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[Fleet_of_Foot]

This thread is great. It seems to me that all these arguments could be settled by putting aside any associations with specific countries and just answering these questions honestly:

• Should water be free at restaurants?
• Should people be able to use public bathrooms for free?
• Is mustard disgusting?

The answer to all three is obviously YES. How can anyone argue otherwise?

 

[scamander]

Is mustard disgusting?

Are we talking about the shit Americans call mustard or the good ones you can get in European countries?

 

[Shadax the wizard]

This thread is great. It seems to me that all these arguments could be settled by putting aside any associations with specific countries and just answering these questions honestly:

• Should water be free at restaurants?
• Should people be able to use public bathrooms for free?
• Is mustard disgusting?

The answer to all three is obviously YES. How can anyone argue otherwise?

Oh no you don't. Mustard is simply awesome and essential in some foods.

 

[oti]

This thread is great. It seems to me that all these arguments could be settled by putting aside any associations with specific countries and just answering these questions honestly:

• Should water be free at restaurants?
• Should people be able to use public bathrooms for free?
• Is mustard disgusting?

The answer to all three is obviously YES. How can anyone argue otherwise?

Yes
Yes and No (if someone cleans it up during the day they should get paid. The paywall (haha) also keeps out the junkies so that's something)
No, you're disgusting

 

[MarkMclovin]

This thread is great. It seems to me that all these arguments could be settled by putting aside any associations with specific countries and just answering these questions honestly:

• Should water be free at restaurants?
• Should people be able to use public bathrooms for free?
• Is mustard disgusting?

The answer to all three is obviously YES. How can anyone argue otherwise?

Mustard puts hair on your balls, son.

Do you want hair on your balls? Go Tracklements or get the fuck out.

 

[MilkyJoe]

This thread is great. It seems to me that all these arguments could be settled by putting aside any associations with specific countries and just answering these questions honestly:

• Should water be free at restaurants?
• Should people be able to use public bathrooms for free?
• Is mustard disgusting?

The answer to all three is obviously YES. How can anyone argue otherwise?

I argue you are a milksop if you cannot enjoy mustard

Behold your king!

 

[Oogedei]

Spoiler

Trader Joe's is German.

How can you be (or not be) a fan of a whole country? There are a lot of aspects which define a country. You can be critical of certain of those aspects, but saying you're not a fan of the whole country is like saying you're not a fan of Planet Earth, because of North Korea and ISIS.

Pffft. As a German citizen I have the right to hate the country in which I was born. No, actually I don't hate it but I just got no love for it either. But that's like a different discussion, I don't feel like derailing the thread atm.

Also: mustard and carbonated water are both awesome.

 

[Jezbollah]

I argue you are a milksop if you cannot enjoy mustard

Behold your king!

Oh god yes.

thick cuts of ham in a soft roll + some colemans mustard. GODLIKE.

 

[The Lamp]

God yes in cologne I paid 1 euro to shit in a toilet that had just been washed by a toilet employee. It's so worth it. Your ass cheeks deserve better

And I just paid 1 euro to use a bathroom at the Venice train station that had piss all over it:

The payment doesn't guarantee anything, it's just been programmed into your minds that it's okay.

 

[The Lamp]

Yeah absolutely and while I don't understand that EuroGaf rage because of the tap water OP's rant still comes around as ignorant for me. He made several statements which are just wrong and I'm not referring to his opinion about tap water (hard to find healthy food, just Sauerkraut and sausages in Germany, only small supermarkets, etc). I mean you can have your opinion about all of that but try to avoid absolute statements. You can't tell me that your anecdotal tourist experience where you saw like 0,5% of these cities is representative for Europe especially when Europe is so diverse and when the likelihood of getting a proper impression of the daily life is so low for tourists.
I mean I'm not a fan of Germany so my bias is pretty low here but it would take me a long walk in my city to find a restaurant serving sausages while the city center is stuffed with these modern and fancy healthy restaurants, Italian restaurants, restaurants serving Asian food, Burger restaurants, Greek restaurants, Doner places/ Turkish restaurants, etc. but finding a restaurant serving the food OP describes as the only food which is available here is a hard task. I don't care if you hate or love Europe, I don't question that some things may be better in the U.S. but just try to stick to a realistic representation when you talk about other cultures or others will step up and feel the need to defend it so extremly like some of the EuroGaf folks here.



