Is Europe Awesome?

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Yes, I think Europe is pretty wonderful, although I would like to visit the USA, Mexico, Morocco, and India before I die!

I am half-English-half-German but have lived in the southernmost third of France for the last 10 years.

Anyone, ( well, almost, ) , travelling in the area and needing/wanting accomodation is welcome to pm me. We have a rudimentary but ok guest room in the attic, and live in a 250 year old house in a nearly medieval village not far from Montelimar.

Sounds lovely ! ! How's the weather, eh? Local restaurants?

yeah, it's a good road trip to take from where I live. really nice and somehow very european countries. thank god everyone there speaks english cause their native languages are beyond bizzare.

I'd recommend going to Finland while in Baltic States, it's just a ferry away (this post is NOT sponsored by the national tourist board of Finland lol)

I kind of like my country, Spain... it has the obvious advantage that I'm used to it (its language, customs...). And my last four vacations were to London, a city I simply love.

I won't say I wouldn't like visiting other European countries... but I tend to dislike the idea of not being able to communicate.

We just had nearly 3 weeks in Europe and it was incredible.

We started in Brighton & Hove, then London, England...Hopped on the ferry from Dover to France. Travelled by car (3600km) to Paris, then down to the South of France to a small village in the Pyrenees mountains called Nebias, had our wedding ceremony in a Medieval Wall lined city called Carcassonne and later visited Limoux. After this portion (wedding) of the trip we headed off to Barcelona and were a stones throw away from the Medditeranean Sea. It was AMAZING! Spent a couple of days there and then headed back up to Nice, France and from there onto Venice and Rome (where we got stranded by Zoom Airlines closure and had 3 extra days stay at the "low" cost of $6000 effin' $$) and flew home.

We are the type of travellers that love to dive into the culture and live as "they" live. We eat traditional foods, we buy traditional clothes, we just get down and dirty, whilst trying to steer clear of the "tourist-y" type things.

If you get the chance to do Europe, don't pass it up!!

It'd be cool to share some photo's from our travels, so perhaps I will start a thread.

I have been hiding out and fully engaged in my current "thing" and haven't been around here much, but happy to be able to post some cool sights:)

Europe is awesome. I have been there but the problem is about every restroom, you have to pay to use it. I dunno if it's like that in other places in Europe but it was like that in Paris. It's wasn't like that in London thank god but some places in the UK had pay restrooms.



If lot of places in Europe have pay restrooms, that could be why their diapers are so thick.

I would love to go the Europe, starting with France, Spain, Portugal, then Italy, and Germany, I would hit all the best places to eat, sort of do the cooks tour

I learned over our 3 weeks there that I lowered my standards as far as cleanliness, toilet seats, soap and toilet paper go...hell...there wasn't a single time I lowered myself to squatting over a drain, but oddly common over there!



A bit of culture shock indeed!

yeah, we just use McDonalds ;p

you must have been in the wrong parts of europe
no need to lower the cleanliness standards when comming
here. The toilets might cost a buck to use but if you dont
spend all they in there it shoudn`t be a problem - theres
alot more to see then toilets

"""...hell...there wasn't a single time I lowered myself to squatting over a drain, but oddly common over there"""

emmm... you are sure you was in europe? this is news to me,
no people pissing in drains on a regular basis here but
if i am outside, no toilet around and have to go, i will piss wherever
possible of course. If you piss in the streets in the citys and a cop
sees you, you can get a fine of around $1400 and more so its not
something to do for fun here i live. There was a guy not long ago
that got a $2600 fine for whipping it out one night on the town because
he had to go, kinda expensive. First you pay for the beer going in,
and then you pay for it comming out

Funny

We saw children being scooped up and sat over drains on the roadside, we took pics of all the washrooms that were particularly "interesting" and "new" (to us Canadians), we did hit as many pay washrooms and restaurants as possible, but found the autoroute Grills/cafes to be quite impressive, at times


Either way, the vacation is not about the washrooms, right?

Photo's to come... (and maybe even a toilet or two )

The weather is generally glorious ( hot and sunny) between April and September, but is rather too cold for me in the winter because we are at the edge of the western foothills of the Alps ( but the air is wonderful!) . There is one very good restaurant, and a couple of decentish ones, and also 4 cafe bars with terraces, which I really like .

My favourite parts of Europe are Andalucia in Southern Spain, especially Granada, ( with its Alhambra !) and Cordoba ( with its astonishing cathedral inside a mosque), lots of southern France, ( many beautiful old towns and villages with central squares and cafe terraces for people watching!), and Cornwall, in the south western tip of England. And there's lots of beautiful places all over; Amsterdam, Florence, Capri, Venice, and parts of Greece. Barcelona is amazing too.

Looking forward to the photos, makelifehappen! ... ed: Just noticed your thread. Gorgeous pics of Venice.

Toilets in Germany are mostly pay to use, but less so in France. There are some horrors; no lights, dirty underfoot, no paper, even in cafes, but mostly they are alright.

And yes, the motorway service stations, in France at least, are often impressive. Some people spend their holidays on them, free caravan parking, free/cheap showers, and spacious children's play areas. When I was hitching round France in the past they made wonderful campsites, safe for sleeping rough/with little tent, with lovely green swards, and trees, and lots of practically fresh food in the bins too!

Lived in Deutchland for three years. Loads of fun. Food was great. Lots to do. I have to second the pay-potty thing. The strauss was cool. Although I stepped off of it once right into the middle of an anti-american demonstration. Kinda scary.