Thoughts on Europe...

[pabster]

Welcome back Pabster! What I remember from my trip over there was how much more elegant the women were!! I didn't read it in your report. Am I remembering things wrong?
:blob1:

I didn't comment on the women in my original post. The women of Italy are stunning. I'll use Sophia Loren as an example:

 

[Meep-Meep]

I was in Italy back in April 01. I never made it way down south but managed to cover Roma, Firenze, Venezia, Milano, Torino, Aosta, Napoli, Capri and Positano. Overall had a great time and the people, food and wine were fantastic. The gypsies not so much. I picked up a few words and phrases and always started a conversation with: Mi scusi, parla Inglese? (excuse me, do you speak English?) and if that didn't work I asked Parla Russo? Asking if anyone spoke Russian got some pretty funny replies, but I did find some Russians there who helped me with getting the train ticket sorted out.

Then there was the cab driver. An older guy that spoke no English, or Russian, but kept speaking to me in Italian - even after I said no parla Italiano! Oh well, so I winged it. At one point while waiting for the light he started talking again and waving his hand. So I look over to where he was gesturing and I see a bunch of store fronts with signs written in Arabic. And about this time I hear him say soto, soto. I think for a minute where I saw that word and remembered it means down - as in sottopassaggio. And right then I figured he was telling me that the neighborhood was going to hell in a wheel barrow. So I said in Russian - Arabi? (Arabs?). Turns out the Russian word for Arabs crosses over pretty well and he replied: Si, Arabi, Africani- soto, soto!

At one point we got lost and he pulled over on a dirt shoulder to ask directions and scraped something on the bottom of the car. He got all worried because as we started to move the scraping didn't stop. Not being able to fully explain myself I said in English, it's OK and got out of the car and lifted up on the right rear wheel well while he slowly pulled forward without the noise. Not one word was understood between us but we knew what needed to be done and did it. Very cool! As we drove off we heard a slight tink, tink, tink, sound like the drive shaft was rubbing on the exhaust heat shield and he got worried again and started with the Mama mias! Sante Christo! and probably a few Saints for good measure. I said don't worry it's just the heat shield got bent; it's an easy fix. Maybe by the tone of my voice it put him at ease. I finally got to where I was going and we exchanged gratzis and pregos and that was that.

Oh, and the women were very nice to look at and in most cases speak to. I was sitting next to this drop dead gorgeous gal on the train who didn't strike me as being very friendly, but I finally asked - again starting with my standard opener - something about the next train station. Her face lit up with a huge smile and a demeanor to match. We chatted the best we could for a bit and I complemented her on how nice she looked (in Italian) then she smiled again and pointed out a little dirt smudge on her slacks implying that she looks terrible. We chatted some more until she got off at the next station. In CA I would have got pepper sprayed and arrested for stalking all while the nasty broad complains that there aren't any good guys around.

Anyway, glad you had a good trip and thanks for letting me remember mine!

 

[shag766]

welcome back buddy

 

[Cranky]

I'd move there in a minute, Canada has no real history to speak of and travelling thru Europe is simply Stunning, I drove thru Holland from top to bottom into Bellgium then into Germany across to Frankfurt and South thru Bavaria into Austria. 16 days, and you cant make a bad turn anywhere. Stunning views Nice people, Fast Roads and people who actually know how to drive.
Food was excellent All the areas I stopped in are absolutly clean and very well kept.
Just an amazing trip.
Sure the Taxes are higher there and the fuel is expensive But when you consider the education system and the health care, alone with a Working infastructure.
It wouldnt be a bad place to live.
Ron

16 days doesn't tell you much about what it's really like to live there....unless you're pretty well of so that it somewhat doesn't matter but 1/2 of the 1% of the wealthiest live in the U.S. with Germany coming in 2nd place with around 4 mill vs around 30 mil in the U.S. and then the rest is spread out throughout the rest of the world. The data is kinda old but it's the most recent. I'm sure it's changed a lot in the last 5 years!

I love Europe, but would not want to live there - again. I lived in Germany for 2.5 years while in the service. I had great duty and lived directly in a small community the entire time with limited contact with military bases / posts. Lived most of the time in civilian housing, shopped locally, partied locally, most of my friends were German, and eventually married a local girl - who I am still with to this day. I learned to speak German out of necessity and became very much a part of the community. However, after a few years I just had to return to the US. We have gone back countless times over the decades to visit and I have enjoyed every return trip. While there was much to love about the country and Europe in general, it is not the US. The lack of freedom is very evident in all aspects of life. This is not to say that Europe is not free, it is just the degrees in which the government imposes on your life. Taxes are very high and the government over regulation and it pays for is everywhere. Germany gave me my first hand exposures to socialized medicine and believe me it is not good. I could see decades ago the slipery slope that Europe was on with its trend into socialism. We watched and talked about it for the past 35 years as it all headed towards the mess that has unfolded today. Fortunately Germany had a couple of good systemic "structures" built in to its culture that has helped it more than the rest of Europe. The German people are quite "frugal" and the apprenticship education system has helped it retain some degree of jobs for people. The country also regained some sense a few years back and started pulling itself back away from many socialist systems.
In short I love the country, love the food, love the beer, I am always intrigued at the ancient history of the land. They have many good systems that we should adopt (try suing someone over there for spilled coffee burns or self inflicted injuries), a pay as you go culture and for the native Germans, a true pride in their country and culture. While the Germans are beginning to realize that the socialist system they embarked on 40 years ago did not work and are trying to step back from the brink, our country seems to be running full speed towards everything we see that didn't work in Europe.

I did some of what you did only I couldn't afford to live off base but spent as much time as I could out on the economy and if it wasn't for the gas ration book we got, driving around as much as I did would have been hard. I still have friends over there that I stay in touch with and they keep me up to date on how things are. As pretty as it is over there, well, you can't live on pretty. At least I can't. And IMO, you are so right about this country running full speed into the stuff that doesn't work but for the most part, we're still pretty free here.

 

[Stumper]

I did some of what you did only I couldn't afford to live off base but spent as much time as I could out on the economy and if it wasn't for the gas ration book we got, driving around as much as I did would have been hard. I still have friends over there that I stay in touch with and they keep me up to date on how things are. As pretty as it is over there, well, you can't live on pretty. At least I can't. And IMO, you are so right about this country running full speed into the stuff that doesn't work but for the most part, we're still pretty free here.

We are rapidly losing those freedoms - at an exponential rate in recent years.

Because of my job I got paid for off base housing and rations. Between that, the liquor, gas and cigarette rations that I got from other guys that didn't use them, I managed pretty comfortably . Of course the dollar was worth like 4 DM back then so that helped a lot too.