I can easily get everything you mentioned for the same price here in Germany. Also breakfast in France for under 7€ is something which is indeed possible lol. As I said absolute statements as a tourist is something which you should avoid.

This is btw a picture of the Pizza I can get at a proper Italian restaurant here for 7.50:

Your position is absolutely pointless. I will never be in enough of all of Europe for a long enough time to ever have a perfect opinion of it, so I shouldn't comment? No. Don't be so delicate about absolutes. What I experienced holds true for what I saw. I have to deal with GAFers unfairly speaking in absolutes about America and Texas all the time when some of them have never even visited. It's not so serious. I spent thousands of dollars visiting this slab of land, though, so I do have some authentic experience, even if it's not correct enough for some of the locals.

Based on my personal experience, what I said about most things holds true, and I firmly believe that I ate better and experienced more of each city I went to than the average tourist, so god forbid what other tourists must be experiencing when they visit your countries.

Based on my tourist experience, it is easier for me to find what I have been talking about this whole thread than it has been to find the same in Europe. It's possible I'm just biased by the fact that I speak the local language in America and that I'm used to that society so of course it's easier for me to find it in America. But You can create all the excuses you want about how I didn't live anywhere long enough to say anything authentic about anywhere in Europe, fine. But I don't need to create such excuses for Europeans who visit America. You can easily find for yourself in any city or town without any risk of "being caught in a tourist trap" cheap and a VARIETY of food, free restrooms, and free water. IMO much easier than you can find that in Europe, regardless of if it exists in Europe if you look hard enough. I thought it goes without saying that this is my opinion. Someone could probably do an exchange program where they live with a European family for 6 months and they would experience something completely different than I did. same holds for someone who visits America.

 

[Funky Papa]

There's so much tension in here.

Chill, get out and drink something*



*unless you like sparkling water. Fuck you if you are one of those degenerates.

 

[spekkeh]

Well of course food is cheaper in the US

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1115398

Lard and salt are cheap ingredients.

Yes you can more easily get free tap water and free toilets in the US. These points are completely arbitrary. It's impossible to find beer that has a healthy foam head in the US. Checkmate atheists. Not even going to bring up decent wine.

Variety close by? You can't even go from one restaurant to the next without a car in most American towns. Unless you mean food courts, but really, no need to stoop down low.

 

[Roberto Larcos]

I'm just not believing it isn't a troll post at this point.

No-one dismisses Italian pizza.

Nobody.

 

[God Dayumm]

Wasn't there some water shortage in France and people were only allowed to shower once a week? Maybe it's affecting the rest of Europe and they can't spare water to drink

 

[Roberto Larcos]

Wasn't there some water shortage in France and people were only allowed to shower once a week? Maybe it's affecting the rest of Europe and they can't spare water to drink

That was just an excuse. French hygeine has sucked for centuries.

/s(ort of)

 

[The Lamp]

Well of course food is cheaper in the US

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=1115398

Lard and salt are cheap ingredients.

Yes you can more easily get free tap water and free toilets in the US. These points are completely arbitrary. It's impossible to find beer that has a healthy foam head in the US. Checkmate atheists. Not even going to bring up decent wine.

Variety close by? You can't even go from one restaurant to the next without a car in most American towns. Unless you mean food courts, but really, no need to stoop down low.

Well I always tell people if they're going to spend any long term time in the U.S. outside of the northeast (Boston, NYC, etc) that they're going to need to rent a car or use taxis for exactly what you said.

My state itself is like the size of like half of Europe or something. You need a car.

