Posted by fum on Monday, May 15, 2017 in 2017 Blog post.

The church found at Piazza Duomo is one of the main attractions of Cefalu, so it’s not surprising that the square outside of it is filled with tourists. The tourists trickle in and out of the church, some of them stopping by the restaurants on the side for a dessert or coffee. They were from a variety of countries, but most of the tourists I noticed were from Great Britain or France. It was obvious from even the clothing choices who the tourists were and who the locals were; one common theme is that tourists are often wearing shorts or dresses, while the local Italians are almost always wearing pants. The locals that I noticed were sitting around and chatting with their friends, and they all were on the older age range. In general, I noticed that when it comes to the locals, the men were dressed better than the women. All the men had on button downs or polos tucked into long pants with a belt, while the women I observed were in t-shirts and jeans. I also noticed that there were not many locals wearing sandals here, only sneakers or other close-toed shoes. There were also some local men, no older than 25, hanging around the steps of the church and taking a few pictures as well. They were dressed rather sharp in button downs and nice pants. I’ve noticed that while all the locals adhere to a certain standard when it comes to dress, the younger population seems to put more effort into looking stylish than the older population.

What I was most interested were the interactions of the waiters with the tourists as well as the local population. The waiters had a common dress code of a button down white shirt, black pants, possibly a vest, and a variety of shoes ranging from sneakers to dress shoes. They greeted everybody with a “buongiorno” since it was still morning, and always stayed on their feet looking for possible customers, or tables to clean. It amazed me how much they were on their feet; even if there was nothing to clean, they stood around and chatted with each other while always keeping an eye on their tables. They were very attentive of everyone, but not as pushy as American servers can be. Once they took people’s orders and brought them their food, they essentially left them to eat their meal in peace. They were also well-versed in several languages other than Italian, since I heard them conversing in French and English as well. I feel that this is a skill that is necessary for waiters specifically in Piazza Duomo since they have so many tourists come through, whereas in other places that are frequented by locals I’ve found that the waiters usually speak only Italian. And as I’ve learned about meals in Italy, they didn’t bring the check until people asked for it. Waiters here seem to find the balance between inviting and pushy more easily than American servers do; they also stand outside their restaurants and invite people in, but they accept the answer of “no” politely and don’t push further. It is a subtler attention that they give to their customers, making sure that everybody is attended to while not being intrusive. As a customer myself, I appreciate the opportunity to eat my meal without being badgered with unnecessary questions, and being given the opportunity to sit and observe for as long as I desired.

Some follow up questions from the observations that I made are:

1. Do the locals ever wear shorts or sandals, or is it simply not yet warm enough for them??
2. Is it a requirement to know simple phrases in order to communicate in other languages for waiters around touristy areas, or do they pick it up as part of the job?
3. Specifically why are there so many French tourists, and do the nationalities of the tourists here in Cefalu vary depending on the time of the year?