henneth

Of course the British wouldn't do a thing like that. Lining up is considered to be a British invention anyway, and certainly not something those 'Europeans' have been able to master yet.

donco

Not a food thing, but a young English-speaking woman, pushed my husband out of her way as we were boarding our plan to return to USA from Paris. Ironically, her seat was next to his! She read or stared into space for the entire 7-hour trip!
They are everywhere! I do put ice cubes in my red wine-it's never cool enough....

wliwl

dutyfree:
Ugh! Sorry to hear your trip wasn't quite what you had in mind. Oh well, better luck next time!

almesq

Speaking of lines, we were in Venice at the Basilica in St. Mark's, and were standing at or near the end of the line to get in. A tour guide leading a group of Japanese tourists approached the line, looked at us, and just pushed their way in front of us. We kind of stared at each other in disbelief, but being from NYC, couldn't just let them get away with it. So, we approached the guide and made clear that this was indeed a line and he would just have to wait his turn behind us. Of course, we have noticed, as others have said, that no one in Europe seems to understand the concept of a line.

mykidssherpa

I was in Istanbul in a museum. A young Japanese woman was standing next to me. I was admiring the fine stone carving and she reached out and touched it.

I snarled in perfect Japanese "Don't touch!". She gave me a horrified look and literally ran out of there. (I speak fluent Japanese). I hope I sufficiently scared her to so that she didn't get her handoil on other antiquities.

LoveItaly

At least in Italy, the concept of a line has never been figured out, LOL. One just has to bend with the wind so to speak when travelling. And bend their elbows to get where they are going or one will never get to the front of the crowd. I learned that a long time ago.

Madison

A few years ago my sister, niece and I were in NY and took the harbor cruise. We made sure we were 1st in line so we could secure a good seat towards the back of the boat. I will not name of race of people that pushed and shoved us so much that we were worried for our safety.

They wouldn't stay put. Everytime there was something interesting going on they ran from one side of the boat to the other with regard for no one else. My feet were stomped on more than once and of course no apology. They tried to shove their way into our seats, but I held my ground and didn't move but I have to say they put a damper on my harbor cruise.

mamaj

I've had two strange experiences while studying in Rome. One was the Italian people on the airplane packing everything belonging to the airlines into their bags. This included plates, silverware and glassware. This was pre-9/11 and we were still allowed "dangerous items".
The other was with a bunch of Italian guys we met while there. They showed us a video of some friends on a yacht. The one guy in the video took a cigarette and stuck it in his manpart. It brings new meaning to the term "smoking gun".
wierd people are everywhere- America doesn't have the market cornered.

tedgale

How naive can you folks be? viz.:

"How did you know they weren't Canadian, rather than American?"

EVERYONE knows that a Canadian would first ask:

"Excuse me -- Do you mind if I behave in a totally boorish manner?"

Then he would behave in a totally boorish manner.

Then he would say "At least I'm not American, eh."

A Proud and Unregenerate Canadian,
tedgale

FainaAgain

Janis, I think that steves poster is PopGear.

Maudie

We were visiting a zoo and along came a group of Japanese honeymooners. They had a guide who dragged them from place to place and of course everyone got shoved out of their way for the photo's, as there were 8 couples it took quite some time to do this and we tried not to get trampled in the process. We soon learnt to try and beat them to the next interesting sight.

However what made us cringe was the sight of each couple in matching outfits, ie shoes, socks, shorts and orange shirts for one couple the next had a lovely lime green ensemble and so on. It was quite bizarre to see, these honeymoon tours must be huge as we saw several of these groups.

Guess that's love for you!

chicagolori

I laughed at the post by Henneth because it brought back a memory of an experience in Italy.

We had stopped at one of the "Autogrip" highway service stations. If you havent been to one, they are great. They are all along the autostrada in Italy and are similiar to our truckstops and the like. They are better though since they have great coffee, food, gas, etc.

I was trying to figure out how to order a coffee when a large group of British senior citizens disembarked from a tour bus and got in the line for food/coffee. They were all silver haired, neatly dressed in travel gear like pastel colored pant suits and matching purses. All very cute and nice. They patiently waited in line while tourists from other areas barged ahead, went to the top of the line, broke the line, pushed through the line, and caused general disorganization. The ladies were quite distressed and one turned to me and said in her lovely British manner of speaking, "These people don't know how to queue..."

It was very funny at the time.

Madison

Janis - Thanks for the heads up. I read some of his posts. Very mean spirited.

djkbooks

We were staying at a hotel in Triesenburg.

When we went to the breakfast room, a fabulous breakfast buffet was spread - breads, butter, jams, pastries, meats, cheeses, juices, and so forth, all beautifully presented along a lovely curved table.

Two, truly huge, American ladies (dressed in jeans, sweatshirts, huge and brand new white sneakers...and fanny packs...) had actually moved their chairs to the buffet table and were blocking nearly everything. They were grabbing all about and eating AT THE BUFFET TABLE!

The plates were at one end. When we picked up our plates, there was NO WAY to access any of the offerings with these ladies in the way. When I said, "Excuse me, please", they responded by throwing their elbows out to further block any access.

So, we returned to our table to sip a bit of coffee, wondering what to do. Not long after that, someone (hotel staff) spoke to the ladies and offered to return their chairs to their table. They refused!

