In defense of the Winter Village, the restaurant kiosks there are way better than most options in the area and do a good job of highlighting the diversity of food in the city! As someone who works nearby, it’s nice to go there for lunch (or dinner haha) and it’s also been pretty good for finding Christmas presents from local vendors.
This article would have been so much better if you had added one more line: "And that's why we're moving back to NYC, mofos!" Or minus the mofos. Dealer's choice.
Weirdly having not been near the city for years, my return at Christmastime to see the touristy stuff ended up being endearing and fun, so maybe there is something to that childhood memory...more reasons to show kids the city young
My husband and I are currently traveling and we are really struggling with the tourist thing. In the azores, Lisbon, and Madeira we have found nothing but tourists, and cities built for them. It is impossible to find locals and actually get a sense of living here. (It’s also a double edged sword because a lot of the touristy things are touristy for a reason: we do want to see the castles! The history! But it feels like the result is that we are using them to create a false Disneyland city for tourists.)
Agreed! We found the same when we were in Spain last summer. Many of the locals of course vacate Barcelona and San Sebastián in August, just as they do in France…but apparently all the French people ended up in San Sebastián with us. So I guess locals can skip town during the high season (and become tourists elsewhere), or avoid those parts of town that are overrun. But for the tourist to get an “authentic” experience, I think it means avoiding places during high seasons, staying in and visiting more residential neighborhoods, or trying to get off the beaten path—but maybe it’s impossible without actually moving to another city or country. Perhaps there’s always something inherently “touristy” about tourism???
Enjoy your travels, tourists aside! Where to next?
Yeah, it's very tricky. We're getting a bit more of a locals experience in Madeira just because we are hiking around the island and thus ending up in towns that aren't frequented by tourists, but I hope to get more off the beaten path over the rest of the summer. We have a lot of EU travels ahead for the summer, then Asia for the fall and winter!
In defense of the Winter Village, the restaurant kiosks there are way better than most options in the area and do a good job of highlighting the diversity of food in the city! As someone who works nearby, it’s nice to go there for lunch (or dinner haha) and it’s also been pretty good for finding Christmas presents from local vendors.
Fair points!
This article would have been so much better if you had added one more line: "And that's why we're moving back to NYC, mofos!" Or minus the mofos. Dealer's choice.
Haha! There's probably some kind of correlation between me writing about winter in New York when it's been in the 90s in Austin.
Weirdly having not been near the city for years, my return at Christmastime to see the touristy stuff ended up being endearing and fun, so maybe there is something to that childhood memory...more reasons to show kids the city young
Great essay
Thanks!
My husband and I are currently traveling and we are really struggling with the tourist thing. In the azores, Lisbon, and Madeira we have found nothing but tourists, and cities built for them. It is impossible to find locals and actually get a sense of living here. (It’s also a double edged sword because a lot of the touristy things are touristy for a reason: we do want to see the castles! The history! But it feels like the result is that we are using them to create a false Disneyland city for tourists.)
Agreed! We found the same when we were in Spain last summer. Many of the locals of course vacate Barcelona and San Sebastián in August, just as they do in France…but apparently all the French people ended up in San Sebastián with us. So I guess locals can skip town during the high season (and become tourists elsewhere), or avoid those parts of town that are overrun. But for the tourist to get an “authentic” experience, I think it means avoiding places during high seasons, staying in and visiting more residential neighborhoods, or trying to get off the beaten path—but maybe it’s impossible without actually moving to another city or country. Perhaps there’s always something inherently “touristy” about tourism???
Enjoy your travels, tourists aside! Where to next?
Yeah, it's very tricky. We're getting a bit more of a locals experience in Madeira just because we are hiking around the island and thus ending up in towns that aren't frequented by tourists, but I hope to get more off the beaten path over the rest of the summer. We have a lot of EU travels ahead for the summer, then Asia for the fall and winter!
Sounds amazing! Have a lovely time...and I look forward to reading about it! ;-)