 

[Oogedei]

Your position is absolutely pointless. I will never be in enough of all of Europe for a long enough time to ever have a perfect opinion of it, so I shouldn't comment? No. Don't be so delicate about absolutes. What I experienced holds true for what I saw. I have to deal with GAFers unfairly speaking in absolutes about America and Texas all the time. It's not so serious.

Based on my personal experience, what I said about most things holds true, and I firmly believe that I ate better and experienced more of each city I went to than the average tourist, so god forbid what other tourists must be experiencing when they visit your countries.

Based on my tourist experience, it is easier for me to find what I have been talking about this whole thread than it has been to find the same in Europe. It's possible I'm just biased by the fact that I speak the local language in America and that I'm used to that society so of course it's easier for me to find it in America. But You can create all the excuses you want about how I didn't live anywhere long enough to say anything authentic about anywhere in Europe, fine. But I don't need to create such excuses for Europeans who visit America. You can easily find for yourself in any city or town without any risk of "being caught in a tourist trap" cheap and a VARIETY of food, free restrooms, and free water. IMO much easier than you can find that in Europe, regardless of if it exists in Europe if you look hard enough.

You don't get me. I'm not saying you shouldn't comment on your experiences in Europe but it makes literally no sense to create a post and post something like: Europe is such and such because I've visited four countries there. You can say that your experience in this part of Europe was like that but generalizing a whole continent because of some countries (these countires don't even make up 50% of Europe) is something which is really strange. It's like going to a specific state in the U.S. and creating a thread like "I've been to XZY and they had the death penalty and therefore all of the U.S. is crazy for having the death penalty. Some people create such threads about the U.S. but it is as stupid as claiming such things for Europe.

Also like I said I don't care if your opinion is that it's better in the U.S. for you or that the restrooms are better, or the water, or whatever. It's a valid opinion. But what gets you all of this backfire is not your opinion about your tourist experiences, it's your statements claiming that this is the reality for the Europeans here. When you say Germany's food is all about sausages, bread and Sauerkraut then sorry but that's just wrong. This is not an opinion and above all it's not an "excuse" I create to defend Germany/ Europe. It's an impression you may got during your visit where you collected some tourist experiences here but it is not valid to state it as a hard fact for us who live here when so many Europeans here and also fellow American users who had been to Europe point out that this is not true for them. It's the exact same thing for all those other arguments you made.

 

[EGM1966]

This thread is great. It seems to me that all these arguments could be settled by putting aside any associations with specific countries and just answering these questions honestly:

• Should water be free at restaurants?
• Should people be able to use public bathrooms for free?
• Is mustard disgusting?

The answer to all three is obviously YES. How can anyone argue otherwise?

You've got one of your three dead wrong right away (Mustard's fucking ace). Why should I believe the rest?

Actually water should be free (it is actual if you ask I'm sure) and the bathrooms should be free (they mostly are too in my experience but maybe I'm going to the wrong (right that is) places.

But Mustard disgusting? Rubbish.

 

[Glendemonium]

This "bread makes you fat" thing makes no sense. Look at any culture where bread is the staple. Skinny people! I don't know what's happened in the last 50 years, but we've been eating bread for 10,000 years so let's not say that that was the problem the whole time.

Had some "diet experts" advise me to cut out bread, but I can understand white bread but strictly use wheat... save for English muffins. I did cut out tortillas though.

And last I check, toast doesn't make you fat. Sandwhiches don't make you fat, it's what you put IN or BETWEEN slices that can make you fat, heh.

 

[The Lamp]

You don't get me. I'm not saying you shouldn't comment on your experiences in Europe but it makes literally no sense to create a post and post something like: Europe is such and such because I've visited four countries there. You can say that your experience in this part of Europe was like that but generalizing a whole continent because of some countries (these countires don't even make up 50% of Europe) is something which is really strange. It's like going to a specific state in the U.S. and creating a thread like "I've been to XZY and they had the death penalty and therefore all of the U.S. is crazy for having the death penalty. Some people create such threads about the U.S. but it is as stupid as claiming such things for Europe.

