Parts of Europe close for much of August, based on old holidays surrounding the agricultural calendar and due to the extreme heat of the Mediterranean areas.  In Italy you’d be hard pressed to find much of anything open the week of Fer’agosto on August 15th.  (Here’s a little blurb about it’s origin http://italianfood.about.com/library/weekly/aa081103.htm )  In Sicily we have a huge communal dinner with 200+ tables out in the streets lit by strings of lights.  We go down to the beach and watch the fireworks at midnight, followed by a swim in the sea and cornetti (like a croissant) for breakfast at 4 AM.  In Austria they switch weeks, so that one side of the country can go to the other for their holidays (if I remember correctly the West goes first, then the east.)  Remember all the French senior citizens who died from the heat a couple of years ago?  Their families had gone on holiday and left them at home—no AC.

 

Most archives and museums are state run with civil servant employees who are given that time off as part of their contract.  They tend to approach things differently from the way Americans do.  Last summer in the National Archaeological Museum in Naples I couldn’t take my daughters into the treasure room where the silver from Pompeii is kept.  Four guards were standing around and occasionally shooing away tourists who kept opening the unlocked door.  When I asked them, in Italian, why the room was closed one shrugged his shoulders and answered that there weren’t enough personnel.  Then they turned and continued their lengthy conversation about soccer and family illnesses.  It’s just the way it is.

 

Also, most restaurants and family run businesses close for two to three weeks, as well as all the industrial plants, department stores and everything else you can think of.  The only people you see on the street are tourists.  We try hard not to get ill or injured in August, and keep the cell phone number of a family member who is a doctor.  Northern Europe is not like this as they spread their vacations out throughout the summer like Americans and Brits do.  BTW, traveling just before and after the 15th needs to be booked well ahead because of this as well.

 

Elizabeth

 


From: Archives & Archivists [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of a miller
Sent: Thursday, June 22, 2006 6:40 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: European Archives and Museums in August

 

Someone just told me that Europe "closes" for the entire month of August every year. While grocery stores remain open, businesses, museums, tourist attarctions all sort of close up shop.

 

Is this true? If yes, what about archives? and why?

 

I know we have some European archivists on the list and probably some savvy travelers. Care to enlighten me?

 

Thanks,

 

Althea

 


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A posting from the Archives & Archivists LISTSERV List sponsored by the Society of American Archivists, www.archivists.org. For the terms of participation, please refer to http://www.archivists.org/listservs/arch_listserv_terms.asp.

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