If you’ve been hanging around my blog for a while, you’ll know that the hubster and I had a fabulous holiday in Europe earlier this year to mark the occasion of our 25th wedding anniversary.
I’ve shared countless photos and favourite memories from our trip – so it may come as a bit of a surprise to learn that there were actually a couple of things I didn’t like about Europe.
I Must Confess, the two things I didn’t like about Europe were the constant haze of cigarette smoke, and the lack of public toilets.
Things I Didn’t Like About Europe #1 – Cigarette Smoking
When I first started working in an office back in 1987, it was with quite a number of chain smokers. At the end of the day my hair and clothes would reek of cigarette smoke, despite the fact that I personally didn’t puff – and heaven only knows the effect all that passive smoking had on my lungs!
However, over the years smoking has fallen out of favour here in Australia; it’s considered almost downright anti-social. First it was banished from our workplaces … and on it continued, so that now we have the lovely smoke-free environment we all enjoy today – at schools, restaurants, hospitals, shops, etc.
It’s easy to forget just how lucky we are, because the thing is, it’s not like that in Europe.
People smoke *everywhere*. Many was the time we’d be in a cafe or restaurant, only to have the person at the next table light up. Gross! Everywhere we went was the stench of cigarette smoke; it really irritated my eyes, nose and throat. In fact one bar on our cruise ship was so bad, we avoided it if at all possible.
Things I Didn’t Like About Europe #2 – The Lack of Public Toilets
I never realised before how blessed we are in Australia. Public toilets are generally easy to find, free, and regularly cleaned and maintained.
Or perhaps you disagree … if that’s the case, I suspect you’ve never been to Europe!
First of all, you have to spend a penny to well, spend a penny – or 50p or Euro or whatever (NOW the graffiti on the back of toilet doors of my youth makes sense: Here I sit so broken hearted, paid a penny but only farted!). Secondly, there are very very few of them; and thirdly, even though you have to pay, they are so grotty you avoid them if at all possible!
Apparently local councils in Europe have some arrangement with the cafes, that the general public can use their facilities without being a customer. However being first time visitors to Europe, we had no idea until a kind hotel receptionist explained this to us!
When the hubster and I were wandering the streets of Mallorca, I needed to go to the loo. We saw a sign so headed in the direction it pointed until we saw the next sign … and so on and so forth. It felt a bit like we were going on a wild goose chase, because bit by bit those signs were taking us well away from the beaten track. Would you believe, the public toilet ended up being one unisex cubicle, in the bowels of a city carpark?! We’d never seen anything like it!
Do you have any traveller’s tales about things you didn’t like about Europe – or other places you’ve visited?!
Linking up with My Home Truths.