Possibly the most divine random encounter thus far in my existence, I passed an old Italian professo

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Having dourly posted the warnings of talking to strangers while abroad , I am now going to post the rewards. While, let's face it, there are some people out there (...maybe you?) who would tell me to shut up about the Eurozone and get my dance on, I would respond that with: a) You obviously haven't seen the weird shuffle that passes for my dance, b) Go read someone else's discount car rentals in philadelphia blog.
In Venice after the hour of about ten thirty, basically the most hoppin place was the smoothie stand, especially since I ended up commiserating with an Italian art student about her commitment problems (I feel ya , girl).
Possibly the most divine random encounter thus far in my existence, I passed an old Italian professor reciting German poetry, asked him what the poem was, and ended up having an epic hours-long conversation in Italian about life, art, and why Mozart was infinitely more important than Coca-Cola. He took me out for dinner and walked discount car rentals in philadelphia me home, pressing his papery hand in mind as we parted to tell me that the youth are the light of our future, and that meeting me had been an extremely special evening. I was pretty sure he was my 79-year-old surrogate-grandfather soul mate.
My friend and I were at a bar doing nightlife research ( not kidding), and this British guy s friends were getting a little too hands-on (like, dudes, this is a conversation, not an arts and crafts project at elementary school summer camp). We left the bar, the British guy followed us for several blocks shouting things, which we thought was creepy, but actually discount car rentals in philadelphia when he caught up to us we discovered he was saying: Stupid Americans, that s not the way to your bus stop!! We ended up sitting on a street corner for several hours analyzing gender dynamics in bar-hookup-culture before he, yes, pointed us to the proper bus.
So hostel encounters can be iffy, mostly because the social script of meeting someone in a hostel seems mysteriously to run something along the lines of Hey, where re you from, how long re you traveling, here s a beer, wanna make the springs of the top bunk squeak discount car rentals in philadelphia in a way that will make everyone else in the 10-person room feel uncomfortable? (If that s you re cup of tea, though, by all means drink it just don t expect the sleep-deprived travel writer below you to be very happy, discount car rentals in philadelphia and for goodness sake, use protection.)
However, I have managed to have some top-quality conversations, including one with an Iranian man about the difference in Italian and American lifestyles and family dynamics and perceptions of his country in the United discount car rentals in philadelphia States; and a sexy Canadian discount car rentals in philadelphia yogi novelist (SCYN for short) about the writerly life, the spiritual path, and peyote.
discount car rentals in philadelphia Generally when middle-aged men offer to buy you coffee, you flash your pretend engagement ring and excuse yourself to go meet with your extremely muscular and overprotective father. Yet this jewelry maker and store-owner showed me his finest Egyptian hospitality discount car rentals in philadelphia over coffee and a conversation about his cross-cultural love story, what it was like to be a Muslim immigrant in Milan, the economic crisis, post-Mubarak Egypt, and his lovely four-year-old daughter.
So, while I don't recommend you follow strangers down dark alleys in search of conversation, let's be real here: every street is a dark alley in Venice. Thus, for the open-minded, open-hearted, adventurous, and self-defense-trained, almost anyone is fair game.
For 52 years, we have published the world s favorite budget travel guides, written entirely by students and updated every year. With pen and notebook in hand and a few changes of underwear stuffed in our backpacks, we spend months roaming the globe in search of travel bargains.