So after a 15 year hiatus, I returned to Europe. My first time around I went to Germany and France. This time I visited Spain and France.
A few observations:
(1) Paris is absolutely beautiful. Even the airport is a sight to behold. Whatever your opinions might be of the French, Paris is still at the top of the list in terms of places you should visit at least once. From what I experienced, Spain is an abject dump. The only redeeming aspect of my time in Spain was visiting numerous historical sites (Palaces, castles, cathedrals etc.). In all fairness, I didn’t go to Ibiza or Barcelona- which I have heard from several people are both very nice places to visit.
(2) The women in France were pretty damn hot. A lot hotter than I anticipated. The women in Spain were gross-- which was a huge shock.
(3) Thank god I live in the United States.
Without turning this into a political debate, it is very obvious why the EU is an economic disaster.
In countries where part time waitresses get social security, healthcare and most people fortunate enough to have jobs work for the government and retire with pensions at age 50, it’s no wonder that unemployment is extremely high and everything is astronomically expensive. Everything is overpriced; especially transportation, alcohol and food. Five Euro's to get on the train at the airport in Madrid and travel a few stops. Here in NYC we bitch about the MTA raising the price to a paltry $2.50. Taking a moldy, cramped, bus from Madrid to a neighboring town is 10 Euro's. A bottle of decent gin which would go for 15 bucks in the US ( it was the only brand in the entire store in Spain) was an unconscionable 22 Euros. Going out to dinner with family at a neighborhood Pizzeria outside of Paris was an astonishing 50 Euros for four people with no appetizers or booze.
You can also depend on shortages of all the basic utilities that we take for granted; Water, gas, electricity etc. I think its all bullshit, but expect to be reminded about the “crisis” constantly.
Finally, if you need to buy something in Spain don’t bank on finding anything that’s open roughly between the hours of 2:30-4:30pm for siesta. Evidently, everyone eats at home and takes a nap before returning to finish up the drudgery of a 6 hour work day. Customer service must be an American invention because nobody in Europe knows the answer to your question, cares about what you’re asking or feels like being bothered because there is no incentive to doing a good job. Nobody tips, the labor laws make it almost impossible to fire anyone and people have no ambition to make something more of themselves.
There are portions alongside the highway in France that stretch for miles where people live in makeshift shelters made out of cardboard boxes and garbage. I noticed a few small stretches of the same thing in Spain, but what I saw in France was nothing short of sickening. There are beggars everywhere—in front of atms, apartment buildings, grocery stores, restaurants, tourist attractions and on public transportation to name a few places. Living in NYC I am no stranger to witnessing bums ask for spare change—but such encounters happen almost exclusively on the subway.
Biggest eye opener about Paris: To generate income for its massive welfare state, the French government has installed numerous cameras equipped with radar detectors (about 3000 of them actually) on the highway to monitor speeding. If you go above the speed limit, expect to receive a notice with a hefty fine in the mail. Many people have already figured out a way to beat the system by using apps on their phone or by installing radar detectors in their cars to warn them about upcoming speeding traps. Also, pictures of rotting teeth on every pack of cigarettes to deter people from smoking.
Biggest eye openers about Spain: If you go to the grocery store, keep some extra money in your pocket to pay for plastic bags. To avoid paying, people bring book bags, duffle bags or just carry food out in their bare hands. If you go to McDonalds, don’t expect free napkins. Also, if you go to a restaurant and the waiter puts bread on your table, don’t assume it’s free. Every restaurant I went to in Spain with one exception charged extra for bread. Oh yeah, and condom vending machines all over the place.
Eye Opener about both places: Customs is a complete joke.
Beyond the aforementioned, it should be emphasized that Americans are routinely lied to about Europe. Throughout my lifetime I have heard from various wizards of smart about how Europe is so cultured, educated and somehow more advanced than America. Another outrageously blatant lie I’ve heard over the years is about how “healthy” Europeans are.
Here is reality: As a whole, Europeans have not evolved very much from medieval times. Personal hygiene is strictly optional, nobody covers their mouth when they sneeze or cough, there is no concept of personal space or common decency and virtually no one is friendly. The people are extremely rude and (what a shock) either only speak their own language or pretend to only speak their own language as it suits them. It comes as no shock that historical treasures such as Communism and the bubonic plague are directly traced back to Europe.
A family friend is a retired Spanish Military officer. I went to visit him while I was traveling from Madrid. He has a wife and four children. All of his children are 25+ (the oldest is 34) and still live at home. His daughters both finished college and are unmarried and unemployed. His sons were both “Public Relations” majors. One is unemployed and the other works part time as a Business teacher at a local college (lol that is not a typo). The living situation was an eerie reminder of the current transformation American families are experiencing (only with two parents). Fundamentally transforming America into Spain?
In terms of being healthy, allow me to illuminate some unfortunate realities about Spain. The Spanish diet consists almost exclusively of fatty pork and bread. The only reason everyone isn’t 700 pounds is because people literally don’t have enough money to eat themselves into obesity. Every single person I came in contact with smoked like a chimney. I traveled through Madrid 100 miles southwest and back on three separate occasions. I saw a total of one gym and it was in Madrid itself.
I could continue for several more pages—but the bottom line is; don’t believe what people tell you. Go see the world for yourself. And God Bless America—Home of free napkins, plastic bags, big cars, big houses, 24 hour stores, tips, cheap booze and deodorant.
All of you American leftist turds who knock the United States and tout nonsense like nationalized healthcare and other failed European social experiments have no fucking clue what you are talking about and should kiss the ground you walk on.
