please don't do this . . .
During our October 2007 travels to Italy, Greece and Turkey, we were amazed to see the utter disregard of heritage sites still practiced by so-called sophisticated travelers.
In
addition to cigarette butts littering the grounds
of every historical site we visited, tourists climbed all
over unearthed structures that can never be replaced in order to take
The Library of Celsus in Ephesus (above left), was built in the 2nd Century AD. This magnificant structure seemed a particularly desirable backdrop for tourists' "Kodak Moments." In the few minutes we were there, dozens of people scrambled through a roped-off area in order to burn themselves into (probably poor quality) digital images.
Ephesus (Western part of Asia Minor in Turkey) is one of the largest
archeological digs in the world in an exceptionally beautiful location;
it has taken more than a decade to unearth portions of this vast historical
site. Millions of travellers visit this site annually; to preserve what has been found for all to enjoy through the decades, chains, signs, guides and even visitors instruct tourists to keep off the structures. As these photographs illustrate, dozens of people have decided "They don't mean me." The image of the man in this column is a personal favorite: He pretended to not understand the language of of of the people there who explained that stepping over the stones was not allowed, yet he was smart enough to try to hide his face as I pointed my camera at him.
Because these people clearly want everyone to know they travel, it
seems appropriate to share their photographs with the world. Perhaps
their friends, family and associates will now see the true measure
of their character.
Consider this a kindness: Given that these people are photographing
each other in public places in order to illustrate their travels,
The stone on the right is in a row of similar stones at the entrance walkway of
the first Olympic Games in Greece. During the early games, statues
of winners were placed on the stones lining the right side of the
walk. On the left side of the walk were statues of men caught cheating
in the games so that they, too, would be forever remembered.
All of
the people on this page would be on the left side of the path!
Reading departure signs in some big airport