Also like I said I don't care if your opinion is that it's better in the U.S. for you or that the restrooms are better, or the water, or whatever. It's a valid opinion. But what gets you all of this backfire is not your opinion about your tourist experiences, it's your statements claiming that this is the reality for the Europeans here. When you say Germany's food is all about sausages, bread and Sauerkraut then sorry but that's just wrong. This is not an opinion and above all it's not an "excuse" I create to defend Germany/ Europe. It's an impression you may got during your visit where you collected some tourist experiences here but it is not valid to state it as a hard fact for us who live here when so many Europeans here and also fellow American users who had been to Europe point out that this is not true for them. It's the exact same thing for all those other arguments you made.

I don't think politics like the death penalty is a good example for your point, as I dont think I criticized politics like that about Europe, and the death penalty factually exists in the U.S.

I get what you're saying. I'm not sure if you read the whole thread or not, but it was established pages ago that my perception of what Germans and others eat was skewed because I ate at restaurants. There's been a progress to my knowledge in this thread and I really don't mind "backlash" like it's something shameful. I am sorry if I was completely misled or misunderstood culture here, but all I did was think about what I saw. I wrongfully assumed that restaurant food resembles food made at home, because in Texas, everything we eat at restaurants is basically the kinds of food we make at home. If Germans don't like beer, sausage, cheese and bread, then it truly stuns me because that's what seemed to be the majority of restaurants were in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. If French people don't actually eat bread and pastries and cheese and wine and baked goods and stuff like that every day, then I am once again stunned because that's what seemed to be the majority of restaurants in Paris, Montpelier, Nice, Cassis, and Provence in general. Like I said, it's an assumption I made because I'm Texas we go out and eat Asian food, Mexican food, burgers, steaks, barbecue, Italian food, salads, etc and that's all the stuff you find people making in their homes as well. Although most of us probably eat fast/lazy breakfasts if breakfast at all compared to fancy breakfasts at restaurants because our culture is to start work very early and our bosses will fire us if we're late haha.

 

[Darksol]

This is btw a picture of the Pizza I can get at a proper Italian restaurant here for 7.50:

Eating pizza with a knife and fork.

 

[DeviantBoi]

I visited Spain and France a couple of years ago. Madrid and Paris, to be precise.

The difference between both cities was like night and day.

Madrid was so orderly and clean. Paris was dirty and a mess.

I just remember the traffic around the Arc de Triomphe. I was so glad I wasn't driving at the time.

 

[Starfield]

^ Paris is just a huge dissapointment. Never plan on going there, it is really night and day difference in what you expect and what you will get. In Japan there is even a sickness which is called the "Paris Syndrome"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome

I was in Paris for a week and I'll never ever go there again.

This thread is great. It seems to me that all these arguments could be settled by putting aside any associations with specific countries and just answering these questions honestly:

• Should water be free at restaurants?
• Should people be able to use public bathrooms for free?
• Is mustard disgusting?

The answer to all three is obviously YES. How can anyone argue otherwise?

Mustard is simply the best ressource on this planet. How will you eat your saucages without mustard and Kren (horseradish) ???

Ketchup? pls no. don't.

 

[Oogedei]

I don't think politics like the death penalty is a good example for your point, as I dont think I criticized politics like that about Europe, and the death penalty factually exists in the U.S.

Nobody implied that.

I get what you're saying. I'm not sure if you read the whole thread or not, but it was established pages ago that my perception of what Germans and others eat was skewed because I ate at restaurants. There's been a progress to my knowledge in this thread and I really don't mind "backlash" like it's something shameful. I am sorry if I was completely misled or misunderstood culture here, but all I did was think about what I saw. I wrongfully assumed that restaurant food resembles food made at home, because in Texas, everything we eat at restaurants is basically the kinds of food we make at home. If Germans don't like beer, sausage, cheese and bread, then it truly stuns me because that's what seemed to be the majority of restaurants were in Frankfurt, Munich and Berlin. If French people don't actually eat bread and pastries and cheese and wine and baked goods and stuff like that every day, then I am once again stunned because that's what seemed to be the majority of restaurants in Paris, Montpelier, Nice, Cassis, and Provence in general. Like I said, it's an assumption I made because I'm Texas we go out and eat Asian food, Mexican food, burgers, steaks, barbecue, Italian food, salads, etc and that's all the stuff you find people making in their homes as well. Although most of us probably eat fast/lazy breakfasts if breakfast at all compared to fancy breakfasts at restaurants because our culture is to start work very early and our bosses will fire us if we're late haha.

