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Who took the grace out of Graceland?
By Cintra Wilson
Our columnist goes to Memphis

The King and us
By Christina Boufis
The world's most maniacal Elvis fans

Way dead Elvis
By Greil Marcus
A tribute to the King proves that his posthumous legend has become equal parts sincerity and trash

D E P A R T M E N T S

Sleeping in strange places
By Don George, Editor
What's the most memorable place you have ever slept?

The Surreal Gourmet
By Bob Blumer
Boozy smoothie
Frozen fruit fusions for a festive fling

> Readers' Tips and Tales
Venice - La Citta Piu Bella Del Mondo

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LA S T+W E E K

Tuesday, August 5, 1997

Banks of forgiveness
By Felicia Clark
A pilgrimage to India's holy city

A full list of all
Wanderlust articles

Bonnie Olmsted | Venice - La Citta Piu Bella Del Mondo
05:41pm Aug 4, 1997 PST (No. 14 of 14)

yes, Venice is a surreal experience. Despite the fact that I most assuredly lived in Venice in another life, the city, to me, provides a place where everything is like being in a poem, or in a painting. Okay, here's an example: I'll be walking and the sun will shine on the just-fallen rain and make this amazing color that reflects off everything. Then a bird will chirp by and Giudeccan kids will be laughing through their Italian dialect slur. Then the guy on the vegetable-stand boat will offer me up a handful of beautiful crimson strawberries! Sounds corny, but it's true. I simply walk and smile when in Venice.

So, I thought, this must just be because I'm on vacation, and life's always good on vaca, right? But in comparison to all the other places I go, it's not the same.

Things I like about the place: Dorsoduro's quiet neighborhood, Zattere (which I think Doug refers to as the Harbor), lovers everywhere kissing, and kissing everywhere, the Scalzi bridge, and while we're on bridges, I like the Rialto in the middle of the night, Fondamenta della Miserocordia, fresh (like you've never had before) squid and fish, prosecco, and Santa Margerita (it's The Spot).

Regarding Mestre, I can understand why it's not in the tour books. It, and Marghera serve as a cheaper place to habitate when you're there, but other than that, it lacks that surrealness that Venice provides when you step off bus 1 at Piazelle Roma.

I really have to stop going to Venice. I always go there now instead of investigating other magical European cities...although it is pretty cool when the shop keepers and bar tenders say "Ciao Bon-nee, tornati spesso a Venezia" when the see me coming. It's cool to get the local's prices and to actually have places to go when you're logging those on-foot miles back and forth from San Marco to San Polo and everywhere else. Ahh, Venezia, ti amo troppo.

April Romo de Vivar | Using local public transit when travelling
102:59am Aug 2, 1997 PST (No. 5 of 5)

well, in Bogota' the taxi driver robbed my sister who was travelling alone.

In Rio, Brazil, bandidos jump onto public buses and rob all of the riders.

In Mexico, the bandidos disguise themselves as tourists and board the new "Luxury" buses and then their friends follow in another vehicle and they rob and rape and murder.

Public transportation is not as romantic and funfilled a time as it used to be.

I have this info first hand from relatives and newspapers overseas in Portuguese and Spanish, which I read daily.

Buses in India turn over and fall off of roads a lot and they do in Mexico also.

In Bissau, West Africa, they all speed and kill you. The buses in Dakkar are called "rapides" and my friend is in the US for reconstructive surgery after her last rapide ride.

Andrew J Bower | The Ugly American -- Why Does the World Love to Hate U.S. Tourists
05:03am Aug 2, 1997 PST (No. 43 of 46)

i don't know about "vast majority", I think the boors are just more noticeable.

One of the more interesting days of my life was spent with friends in the Solomon Islands watching a load of tourists, (mainly American retirees) arrive in a village to watch some entertainment and buy some carvings. We infiltrated the tourists (we of course were "travelers") and shared the cruise group's complementary drinking coconuts while we watched the dancing.

I will never forget seeing someone throwing sweets to a group of children, like feeding animals at a zoo. It was also interesting to watch these experienced tourists attempt to haggle with the craftsmen, not realising that in the Solomons the only form of bargaining is asking for a "second price". The overheard quote of the day was "I bought this just to get change !"

My friends and I spent the rest of our trip speaking to each other in "mock American tourist", but that was just our Australian irreverence in action.

On the other hand, we also met a Californian couple traveling through the Solomons in their yacht, who were friendly and displayed great cultural sensitivity in their travels. An Australian yachtie we met was an absolute jerk, but that's another thread ....

I actually work for an American company now, with a lot of U.S. citizens who have spent a large part of their lives working in all sorts of interesting places all over the world, and most of them display none of the attitudes complained about in this thread. I think working in a country as opposed to just travelling through on a two-week package requires the sort of adjustments to attitude that contribute to responsible and culturally sensitive travel.

Maybe another interesting topic would be "Why do so many Australians feel it necessary to adopt a "Crocodile Dundee" persona when they travel?"

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