Europe: The Way I See It

Here is just a list of some things I have learned or noticed throughout my travels…

• The EU is to Europe as The United States Federal Government is to the US
  • Basically, each country in the European Union is like states because they have to follow the regulations established by the Union but are also allowed to have their own variations.
  • Also, there are open borders for all of the European Union. So when traveling from country to country as a member of the EU you don’t have to show a passport, just an ID. A lot of people actually don’t have passports, just national IDs. Sadly, because of the open borders I didn’t get many stamps in my passport.
• In the airports there are special smoking sections that are just small Plexiglas rooms, I don’t understand how anyone can stand inside them long enough to smoke. They all look so cloudy it’s disgusting.
• All of the street signs and traffic lights are the same around Europe (well, the ones in Latvia were bigger than the rest, but still went red, yellow, green, yellow, red)
• Most of the signs look like cartoons, especially the crosswalk signs.
• The licenses plates are also the same, the newer ones have the European Union flag and then the country the car is from written underneath the flag.
• Public transportation is extremely punctual throughout Europe. Also, for all metros and some of the more populated bus stops there are clocks that countdown to when the next train/bus is coming.
• There are several places to tap your bus card on buses, not just near the driver. Usually, you only go near the driver if you need to refill your card or pay with cash.
• The bus doors open towards the inside of the bus, several times I have forgotten and almost got squished.
• Dogs are allowed everywhere: on trains, buses, and in stores.
• Toilets are different in every country. The way you flush it varies, as does the amount of water inside the bowl.
• You almost always have to pay to use a public restroom. But usually there is someone there that cleans it between each use.
• Everywhere but Scandinavia you have to pay for water.
• McDonald’s are EVERYWHERE! Literally, I have seen more McDonald’s in Europe than ever before. Everywhere you look there is at least one red sign with a white arrow that says how far away you are from the next one.
• The McDonald’s Drive Thrus are called McDrives.
• McDonald’s is more expensive throughout all of Europe, you get smaller portions, and it usually takes slightly longer to get. The restaurants are generally cleaner though.
• Pizza Hut is a sit down restaurant.
• KFC’s can usually be found close to McDonald’s.
• In Spain Dunkin Donuts is called Dunkin Coffee.
• Paris has a special committee that actually creates alternative words for English words that start to become popular (such as computer and weekend).
• In London, to get rid of all the pigeons the Mayor first made stores stop selling birdseed, but that didn’t work. So instead he brought in two trained falcons to hunt the pigeons, that also didn’t work. So instead they have started selling birdseed again but have mixed in crushed birth control pills so the pigeons can’t reproduce.
• More people seem to ride bikes in Europe than in the US, although they do make it easier by making special lanes not in the streets.
• People seem to ride retro bikes without gears or hand brakes more than mountain bikes.
• Everything is under construction! The Eiffel Tower, The Colosseum, The London Bridge, everything…
• Sandwiches are a popular breakfast choice throughout all of Europe, not just Sweden.
• Croissants are also popular
• In France people literally walked around with baguettes!
• For the most part every country has the same outlets; the exceptions are Northern Italy that still has the older plugs and the UK.
• Practically everyone has a Nokia cell phone.
• All of the pharmacies have green crosses on them.
• Canadians are about as popular as McDonald’s, and just as easy to spot since most of them wear at least one Canadian flag patch on their backpack or bag.

Ok that’s all I can think of right now. Time to go finish packing since I have to be up at 4am tomorrow to catch my flight from Riga to Stockholm. Tomorrow is going to be a hard and long day, I’m not looking forward to it. Saying goodbye to Karina is going to be incredibly hard. That on top of three flights and four time zones in one day is a lot to handle.

 
Love and miss you!
Home: Tomorrow

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