Are there differences between Europeans and Americans?  People are the same everywhere, aren’t they?  There are certainly lots of friendly and wonderful people anywhere you go.  For the most part, the Europeans were extremely welcoming and accommodating.  After all, a lot of their income relies on tourism.  But, after almost four months in Europe, Tom and I definitely noticed some differences.

For one thing, Europeans are a lot more interested in conservation than Americans.  That makes sense, because they have a lot more people living densely on land that has been inhabited longer than in the United States.  But they also take conservation more seriously.

Two button toilets are a good example.  The US uses low-flush toilets, which some of us complain about.  The Europeans have taken it to another level with their two buttons.  The small button for small jobs.  The big button for big jobs.  But which is the big one and which is the small one?  It took us a while to get used to the two buttons and figure out which was which.  They aren’t always a different size and their flushes look very similar.

Another place we noticed this emphasis on conservation was in the lack of disposable items.  If you have breakfast in a hotel in the United States, you will get a Styrofoam plate, a plastic cup, and use plastic utensils.  Often the utensils are wrapped in plastic.  If you have breakfast at the same level of hotel in Europe, you get a china plate, silverware, and linen napkins.  Most to-go restaurants in Europe encourage you to bring in a reusable coffee cup.  Some countries don’t allow single use cups at all.

You can buy plastic bottles of Coke and other products, but you will see them in cans most often.  Even the water is in cans, which I found a little hard to get used to.  Of course, I carried a reusable water bottle with me most of our trip (until I left it in Chester).  But if you do get a plastic bottle, the cap to it is always attached to the bottle.  Tom found this really frustrating, but I learned to tuck the cap so it would stay out of my way when I was drinking.

You never get free plastic bags in Europe.  Most people bring their own bags when they shop.  When you check out, they will ask you if you need a bag.  If you say yes, they charge you for it.  The bag you buy is a sturdy, reusable paper or heavier plastic.  As a result, although you might see trash along the road, you don’t see plastic bags everywhere.

In order to turn on the lights, air-conditioner, or television in a European hotel room, you have to insert your key into a place on the wall.  If you leave the room and take your key, all of those things turn off.  There were several times when I left the room, taking my key, and the television turned off while Tom was watching it.  A couple of times he left me in the bathroom in the dark when he took the key out of its slot.

Leaving behind the conservation issue, there are other differences between Europeans and Americans.  They have artificially sweetened drinks but they aren’t called Diet.  You can get Coke Lite, but not Diet Coke.  The artificial sweeteners are different as well.  And even the “full-strength” sodas have artificial sweetener in them.  Some places sold Dr. Pepper but Tom didn’t like it because it wasn’t sweetened the same.  I got used to whatever kind of Diet Coke was available:  Diet Coke, Coke Lite, or Coke Zero.  I couldn’t find Crystal Light or its equivalent anywhere.

There are very few pick-up trucks on the roads.  We saw lots of recreational vehicles.  Some of them were small motorhomes, but most were lightweight trailers (they call them caravans) being pulled by small SUVs or even cars.

Another difference between Europeans and Americans is the orientation of the Europeans to the outdoors.  Norwegians have the right to the outdoors written into their Constitution.  There aren’t any trespassing laws in Great Britain.  You can tromp all through anyone’s land, as long as you shut the gate after yourself.  Do that in the United States and you might get shot.  Scandinavians love their summer allotments.  They have garden plots on the edge of the cities.  They build small garden sheds on these plots and often live in them during the summer.

Moving on to food.  There is some great ice cream in Europe.  They call it ice cream but it is closer to what we call gelato.  Somewhere between a hard packed ice cream and soft serve.  It is displayed in rectangular bricks of ice cream instead of round tubs.  Licorice is a favorite flavor and is often mixed in interesting combinations.

Scandinavians also really like cinnamon and they are experts at making all kinds of cinnamon pastries.  Kanelbullar in all its forms and varieties is delicious and we should know.  We tried them in lots of different countries.  In fact, the best sweets we found in London were in a Danish bakery.

Those are some of the differences between Europeans and Americans.  There are things that we preferred European style and others that we appreciated American style.  I especially appreciated the conservation of the Europeans and wish Americans would be better at it.  I hate seeing how many plastic bags leave a grocery store every time I visit.  If you have been to Europe, share some of the differences you noticed.