I don't feel like there is a progress in your knowledge. You just said that you can't get a meal for under 10 in Europe and no breakfast for under 7 in France one page ago yet again making hard facts about some assumptions you made. At this point I don't see a reason to continue this conversation since it feels like you don't want to get what I'm trying to point out.

 

[The Lamp]

^ Paris is just a huge dissapointment. Never plan on going there, it is really night and day difference in what you expect and what you will get. In Japan there is even a sickness which is called the "Paris Syndrome"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_syndrome

I was in Paris for a week and I'll never ever go there again.



Mustard is simply the best ressource on this planet. How will you eat your saucages without mustard and Kren (horseradish) ???

Ketchup? pls no. don't.

See, I can't agree with this post at all. I adored Paris. I only had 4 days there and I wish I had more. The people were friendly, the atmosphere was chic and modern and expressive all at once, and the food was good/okay, and the historical influence on the city is stunning, IMO. I secretly hate every one of my closest friends who tried to get me to spend like 1 day in Paris because they said it was awful and not worth my time in Europe.

Nobody implied that.



I don't feel like there is a progress in your knowledge. You just said that you can't get a meal for under 10 in Europe and no breakfast for under 7 in France one page ago yet again making hard facts about some assumptions you made. At this point I don't see a reason to continue this conversation since it feels like you don't want to get what I'm trying to point out.

I thought it was absolutely obvious that when I say that I am obviously speaking from my limited experience. Do I need to finish every sentence in every post with that qualifier or are you going to pick up on that? I was unable to find meals as cheap in France as I could in the U.S., such as breakfast for under €7 despite being in different parts of France for 2 weeks. If YOU can, that's great, I couldn't, so I say it's harder to do so.

 

[The Lamp]

Ugh double post sorry

 

[Alx]

If French people don't actually eat bread and pastries and cheese and wine and baked goods and stuff like that every day, then I am once again stunned because that's what seemed to be the majority of restaurants in Paris, Montpelier, Nice, Cassis, and Provence in general.

The explanation for that has been given more than once in this thread, hence why you shouldn't be stunned any more : French people don't go to the restaurant every day. Hence why there's no relation between our daily meals and what you can see on a restaurant menu.
Of course all restaurants offer pastries, cheese, wine and baked goods on their menu. Nobody would want to go to the restaurant and not have a choice of elaborate desserts or fine wines. But that's what makes going to the restaurant a small festive event to break out of the daily routine.
The regular French man will finish his daily meals with a simple dessert like a yoghurt or a fruit. But when he's eating outside he'll be more likely to say "ok let's go crazy, I'll have the profiterolles !" (and obviously I've never seen a restaurant offering yoghurts on their dessert menu)

 

[The Lamp]

The explanation for that has been given more than once in this thread, hence why you shouldn't be stunned any more : French people don't go to the restaurant every day. Hence why there's no relation between our daily meals and what you can see on a restaurant menu.
Of course all restaurants offer pastries, cheese, wine and baked goods on their menu. Nobody would want to go to the restaurant and not have a choice of elaborate desserts or fine wines. But that's what makes going to the restaurant a small festive event to break out of the daily routine.
The regular French man will finish his daily meals with a simple dessert like a yoghurt or a fruit. But when he's eating outside he'll be more likely to say "ok let's go crazy, I'll have the profiterolles !" (and obviously I've never seen a restaurant offering yoghurts on their dessert menu)

I know the explanation was given. I used the word "stunned" meaning in overall during the passage of this thread my gaining of knowledge. It makes sense to me. I'm certainly glad they don't eat pastries and chocolates everyday, because that's the way it looks to a casual tourist. Thanks for the reiteration

 

[Gorthaur]

I have to admit it was really hard to find a high quality grocery store when I lived in Spain though (from the U.S., spoiled by publix/trader joes/whole foods). They did have great markets though.

