We have been in Europe for almost a month now, and in that time I have noticed one or two differences that I would like to call attention to.
Here are some things Europe does really well:
1. Fluffy bedding. Take that old comforter you have on your bed, blow about 15 pounds of puffy feathers into it, wrap it in a duvet that is both soft to the touch and half as wide as it should be, and you will have truly European bedding. In America we would call it a feather bed, but in Europe it's just a light blanket.
2. Bread. Imagine a place where there more bakeries than Starbucks, a country where the government has to keep the bread cheap to discourage rioting, and a continent where bakers have been competing against each other for a looooong time to get customers in their doors by having better bread than the guy selling bread two doors away, and you will have some inkling of how good the baker has to be to survive on the continent of Europe. I mean, centuries, millennia even, of stiff competition has created this zone of unbelievably good bread, which is purchased daily and never eaten stale.
To further up the ante, add in small batches, wood-fired ovens, extra long aprons, and a culture that sniffs when confronted with bread that is inferior in any way, the way Americans sniff at freezer burnt ice cream. (Except that in Europe, they just won't eat bad bread. We will still eat bad ice cream.)
3. Recycling. See that thing above? Used to be an anvil. Now it's on a post as decor. The recycling in Europe, which we have experienced first hand in all of the countries we went to, is quite extensive. Even Italy, which is not a paragon of organization in some ways, had such extreme recycling that we were given sheaves of bags, carefully marked with what they should and should not contain. Because we went to so many different places, I eventually could not keep up with the varieties of separation in each place- glass and metal together or apart? Paper with or without plastic? What about egg shells? Finally, in Germany, I was unable to remember what the latest recycling system was and stored some of our garbage until we left, then snuck it into a garbage can at a rest stop like a lazy American garbage fugitive. I think there were cameras, but they will never catch me!
4. And I can't believe I haven't gotten to this yet- towel warmers. Some genius thought, "You know, when I get out of my shower it would be really great if I had a nice warm towel to dry off with," and made it reality. (Only, they may have thought it in German or Swedish or whatever.) Anyway, this genius person was not only allowed to fulfill their creative vision, but encouraged by millions of imitators and that is why when you get out of the shower in Europe you will find one of these lovely objects, more often than not, right where it would be really handy to keep your towel, so that you too may dry off with a warm towel and not with a cold one. Because that's how they roll in Europe.
5. Old. They do old well in Europe. The house pictured above is not the oldest house in Europe by a long shot. It's practically new, really. There are cathedrals which took 400 years to build and no one except for us Americans seems to think it noteworthy. I have seen old ladies who, where I come from, would be sitting all day in a darkened living room, watching Wheel of Fortune for the next few years, waiting for the sweet chariot to roll down and carry them home. But instead they are European and are riding a bike, in the rain, helmet less, with giant bags of groceries on the handlebars and a small dog in their front basket. Yes, they are wearing tan colored hose and their baggy black dresses flap as they pedal by, but still - on a bike at 80, yelling at tourists- still feisty and having a ball.
6. Strange vehicles. Europe is packed with odd cars, strange vans, and weird golf carts like the one above. The roads are often small and winding, and so very narrow vehicles with three wheels are quite practical. Some of them seem to have been built by a very creative and equally obsessive person (out of work watchmaker?) who made their tiny "van" super efficiently out of perfectly shaped metal and a powerful engine, but without any of the normal this-is-what-a-car-looks-like design influence. Those vehicles are road worthy but odd looking, and are everywhere -speeding past slow drivers on the autobahn, slipping into impossibly small parking spaces, delivering hay to the cows.
7. Trust. Europeans seem to trust that you are interested in your own safety and will not kill yourself in dumb ways. The photo above is a hotel hair dryer. It has no giant sticky label on it with warnings in four languages that you really shouldn't try to use it while you are taking a bubble bath. They do not have nutrition information posted for every menu item, warning you that yes, indeedy, there are CALORIES in that chocolate croissant. Their playgrounds are filled with spinning, swinging metal objects without padding of any kind. Their lights don't have posted labels to tell you that there is genuine electricity flowing through, and you should be careful so you don't Risk A Shock.
It's like as a continent, they shrugged and decided that if you are alive still you will probably figure out how to maneuver around Dangerous Hot Coffee and so they don't warn you about it and so far, so good. They seem to have made it, despite the things that Could Go Wrong.
Labels: bread, Europe, trust
