Tour Groups We Observed #1of2

One year we were seated at a table in St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy, enjoying a Coke, the music, and the view of St. Mark’s and the Campanile. Suddenly a well dressed man flopped in a chair at our table, and let out a long, loud sigh. After he relaxed a moment, he introduced himself as a college professor from Ireland, who each summer acted as a tour guide for groups of traveling Americans. He said, “I told them I would never again lead a group from New York City, but they bribed me with a large sum of money, and here I am — but never again.” He then pointed to some people wandering around the square, feeding pigeons, etc., and said it was impossible to lead people from New York, and he would resign before he tried it again. He said that people from New York City were very selfish, cared only about themselves, and would not cooperate. They had paid for a tour and a Tour Leader, but they did what they wanted to do, and paid no attention to the needs of the tour group as a whole.

Yet another year, while we visited the fruit and vegetable market in Lugano, Switzerland, we heard some noise and saw a tour leader angrily waving his colored umbrella, hollering for people to get in the tour bus, right now, or he would leave them where they are. When we asked what the problem was, he said never again would he lead a tour group from New York City. The bus was late leaving Lugano, and several people were loitering in the market place, rather than getting on the bus.

Now, we didn’t make up those two stories, and we never heard a tour leader say similar things about tour groups from other cities.

We sailed from Athens, Greece, on the SS Odysseus, and visited Míkonos, Istanbul, Yalta, and Odessa. The ship had recently been sailing in the Caribbean. The tour director said those passengers were mainly Americans, and they were much friendlier, and easier to get along with, than the European passengers that sailed from Athens. We were happy to hear that.

We noticed most passengers on our cruise tended to congregate with others from their own country. It’s also obvious the English are different from the Germans, who are different from the French, who are different from the Italians, who are different from the Greeks, who are different from — whoever. We found that once we had the chance to talk or “talk” with any of them, they were all pleasant and cordial.