You didn't search very well then. It's almost imposible to walk more than 10 minutes and not seeing a grocery store. But of course, you wouldn't find it if you were looking for megastores, in Spain the grocery stores are small corner stores every 4-5 streets.

 

[HawksWinStanley]

In the "American food is sweet" thread everybody generalizes about American diets and laughs at fat Americans (including Americans).

In the thread criticizing Euro food it's a wall of defensive posts and starts escalating into a political debate.

 

[Alx]

In the "American food is sweet" thread everybody generalizes about American diets and laughs at fat Americans (including Americans).

In the thread criticizing Euro food it's a wall of defensive posts and starts escalating into a political debate.

We Euros take our food seriously, much more than you do with your amendments.
But seriously, I guess Americans also get defensive when people generalize their culture (or if they don't, either they should or it's for a reason). It's just fair game to correct false perceptions.

 

[HawksWinStanley]

We Euros take our food seriously, much more than you do with your amendments.
But seriously, I guess Americans also get defensive when people generalize their culture (or if they don't, either they should or it's for a reason). It's just fair game to correct false perceptions.

Nah, I think most of us gave up on that a long time ago. By setting the bar low and rolling with the generalizations the worst that happens is foreigners get what they expect when they come here. Much easier that way.

 

[MicH]

Eating pizza with a knife and fork.

It's obviously not cut into slices and they're eating at a sit down restaurant. Of course they're not using their hands

 

[Switch Back 9]

Amazing. This is about as turn-of-the-century American propaganda as you can get.

That amazing wasn't sarcastic btw, I honestly love this insult. This is how we talk to each other in Europe too! We all love to hate each other (and I guess it's fair to say that we'll team up when Americans show up).

Haha, for the record I'm not American. I'm just siding with my New World brethren against the tides of European snobbery and condescension.

Also, y'all are fucked for not liking mustard. However, I'm a bit biased because I've been fighting the good fight against the Red Menace that is ketchup (puke) my whole life, and they are often pitted against eachother in a binary struggle ala PC vs Mac, Marvel vs DC etc...

 

[Roberto Larcos]

I'm not American.

y'all

Save it for the Judge.

 

[PdotMichael]

In the "American food is sweet" thread everybody generalizes about American diets and laughs at fat Americans (including Americans).

In the thread criticizing Euro food it's a wall of defensive posts and starts escalating into a political debate.

Your post kind of shows the opposite right now.

 

[MilkyJoe]

Oh god yes.

thick cuts of ham in a soft roll + some colemans mustard. GODLIKE.

It ain't half hot mum!



See what I did there?

 

[Morrigan Stark]

Sparkling water is trash and the people who like it are probably closeted coprophages.

A blight on my beloved Europe.

Shame on you, Central Europe.

i hate sparkling water so much

yep, sparkly water is sin upon this beautiful land of ours

I love waking up to this. Thanks bros <3

This thread is great. It seems to me that all these arguments could be settled by putting aside any associations with specific countries and just answering these questions honestly:

• Should water be free at restaurants?
• Should people be able to use public bathrooms for free?
• Is mustard disgusting?

The answer to all three is obviously YES. How can anyone argue otherwise?

Yes, yes, and yes. Mah man.

 

[Septic360]

American cheese sucks?

Not visiting...

 

[dsp]

Nah, I think most of us gave up on that a long time ago. By setting the bar low and rolling with the generalizations the worst that happens is foreigners get what they expect when they come here. Much easier that way.

Spot on.

 

[Funky Papa]

I've heard David Cameron likes sparkling water.

Think about that.

