cals from various tourist destinations across the world revealed the top items that only tourists buy in a recent online forum discussion. If you’re in Nashville wearing a cowboy hat and get weird looks, now you know why… the locals don’t really find these things to be quintessential to their cities.
Ireland: Tweed Cap
One visitor to Ireland said, “I bought my Aran sweater and my Tweed cap and was instantly outed as a tourist in a pub. I said, ‘What gave it away?’ and a guy told me, ‘Look around. Do you see one other person wearing that cap in here?'”
Belgium: Nutella Waffles
“Belgium’s main waffles are either Brussels style or Liege Style. Brussels style have a liquid, non sweet batter and are very airy and crispy when baked. You normally just put some icing sugar on top, Maybe whipped cream and strawberries. Liege Style waffle are made with a dough that when baked becomes light and fluffy. The dough has a lot of sugar inside and caramelises when baked, so no toppings required,” said one Belgium local.
San Francisco: SF Fleece Sweaters
“Here in San Francisco, it’s the gaudy tourist sweatshirts. We sell a LOT of them to people who came expecting Los Angeles heat,” said one user. Many international travelers see sunny California in the movies and expect heat, but San Francisco is known for its gloomy, foggy, blustery weather, especially in the summer. One famous quote about this Northern California city says, “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”
New York: Yankees Hats
“When traveling abroad, I wondered why there were so many Yankees fans. Turns out, they think the NY logo just means the USA in general,” said one commenter. Many New Yorkers are bigger fans of the Mets than the Yankees.
Rome: Fettuccine Alfredo
Although Italy is known for its pasta, this dish isn’t very common for locals. One user said, “Even if the dish was created in Rome, it is not considered traditional at all, and it is seen as something only tourists (mainly Americans) eat.”
Iceland: Bottled water
“Tap water here is the best, whenever I go abroad I miss the fresh tap water here the most and the first thing I do when I come home is to run a fresh glass of cold tap water,” said one Iceland local.
Japan: Unique Flavored Kit-Kats
A resident of Japan said, “The kit-kats DO get sold to Japanese people, but it’s NOWHERE near as big a thing as foreigners make them out to be. I’ve had a lot of Japanese people ask me ‘Why are foreigners so into kit kat? It’s not so great…’ In the airport they sell them in huge bricks – and I have never seen a Japanese person buy one of THOSE.”
Australia: Foster’s Beer
In the U.S., we often see advertisements for Foster’s beer with a spokesman with a thick Aussie accent, so naturally, we think it’s the Budweiser of Australia. One local said, “I didn’t even know it existed until I heard Americans talking about it like it was common.”
Hawaii: Macadamia Nuts
If you’ve ever been to Hawaii, you undoubtedly saw tourist shops chock full of macadamia nut tins. One Hawaiian said, “no local eats these casually.” One reason might be because they are quite expensive.
Denmark: Danish Butter Cookies
“I have never seen them for sale at any grocery store, only souvenir shops, and am pretty sure Danish people don’t actually eat them,” said one Denmark local.
London: Shortbread Cookies
“I can categorically state that never since antediluvian times has a single Englishman ever eaten so much as a mouthful of shortbread. (Can’t speak for the Scottish though, they are known to have unsavoury habits). Nevertheless we produce metric tonnes of the stuff and sell it to tourists,” said one Londoner.
Nashville: Cowboy Clothes
A cowboy hat and a tasseled shirt might be the first thing you think to buy when arriving in Nashville, but you might get strange looks from locals. One visitor recalled, “I wore a black western style shirt to Robert’s Western World on my first trip to Nashville. After about an hour of getting weird looks and uncomfortable questions about where I was from and where I got my shirt I took it off and gave it to my girlfriend to stuff it in her purse.”
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