vincenzo32951

Having a few less Swiss tourists never hurt anyone.

I've been through the gulag (also called Customs and Immigration) a few times at Heathrow, and lived to tell the tale. It's an inconvenience, but I'm not about to take the complaint to drama-queen levels of "that's why everyone hates England."

PalenQ

I was roused not long ago on a night train from Amsterdam to Munich - by German Customs cops - who for some reason took this ole duffer for a drug smuggler - they took me and all my belongings into a baggage car and dumped everything out on the floor and went thru every little thing - they did however only do a visual anal check.

And then when they found nada - nothing - they just left me at 3 am with all my belongings scattered about in this dumpy baggage car - they must have mixed me up with someone for some reason but it reminded me of the SS days - so it can happen in Europe too.

iris1745

kleeblatt; You obviously don't understand the dynamics of today world.

I think you should consider staying home.

I think all Americans would be happy.

WT; It's hopeless trying to explain rational thought!!

And kleeblatt; Best wishes for happy travels.

An Ugly American

Josser

This is a textbook troll post. Some people tried to be good humoured, but inevitably, unpleasantness has crept in. Janis's comment was spot on

IMDonehere

Some of the business ex-pats I knew were country managers and went out of their way to learn nothing. There was one exception. A fellow who was posted to London returned as full Anglophile, and sported the old Terry-Thomas mustache. Unfortunately he lacked a sense of humor and talent and upon his return to the US, his career creumbled.

Sue_xx_yy

I'm Done Here

Ah, but if the last day of May falls on a Friday, one multiplies by two. So my math is correct.

dfourh

I think the real unanswered question here is:

If you urinate on and extinguish the Eternal Flame, and you are not intoxicated, do you then get off scot free, because you cannot be arrested for public intoxication?


Excuse me, that should be "Ugly American free". The Scots would never do anything like that.

Pepper_von_snoot

If it was Hogmanay they would.


Thin

CaliVal

Woohoo, what a mishmash of interesting experiences! Poor PalQ should have named the OP "Ugly Tourists". In all my travels I have a few embarrassing experiences. The first few times I traveled to Europe, I went with a planned tours. It was great to meet and spend time with people from different countries. The only thing that we experienced that caused us to discuss was breakfast behavior of Asian tour groups (we were told later they were Chinese tourists). Most of our tour group were inculturated into taking our turns by standing in line. Wow, it was quite a surprise when ten people moved in front of the line with no explanation. This happened three mornings, and there was no explanation like there had been an issue with departure times! Some of our tour group were beyond the "excuse me" and tried the elbowing-in technique. The breakfasts were frugal but sufficient for the groups except most of the portable food was packed up by the other tour group(s) leaving nothing for others to eat. This is an example of the "Ugly Tourist" to us!

One night when a group of us had gone out for dinner, there was a disagreement in the restaurant that was because a couple did not enjoy their meal. They (the couple) were loud and it was surreal. The waiters were apologetic to us. Our group were blaming it on the thought the loud couple were American!!! Those of us that had talked with them knew they were actually Canadians.

The worst experience I had was in one of the most wonderful restaurants in Venice. We were a group of seven where four of us were tourists. My uncle, a jovial Canadian priest, decided to tell a story (joke) about Francais. I had heard the couple sitting closest to us speak en Francais and I had to stop him. I was humiliated for us. So it is not all Americans that come across as ugly.

I never have met any "Ugly Americans" in my many other trips but some were tourists that either weren't well prepared or ill-prepared.

IMDonehere

I was never good at math, no matter what the excuse.

lillo1

Yes. And then immediately no. In a museum in Shanghai, after several days of hearing no Americans, there was a small group of loud college age kids pointing and laughing at a painting. Ugh, I thought, idiot fellow countrymen. Then one started speaking fluent Mandarin to a museum worker. I stopped judging my people after that.

Battambamg battambing! Take the moment to tell them what Battambamg is. And maybe they'll teach you something.

LSky

"For example in the Bayeux Cathedral once I was wearing a baseball cap and someone came up to me and shouted in French 'take your hat off in a church' - I did not realize I was being so offensive -"

That guy did you a favor. One of the things Americans do in our own country is not tell someone if they are doing something annoying. We walk past and roll our eyes.

At a department store one day a family of Vietnamese people were sitting in the middle of the aisle. People were walking by and whispering, not wanting to seem prejudice I think. No one would tell them to go sit somewhere else. I did, it isn't fair to let people make mistakes like that and not say something.

Jeff_Johnson

This is a pretty riidiculous thread. There are obnoxious tourists from every nationality. Specifically focusing on americans is pretty prejudicial. Every nationality has its good and bads, so please refrain from generalizing an entire country into a couple of annoying tourists.

berniebabe

HAHAHA. I find these posts rather funny. , but agree with the previous post.

if you have seen Bogan Aussies in Bali now that is UGLY!

bvlenci

Once my daughter stayed at a convent near Florence when doing some research there. Another guest, nationality concealed to avoid stereotyping, shat in the bidet in the shared bathroom. That's ugly! The screams of the nun who arrived in the morning to clean the bathroom could be heard in Prato.

bvlenci

I'm pleased to see that the past tense is acceptable!

kenav

""Fact is, Americans do not go through the same security screening in Europe as Europeans do in America, and that's what bothers a lot of Europeans." Well, 9/11 happened and since then things have been different.

Anyway, come to the US or don't come. Your loss if you don't. So much to see - much more than any one country in Europe has. Geographically, individual countries in Europe can't be match the U.S.

When I travel to Europe I'm not real happy about the exchange rate. But it's my decision to go or not.

PalenQ

That guy did you a favor. One of the things Americans do in our own country is not tell someone if they are doing something annoying>

yes but it was the way he did it - by yelling at me not politely saying 'you know in a church' politely - he thought I knew the rule and I told him but I see women wearing hats - what's the difference> - Only gave that retort because he was so stereotypically French rude.

but I now duly take off my caps when entering churches if anyone else is around - especially old foghies that like.

LSky

kenav, in the long run the memories of the high exchange rate will fade but not the memories of the trip. I'd rather pay a high exchange rate for a trip to Europe than pay a high price for a dress I will wear once because I would cringe at the memory of the dress.

MissPrism

A gentleman removes his hat when entering a church, when talking to a lady and when entering a private house or restaurant.