 

[Darren870]

Your position is absolutely pointless. I will never be in enough of all of Europe for a long enough time to ever have a perfect opinion of it, so I shouldn't comment? No. Don't be so delicate about absolutes. What I experienced holds true for what I saw. I have to deal with GAFers unfairly speaking in absolutes about America and Texas all the time when some of them have never even visited. It's not so serious. I spent thousands of dollars visiting this slab of land, though, so I do have some authentic experience, even if it's not correct enough for some of the locals.

Based on my personal experience, what I said about most things holds true, and I firmly believe that I ate better and experienced more of each city I went to than the average tourist, so god forbid what other tourists must be experiencing when they visit your countries.

Based on my tourist experience, it is easier for me to find what I have been talking about this whole thread than it has been to find the same in Europe. It's possible I'm just biased by the fact that I speak the local language in America and that I'm used to that society so of course it's easier for me to find it in America. But You can create all the excuses you want about how I didn't live anywhere long enough to say anything authentic about anywhere in Europe, fine. But I don't need to create such excuses for Europeans who visit America. You can easily find for yourself in any city or town without any risk of "being caught in a tourist trap" cheap and a VARIETY of food, free restrooms, and free water. IMO much easier than you can find that in Europe, regardless of if it exists in Europe if you look hard enough. I thought it goes without saying that this is my opinion. Someone could probably do an exchange program where they live with a European family for 6 months and they would experience something completely different than I did. same holds for someone who visits America.

Your perception is messed up. You are a tourist in another country. You don't live there you are simply visiting. So you are going to the tourist cities and areas and eating the tourist food and falling into the tourist traps. It's fine, you don't know any better because you don't live there. That's why you thought all Germans just ate sausage and sauerkraut everyday, amongst other misconceptions.

But it's the same in the reverse too. You're talking about all these choices you have in TX, and all these options, but most tourists aren't going to go to these. They won't have a car and will likely stick to a city. They are going to go to time square in NYC, and go to Applebee's, Ruby Tuesday's, TGIF and say Americans eat nothing but fried food with huge portion sizes.

That's what happens when you simply are visiting a place for a few days. You go to the tourists traps because they exist. You don't live there so you don't know any better.

 

[itxaka]

I have to admit it was really hard to find a high quality grocery store when I lived in Spain though (from the U.S., spoiled by publix/trader joes/whole foods). They did have great markets though.

Da fuck.

 

[The Lamp]

I hated sparkling water until I got to Europe and accidentally ordered it a few times.

Guys it's just water. But it's also carbonated. So it's refreshing. And has carbonic acid, which neutralizes an upset stomach. All good stuff. You Europeans converted me.

 

[Fusebox]

I visited Spain and France a couple of years ago. Madrid and Paris, to be precise.

The difference between both cities was like night and day.

Madrid was so orderly and clean. Paris was dirty and a mess.

I just remember the traffic around the Arc de Triomphe. I was so glad I wasn't driving at the time.

Damn, I'm going to both those cities in a week and would have guessed the opposite.

 

[The Lamp]

Damn, I'm going to both those cities in a week and would have guessed the opposite.

Don't listen to him. Just go with an open mind and form your own opinion. I loved both Madrid and Paris and I found neither to be dirty (plus, poor Paris is like the most toured city on earth, I bet their garbage team are all-stars).

 

[Fusebox]

Don't listen to him. Just go with an open mind and form your own opinion. I loved both Madrid and Paris and I found neither to be dirty (plus, poor Paris is like the most toured city on earth, I bet their garbage team are all-stars).

Yeah, I didn't mean damn as in oh no, just damn, I would have assumed otherwise.

 

[NervousXtian]

Just got back from 9 days in Cyprus.

Markets were awesome.. and best food was the doner/swarma. So damn good.. jealous as we don't have good versions here in the States.

 

[Skellig Gra]

Yeah, I didn't mean damn as in oh no, just damn, I would have assumed otherwise.

You can find traffic and dirt in any city. Your experience is what you make of it. Paris is one of those places which has so much to offer but there is a lot of noise as well you need to avoid. They cater heavily to tourists but there is tons of amazing stuff to be discovered.

 

[830920]

Who the hell doesn't love carbonated water? This thread used to be good...