‘I can actually walk around safely at night’: Europe through the eyes of Americans
A few years ago, an American friend, who I’ll call Jenny, came to visit me in London with the plan that we would mooch around there for a while and then go to France for a bit. This required Jenny, then in her mid-30s, to acquire a passport for the very first time.
While that, to me, was a shock (what had she been doing with her time off work?), Jenny’s mother’s incredulity easily beat my own. “Why do you need to go to Europe?” she inquired. “We have everything you could ever want to see right here in the United States.”
Public records suggest that 40 per cent of US citizens have a passport, and a sizeable portion of that group carry out regular visits to mainland Europe. In 2016, for example, of the 104 million trips US citizens took worldwide, 27 million were to continental Europe, with France, Italy, Germany and Spain all among the top 10 destinations for US citizens.
In a way, Jenny and her mother were manifesting a tension that was just as much in play 150 years ago, in the Anglo-American novelist Henry James’s gung-ho but innocent Americans vs the urbane Europeans. For every Bezos or Spielberg on a yacht off of Capri, there are millions of Americans who are drawn to the Continent because of its culture. Not for them the open bars of Mallorca or the all-inclusive Cypriot sun. The Americans are in Europe to see the sights, and to keep up with their friends, according to a UN World Tourism Organization study.
But what do Americans find when they get to Europe? Is it as culturally distinguished as they expected? I asked some globetrotting friends for their impressions.
‘Unlike in America, I can safely walk around at night’
The best way to explore European cities, says Naomi, is by foot. “From an urban development perspective, you learn a lot from walking: Are the streets in a logical grid format? Are they rings from a central focus (city hall, castle, some other landmark building)? Is it pedestrian/cyclist/wheelchair friendly? Are the sidewalks wide? Narrow? Nonexistent? Are there squares where life seems to congregate? Lots of green space?”
Also, walking is a great way to encourage serendipitous shopping: “When I was in Stockholm, I ended up finding a tea advent calendar by just randomly walking around. It’s probably one of the best advent calendars I’ve ever bought.”
But the tip to explore on foot also comes from disillusionment with European urban public transport. Unlike the ease of the system in London, where you just tap in and out with your credit card, “in most cities in Europe, you need to either buy tokens or buy a travel card,” she points out, which is time consuming and less interesting than walking.
Another positive about walking around European cities is the relative safety, which is “something I often forget is not necessarily a given in US cities,” Naomi observes. “How amazing… that in most of these cities, I can walk around at night alone and feel mostly safe doing so.” (The travel platform Tourlane recently compiled a list of the 10 safest cities for women to travel in, using the Women, Peace, and Security Index established by the Georgetown Institute; 9 out of 10 of these were in Continental Europe.)
Naomi notes: “I hope I am fit enough to walk around and explore new cities (and walking trails) well into my 80s.”
‘I’d rather be an old European than an old American’
Interestingly, age, or the aged, is something many Americans notice when they visit Europe: “Whether in an Italian piazza, French café, Icelandic swimming pool, or Swiss ski slope, old people are out, active, and included. I’d rather be an old European than an old American,” observes Susan who, in her mid-40s, has time yet to snag an EU passport and make that dream a reality.
She also notes a universal dignity in European life: “America is often segregated by economics; rich people go to expensive restaurants, or country clubs. The British seem to talk endlessly, even today, about class divisions. But one thing I love about visiting France or Austria is that there seems to be a pretty high expectation for a decent quality of life.
For example, I have seen long-haul truck drivers tucking into three-course meals in reasonable restaurants; that just wouldn’t happen where I’m from.”
‘In some countries beer is cheaper than water’
Of course, there’s relaxation and there’s relaxation. A frequent American criticism of Europe, generally, is the lack of climate control in buildings. Naomi observes that “no AC is bearable except in the absolute hottest of days, but what I find unbearable is the lack of screens on windows, and being bitten by bugs.”
She adds: “Let’s talk about ice. I do not like lukewarm water when temps are above say 22 degrees. I like ice in my water. Providing ice is not a default in restaurants, unless you are ordering soda. Before touring in Hungary with my choir, I learned how to say, ‘Please can I have a bit of ice?’ in Hungarian, which turned out to be very useful in 33 degrees Debrecen, where hardly any of the restaurant staff spoke English.”
Getting water can also be a challenge: “In some countries, beer or wine is cheaper than water,” Naomi marvels. “And speaking of water, Rome has some of the best drinking water readily available via free fountains on the streets, but not a single restaurant provides tap water.”
‘Service is reliably slow’
“Things are often done in a particular way on the Continent because that’s the way they have always been done,” Warren observes. “Service is slow in Italy or Spain. That will not change; it’s how it is. The man in this French village regularly dresses like a policeman and erratically directs traffic (true story). This is where he lives, and that is what he does.”
Warren, who works in the food industry, points out that this can be a particular impediment to innovation when it comes to culinary delights. “We grow a small amount of olives and we press them at the local press. We will not grow more. We are happy with this arrangement,” he says, rolling his eyes.
‘Why must I find a McDonalds and a Starbucks in Milan?’
Of universal disappointment among well-travelled Americans in the insistence of Europeans to draw on the very worst of Uncle Sam’s exports. “The ubiquity of symbols of American consumerism,” are a sad intrusion on otherwise interesting European landscapes, says Naomi, explaining: “I really do not want to see McDonald’s, Domino’s, Starbucks, etc, when I go to Milan, Istanbul, or Prague, but they really do seem to be omnipresent, no matter where I go.”
Despite these niggles, the cultural triumphs of the Continent are a perennial pull. “I love the juxtaposition of very old buildings or ruins right next to ultra-modern sleek buildings in many cities,” observes Naomi. And as Jenny put it, as we sat at a cafe after a trip to the Musée d’Orsay, you won’t find Roman ruins in the Rockies.
