What I Learned on My European Vacation
The Europeans are better than the US in:
- Tour buses, which have two entrances (why don’t airlines do that?), comfortable seats, a clean restroom, and are very quiet.
- Intelligent breakfasts. The option of hams, cheeses, fish, and so on at breakfast is a great tradition.
- Airport lounges. You can find an air club almost anywhere and they are clean, never crowded, and have free good and free drinks. They are business and first class lounges, and not just open to anyone who tries to join.
- Domestic service. Although you can’t fly first class within Europe, business class has excellent service. On a Canadian regional jet flying for 25 minutes from Frankfurt to Nuremberg I was served a full breakfast. Try that on American or United on a two-hour flight.
- Energy efficiency. Lights go on when you walk into a public restroom, and go out when no one is present. Toilets offer two different flushes. Most municipal trams and buses are electric.
- Cleanliness. The difference between public restrooms—and the availability—is vast. You often have to pay about fifty cents in Europe and it’s well worth it.
- Small courtesies. You’re offered water at the hotel door, by limo drivers, on tour buses. It’s often accompanied by a moist towel.
- Historic sites. Not really fair, they have thousands of more years to work with. But they are accessible, clean, and the tours are excellent, especially self-directed audio tours.
- Outdoor dining: It’s done regularly, well, cleanly, with heaters, and the staff provides blankets in the evening.
- Tours with “private listening boxes” that allow you to hear your guide without being near the guide.
- Road courtesy. Everyone uses directional signals and keeps right if they’re not passing. Step into a “zebra zone” and cars stop to allow you to cross the street.
- Trams and street cars. Very efficient mass transit.
- Fluency. Virtually everyone speaks some English and it’s often better than mine. (In the US we don’t demand people speak English, we give them a choice to speak Spanish.)
- Urban cleanliness. Most European cities are demonstrably cleaner.
We are better than the Europeans in:
- Television. The choices here are pretty awful, including American shows that would have lasted about 60 seconds if shown in the U.S.
- Toilet tissue. Unless you’re in a very top hotel, forget about it.
- Urgency. I enjoy not being rushed but I like to stop short of growing roots.
- Maintaining civility at sports events. The police marshal their forces outside stadiums here the way we prepared to storm the beaches at Guadalcanal. The violence is barbaric.
- Service levels. At anything less than a luxury property, the service in Europe is inferior to the U.S., and the same is true in restaurants.
- Room. It’s a geographic accident, but we are able to create large homes and tremendous open spaces. Europe is crowded.
Please send complaints to Buddy Beagle at [email protected]. He will take care of them responsibly.
© Alan Weiss 2016
