Pegontheroad

I forgot to mention that traveling alone is another way to become acquainted with people and thus soak up some of the culture in that way. I am a frumpy woman "of a certain age," and apparently look approachable, so that if I'm in a train and there aren't a lot of people around, my fellow passengers will often talk with me. Especially young men, for some reason.

I watch TV also, especially news shows and any kind of documentary in a language that I understand, such as German or Spanish.

Luisah

"I go to a local bar as soon as it opens and sit and soak up culture until it closes."

Ira, I laughed at first but that's not a bad idea, except for soaking until it closes.

I think of culture as the lifestyle, not just art and monuments. I stayed in small family-owned hotel in the 7th one year and went to the same bakery for my morning croissants and ate at L'Ami Jean, a little Basque resturant(which I think has been sold), several times. Jean always smiled and chatted a bit and the wait staff and brought me to "my" table and talked about their experiences in America. I felt like one of the regulars, even if was only for a couple of weeks.

I also like to stand at the bar in cafes and have my wake up coffee and pretend I'm one of the regulars. I like to shop in small, owner-run shops. They're happy to show their wares and indulge in some conversation.

Makes to yearn to go back and soak up more.

Michel_Paris

I think I agree that unless you live in a place, you can't claim to really soak up the culture. That being said, there are several people on this board who spend several weeks a year at the same place, every year, I would think they are fairly integrated with that locality.

But I beg to differ on whether people who try to go local are no deeper into the culture than those who take tours. I would argue that if I rented an appartment for a week, went to the local market for my purchase, local wine shop, local cheese shop, local cafe for my morning coffee and newspaper, picked up a baguette and some croissants down the street, went to local theatre, went to a religious service on the weekend...I would think that this would qualify me somewhat as 'living in the culture' for that period of time.

amp322

I have to add one more tidbit ... "dollar" stores seem to be popping up all over the world now. Last summer,in Europe, I discovered that the apartment I was renting had been furnished with decor purchased at the local 5 & 10, or whatever you would call it. I went into the store & bought all kinds of neat, inexpensive trinkets (pillow covers, wine holders, mini-purses), and gave them as gifts when I returned home. Everyone loved their gifts, since they were useful. I really enjoyed shopping for home stuff with the locals, and watching them pick out what they would consider the hippest styles of shower curtains, etc.