Travelling in Italy, post-Amanda Knox
I’ve been off walking around in Italy for the last two weeks, and I was curious to find out what it was going to be like being a young female traveling alone there now that Amanda Knox has made us famous for more than rain and a Tom Hanks/Meg Ryan movie. It’s gotten a lot of media attention here, and likely in Padova, but does the rest of the country care?
In the weeks leading up to the trip, people recommended that I not tell anyone that I was from Seattle, in the same way that they often recommend telling people that you come from Canada instead of the USA. I thought that was silly. No one was going to run me out of town at pitchfork-point for being from Seattle.
Which turned out to be true. I’m not sure anyone even owns a pitchfork. On the other hand, it did come up the majority of times I had any sort of conversation with an Italian. I heard a lot of, “Oh, Seattle? Amanda Knox, yes? Do you know Amanda Knox? Ha ha, I am very scared of you now!” As it happens, we have indeed turned into the sort of town recognized for our latest alleged international murderer. No one seemed particularly fussed about it, or like they had gained any amount of animosity because of it, but if they know anything about Seattle it seems that they know about Amanda Knox, from Venice to Naples. (Except for the one guy who wanted to talk about the Mariners, which is a little bit like wanting to talk to a shark about having knees, since I don’t know from baseball.)
Honestly, I would rather have talked about the rain, or Sleepless in Seattle.
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Who’s Amanda Knox and what is this movie you’re referring to? I’m traveling to Thailand, Cambodia, Vietnam and Laos in August/September…should I avoid mentioning Seattle while I am there?
Welcome back.
I predict this post will soon be invaded by hundreds of Europeans who would like nothing more than to see Amanda Knox marched down the streets of Perugia on a pitchfork. I mean, have you seen what happens when the P-I posts about her?
Who’s Amanda Knox? I bet Lucrezia Borgia’s got her trumped, whoever she is.
I’ve been in southern France, not too far from Italy, for over a month and I was wondering if the French would ask me about it. But so far, not a thing. I guess Carla Bruni is drowning out the Amanda Knox thing. Or else, the French just don’t care about Italian news.
I guess the biggest Seattle related crime the French worry about is the invasion of Starbucks.
Are you all seriously asking who Amanda Knox is?
Yes, we were.
I’m English, you all scare me. Everyday, I’m constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for a Seattlite to stab force coffee on me.
I’m English, you all scare me. Everyday, I’m constantly looking over my shoulder, waiting for a Seattlite to
stabforce coffee on me.