Armanius
Bring Jack back!
- Location
- Houston, Texas
- Name
- Jack
Some of my observations. Sorry, if some of it sounds chauvinistic or stereotypical!
Photo related stuff
- Asian tourists used a lot of mirrorless cameras -- primarily NEX. Saw 3-4 Olympus, a couple of Panasonic, one Samsung, 3-4 Nikon 1, and two Fuji X's
- Majority of Asian tourists still used Nikon or Canon DSLR's
- Majority of white tourists used Canon DSLR's, with some Nikon's
- For white tourists, females tended to be the ones using DSLR's
- For all tourists, the males tended to use a bigger lens
- I saw only one Leica M (not sure if it was a M or some type of M) while inside the Vatican Museum
- Came across 2-3 people carrying Billingham bags - one was the Leica user, one was carrying a Sony A7, and another was using a Fuji X-Pro1.
- While most people were fairly courteous about getting into another people's way while taking photos, there were a number of jerks. The jerks were primarily Asian tourists from Korea and China, and middle eastern folks, who did not mind running over people to get better vantage points
- Too many people not respecting no photo or no flash photo rules (quite upsetting, as I expect people to respect rules that are designed to protect the art)
Travel related stuff
- Reports that Rome tourist locations would have less crowds around Christmas time were wrong. Places like Colosseum, Vatican Museum, St. Peter's, and Trevi were ridiculously crowded!!
- At the Louvre, if you want to see the Monalisa, go in the later afternoon. There was still a crowd, but nowhere as ridiculous as I've seen in some people's photos
- Next time, I need to be in better shape for all that walking (particularly up to the dome of St. Peter's and up the Arc de Triomphe)
- French drivers don't seem to mind running people over
- There were ambulance sirens at least 4-5X per day in Paris
- Way too many smokers in Europe
- There were less panhandlers than I expected. Did not come across any in Paris, and came across 3-4 in Rome. They were all gypsies.
- Rome tour guide and flower sellers were pushy and annoying
- Paris sellers of Eiffel Tower replicas were less pushy, but equally annoying due to their sheer number
- Rome has much better food than Paris
- Worst service was a cafe near the Eiffel Tower. Had a late dinner there, and the waiter was a jerk.
- Gelato in Rome was not better than here in the US
- Coffee in Rome is better than here in the US
- Italians are nicer than French
Conclusions
- I enjoyed Rome more than Paris. When we left Paris for Rome, I was happy to leave Paris. I was sad to leave Rome for Houston
My apologies to all that I may have offended!
Photo related stuff
- Asian tourists used a lot of mirrorless cameras -- primarily NEX. Saw 3-4 Olympus, a couple of Panasonic, one Samsung, 3-4 Nikon 1, and two Fuji X's
- Majority of Asian tourists still used Nikon or Canon DSLR's
- Majority of white tourists used Canon DSLR's, with some Nikon's
- For white tourists, females tended to be the ones using DSLR's
- For all tourists, the males tended to use a bigger lens
- I saw only one Leica M (not sure if it was a M or some type of M) while inside the Vatican Museum
- Came across 2-3 people carrying Billingham bags - one was the Leica user, one was carrying a Sony A7, and another was using a Fuji X-Pro1.
- While most people were fairly courteous about getting into another people's way while taking photos, there were a number of jerks. The jerks were primarily Asian tourists from Korea and China, and middle eastern folks, who did not mind running over people to get better vantage points
- Too many people not respecting no photo or no flash photo rules (quite upsetting, as I expect people to respect rules that are designed to protect the art)
Travel related stuff
- Reports that Rome tourist locations would have less crowds around Christmas time were wrong. Places like Colosseum, Vatican Museum, St. Peter's, and Trevi were ridiculously crowded!!
- At the Louvre, if you want to see the Monalisa, go in the later afternoon. There was still a crowd, but nowhere as ridiculous as I've seen in some people's photos
- Next time, I need to be in better shape for all that walking (particularly up to the dome of St. Peter's and up the Arc de Triomphe)
- French drivers don't seem to mind running people over
- There were ambulance sirens at least 4-5X per day in Paris
- Way too many smokers in Europe
- There were less panhandlers than I expected. Did not come across any in Paris, and came across 3-4 in Rome. They were all gypsies.
- Rome tour guide and flower sellers were pushy and annoying
- Paris sellers of Eiffel Tower replicas were less pushy, but equally annoying due to their sheer number
- Rome has much better food than Paris
- Worst service was a cafe near the Eiffel Tower. Had a late dinner there, and the waiter was a jerk.
- Gelato in Rome was not better than here in the US
- Coffee in Rome is better than here in the US
- Italians are nicer than French
Conclusions
- I enjoyed Rome more than Paris. When we left Paris for Rome, I was happy to leave Paris. I was sad to leave Rome for Houston
My apologies to all that I may have offended!