Pay attention to how things are different. Embracing cultural differences—while they still exist—is what sets travelers apart from tourists. We got a kick out of how Dutch street sweepers use brooms made with twigs (in Paris, the twigs are neon-green plastic). In Amsterdam, we had mayonnaise on the superb fries at Vlaams Frites Huis, and at a supermarket, we bought chocolate sprinkles for Molly's kids to put on their toast. At our hotel, 't Hotel, we ate cold cuts and cheese for breakfast, commiserated about those half-panels of glass Europeans use in showers, and thought of Anne Frank every time we walked up the canal house's staircase—it was a "leg breaker," to use Frank's phrase.I guess I've morphed from a tourist into a traveler. The first few times I was in a foreign place, I was annoyed by such things as that ever messy half-panel of glass that is supposed to keep the water in when you shower, the odd fixtures in the bathrooms which take some logical thinking to use, the lack of washcloths in all the hotels, and the weird choices of food at the hotel buffets. Now they are endearing to me, for lack of a better word. I look for them wherever I go.
I just recently got an explanation from a European friend as to why hotels don't typically have washcloths over there. She says that they are considered a personal hygiene item, and it would be like the hotel leaving a toothbrush in the bathroom for everyone to share. They usually carry their own washcloths with them, if they require one, when they travel. Ahhh haaa!
In Frankfurt, I kept noticing at night that my skin looked green. How odd. Blech. Finally I realized that all the street lamps were yellow light, not white light. Cass says they are sodium vapor lamps. I don't know why they use them, but I'll forever remember that about Frankfurt.
I got one of my biggest laughs while in Frankfurt from Cass's co-worker Yury. We had already arrived at the hotel, Yury and Miguel were on a later flight. Yury texted when they were on their way to the hotel - something like "We are approaching you at approximately 100 miles per hour!" Yes, the cab ride from airport to hotel in Frankfurt was quite, um, exhilarating! It's disturbing to glance over at the speedometer to see the needle approaching 160 km per hour. But still, it's kinda fun!
Cass told me that on his trip to Berlin just 2 weeks before we went there, he had a bathroom incident. He was in the hotel bar and had to use the restroom. They were marked with "D" and "H" - and no universal man/woman pictures. He couldn't guess which was which, so he had to go ask. He was told to use the "H" one. FYI "H" = Herren (men) and "D" = Damen (ladies)
I also had a bathroom incident while in Berlin. This one was probably aided by the fact that I'd had way more to drink than I can usually handle. It was while we were out at the graffiti-ed up partially demolished building that had several bars/night clubs in it. I had to use the restroom, and Simon made a big deal out of the fact that I needed to go to the door on the LEFT, not the door on the RIGHT - because they weren't marked at all. I walked out to where I was told the restrooms were, right at the entrance to the place. I stood there, on my right was the entrance/exit, OK I don't need that door (are you laughing yet?), so I went to the door on the left. It reeked, and I was thinking if this bathroom smells this bad, I wonder what the mens room smells like. I finished up, and as I was about to walk out, a guy walks in. Oops, sorry, stupid American here!! When I got out, I saw that there were 2 doors together there, and I had totally walked into the one on the right without noticing the one on the left.
Yeah, you can be embarrassed and annoyed by stuff like that - but it's so much more fun to experience that stuff and have a story to tell. I've got tons of 'em. LOL!
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