We planned our trip too early. Europe won’t be ready for at least another four years. Almost every time we leave a train station into a new city our first sight is still under construction, especially Berlin.
Despite what you might think, the British rail network isn’t the problem. It’s rail that’s the problem. You’d think after several hundreds of years we might have a decent train line somewhere in Europe. Delays, engineering works, and stopping for no real reason in the middle of nowhere have been some of the problems we have encountered. That said, the Europeans do trains much better than they do them in Britain, especially if you’re tall like David. If you really want to experience bad rail, get on a train in Belgrade going anywhere.
Most other Europeans seem to be in much better shape than the Brits. I’ve put this down to the fact that they have a significantly better infastructure for cycling in the north-west. Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Sweden and Finland all have extensive cycle lanes and networks, and in the Netherlands bikes have right of way over all other traffic. Maybe the problem in Britain is that we see cycling as a leisure activity, rather than a usable mode of transport.
In Britain we put up with a lot of low quality products. The lager we drink so heavily is perhaps the worst on the continent, but this may also come down to the fact that it is one of the cheapest. We also seem to have given up on the independent retailer, who seem to produce better quality, more enjoyable, and obviously much cooler products.
If your first language is English, chances are it’s your only language. It is incredibly humbling listen to the Europeans who deal with the general public in capital cities switching from their native language, to English, or Spanish, or German with no real problem at all. This makes anybody with a conscience feel incredibly ignorant.
Chav-culture doesn’t appear to exist, certainly not in Western Europe anyway. I’m yet to find a real explanation for this, but as of yet it is one of life’s greater mysteries.
The difference between British hipsters and European hipsters seems to be music. In Britain, a hipster will likely be in a band, have tattoo sleeves, tunnels in their ears, and listen to bands that don’t even exist yet. On the continent however, a hipster will dress incredibly well, maintain perfect hair and ride a Vespa and listen to awful music. It would seem that in Britain, listening to good music is cool, where as the Europeans perfer to know where to buy a good shirt.
Eastern Europe is still cheap, even Prague. There were some rumours that prices had gone up but if you stay out of the centre and check out some of the other districts, you can still find a beer for around 90p. When you’ve been used to paying £5 or £6 for a less than a pint pint in Scandinavia, this is even more of a bargain.
Novelty sized dogs are all the rage, they’re everywhere; under arms, in bags, desperately trying to keep up with owners on pavements. Except in Serbia where you’ll find people walking dogs the size of bears.
Soft drinks also come at a novelty size and are often more expensive than a beer. It would be stupid and costly not to have a beer. In the U.S. on the other hand, the standard size for a soft drink is in a pint glass.
Americans are not stupid. In fact, almost all of the natives I have encountered have given me the impression that they are actually better educated than a lot of people I’ve met in the U.K. I’m also led to believe that the school systems in the U.S.A. and Canada are a little more intense than what I was brought through and this is definitely a good thing.
Small dogs are still in fashion, in North America as much as they were in Europe, much to my disgust. The real problem though is that I am beginning to find them more and more endearing. That said; never carry a dog in a bag and never put clothes on a dog, and never ever throw a birthday party for a dog.
The infrastructure for backpacking in North America is in it’s infancy, one of the hostels I stayed at has been open for less than a year. I sense that the industry is growing, I’ve ran into a surprising number of people who are here to do the same thing that I am and more. People want to see the cities of the U.S.A. and they want to see the wilderness of Canada. The demand is there and the services will follow not long after.
