Ugly Americans
We’ve only seen one so far, really. A big douche-bag looking type and his wife/girlfriend/whatever tried to enter St. Peter’s Basilica - she attired in shorts and a tank top (does no one do any research before traveling?). The guard stops them, indicates that they may not enter. The guy gets a “WTF?!” look as the guard explains (in Italian) that the woman must cover her bare legs/shoulders before they may enter. They turn around, and I walk over to mention that they can buy a scarf or a wrap from one of the nearby street vendors, and explain that appropriate attire is required to enter the chuch; it is a holy place and the practice is done out of respect.
The guy responds with “Well, I think it’s ridiculous.” I’m not religious and I personally don’t think bare shoulders and knees are really all that scandalous, but I do my best to respect the culture (I am here, after all, because I appreciate and enjoy the Italian way of life) so his response really annoyed me. I wanted to respond with something like “Then go home.” but walked away instead. (Also, he was obviously a moron. And much bigger than me. But maybe I should have goaded him on and enjoyed watching the Swiss Guard give him a lesson in quality security services.)
Overall though, I’ve seen more oblivious/obnoxious German tourists (or German-speaking, at least) than Americans. But they’re are probably more of them here right now seeing as how they’re all on holiday this time of year.
