Typical+Italian+Tourist

=ITALIAN TOURIST LEAVING HOME...=

Italian people are very fond of their culture; not only in that they love their typical food and their typical way of dressing, but also in that they can't give over their way of life at home even when they are abroad. As a matter of fact, when they go somewhere in the world on holiday they miss their house so much... So, before leaving, Italian tourists usually try everything to take with them all the stuff belonging to their "home sweet home" that fits in their car (lots of clothes, toys, radios, televisions, pictures, food, pets, etc.). You can easily recognise an Italian tourist when you see someone driving a completely crammed car! Finally, we could say that great part Italian people isn't so suitable and hardly abandons his facilities.

=ITALIAN BODY LANGUAGE=

If you are on holiday, and the tourists next to you are quite "lively", it is quite probable they are Italian. Two things in particular are clues that cannot be mistaken: first of all, Italian tourists cannot keep themselves from speaking loud. You can hear them spout even though they are speaking next to each other. Maybe you can even think they are going to have a quarrel, but nothing is going to happen. This is simply the way Italians are used to talking.Apart from speaking excitedly, they also use a lot of expression both in their voice and their body language. Almost all the people in Italy move their hands while speaking, and it is so natural that they do not even realize it. Gestures just come out as words are being said, and there is nothing more spontaneous in Italian hands and arms, waving in the air and miming the speech. Maybe that is why Italian tourists always look so much excited! I think there are two Italian gestures that are really common and quite easy to explain. The first one is the typical shaking of one or both hands that appears in the following picture:

= = We usually make use of this gesture to say that we don't agree with what our interlocutor is saying, or that we don't believe him. This mimic is really common, and it usually goes with the word //macchè//, that is really hard to be translated. It sounds like "What are you saying? Are you kidding me?" or "Not at all!!!". Here is another body language expression we use. Generally, Italians do that with children, to express that a food is really good and we like it! The sound we make while putting the finger on the cheek is more or less "MMH!!!

=ITALIAN TOURIST LOOKING FOR FOOD...=

And what about Italian food? Italy is worldwide known for its delicious dishes, Italian restaurants and pizzerias are present in nearly every town in the world. The typical Italian mother (especially in the south of Italy) spends so much time cooking that we could say that the kitchen has become her little reign. Eating Italian food is a habit that many Italians don't want to put aside, even when they are spending some time abroad on holiday. Call it a silly habit or a kind of (un)founded arrogance, most of the Italian people think Italian kitchen is the best in the world. Walking along the large avenues of a big cities in the United States or wandering in the tiny streets of a small town in Europe, when it's meal time Italian tourists usually look for an Italian sign. Such a narrowness of mind can lead to funny and unpleasant experiences, as it could happen to find yourself in a "Italian" pizzeria where pizza tastes like a Greek bun and espresso is served in a nice mug.



=THE "TAMARRO" ITALIAN TOURIST=

Let's consider the typical Italian tourist from a "dressing" point of view. Italy in general and Milan in particular, have always been considered the capitals of the fashion industry. Here we can find many names and trademarks known all over the world, such as Valentino, Versace, Dolce&Gabbana, Missoni, Armani, Gucci and so on. As far as it concerns fashion, the "Made in Italy" has always been considered prestigious. As a result, many people in Italy are fashion victims and deliberately spend a lot of money to buy anything they need not to go out of fashion. But pay attention: "fashionable" is not the same of "tasteful". So, we can find people wearing very coloured shirts, jeans, skirts and dresses with all sorts of decorations on them. The most important thing is that they must be expensive and accompanied by big, visible accessories. There is a word the Italians use to describe such people (men especially) and it is "tamarro". A "tamarro" is generally a sun-burned young man wearing very tight and coloured T-shirts ( in order to make the other people see his freshly builded muscles), expensive jeans with visible decorations and huge sunglasses, even in the worst of the rainy days. He's generally very self-confident and considers himself a "tombeur des femmes", though most of times he's unbelievably ignorant and stupid. Maybe, each country has its own "tamarro". The Italian one is surely stuck with the idea of fashion. So, if you find a man like the one I talked about, you are probably meeting a "Tamarro"-Italian tourist.

Alessandro Favaro, Gloria Okorocha, Giulia Cecconello, Elisa Rampazzo