If the driver had refused to take you to your destination, how upset would you have been?

Eva, London and Rome are at the top of my list of cities where the locals exhibited the rudest behavior (and I spoke the language in both cities). However, once away from these cities, the local people were considerably nicer, specially in Italy.

Margaret Washington I have saved your email address so I can ask you for tips on travelling in the future as I'm sure you have no trouble travelling anywhere. If a restaurant isn't ready to serve it shouldn't be open. While the other restaurants next to them were packed they were empty - for a reason and we should have skipped it, The vulgar up and down look from one of the waiters was another reason to run. Should we have waited to be served at their convenience and get further lousy service. Lucky for them that service is included in the bill so they can treat you however they like. Also I do consider a taxi driver who says it takes 15,000 ($7) to go two blocks robbery.

Maira, <BR> <BR>Londoners rude? How odd. I've been fortunate enough to visit London several times and have always been amazed at the politeness of the people I encountered. In general, it doesn't seem to be the British "style" to be as "outgoing" in public as we Americans tend to be--I don't see that as positive or negative, just a difference. But polite and courteous to a fault, that was my experience with Londoners. From the three guys off on some scavenger hunt who stopped without being asked to help us get my dad's wheelchair over a high curb cut, to the drunks outside a pub (not usually a "polite" group of people) who yanked each other off the sidewalk to make way for us, to the incredibly thoughtful gentleman who found room at a table for me when it was SRO at Ronnie Scott's--I could go on. <BR> <BR>Big cities, in general, may seem less welcoming if one is not used to them...people tend to be busier, probably a bit more self-protective. But the last thing I would ever say of London is that its residents are rude. <BR>

Gina, I lived and worked in New York City on my 20's. I know what big cities and rude behavior are like. Glad to hear you had a different impression from mine on Londoners. That only means there is hope....

I agree with the earlier posts that associated the rude behavior with the cities you were in--particularly Florence. During my trip, Florence was a bit disappointing, largely because of the people. I encountered no rudeness in Venice, but noticed that the locals are a bit reserved. However, the friendliness I encountered in smaller towns such as Assisi, Gubbio, Deruta, Orvieto, Spoleto, etc. more than outweighed any rudeness in the bigger cities to the North.

On our trip to Italy, we skied in Cortina, then visited Venice, Florence, the Amalfi Coast, and Rome. We had one cranky shuttle bus driver in Cortina (have to assume it was a LONG season) and one snotty shop keeper (in a fur store, where she belonged). Other than that we had people everywhere go far out of their way to help us, talk to us, exchange addresses, tell us about their families and jobs, etc. In the smaller towns on the coast and even in Rome during morning rush hour, people who spoke no english at all made sure we got on the right bus. We had no problems with pickpockets, gypsies or anyone. All our waiters in every ristorante were friendly and patient with our limited Italian. Sorry you seemed to have bad luck, but my experience was the total opposite!

It appears Italy has not changed. In 1984 we were warned about Parisiennes and found that if we tried to speak even the smallest amount of French they were really great. The same could not be said for Italians, especially in Florence and Rome. Capri was the exception, the people were wonderful. As a result of the rudeness and impatients of Italy we have not been back to Italy on our trips. However, we are going to Venice this month so I was hoping things were better. Obviously from the responses above you were not alone. It is also interesting that in requesting data from the tourist boards of 6 different countries that Italy's was the least helpful!

I loved Venice back four years ago when I went but they were very mean to us too. Downright nasty! We were there in the end of September and we assumed that they had had enough of tourists. Coming from NYC, we are not hesitant and were careful about not being pushy. We spoke only italian everywhere but not fluent and still in the shops and restaurants down right mean. We are not in a rush to get back there soon.

