I think what a lot of people forget is that just because YOU are on holiday doesn’t mean everyone else is - London, Dublin etc. are working cities just like any other city in the world.
So chances are that if you strolling round the streets leisurely dressed all casual on a day when everyone else is working (so hurrying about, dressed in work clothes etc.) then you are bound to stand out.
The important thing is not trying to look like a “native” - because ultimately you can’t and why should you have to hide who you are in the first place?
no one is going to get mugged just because they look like a tourist (unless they are in a really bad area or are just plain unlucky). You will, however get mugged for looking like an easy target (as described by Gary Kumquat.)
So basically the important question you should ask yourself is not:
[bragging]
It has happened on a number on occasions, while strolling around in London, that I, being my usual sloppy self, have been asked for the way somewhere by natives. And I have usually been able to point them in the right direction.
[/bragging]
BTW, I am always very careful about looking at a map when in London. Not because I’m afraid that my visitorhood would be evident. It’s just that doing so invariably attracts a whole crowd of people who gather around me asking “Can I help you, Sir?”
garius, we had “University Term”, “Full Term” (being the actual teaching periods), and “Christmas Vacation” (or vac), “Easter Vac”, and “Summer Vac”. So your theory doesn’t hold
Today, as I sit writing this I’m wearing a pair of beige Wrangler boot cut cords, New Balance trainers and a New Zealand rugby shirt. Also, silver and blue opal earrings, a nice watch and a topaz, gold and silver ring.
Boy do I feel like a tourist!
In general Irish people tend to wear less trainer-like trainers.
Old school style Pumas and Adidas in suede, in any colour you like, are very popular among the under 30s.
Those slip on loafer type boat shoes by Kickers, or bowling shoe things by Camper are good for the Guys.
I’d say Irish women tend to be more influenced by fashion magazines than their US counterparts. Very trendy and cosmopolitan here.
I’d say it’s more about having cash on your person, and not looking too sure of yourself and your surroundings that give them away.
Perhaps people should just grow a little, like me, 6’2", 185lbs, long hair, no one messes with me anywhere, let alone Europe. However for some reason I seem to get some strange people come up to me. In Paris some old woman started yelling at me on the subway for no reason. I have no idea what her problem was.
I also get asked for directions all over the place, heck maybe that’s what the woman was asking me. I have however, decided that I would buy a pair of boots for this trip to Ireland, one so I don’t have the white shoes, and two because I intend to do a lot of hiking so I figured it made more sence. So watch out Ireland here I come in less then a week!
Here in Chicago I can pretty easily pick out European tourists, but I don’t know that I could explain how.
Mostly I think its the prevalence of darker clothes (lots of brown), lack of baseball caps, no shorts, men with shoulder bags, I don’t know, there must be other things that don’t occur to me right now.
I find it easy to spot Americans when I’m on vacation in Europe-- they’re going to the same places I’m going, and they speak English, but they’re about 1/2 a dozen sizes larger than the locals… Even if they’re dressed the same, Americans are just large.
As for walking around when others are working; I’ve found that’s not a problem. In any sufficiently large city, there’s always bound to be a large segment of the population not working on any given day, eg. waiters during the day, sales clerks on a Monday…
Doesn’t really matter so much what you are wearing as how aware you are of your surroundings.
I blended in well…but I would see groups of Americans shouting to each other in churches, yelling across streets, “Madge! Come look at this!” and basically acting like they were at Walmart on Saturday morning.
Also, young backpackers seem to be oblivious to the rest of the world (if you are a 20 year old woman, wearing cut offs and a halter top, and you wonder why every man on the street is hitting on you…and wonder why women give you dirty looks when you wander in to the 1000 year old cathedral dressed like that.)
That said, I had a German student who, on his first trip to NY in the 70’s, decided to go off to see Harlem first hand. He hadn’t been there 10 minutes before being mugged by three guys - stolen wallet, stolen camera. Flustered, he said, "warum hast du das gemacht?! (Why did you do that?)
One of the muggers said, “you from Germany?”
The guy nodded.
The mugger said to his cohorts, “give him back his stuff.”
They all gave him back his money and camera and the one mugger said, “I was stationed over in Germany once. Nice folks there.” and off they went.
The trick is, be aware of your surroundings…regardless if it is Harlem or in the main square of any European city.
Now, regarding ridiculous clothing? Come take a walk with me down the Las Vegas Strip…
Americans are easy to spot here too , white shoes, baseball caps, matching his & her jogging outfits(or the REALLY baggy jeans look), being loud and pointing. If it’s evening in the pubs, they’re (usually) wearing outdated styles i.e. what was ‘trendy’ here two years ago.
Heh. Several months ago, Mr. Pug and I were at Fisherman’s Wharf in Monterey, California. A tour bus stopped at a distance and disgorged a group of tourists, and we played “guess their nationality” until such time as they were close enough to hear what language they were speaking.
Hmmm - middle-aged to elderly white people, many with cameras. American? More slender than chubby, and nicely dressed - must be European. Used a lot of hand gestures as they spoke - not English, not Irish. They pointed excitedly at sea lions in the harbor and took pictures. As they got close enough to hear them, a big blue jay flew up and landed on a handrail right next to them, and we heard, “Regardez! Regardez le grande oiseau bleu!” And they snapped pics of the blue jay, too.
There are plenty of similarities among tour groups the world over, regardless of nationality, but there are enough differences to keep things entertaining.
