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T&L: America’s Rudest Cities for Visitors


According to a recent Travel&Leisure Magazine article, the five cities in the U.S. where citizens are not too cordial to tourists are:

1. Los Angeles: That’ll be another $10 for your waiter, 'cause he really needs the dough. He came out here from Podunk to become a big movie star. He ain’t quite made it yet, but your contribution will keep him going a little longer before he has to go back home.

2. New York: Hey, I’m walkin’ here! You think you own the sidewalk or sumpin’? This is my Noo Yawk! Get outa my face, tourist! But first unload your wallet!

3. Philadelphia: Who sez Philly is the City of Brotherly Love? I don’t even like my sister, so pay for your hoagie and scram outa here!

4. Miami: Yeah, it ain’t the heat, it’s the humidity. I know we raised the prices on rooms at our dumpy hotel 200 percent, but ya know, it’s the season. And down here, the season is from January 1 to December 31.

5. Washington DC: Don’t ask me where the Lincoln Memorial is. Go find it yerself, tourist. I’m busy lobbying Congress to get a billion or so to keep my bank from going broke and to pay off more execs with huge cash bonuses.

Just kiddin’. We totally disagree with the listing, and have always found those cities welcoming to tourists with courtesy, great bargains and wonderful experiences.
Cruise ship auctions: Honest or rip-offs? PDF Print E-mail

Mona Lisa w/sunglasses

Q: On several recent sailings we’ve wandered into the scheduled art auctions that seem to be a feature of every cruise. The art displayed is usually very colorful and splashy, often obvious copies of the styles of Picasso, Van Gogh, Matisse and other impressionists. From education (BFA, Philly Museum College of Art) and experience, we’re a bit suspicious of the deals. Are those shipboard auctions OK or a bad deal? A: If you attend any of those auctions, you’ll feel the pumped-up excitement of the bidding and the come-on spiels of the sales people. If you win an auction round, you may pay more for a copycat painting that resembles a Renoir than you should. However, while there’s something of a used-car-lot hoopla in the sales, there’s nothing dishonest about them.

As you wrote, the merchandise is very colorful, and if a passenger buys a painting just because it will look good in the living room, who’s to say there’s anything wrong with the sale? If you do attend a shipboard auction, just keep your cool and bid only on artworks you believe will fit in with your decor or as a gift. If the bidding seems to be getting too high, let it go on without you.
 
 
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