- American tourists are bewildered by some aspects of culture in Europe.
- Dining out takes much longer and goes much later into the night.
- One visitor to Italy didn't realize how seriously locals take soccer.
- Beer can be cheaper than water in some countries.
Travelers from other countries who visit the US are mystified by many things — the ridiculously large portion sizes, squirrels, and the gap between toilet stall doors, to name a few. (You can read the full list here.)
But American tourists are just as bewildered by some aspects of life in European countries.
A Reddit thread asked Americans to share their most confounding moments while abroad in Europe. Here are 10 of our favorite answers.
Apparently, exchanging pleasantries isn't always appreciated in Germany — but asking actual questions usually is.
Reddit user efshoemaker noted that villagers of a certain age in Germany didn't have much patience for pleasantries, but did love opening up to tourists.
"[...] the older people in [the] village seemed super grumpy and mean and would never smile or respond if you said hello or good morning. BUT if you asked them a substantive question, like how to get to the museum, they would spend 15 minutes telling you the fastest way to get there, the scenic way to get there, everything interesting you should do on the way there, why that museum isn't actually that good and you should go to this other museum instead, all the different ways to get to the better museum, and where their grandmother used to live before the war."
Italy takes soccer very seriously.
While visiting Italy, groovychick found that soccer games are serious business.
"When buying a ticket, they needed to know which team I was rooting for to determine where I could sit," they wrote. "Then, during the game, people were setting things on fire."
Everything is closed on Sundays.
norwaykiwi's most confounding Europe moment was realizing that nothing was open on a Sunday.
"When you realize that everything is closed on Sunday, because Sunday is sacred," they wrote. "Not in a religious way necessarily, but in a 'our free time is sacred [way].' Took a train through the German countryside on a Sunday and the fields were just full of people doing stereotypical free time activities: afternoon strolls, kites and model airplanes, fishing, etc."
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