Tourists

In Hawai'i, we - especially those of us in the industry - call them "visitors." In Europe, they/WE are tourists. The resident population of Venice is about 60,000. Yes, most of the gorgeous and beloved old "homes" (buildings) are unoccupied. It is simply too expensive to upkeep them and certainly too expensive to restore them, not to mention the extraordinary bureaucracy through which one must maneuver to do so. You think it takes a long time to get a subdivision through in Hawai'i? Try getting a permit to put a nail in a wall in Venice!

Back to the point. The ratio of visitors to residents in Venice is - ONE HUNDRED TO ONE. They do not like us. And yes, that is a sweeping generalization but if you have lived for any length of time in a "visitor destination," you know what I'm talking about. Yes, you do. And so I always feel, in dealing with shopkeepers, restaurant folk, vaporetto conductors, everyone, that I should be as unobstrusive as possible, do things their way as best as I possibly can, and yes, in a way, make up for the many, many, many rude and inconsiderate "tourists." However, it is obvious that I am not "local" (duh) and therefore am lumped/dumped into the general "tourist" pool. It's fine. I understand.

And then something magical happens. On Sunday, walking through a part of town I'd not been to on this trip, an elderly Venetian woman who saw me looking intently at my map came up and asked if she could help me. And she did. And I instantly found the address I'd been looking for. A little while later, in a part of town with which I am more familiar and had stopped momentarily to get my bearings (some of you know about my "sense" of direction!), another elderly Venetian woman asked if she could help me. So, I either look exceptionally pathetic. Or, as in every "tourist" destination in the world, there are wonderful people who don't care where you're from or what you look like or any of that stuff. They're just good people who help other people who are far from home.