Last Chapter

But we survived. And these experiences added to the fun of the trip. If we didn’t want an adventure, we’d have stayed home. Remember—there is more than one way to do things! No, they weren’t all like this. Many were just fine. And don’t stress out about the squat toilet. The only one we saw was in the train station in Cinque Terre which is five minutes from your hotel. You can wait. Just carry a little extra tissue with you in your bag while you’re on tour, and you’ll be fine. Vive la difference!

There is at least one thing, though, that we do better here, and that’s restrooms! We had pay restrooms, we had men coming out of women’s restrooms, we had unisex restrooms, we had outdoor restrooms, we had restrooms where the lights go out when you’re in them, we had restrooms in the middle of a sidewalk (urinals in Amsterdam), we had nasty restrooms, we had restrooms with no paper, and the very worst of all was the no-where-to-be-found restroom. We had squat toilets, toilets that flush on the wall, on the top, on the side, in the corner, with a pull chain, with a button to push and a button to pull. More than once we had to call out to see if anyone knew how to flush it. We had toilets with round seats, square seats, revolving seats (sometimes while you’re on them!), extra long seats, and no seats. And seat protectors? Forget about it! Once we did see those, but the seats were so large the protectors fell right in. (Europeans find no need for those. Our guide Karin said no Italian woman would dream of sitting on the seat.) And we even had a faucet operated by a foot pedal (that one took a little time to figure out).

On this trip, I learned that there is more than one way to do something, that just because we do it a certain way here in the States, it doesn’t automatically make it the best way. I think there are a lot of things that Europeans do right.

When was the last time you stayed in a hotel where the windows opened? Every one of our hotels had windows that opened, with no screens, even the four star hotel. In the hotels that have card keys, you put the card key in a slot by your door as you enter so that you can use the electricity. When you take your key out as you leave, the lights and A/C go off. If you open your window, the A/C shuts off. Lots of nice hotels don’t even have A/C. When they do, it doesn’t get freezing cold in the room. Hallway lights are motion activated.

No water is served in restaurants unless you ask for it, and it’s mostly bottled water which you have to purchase. There are no bread plates to wash, no loads of butter to throw away, and most restaurants just have small paper napkins. No wash cloths are used, and hotel guests are encouraged to reuse towels. There are little hooks on the wall instead of towel racks, and little loops are sewn into the edge of the towels. Toilets have very little water in them, and you can control how much water is used to flush them.

It seems to me that Europeans are more environmentally responsible than we are. There was a big sign in Amsterdam that said: “Only when the last tree has died, the last river has been poisoned and the last fish has been caught, will we realize that we cannot eat money.” Europeans ride bikes (streets have bike lanes) and motorcycles, use mass transit or walk (yes, walk). Many use diesel in their automobiles, which often are smart cars; and not every 16 year old has a car. Kids can’t even drive until they’re 18, and most won’t get a car until they’re an adult.

Europeans maximize space. Most of the buildings in the cities we visited were built hundreds of years ago, and we didn’t see many free standing houses. Most people lived in multi-family dwellings. Hotel rooms were mostly small, and bathrooms, especially the showers, were tiny. Even our four star hotel—it was luxurious, but the rooms were small. In the hotels that had elevators, they were small too. And we managed just fine.

Not only was this tour a great adventure, but we learned a lot too—a lot about Europe and European people. It was wonderful to see how other people live. Life is quite different there. People are more relaxed and aren’t always in a hurry, as we Americans tend to be. They don’t have drive-through restaurants and don’t even see the need for them. Taking time off in the middle of the day to eat with your family is a part of life. Many businesses (especially in Italy) are shut down for a few hours in the middle of the day so that families can eat together. Europeans get very liberal vacations and maternity leave time. Meals in restaurants are leisurely. When you sit down to a meal, the table is yours for the evening if you want it. A waiter would never bring you your check unless you ask for it.

Europe from the Windows!

....but, oh, the restrooms!

Some things we learned...