Two posts back I talked about how I was missing Europe. I have given it some more thought, and here are some of the things that I miss about Europe:
- Walkplatz – I really miss the coblestone pedestrian only centers that most of the towns/villages in Europe have. There are always shops, bakeries, pubs and restaurants on the walkplatz. Walkplatz is German and translates to ‘walk place’.
- Slow Pace – You would never have to fight traffic to get to work by 0600 or even 0700 in most European cities. Because they are probably not going to work at 0600 or 0700. In addition, Europeans get a considerably greater amount of vacation time than the average American. Things just seem to move at a more manageable pace there.
- Diversity and Locality – In Eurpope, you can drive 2 hours, sometimes less, and be in a completely different country, with different culture, langauge etc. When you get tired of where you are at it is easy to move on to something totally different.
- Social Liberties – Europeans are just not wound as tight as Americans.
- Public Transportation – They actually have public transportation there, and it works very well. In Europe you can get from point A to point B without a car, at a reasonable price. I used to take the train from Kyllburg to Trier frequently, about 40 miles. It was a nice ride, and costed about $5.
- Alcohol – They have the best beer and wine in the world, by far.
My friend Gus, who was stationed with me in Germany, put it well by saying that Europeans live to live, Americans live to work. It really seems that way sometimes.