I really enjoyed our 3 weeks of playing the carefree vagabonds. Europe wasn't on my top 3 locations to visit, but the friends and family located there were. Now that I have returned, I realize the visit was made even more special because I'd traveled in Europe before. There wasn't a rush to see the 'must see' things. We can buy so many European items in the states, I focused on what I couldn't get at home. This trip was also a bit different because of the dollar devaluation to the Euro. Everything was expensive.
People - 30 years ago, one of my strongest memories was how different people were in Germany, France, Ireland from each other and from what I knew. How they dressed, ate and lived was foreign to how I lived and quite distinctive from each other. This trip showed me that the world really has become smaller. People in all countries were suffering from the economic collapse and it was a universal discussion point. In the past, I would find an angry attitude toward the US. But in this trip, it was interesting to hear the seemingly universal support for the US which originated strongly from their attitudes toward Obama.
Lifestyle - US fast food restaurants were common to see. Music I hear in the states was common. After all, we listen to 'world' music these days. Though we did enjoy the traditional Irish music especially after a music pub crawl in Dublin. In Killorglin though, Mark's comment on a traditional music singer was 'the singer's tone kills my donkey'.
Movies, clothes, TV shows, groceries (Aldi was popular and we have them in Florida!)were all familiar. The euro has definitely created a commonality between these countries and with my EU passport, traveling between them was effortless. No incidents of border police getting on the train to check passports as you cross borders. Homes were more similar than dissimilar to homes in the states. Still, kitchens are much smaller and compact. IKEA is the great equalizer.
Food - My favorite subject! I found fewer unfamiliar foods in this trip. Maybe a bit of this is because I've traveled, but I also think there has been a lot of growth in food distribution globally. That said, this is the area where we found the most diversity, thank goodness!
In Germany, the variety of scrumptious breads was a joy to find. I think that and the variety of beers stood out. My favorite bread is the pretzel bun topped with crunchy salt. Topped with fresh butter and honey it is unmatched joy. YUM!!
What is really 'hot' throughout Europe these days is 'organic' food. It was amazing how much the term 'organic' was used in packaged food. This struck me as odd since 30 years ago, I'm pretty sure the local farmers were organic. I remember people being interested in growing their own fruit and vegetables and this has not decreased. We enjoyed organic veggies in Germany that made us smile just talking about it (thanks Angi!).
We enjoyed the importance of chocolate in the Netherlands (thanks Rita & Kees) and chips of all kinds seem to occupy most of the grocery shelves in Ireland. Lettuce however was in hiding.
In Ireland, the food in Dublin restaurants was wonderful. I've read that the Irish are discovering cuisine and Irish chefs are quite popular. This was apparent in Dublin. We discovered how seafood chowder SHOULD taste in the port towns in County Kerry. A symphony of flavors in a light cream base, often with a touch of fennel, really made the chowders a highlight of our food experience. We enjoyed the soda bread, and Maureen, cousin Jamesy's wife, made an outstanding Porter Cake (made with Guinness) which we decided was really bread, so we could eat it for breakfast.
The Drink - it seems a theme of this trip was alcohol. In fact, the purchases we brought back home were almost all food and alcohol. We rediscovered a liquor made and sold only in Etten-Leur, a small Dutch town near the Belgium border. That came back with us. I enjoy gin and brought back Bokma gin which I discovered 9 years ago in Amsterdam. Our other imbibing enjoyments included Jameson whiskey- especially after visiting their museum in Dublin, and Heneken which is Mark's fave. And yes, we spent a bit of time in the Heneken brewery in Amsterdam. We discovered fruit flavored beers in Germany which are heavily marketed to 'young professionals'. Very refreshing!
Marketing - I pay attention to this since my business is marketing. I found it interesting that the marketing was quite similar to what we know in the US, while 30 years ago I thought it quite different. I felt like Europeans had become like Americans in some respects when seeing the similarities in marketing. Not sure it went the other way around. Note that we didn't watch much TV, so this may be a skewed view based on print media. People were very interested in home improvement shows and magazines.
Cars - I know that there are car models manufactured only for the European market, but it seemed to me that fewer cars were unique from what we have in the states. Over 10 years ago, we drove a SMART car. Now they are sold in the states. In Germany, there was an abundance of mercedes and BMWs. It felt like silicon valley!
Trains - I used trains as my main mode of transportation for a number of years while traveling around Europe. It is still the most economical. Of course, now you may have internet connection on the 'fast' trains. I did find the Deutsch Bahn to be incredibly confusing. The ticket machines claimed to have an English version and in our attempt to be self supporting we tried this option. Only German was provided! And the cities we were looking for weren't necessarily on the ticket options. I think DB realized their equipment did not communicate well because we found at least one live person in every train station ready to help even the Germans figure out the
'self service' ticket opportunities.
Language - I'm not sure if I've become more comfortable with German, or if Mark's Turkish and German was the saving grace. But language wasn't an issue for us. It was apparent that more Europeans speak English, but also that those who didn't were very interested in communicating with us using a few key words... much like my few key German words. Note that most workers we interacted with in Germany were Turkish. So, Mark's Turkish was very handy. His German resurfaced only after a beer. So the mornings were definitely in Turkish.
In my three weeks, I think I was just getting into travel mode. The suitcase seemed to hold enough clothes, and I wanted to jump on more trains and see more towns and countryside. I guess that means we'll be going on more adventures, even in the states there is so much still to see! And I'll always enjoy the differences I get to see, hear, taste and feel...no matter how subtle they seem to become.
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