This evening, we tried a new (for us) Chinese restaurant. Without informing us the order was atypical, they charges an extra buck and a half for veggie fried rice instead of the meaty regular version. It is also the last time I will eat there. So they lost a potential repeat customer - but restaurants in tourist resorts are not risking as much if they stiff a transient customer.
I just ran across this article:
It starts with:
An Italian holiday may be a priceless experience for those who have enjoyed all this country has to offer. But the summer of 2023 will go down as one of the priciest in history after a slew of price gouging scandals at cafes and restaurants that have affected foreign tourists and Italians alike.
Take the couple charged 2 euros ($2.20) to cut their ham sandwich in half on the shores of Lake Como, or the young mother in the Roman seaside town of Ostia charged 2 euros to have her baby’s bottle heated in the microwave.
And then goes on.
A few years ago, I pledged never to vacation in Italy during the summer again. After many enjoyable trips there, the crowds were so massive and the temperature so oppressively hot that we saw every darn museum in Rome - because they were air conditioned.
Global warming and increased international tourism has made many prime destination fall off the edge of the earth for us.
I’m like that too! It is doubly insulting when their cost is going down (veggies instead of meat), and they still charge you an upcharge. And, not properly serving the customer is also grounds for “banning”, many years ago, my wife and I were at a favorite restaurant of ours, and the waiter came back and told my wife that “the chef refuses to cook your fish the way you want it” (she wanted her tuna cooked a little more than lightly seared because she didn’t like the raw tuna in the middle). She banned that place and we never went there again!
Italy. Oh Italy. I love the country and have been there countless times over the years. One incident remains clear in my memory. We took a cab from Termini to our hotel near Piazza Navona, and the fare was under 10 euro and I told him “10” to include a tip. I handed the guy a large bill (a 100 or a 200 note) and he hands me change from a 20. I noticed right away and argued with him, and of course he feigned ignorance. I physically stood in the opening between the driver’s door and driver’s seat and didn’t let him enter his car until he gave me the correct change. The bill I handed him was literally still in his hand on top of his folded bills!!! Total chutzpah. Especially after I included a tip which isn’t particularly customary there.
the furthest away from popular tourist destinations
usually the further north the more civilized, but the more south the richer the experience and the food. Sicily is wondrous beyond belief in the small neglected villages (the food!!!)(the vistas!!!)(the random generosity of hosts!), but you need the patience of all their bizarre saints.
This is VERY true. A few years (okay, decades) ago, I spend a few weeks in southern Italy. My wife and I and our 20 month old kid traipsed through the back alleys of Naples. Stayed in a small hotel 100 meters away from a funiculare. One evening while my wife was bathing the baby, I ran out, caught the funiculare immediately, rode up, ran out and bought some fresh pizza (among the best in the world is at capodimonte in Naples), ran back to funiculare, rode it down, and walked back to hotel. Pizza was still wonderfully warm when I got back and we ate.
Naples is so “real” compared to Milan (mostly business) or even compared to Rome (mostly tourists) or Venice (a veritable tourist trap). We went to Ercolano and had a wonderful fish dinner with fresh salad that tasted as the veggies were just picked. We climbed Vesuvio (with our daughter on my back) and it started snowing up there! The south of Italy is really alive.
