re: Visiting Europe and noticing little differences between Europe and the US

There are plenty of fat people in Europe, but like much of the US, they are mostly found outside of metropolitan areas. But I do agree, our fatties are especially fat. And I think that the bread and sugar aspect is mainly to blame.

By the number of ice cream shops you mention, I'm guessing that you were in metropolitan or touristy areas. If you were to report the same things (a generally thin people surrounded by an abundance of sweets) from San Diego, Austin, or New York, no one would be surprised.

The poliboard tells me Europe is drowning in a wave of Muslims.

I like that European wimminz in general like soccerfüt.

Thanks for this.

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Most everyone speaks 4 languages fluently. Switzerland, for example, speaks German, French, Italian and Romanish. That's their native languages except almost everyone speaks English. So the majority of the population speaks fluently at least 5 languages. That is impressive.

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Americans have little reason to learn another language. America is a huge country with a lot of geographical diversity. We're not a tiny country surrounded by other tiny countries who speak totally different languages. At best there is a smattering of folks in Canada who speak primarily French. Mexico is obviously Spanish speaking, but again, the average American has very little reason to ever travel to Mexico.

Sounds great to me!

I find it unlikely that you're able to notice what the natives eat, or observe that they all speak 5 languages in the week you were there not counting travel time.

Sounds like you went to Europe for 10 days and used Wikipedia to fill in a few spots.

Things I noticed after 2 weeks in Norway and England. They are not fat. People have some fashion sense. I didn't see any thongs or boxers or pants at the knees. Girls were dressed like ladies, not hookers. Grocery stores were smaller. Everybody walks or bikes. Even minorities had jobs.

I spent 14 days in Italy and France last year. The smoking thing was annoying. I developed a headache from all the 2nd hand smoke. And there were panhandlers everywhere in Paris, Rome, Florence. If you look like an American you will be approached all the time and they usually say “Excuse me, do you speak English?” Just keep walking. I was in a train station in Rome and trying to figure out which train to get on to go to Sorrento. A local guy stopped on his own and showed me I need to get on the train to go to Capri. They only put in bold letters the big stops. I said thanks and he stuck his hand out and said “Tip.” I said no tip and he was stunned.

Paris was disappointing because there were not many French people around. Way too many foreigners living there. They have an immigration problem which leads to a crime problem, sketchy areas, and it shows. Restaurants in Italy were about the same price as fast food here. You have to ask for ice water or they will just bring a tiny class of room temperature water to your table. French food was surprisingly very good. Good tip is don’t go to a restaurant that has menus written in English. Tourist food is bland. Small hole in the wall type restaurants in Paris were outstanding.

Who cares