#41: Tourist Season Begins
Ciao Nonni!
Along with the dreaded pollen, the perfect springtime weather and longer days has also brought with it the return of the tourists to Lucca.
The dramatic increase in tour groups and tourists has been astonishing these last couple of weeks. All of a sudden, guides with little flags on poles are everywhere. Cycling through town has become a game of dodgem cars, trying not to crash into the clueless wanderers who are constantly stopping and changing direction with no warning in order to take photos.
I have mixed feelings about the tourists. I hate how they walk ten abreast down narrow streets that clearly still also carry car and bike traffic, and are completely oblivious to the dinging of bells and shouts of 'permesso!' from the local delivery riders. But I love watching people take in the beauty of Lucca, in absolute awe of the walls, the buildings, the greenery, and the picturesque piazzas. It reminds me over and over again why we love it here so much, and how lucky we are that at the end of the day when all the tourists leave - we get to stay and call it home.
The other thing that fascinates me about the tourists is how the demographics change from week to week. Lucca is hot on the German tourist trail, so there are always plenty of German speakers (often in khaki shorts, sensible shoes and backpacks). Some days I feel like I hear more German than Italian on the streets around town. There was a week in the height of summer last year where we were inundated with French speakers, and a few days later they were all gone again.
Last week, however, all I heard was Australians! I have no idea why or how, but honestly it was like I was back home. Every time I heard English being spoken, it was with an Australian accent. There is something about it that seems so exaggerated when you hear it overseas. I'm sure these people are just stock standard Aussies, but here they sound like so many Steve Irwins and Crocodile Dundees running around the place.
Tourist season also heralds the return of English being the default language I get spoken to in bars and restaurants. I clearly do not look at all Italian, so as soon as I walk in anywhere, the assumption is that I am a tourist. Fair enough. I certainly don't look Lucchese. But I would so dearly like to keep practicing my Italian as often as possible, which gets harder in these circumstances.
Luckily, pretty much all of the tourism action is contained within the walls of Lucca. Now that we live outside, life goes on in much the same way as the rest of the year. Italian is the default language (and pretty much the only one you will hear on the streets) and the only groups you'll find blocking the footpaths are the local anziani who stop to have a chat wherever they feel like it, exaggerated hand gestures and all.
I'm very excited that Mum arrives in Italy in a couple of days. The two of us are heading up into the mountains for some hiking on the weekend, before we come back to Lucca for her to spend time with us all here. We can contribute some more Australian accents both inside and outside the walls!
