Posts Tagged ‘Seattle’

Braving the germs?

July 27th, 2009

Although the world is currently sat under the germ-infested cloud that is swine flu, it doesn’t appear to be affecting the popularity of the world’s germiest’ tourist attractions. You may well be thinking ‘how on earth can a tourist attraction be germy?’ so let me give you a few examples…. The Blarney Stone in Blarney, Ireland. 400,000 people last year kissed the Blarney Stone, according to the people from Blarney Castle and Gardens. So how many germs will people have passed on to others through kissing the stone? Next example, Market Theater Gum Wall in Seattle, Washington. In a tradition stretching back to 1993, people waiting to see a show in the theater stuck their chewing gum to the wall. The theater did used to clean it but have now given up so that the gum is now several inches thick on the 15 feet high and 50 feet wide wall. And my final example, St. Mark’s Square in Venice, Italy. Each year 2 million tourists visit St. Mark’s Square, rubbing shoulders with thousands of dirty pigeons leaving mess and attacking tourists. Now it’s probably just a case of luck whether you actually catch anything from these tourist attractions, but just keep it in mind the next time you go to touch or kiss something that thousands of people (or pigeons) will have kissed or touched before you!