Eschew Obfuscation

What To Do in a Foreign City?

Posted by Max Dunn Tue, 08 Aug 2006 17:20:00 GMT

On this cruise, I am still trying to figure out what we should actually be doing in a foreign city.

There was a time, about 10 years ago, when I went on a cruise to Mexico and refused to get off the boat and any of the ports. I just didn’t see the point in it. On the boat, I could lay by the pool and waiters would come up and serve me drinks. When I got hungry, I would wander down to the galley and see what foods were out in abundance. And if I got hot or tired, I could go to my stateroom and lay on the cool, soft mattress. On the other hand, if you decided to get off the ship, it was about 100 and gazillion degrees and the shade was non-existent (a ploy by the locals, no doubt, to get you to buy more cervezas). You then had to try to find a taxi driver that wouldn’t rip you off (which most of them would try) and figure out where you wanted to go. When you got to whatever beach the driver decided to bring you to (which was usually not remotely near the one you actually wanted to go to) you would be besieged by cute children beggars incessantly trying to get you to buy something: chicolets, cloth bracelets, monkeys made out of coconut shells, or whatever other junk they were being supplied with that day. Then, if you were lucky, you could actually find a taxi that would take you back to the boat before it left.

But I digress, my goal now is not to completely avoid experiencing a different culture, but instead, trying to figure out the best way to be enfolded in it. One way is to just do all the boat tours. These are fairly antiseptic, funneling you off the ship into a climate controlled bus and then if they actually let you out of this protective custody, they adorn you with stickers or pins to make sure you stand out and look goofy so that you have no hopes of blending into the local population.

Another option is to get off the ship and try to find some activity on your own. This is slightly better because you might find something that is not actually possible for an 80-year old in a walker to do. But these activities will still be quite touristy and nothing like what the locals would do. For example, I grew up in Newport Beach and we would always laugh at the paddle boats and the boats with the checkered flags on them because those were the things tourists were doing, and we would never be caught dead in those. (Although last year, we took a short vacation to Newport and did actually rent a paddle boat and had quite a bit of fun. Suzanne is never going to let me forgot that!)

But you might find some active things to do, like bicycling, sailing, or kayaking, which I would especially enjoy.But kayaking in Stockholm is not going to be a lot different than kayaking in California, so it would not expose you to a completely new activity. But all of these activities would provide a chance to look around a city somewhat.

You could also try just walking around on your own. We did this in both Helsinki and Stockholm and it was fine. The kids spent most of the time looking for souvenirs and chocolates, but we do a tiny bit of site seeing and did get a little bit of the feel of the city.

But what does it mean to get the “feel” of a city and why is this important? In Stockholm, there is an Ice Bar that consists of a very cold room that is made of ice, and when you go in they give a fur parkas and gloves and then serve you drinks in cups made of ice. It is supposed to be a very unusual and interesting experience, and certainly not one that you are likely to find elsewhere. After hearing about this from some people on the boat, we felt a little disappointed that we didn’t go. We imagined that we would run into people in the years to come and when we told them we visited Stockholm they would say they visited there too and went to the Ice Bar, and wasn’t it so fantastic, and we would have to hang our heads and admit that we didn’t go. So part of visiting a city and doing all the common, touristy things is that it gives you a common base to talk to other travelers about.

Another way to get a feel for a city is to spend time with some locals and do the normal stuff they do like going to the market, hanging out, having dinner, etc. In many ways, this would give you a much better idea of the true spirit of a city by finding out about the culture of the people in it. But of course, normally the local people wouldn’t go and do all the touristy things, so you would miss out on that. For instance, the only time we go to San Francisco and ride the cable cars is when we have guests stay with us. So this brings up what may be the best way to get the feel for a city; spend some time with a local family, but also have them take you and do some touristy things. Which would be wonderful if you actually knew a local family in each of the cities that you visit, but this would be rare.

In the end, I guess any of these things is better than refusing to get off the ship at all. And while knowing a local family that you can hang out with a little and see what they do everyday, and also have them take you around to do some touristy things is probably the best way to get the feel for a city, doing the touristy things on your own or doing something active are all valid ways of getting to know a different city.