Getting Around As A Tourist

Tweet

Every tourist has their own way of discovering a hitherto unknown city. There are the overly precise ones who plan everything down to the minute and look more into their guide books than at the sights. They may get on the nerves of their fellow tourists with their love of detail. The opposite species are the flâneurs who're satisfied with wandering aimlessly through the streets soaking up the atmosphere. When they're tired, they go to a street café for a bit of people watching. They may peep into a church and look at a monument or two but aren't bothered about precise information. In which century was the church erected? They don't care. For them the main thing is if they like it or not. I'm somewhere in the middle. I've noticed that with advancing age I tend to behave more and more like the latter type of tourist. I studied architectural styles diligently when I was young. Now I don't read up all the details any more. I just wander around and enjoy. What I like to have, however, is a map of the place I visit and some general information. Some years ago I was in Bamberg, a town in the south of Germany. I had never been there before and had heard good things about it. I went by train. I know that only big German cities have a tourist information office in the central train station. Smaller cities and towns have it somewhere in the centre. This is silly because in order to find it, the tourist may pass sites without realising it or maybe they realise it, but don't know what they are. If there are signs in the station and along the streets indicating how to get to the tourist information office, the town council can be (partly) forgiven. The situation in Bamberg is so absurd, however, that it is unforgivable. Half an hour before I had to get back to the station I found the darned thing. When I complained, the woman behind the counter replied unmoved, “Bamberg is so beautiful. It doesn’t hurt the tourists if they walk around on their own for a while and have a look. Moreover, the ones that find us are enough for us to handle.” Have you ever heard anything like that? I insisted that there should be a sign at least near the bridge one has to cross. She said there was one, but the tourists didn’t see it. Going out I looked again, there isn’t one. The woman lies! Thanks to the net I had consulted at home and thanks to some information boards put up beside famous sites and, not to forget, friendly and helpful Bambergers I wasn’t completely lost. Of course, it also helped that I speak the language. How do you organise your travels and get around an unknown place? ----- Photo: pixabay