Sunday, November 13, 2005

The Other Side of Tourism

You've seen the glamour; now you need to check out the B side of Venice.


(You DO remember what a B side
is don't you?)


Anyway one of the bad things about touring is the waiting around that you have to do. There is plenty of it if you go to lots of places:

ticket-queue

It is not so bad if you are clever enough to use the machines:

Ticket-to-Ride

You have to take pitstops and eat on the hoof if you cannot lug your bags to restaurants or cafes:

pit-stop



Commuting and waiting of course are features of everyday living - which is why some of us have Walkmans to help us along ...

Does my necklook big in this?

(I look quite insane here and am taking the example from Simply Clare of looking stupid on my blog ...)

But in Venice there are special problems, such as how to get rid of all the rubbish from so many people ...

Guts-n-skin

especially when it is only boats to take it away. What would you do with your old tv?

TV-in-the-wild

And it may look quaint, all those buildings, all those balconies ... but there are very few gardens, so very few washing lines ... it is expensive to import a drier and . So you dry your clothes on the street like this:

Vienese-wash

The bridges may be picturesque and easy for pedestrians (with no luggage) but it is hard if you are disabled or infirm.
And 'normal' wheelchairs may be more comfortable but are heavy and unwieldy. (Look at how the woman has her legs in stirrup things)

disability rights

Tourists are a pain. They get EVERYWHERE.

No-Turist


Unfortunately if you don't fit the mould you don't get to be a gondolier. I think you have to look Italian - white and maybe 'swarthy' - but no, not black, I reckon.

YSL

All over Europe I have seen African people selling fake YSL and Gucci bags. (I am pretty sure their careers advisors did not recommend this line of work. I think it is an accident of fate.) At night we saw these people get picked up in a boat ...

And Venice was the first place to have jewish quarter, they had the first ghetto - which still exists.

3 comments:

Kate said...

This is great Dr Joolz.
I have been flickring today, and there is a great tag which is called discarded.
This post is very discarded but also cool.

Rob Burton said...

According to your B side link a b side adds 'extra value'. I think that the activities shown in the images are those which add 'extra value' to travelling or vacationing, learning to use the ticket machines, hanging about in airports, sitting watching the locals, wandering down dirty dusty sidestreets, buying dodgy souviners of Africans, thats what being in a foreign country is about, that is the added values, the b side, but then again I'm a sociologist so I love that stuff!

Joolz said...

Yes I agree with you DrRob. That stuff is supremely interesting and I have so many b side photos of Venice ...

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Sheffield, South Yorks, United Kingdom
I am an academic interested in New Literacies, Digital Lifestyles, Informal Online Learning.