Tourist stops church bells. How dumb is this?
 

"The church bells in Mezzema, a village near La Spezia, northern Italy, were silenced earlier this month by the local parish priest. A tourist, it seems, had complained about the early morning gonging."-AP

Thank goodnes, due to protests (banging their pots) by the locals, the bells will resume.

Well, it IS silly, but there have been plenty of times I've wanted to crawl out of bed at 3 am and rip a bell or two out of a belfry.

I think the locals viewpoint is, this is what we do in this village/neighborhood etc ... you are free not to like it, and free to stay somewhere else; if you stay here, you accept the local custom. It's like going to a little town on the Western prairie, and complaining because the restaurant only serves until 8 pm. That's what they do. You don't like it, go to Chicago instead.

I understand this when I go to Greece, and I always have a great time.

"Tourist stops church bells. How dumb is this?"

Rather less dumb than claiming a tourist stopped the bells.

Even if it's true that "a tourist had complained" (not even the news agency is convinced that's true), the fact is that <b> the parish priest is claimed to have stopped the bells </B>

We'll probably never know whether this mythical complaining tourist ever existed. But we know for absolute certain the claim "a poster stopped them" is complete gibberish.

How early do these church bells ring in Mezzema? In my limited experience, the church bells are usually quiet at night and don't ring until 6am...

The town should have just kicked this tourist out and asked him/her never to return.

Everyone should travel with a pair of earplugs anyway. They're nothing to carry and often come in handy.

yk wrote: " In my limited experience, the church bells are usually quiet at night and don't ring until 6am..."

For some of us, 6.00 am is the middle of the night.

Goddesstogo--exactly! Strongly believe that, as tourists and not citizens, we should conform to the country/town/city. Personally, I love the sound of the city at night--reminds me I'm not in Kansas anymore. If it gets too noisy, grab the earplugs and deal with it.

I guess the dumb guy was the priest .

Good thing the noise wasn't the call to prayers from a mosque loudspeaker at 3 am. Complaining would be sacrilege.

Agree--if it actually happened, the tourist just complained. It's the priest who stopped the bells. When I complained about traffic in Rome, they didn't get rid of all the cars and buses.

Paul - Did you complain to a priest?

And this is why you pack ear plugs.....

Get some good ones and the bells are at least "gentle" and at best gone.

I travel a lot on business and these are my lifesavers when I get a noisy hotel.

Gee, I am so happy to hear that the so-called "tourist" didn't TIP the priest for stopping the bells. There's nothing worse that ruining the local populace and filling their heads with unreasonable expectations with that filthy foreign money

I am a light sleeper, and haven't traveled as much as many of you. My only negative experience with bells ALL NIGHT LONG was in Gubbio. EVERY 15 MINUTES!!! Why do we need to know it's 2:45 a.m.? Why do we need to know it's 4:15 a.m.?

Needless to say I did leave this town a day early. One sleepless night was enough. And earplugs would not have helped this particular situation...

Well, I think that the priest stopping the bells was a very modest response. I wrote a trip report in Venice - a small extract:

..... in 1515, the campanile of the Oratory of the Virgin, near San Giobbe, was trashed overnight by the monks of the adjacent monastery. They were so infuriated by the ringing of the bells they flattened it: they had to rebuild it at their own expense. I took a look – it’s near the Ponte de Tri Archi in Canneregio, and I couldn’t see where the new brickwork had been coursed in – but after all, it has been 500 years, and things weather.

The story gets better - just found this online...

"MEZZEMA, Italy, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Residents of a small Italian town said their local priest has resumed ringing local church bells after a pause requested by the town's only tourist. Father Alfredo De Simoni of the town of Mezzema on a Ligurian hilltop conceded to the tourist's request that the church bells not be rung between 10 p.m. and 8 a.m., but residents of the village of 85 people protested the absence of their usual 7 a.m. wake-up bell by taking to the streets banging pots and pans, ANSA reported Wednesday.

The villagers further protested the move by boycotting Sunday Mass, and De Simoni resumed the regular schedule of bell ringing Wednesday to great celebration by the townspeople."

LaBellaDona,

LOL! I guess that is the Italian version of a town hall meeting.

LOL, I have stayed in more then one small Italian town where the church bells rang every 15 minutes day and night. I guess I am a heavy sleeper but they never kept me awake and if I did wake up for a moment I love the sounds of church bells. I spent three weeks in a small town in the Region of Veneto where the bells were right across from the bedroom I had in my friends home. I miss the sound of church bells and wish I had them here where I live.

Great story about the townspeople. And what a rude and silly tourist.

Reading again the postings I honestly believe that it is amazing that ANYONE might visit any place and request or even beg to have things changed to his own needs. Give me a break.
Same philosophy for people that emigrate to a country, any country and are annoyed, dislike or are offended by something that has been going on in that place for years and years,
I believe that when in Rome you should do like the Romans do if you do not like it or if it does not fit your sleeping hours or whatever then move along.
Not to mention people that emigrate to a another country and are not even willing to learn the language....and I am not thinking of any particular place nor of particular people but as a philosophical point of view.

I am very willing to admit I do love church bells too! But just between the hours of 7am and midnight is kind of enough for me. Hence, the early departure from Gubbio, which I just loved in every other way!