8989 USAnians in Italy

[quote=livarandsofie;84833] When visiting those touristic places, we found a lot of USAnians visiting the same area and the same cities. What we experienced was that many of these tourist from across the Atlantic was very vocally loud. Many seemed to want as many as possible was to hear their vievs about what they saw, what they had seen, what they felt etc. In quiet street the could be heard long distance away.[/quote]

Yes, we too have experienced this unfortunately. My husband and I are Americans and lived in Pisa while he was attending the University some years ago. We have found on recent trips that many of our favorite towns i.e. Lucca, Volterra and San Giminiano have become overrun by tourists, many of which are American who tend to be rather loud. We also dislike that many of the signs in the shops are in English and really cater to to foreigners. We always speak Italian to all of the locals and try to speak in quiet tones, as well as dress in a more European fashion so as not to draw attention to ourselves. We no longer frequent these areas unless visiting friends in Pisa and when we retire to Italy it will be to an area which does not attract many tourists

I'm not sure but I sometimes find people who are a bit loud are also a bit insecure and make up for it with volume! But I must admit that the babble of Foreign voices in Tuscan supermarkets a bit odd after being greeted as an event in our own quiet neck of the woods. I do so agree about taking the quiet patient approach when in someone else's land and it works very well too!
PS I have visited California, New York and Chicago and found Americans in the main charming and helpful!

The "loudest" group of foreign tourists I ever encountered was a group of Japanese in Florence last November. I think that they had lunch with too much Chianti.... and the level of noise was deafening. Then, they saw my little dog, who was very smart in her red hand-knitted jumper, and they all wanted a photograph of her, with her.... Finally, I rescued the dog, smiled and bowed to them and left the scene as quickly as possible.... They clapped....
Wonderful what Chianti can do......
And yes, Americans are around a lot.... although I think that this year they will be in smaller numbers if their dollar keeps on loosing value against the almighty euro; however, I have always found them very polite and nice.

To Lisa C: I would have said check out Puglia as a quite un-touristed and a warm, welcome from the community -- at least from Italians and Pugliese -- then I read Livar & Sophie's remarks -- I guess we're not too welcome in the minds of the Scandinavians!! However, my Italian family, Italian roots, and Italian language skills certainly have made integrating into my Pugliese community fairly easy -- lots of great Italian neighbors and friends, we highly recommend it.
The dollar's crash is definitely painful, unfortunately the US economy is reaping the rewards of 8 years of wrong-headed fiscal and foreign policy. No doubt it will dampen tourism, and possibly property sales, etc.

Hornets nest I wrote. NO, we do not dislike USAnians, but we found their verbal behavior in touristic places annoying. Puglia is not such a place. At least not yet. One of the reasons that we plan to settle in, and bought a house in Puglia is the lack of tourists and the possibility to relate to the warm and friendly locals.
Our (Sofies) Italian roots make her want to buy in Bagni de Lucca where her ancestors came from, but we ended our search in wonderful Puglia.

Personally we like to meet all kinds of people, but we don't want to hear. in loud voices, about strangers personally (and often intimate) experiences in public. And when we are in our home in Puglia, please drop by.

And please, understand that I write in a foreign language, misspelling and misconceptions may occur by this.
:yes:

[quote=Lisa C.;84838]Yes, we too have experienced this unfortunately. My husband and I are Americans and lived in Pisa while he was attending the University some years ago. We have found on recent trips that many of our favorite towns i.e. Lucca, Volterra and San Giminiano have become overrun by tourists, many of which are American who tend to be rather loud. We also dislike that many of the signs in the shops are in English and really cater to to foreigners. We always speak Italian to all of the locals and try to speak in quiet tones, as well as dress in a more European fashion so as not to draw attention to ourselves. We no longer frequent these areas unless visiting friends in Pisa and when we retire to Italy it will be to an area which does not attract many tourists[/quote]

Well said. I too have noticed that Americans on the whole are very "loud" & it can be distracting. Like you, when in Italy I try & dress as the locals do & pretend I am not a tourist. It is also safer for me as I am getting on in years & travel alone. I therefore dont draw attention to myself & am met always with good manners & courtesy by the Italians. I also dont need to pay tourist rates for an espresso etc.

I've always thought that the Americans' reputation for being loud was based mostly on the fact that they sound different to us Brits and so are more noticeable. I've found the reverse also true in the States (ie I'm more noticeable because of my UK accent). Not quite sure how that translates in a non-English speaking country though. And I venture to say that noone is noisier than Italians!