Fortunately, they had been there for a while already and were nearly done, so finally left about 20 minutes later. As they got up, they grabbed ALL the bunches of grapes, most of the oranges and apples and other fresh whole fruits, lots of pastries and rolls, which they piled into their huge tote bags. One of them was loudly wondering how to best wrap up the butter! (Which she resolved by stuffing the entire dish, covered with a linen napkin, in her tote...). The other grabbed all the flowers!

Once they left, we proceeded with breakfast. (What was left of it...) This worked out nicely for us, as our waiter offered "anything you might possibly desire" from the kitchen.

When we returned later in the day, one of them was at the front desk complaining about no hot water or fresh towels.

Later, in the dining room for dinner, the waiter (who we knew spoke flawless English) pretended not to understand a word they spoke, making it rather impossible for them to order. They kept trying to tell him to just bring the "special of the day" and he pretended not to understand that either.

Later, in the cabaret, they were loudly demanding drinks, and everyone pretended to have no clue as to what they wanted.

The following morning, they were off in a corner of the breakfast room, complaining loudly, but not sitting at the breakfast buffet.

LoveItaly

Good grief, the stories of tourist at breakfast buffets makes me glad that I don't really eat breakfast, LOL. I just prefer to go to the nearest cafe and have a few cups of espresso. But maybe I am missing out on all the "fun" watching the glutons. The stories are unbelievable..but that doesn't mean I don't believe them..just that what are people thinking?

No wonder on another thead a poster complained most of the people in Rome were rude, cold etc. If those in the tourist industry have to put up with these kind of antics morning after morning I imagine they would be crabby!

Dutyfree, I am sorry that your trip was shall we say "not the best". It is terrible to get sick while away from home.

StephCar

My DH and I were in a diner, nothing fancy, but not really shabby either. The couple behind us in a booth decided to lay out their baby on the seat and change a poopy diaper while everyone around them was *trying* to eat. Then they left, and left the stinky poopy diaper on the table. It was so disguisting I lost my appetite, and never, ever went back to that diner.

Another time, on an overnight train somewhere in Europe, a couple that met that night (on the train actually) started going at it as soon as they thought the 6 people in the car were asleep. I am pretty sure that my laughter was a sign that I was NOT asleep.

In Vegas, my DH and I saw this man on a cell phone BERATING his beloved. He kept saying "Where the f* are you? No you aren't, I am in front of the f'ing Mirage right now..." etc. We walk in the doors, and hear her saying "WTF, I am HERE YOU GD B**stard." I mean, really screaming. We tried to tell her that her "beloved" was in FRONT of the hotel outside. DH and I must have laughed for hours on this one, and sadly, even when they found each other, the couple did not crack a smile. I am guessing it was not their honeymoon.

Lastly, this one is sorta serious, but not meant to be political. In England this summer, a former US soldier was giving a speech about the Iraq war and how horrible it was over there. Not anti-war per se, but just mainly factual regarding the situation. An English journalist, in front of a room of about 100 people asked him if he had personally killed anyone. The solider handled it well and said he does not discuss that in public. However, I was so upset that I sought out the journalist and told him that I thought that was less than compassionate, very politely of course.

Tracey14

I posted earlier, but here's another one: we were boarding a rather crowded flight. A young woman had a violin (which was very obviously a violin, as it was a soft violin-shape case), which the airline attendant stowed away for her in one of the overhead compartments. A man who boarded late had one of those "carry-on" suitcases that was so overpacked that he should have been made to check it. He proceeded to attempt to stuff into the same compartment housing the violin, and when it wouldn't fit, pounded at it repeatedly, therefore banging the violin - which was clearly visible. Thankfully an attendant chastised him for trying to damage the young woman's property and made him check it.

Iregeo

Two years ago in Paris, at the Napoleon apartments in the Louvre, I saw a guy hop over the velvet rope and SIT on the round, red, velvet couch. I and the other patrons were quite shocked, but the security guards merely escorted him back beyond the velvet rope.

LaSt year in Paris, at Le Caveau de L'Isle, an American woman, apparantly from the South, was enjoyinG her meal soooo much, it sounded like she was making love...LOUDLY!

tuscanlifeedit

My WTF tourist story happended in Florence, but the perp may have been a Florentine; he was definetly Italian.

It was early September, height of the tourist season, in a cafe at the center. There was a very long line to use the toilet, and rather than wait, this Italian man, who was drunk, just decided to go against the wall, right there in the area outside the toilets. With at least a dozen people right beside.

That's a hard one to forget.

But I think the prize here goes to the fat ladies who pulled their chairs up to the buffet table. I used to always have a Christmas Eve buffer, and one year, a friend (the same one who never game my DD a wedding gift, after taking part in a full weekend of wedding festivities) and her mother just pulled their chairs up to the table. I was aghast!

I can't stand it when people put drinks or used dishes on my buffet table; imagine how I felt when these two sat there and chowed down.

panecott

This happened years ago on my first trip to Italy but I'll never forget it. Sorry to say it involved two Americans.

Near the Piazza Signoria in Florence was a store that had a life sized, "anatomically correct" suit of armor standing outside the door. I saw a woman kneel in front of it, take a certain piece of the "anatomy" in her hand and hold it up to her open mouth, while her male companion took her picture.