re: How easy is it to get around mainland Europe speaking English only?

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Went to Portugal this past October and had no problems at all. In fact they loved that we were Americans. People bent over backwards to accommodate us. Great place to visit

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I had the exact same experience in Portugal. Was only there briefly as our Mediterranean cruise left out of Lisbon. Was tired AF but me and my buddy decided we might as well walk around for a bit before crashing since we'll probably never be there again. Found a little bar around the corner from the hotel and stopped in for a couple drinks. When the waiter found out we were American he damn near lost his shite. Started talking to us about John Wayne and all kinds of stuff he loved about the U.S. Just incredibly friendly and excited to talk to us.

The cynic in me thinks he maybe just thought we had lots of money or something and was working on a tip, but he seemed pretty genuine. It was to the point that people around the bar were looking at us wondering who the hell we were.

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The French are the biggest jerks about having to speak English to visitors

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thats not true at all

they are jerks to entitled American dbags though, so that may have been your problem

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But they refuse to speak to you in French unless you speak it perfectly

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Not my experience, except at CDG where everyone is an a-hole.