Preconceptions are always interesting. I remember sitting on a train going through the Rockies talking to an American woman. There was a party of other Europeans (can't remember which country now, but it was a long time ago so they were certainly Western) on the train being pretty rowdy, and my companion was complaining about them, finishing by saying "and of course, like all Europeans they smell, since they don't wash very often"!!!

I forbore to say that surely I was also a European in her eyes......

As Pigro rightly says, "bad, disrespectful, dull and insensitive" unfortunately exist in every nationality and every race. The fact that cheaper travel and higher income has made it cheaper for everyone to travel, which should be regarded as a blessing as it will help to educate people; however, not everyone has been taught good manners and to be prepared for these experiences without becoming a nuissance to others. And I think that we will just have to put up with this and smile.....

In the village I live in, there are far more permanent resident Americans than there are Brits, probably more American holiday home owners too now I come to think of it. But if they all got together at the same time and tried to make as much noise as they could, they'd still be quieter than my dear Italian neighbour, Maura, who could shout for Italy! Oh, come on, all nationalities can be noisy, Brits especially en masse and abroad. We all know Brits, surely, that can't speak a word of Italian but seem to think they can communicate merely by shouting in English with increasing loudness? We're notorious for it. And we once went on an organised tour with a group of French nationals, there were only 12/15 of them but, my goodness, the noise they made, it was funny hearing English people in hotels and restaurants commenting on it.

[quote=annec;84859]I and my companion was complaining about them, finishing by saying "and of course, like all Europeans they smell, since they don't wash very often"!!![/quote]

She probably thought all Europeans were like the French....

[quote=Mathematician;84856]To Lisa C: I would have said check out Puglia as a quite un-touristed and a warm, welcome from the community [/quote]

Thanks! We may take your advice and check out Puglia. We also want to explore the Lunigiana as we have not visited there in years and we still have very close friends in Pisa. My husband also has Itallian roots (grandfather and grandmother's families come from Basilicata and Trento) and he speaks fluent Italian, while mine is passable.

Our goal is to retire to an area where we will become a part of the Italian community and where there is not a large ex-pat one.

Lisa

As an American I would agree that Americans can be loud and obnoxious, especially those who have not experienced other cultures and are traveling here for the first time. When we are in heavy tourist areas we shy away from the obvious Americans...unless they look helplessly lost and we try to help them out.

That said the worst experience we have is with Germans, we regularly run into them that seem loud. We also find groups of Brits in Italy who can be rather loud, especially in Rome near the "pubs".

In our area when we see tourists there are three groups who tend to look the same on first glance: Americans, British and Germans. They can be indistinguishable until you hear their voices.

[quote=Lisa C.;84878]
Our goal is to retire to an area where we will become a part of the Italian community and where there is not a large ex-pat one.[/quote] that was our thinking exactly when choosing our home in Umbria. Our town of San Venanzo offers all we need, and welcomed us with open arms. I hope you find the same!

[quote=Violetta;84867] But if they all got together at the same time and tried to make as much noise as they could, they'd still be quieter than my dear Italian neighbour, Maura, who could shout for Italy! Oh, come on, all nationalities can be noisy, Brits especially en masse and abroad. We all know Brits, surely, that can't speak a word of Italian but seem to think they can communicate merely by shouting in English with increasing loudness? We're notorious for it. [/quote]

We also have a wonderful italian neighbour who thinks that if she talks VERY LOUDLY to me, it will improve my italian :nah: She does actually talk loudly all the time / anytime - we always know where she is bless her. Wouldn't change her for the world - apart of course at 6.30am !!!!!!!!

[quote=Lisa C.;84878]...

Our goal is to retire to an area where we will become a part of the Italian community and where there is not a large ex-pat one.

Lisa[/quote]

Even in Tuscany you can find some areas where this applies. Check the Garfagnana, Val di Lima and Villa Basilica in Lucca province and the scenary and people are terrific. Stay away from the larger cities but close enough so that you may have the best of both worlds.

Friends who live in Edinburgh and London have complained to me about the amount of noise created by teenage Italians who are supposedly in Britain to improve their English, but seem to spend a lot of time gathered in flocks in town centres chattering away amongst themselves in Italian.

Al

Remember being at Changi Airport Singapore last year trying to find the gate for the flight home. Stupidly I couldn't figure out which one it was and then I heard it, it was music to my ears, a really comforting sound, a mass of Italian tourists all screaming and shouting simultaneously, so I just followed the racket on to the plane. It was great.