Volunteer greeters help tourists see part of city like a native
By Carol Pucci
Seattle Times travel writer
We had taken a stroll through Central Park, cruised past the Statue of Liberty and met friends for dinner in the West Village.
Wandering around New York City on our own a few years ago, my husband, Tom, and I saw the New York most visitors see. Then we met Bernie Young, a volunteer for a group called Big Apple Greeter.
Young met us at our hotel one morning for a few hours of off-the-beaten pathexploring. We chatted over coffee, then got on a bus to walk around a borough known mainly only to Yankees fans.
My guidebook called the Bronx a “synonym for urban decay,” but with Bernie, a lifelong New Yorker as our guide, we learned about City Island, New York's Nantucket, noted for its fish restaurants. Later we strolled along Arthur Avenue, better known for pasta and red wine than hot dogs and beer.
Lunch was at a rowdy Italian restaurant called Dominick's, where we ate family-style at long tables. We ended the afternoon knowing a bit more about New York than we would have found out on our own. Best of all, we made a new friend.
Whether it's helping visitors discover an off-the-beaten borough of New York or a hidden corner of Paris, members of an international federation called the Global Greeters Network offer travelers the chance to get to know a city from a native's point of view.
Rather than professional guides, the volunteer greeters act more like neighbors, taking visitors behind the scenes either on foot or public transportation to discover favorite neighborhoods, cafes and parks.
All the programs work a little differently, but the basics are the same. The tours are free and last anywhere from two to four hours. Volunteers tend to be all ages, and there's an attempt to match people of similar ages and interests. Visitors are asked to make a request by e-mail or phone two to four weeks ahead of their trip.
Seattle doesn't yet have a greeter program, although there have been talks about starting one, says Dave Blandford, of the Seattle-King County Convention & Visitors Bureau.
For a list of cities that offer the programs and details on how to sign up, see www.globalgreeternetwork.info.
A few examples:
Big Apple Greeter (www.bigapplegreeter.org). This is the pioneer “welcome visitor” program founded in 1992 by New Yorker Lynn Brooks, who believed New York suffered from an image problem. More than 300 volunteers welcome guests with visits conducted in 22 languages.
Greeters explain the New York City subway and bus systems and show guests around one or more of their favoriteneighborhoods.
Like many Greeter organizations, Big Apple accepts online donations to help with administrative costs.
Houston Greeters (www.houstongreeters.org) will organize activities such as golf, biking or an outing to an Astros game. Another possibility is to arrange a stroll focused on a particular interest, such as the city's Hindu temples or African-American history.
Chicago Greeters help visitors explore one of the city's many ethnic neighborhoods (www.chicagogreeter.com). The group organizes walks through Ukrainian Village on the Near North Side andAndersonville, home to Scandinavian restaurants and shops, Middle Eastern bakeries and a thrivingHispanic district. Guides will also organize tours around themes such as fashion, film or public art.
In France, English-speaking volunteers for Parisien d'un Jour (www.parisiendunjour.fr) lead visitors through hidden corners of Paris, often ending with a lively discussion on a cafe terrace. Guides in Lyon (www.lyoncitygreeter.com/EN/index.php) organize walks around themes such as shopping, markets and sports.
Greeters programs are also under way in Australia (www.thatsmelbourne.com.au;Kent, England (www.visitthanet.co.uk/greeters); The Hague in the Netherlands (www.denhaaggreeters.nl); Toronto, (www.toronto.ca/tapto/about.htm); and Buenos Aires (www.cicerones.org.ar).
Mee in Mokum (www.meeinmokum.nl) is staffed mostly by Amsterdam retirees. It's not officially part of the Global Greeter Network, but it's one of the oldest international programs. Mokum is Amsterdam's nickname. Visitors choose from several two-hour walking tours that cover the historical city center, the Jewish Jordaan neighborhood or the harbor. Cost is five euros per person.
I walked around a while back with Jan, a retired librarian. He took me to the oldest part of the city, where the canal houses lean in and out as if glued together.
We stopped for coffee at a cafe in an old lookout tower. There we talked about everything from politics to why so many Americans are overweight.
I have many photos from that trip, but among the most memorable is one of Jan standing near a canal where he took his first picture as a photography student in the 1950s.
Members of Parisien D'un Jour, a group of volunteer guides, help tourists discover the back streets of Paris.