Tag: Walking Tours of Paris

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Please, No Pissoirs in Public!

You may recall reading our blog The Pee Ladies of Paris (November 7, 2015). Well, I’m going to take you on another journey into the history of public urination in Paris. Our discussion could easily take place in London or any major European city (e.g., Berlin, Stockholm, or Lisbon).

During the Middle Ages, there were no toilets (unless you were the king and queen or of high nobility), no sewer systems (other than the river and city streets), and no way to relieve oneself in public unless you were female and had your ladies-in-waiting form a circle around you to shield your actions. For the men, it was much easier. They just urinated in public—seemingly no shame in this other than the smell.

Public Urination

Public urination was banned in Paris by the 1700s. For convenience purposes, “barrels of easement” were placed on the street corners. Unfortunately, the problems—public views and the stench—were not solved. Read More Please, No Pissoirs in Public!

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Petting a Lethal Snake

“Is Common Sense in Travel Dead?”

Christopher Elliott, writing for USA Today (February 7, 2014), asks that question.

Coming off a vacation in which we took a cruise to the Caribbean with Sandy’s parents, I’m going to answer in the affirmative.

In fact, I’m going to go further. I think the American traveler has lost their perspective of not only common sense, but also common courtesy. I’ve seen enough to conclude the Ugly American has returned (or did they ever leave?).

For the time being, let’s stay on track with the extinction of common sense.

We’re on a shore excursion in Guatemala, in a bus, and full of the ship’s passengers. Sitting diagonally across from us is a woman who is hacking up such a cough that I honestly thought she was going to die (her companion told her to quit smoking—we found out later that she was deathly ill in addition to the smoking issue). Common sense would have told her to stay on board the ship so as not to potentially infect the rest of us. Perhaps that falls under common courtesy?

Our bus stops at the local cemetery. Since the water table is about a foot below the surface, people are buried above ground. Our guide makes it a point to tell us this. Boxes, coffins, and other assorted final resting places were stacked one above another. Sometimes these were 12 high. The colors were beautiful. Everything was painted in pastel colors: orange, yellow, blue, mauve, purple, etc. I thought I was in Miami Beach. Read More Petting a Lethal Snake