Things we have learned in Europe
As always, we learn lots while traveling. A few are repeats of what I learned in Paris.
1) Up escalators always seem to work in Switzerland and Austria, as opposed to Paris, where, if there is one, it will be out of order.
2) Always look up. This is true here, as much as it was in Paris. Ceilings in old buildings are often better than the room itself.
3) I now know what an Edelweiss flower looks like. I’ve yet to see the real article, but I’ve seen them in silver, in plastic, printed on bags, and on just about every souvenir article imaginable.
4) In Austria, Mozart candy shops (always colored red and gold with the odd blue/silver) are as plentiful as Starbucks coffee shops in downtown Seattle. I.e. – one on every block. (Or Swiss Watch shops or knife shops in Luzern).
5) If one can mention Mozart or Chocolate to advertise something, it will be done.
6) In Luzern, there are more fine Swiss Watch Shops per capita than anywhere else in the world. (Although Geneva and Zurich may be worse). Same with Swiss knife shops.
7) Trains actually run on time, and always on time (or at least very close).
8) It is generally easy to get around the language barrier. For example, in St. Moritz, I pointed to a sandwich and asked if it were chicken. They didn’t know the word for what it was, so the clerk pantomimed ‘bigger’ and said ‘Big Chicken’. I knew exactly what she mean. It was a Turkey sandwich.
9) There are no top sheets on the beds. Only a down quilt in a duvet.
10) Austria seems to cater mostly to northern europeans as a vacation spot. There were mostly german speaking tourists with a smattering of Americans, Australians, and those from India. Not as many asian tour groups in Austria. Not sure why, but there it is. Also, there are very few black people in Austria. It will be interesting to see the mix in Munich. Paris and London were far more diversified.
11) If there are lifts in the hotels, they are about 4×6. In other words, you fit in three people, or three people’s luggage, and meet it at the top. Lifts can also run diagonally. Although that was in Zermat, so that may actually be a necessity when you live on cliffs.
12) Restrooms are called ‘WC’ or Water Closets.
13. If the weather forecast says it’s going to rain, take your rain jacket. If the weather forecast says it isn’t going to rain, take your rain jacket.
14) Gore tex is good. See 13 above.
15) If we pass a shoe store, somebody will inevitably say ‘cute shoes’.
16) Laundry dries significantly faster in Vienna than anywhere else we’ve been.
17) The Sound of Music tours and souvenirs rival that of even Mozart in Salzburg.
18) Something in your hotel room will require at least two switches to turn it on, and they will be on opposite ends of the room, and will change on a random basis.
19) Locks on European hotel rooms do not generally open with a single turn. Often it is turn the key one way, then back the other, and murmur a chant.
I’m sure more will be added to the list, but that’s all for tonight.