The Feel of Europe

In the three weeks of running around Europe, here is a little of what it is like.

Traffic lights are weird and poorly placed – The traffic lights in Europe have a yellow to warn you when it is about to go red but they also have a yellow to warn you when it is about to go green. I am not sure why they need to warn you the light is about to go green but 95% or more of the cars are stick shift so maybe they want you to get ready to go. But often I would notice that as soon as they red/yellow combo came up cars would take off early, which does not seem to be the point

The lights are all also on your side of the intersection and not the far side. So if you are the first car you should you have to crane your neck to look up around your rear view mirror or around the door posts of the windows to see the lights when they turn. Mind you the cars behind you can see the lights just fine and will let you know it is green if you don't realize it.

Stick shift cars are all there are – Everybody here has a stick shift, does not matter what type of car you drive. The big trucks are all stick shift vehicles, so are the tour buses and just about everything else on the road. It is the total opposite of what we drive in the U.S. and they have harder roads to maneuver. Reinforces my feeling that Americans are generally lazy drivers and or babies behind the wheel. Sorry if you are insulted by that but too bad, my car at home is a stick and has been since 1994 by the way. Self-driving cars may take off in the U.S., not personally excited about this, but I think they have an uphill road to get Europeans and the rest of the world to buy off on this.

Everything is old – You see it anywhere you go, the buildings go back to the 14^th century, the streets are old, the history is old, everything is old. They have castles, real ones.

Dubrovnik Croatia

 

Amsterdam canal houses from the 1600's and 1700's

 

Eastern Europe – People are friendlier in Eastern Europe and seem to want to talk to you. I don’t know if this is an outcome of communism but everybody here wants greater ties to the west and really want westerners to have a good time when they visit. I would say they will bend over backwards to make sure you have everything you need. I lost my phone twice in Prague and both times I would say people went above and beyond to help find it. Restaurant service here is much better too but still not quite up to the standards in the United States.

They are also much more ready to talk positive about Europe and the United States. Especially the U.S. they seem to genuinely like us and want to have stronger ties to us, again probably a fall out from Communism and what seems to be a new Russian campaign to spread their influence.

Everything is much less expensive in Eastern Europe. Much less expensive! The same things cost more in Germany, Switzerland, the Netherlands and Great Britain than in Croatia, Bosnia, Hungry and the Czech Republic. I don’t think it is just the Euro is it because GB and Switzerland are also not on the Euro. Eastern Europe is the place to go if you want a nice vacation that is not crazy expensive.

Western Europe – People here are all business and don’t really want to be bothered by you. This was especially true in Berlin and Amsterdam but I am not sure if this is because they are big cities. Restaurant service here rather sucks, on the flip side I don’t think they expect to be tipped.

They don’t talk all that positive of the United States here and I think rather think of us similar as they do Russia, a big country that is just trying to throw its influence around with money, politics and military use. Perhaps the U.S. is just less aggressive in their eyes and probably a little incompetent. I heard it go so far in a news program as to heavily imply the U.S bombed the hospital in Kunduz on purpose. It was Doctors without Borders in the UK, not the reporter, and they have stopped just short of saying it. Probably because it is absurd and they could not give an intelligent answer as to why we would do something like that. But it seems to have some play in Western Europe that I would not expect in the U.S. or even Eastern Europe.

But they don’t seem to get along with each other in Europe well either and Germany seems to be the big punching bag of the EU right now. I heard some Italian minister talking about how they are being bullied into sanctions with Russia over the Ukraine by Germany, France and “other countries in the EU that have too much power and influence right now.” They generally don't seem to get along well with each other due to the economic problems in the Euro zone, so perhaps they are just rather pissy.

Everything costs more here and I spent more money in Berlin and Amsterdam than anywhere else and did less. A lot more on less.

Tourists are everywhere – It can be over the top and I have to wonder when the number of tourists ultimately ruin the very thing they are there to see. Some of them may like socialism over capitalism but they have no problem taking your money. Prague the number one example of tourism run amuck and ruining the city.

Crowds of tourists spill out into the streets in Prague, good luck driving a car here

Chicago wants to up it's tourism profile in the world and I sincerely hope it does not get this way. I think the mayor’s office is cracked for wanting to become more like Europe and all they see are dollar signs and not how it totally ruins the city. The city is much better when it is for the people who live there and not for the people who visit for a week. If you don't believe me, spend 20 minutes on the Charles Bridge in Prague, Checkpoint Charlie in Berlin, or the main road from the train station in Amsterdam.

Mayor Emmanuel, you and your predecessor Mayor Daley have already destroyed Navy Pier and parts of the park downtown, please do not ruin Chicago but keep it real. Less dollars perhaps but much nicer for both the people who live here and the tourists too.

Ghosts of Communism and WWII are everywhere – You see it in everything here. The recounting of WWII and the Nazis in Amsterdam, Germany and Prague. WWII has a different significance in Europe than it does in the U.S. It is probably more like the Civil War in the south.

The days of the Soviet Union are the same way and you can see it in the remnants of a divided Berlin, and the wars in the Balkans after the break up. You still feel it in Eastern Europe as they keep a wary eye over on Putin.

The faces of all those who died as a result of the Berlin Wall

Bullet riddled buildings in Sarajevo from the breakup of Yugoslavia

Europeans stinks of cigarettes – They totally smoke too much here and you can smell it on people, their breath and their clothing. They smell like an ash tray and I had forgotten what it was like back in the 90’s before it was banned in public places in the U.S. and such emphasis was placed to get people to stop smoking. Europeans are like smoke stacks and my Phillip Morris stock is quite safe for the time being.

Bike lanes are everywhere – They all smoke but oddly they also all ride bikes everywhere, sometimes while smoking, and Europe easily beats the most bike friendly places in the U.S.

Amsterdam is the clear winner here as I think there may be more bikes than people, but Berlin and Germany in general from what I saw of the countryside on the train, and Zurich Switzerland has tons of bikes and bike lanes in it too. Every major road includes a bike lane and the cars largely respect them, even if it does not work the other way around over there. There were also lots of people riding their bikes in Hungry, Slovkia and the Czech Republic when I drove up from Bosnia.