You are American Right?

Belgium is a wonderful country with lots of rich history. They are currently the capital of the European Union and they are famous for having one of the best breakfast items in the world. There is a lot that would make American tourist come to Belgium. I decided to see the city of Brussels with all of the wonderful architecture and international dealings. I stayed in the North end of the city which was very close by the embassies of the different nations and the Palace of Justice.

http://www.trabel.com/brussel/brussels-palace_of_justice.htm . This building shows the massive power that the Brussels held for its country. It is a very impressive structure that would make anyone who had to walking into it very intimidated about the Belgium government they were about to face. We took an afternoon stroll down through monuments and palaces just like many of the tourist around us. As we crossed in front of the Palace of Peace at one time being one of the largest buildings in Europe we were passed by middle aged Belgium couple. They ask one of my fellow travelers “You guys are American right?” We nodded yes and he replied “I figured, I spotted you from across the square” , this outstand us, How could this man pick us out of all of the other tourist around this massive and insanely popular monument? We then figured what gave us way was that we were carrying 3 bags each , had our coats tied around our waist, not too mention one of us had our camera around her neck. As Americans we do not see these things as abnormal for a person to carry around but for the Europeans tourist to travel all day with large amounts of goods on your back.

This was not the first time we were made out as Americans. Just after we got off the tram in Rotterdam we were viscously pointed and laughed at. At this point in the weekend since it was the last few days we did look ridiculous. We have 7 bags, looked worn out, had the white sneakers on, and were just trying to make to a place to set down all of our ridiculous belongings. We could not walk anywhere with out our nationality being pointed out to us. At restaurants we were never given menus in anything but English. At one time we actually were asked if we were British but that was short lived because as soon as we opened our mouths were known as American.

The main thing that I believed pointed us out to the natives that we were epically American tourist is that we fit the quintessential look of one. We were trying to see everything that we could in one day and if that meant running around the city hauling 15 pound book bags so we could make it to the train on time then that was what we did. Europeans take pride in their monuments and rich history that they have. They want tourist to take time to learn about their country and respect their monuments. They don’t want the tourist ( American or not) to just run around smacking into people with their large bags and not really paying attention to the meaning or reasons behind the large building with the horse in front of it.