I don't want to make excuses for anyone being rude, but perhaps the Italians are a bit annoyed at American culture encroaching upon their society. <BR> <BR>Because of a strong US economy and low relative travel costs (it is often cheaper to fly from New York to Europe than to the west coast!) mean that Italians hear more and more American-dialect English being spoken in their own country. Almost the entire Internet is in English. If Italians don't readily speak English, then they are subject to losing money (in the form of tourist business from Americans), and they will not benefit from the technology of the Internet. Perhaps they resent this. <BR> <BR>American fast food chains and other chain stores are proliferating in Italy. The last time I was in Venice, two of the very first things I saw after stepping off the vaporetto were McDonalds and The Disney Store. Also I recently read in the New York Times that Dunkin Donuts has opened a store in Rome, steps away from the Trevvi Fountain. The next time you take pictures there, you might see a purple and orange Dunkin Donuts sign in the background. Even though these chain stores and restaurants might not exist in Italy if the Italians themselves didn't flock to them in droves, they remain a symbol of American culture. <BR> <BR>I have noticed that almost all of the posts in this thread describing rudeness are using examples from northern Italian cities. Coldness has long been a perceived characteristic of northern Italian people, whether justified or not. <BR> <BR> <BR>Don't get me wrong, I am not justifying anyone being rude--it is indefensible. But I am interested in finding out why this is happening. And by all means, if you do not feel you are being treated properly, you absolutely should not spend your hard-earned money in these areas. <BR> <BR>Finally, let me point one more thing out: the French have a reputation of being cold and snobby. However, I read a few years ago that France receives more foreign tourists than any country on earth! Does that mean that visitors enjoy spending their vacations where people are rude? Or does it mean that the rudeness is a reaction to throngs of unwanted visitors, and the visitors do not stop coming as a result of the rudeness?

About the 15,000 lire taxi ride: In many Italian cities there are a number of completely legal surcharges for, e.g., each piece of luggage, riding on Sunday, and who knows what else. Plus, in many if not most cities, both in Europe and the U.S., there's a minimum "flag drop" charge at the outset, regardless of distance/time travelled. It may be that the taxi driver took advantage of this confusion of surcharges to overcharge, or it may be that he actually did not overcharge at all.

We travel to Europe 2 or 3 times a year and have done so for over 15 years. I dred going to Italy and will try to avoid it even if my wife insists. The rudeness consists of pickpockets, taxi gouging, cheating waiters, among others. this applies mostly to Rome. true there are wonderful things to see and do in Italy. But after the trips we took, I think it is enough. However...I do like the Perillo Tour Off the Beaten Track.

We travel to Europe 2 or 3 times a year and have done so for over 15 years. I dred going to Italy and will try to avoid it even if my wife insists. The rudeness consists of pickpockets, taxi gouging, cheating waiters, among others. this applies mostly to Rome. true there are wonderful things to see and do in Italy. But after the trips we took, I think it is enough. However...I do like the Perillo Tour Off the Beaten Track.

Why is it that when one complains of problems in a foreign country, people rush to the defense of the locals implying that people like Eva did something wrong. Italians, French, Brits etc. are no better or worse than America or any other country. there are great people everywhere and there are rude people everywhere. We have been to Venice and Rome twice. We have found wonderful people and ripoffs. We were grossly overcharged by taxis and were obviously suckered on a couple of occassions. We have had great service and bad service. But we had a great time and chalked the bad incdients up to experience. Each time we learn and it makes our other trips even better.

I was in Rome and Florence last December. I loved both but I found Romans, on the whole to be pretty rude. I had some wonderful experiences in restaurants but outside of that, from taxi drivers to ticket agents at the train station, to polizia, the people were generally unhelpful -- and I speak a little of the language. Some of it is just the culture, I think. Rome is a big city where everyone seems to be impatient and in a hurry -- not unlike New York. Florence, which is smaller and has a more intimate feel, had much warmer and more engaging people in my experience. <BR> <BR>That being said I would return to Rome in a heartbeat. But I'd stay for a couple days rather than a couple weeks.

I spent 10 days in Northern Italy in 1997, and found people to be friendly and helpful. If you travel enough and eat in restaurants enough, even here in the States, you are bound to find rude, unethical people. If you want to be guaranteed a smile on every face you'll have to go to Disneyland.