August 15, 2024
Welp, I’m back from Greece and Italy. While it was nice to get away from normal life for a bit, 10 days is about my limit when it comes to tapping out and getting back to the comfort of your own home. That said, I did learn some things about European life.
First, everything is cheaper. I get that the euro is a little more valuable than the dollar right now, but it still wasn’t the same. Delicious Italian pizzas with any topping you can imagine were $8-10 EU. Most pastas were $10-15. Red Bulls were $2. Gyros in Greece were $3.50! I feel like those things at any decent restaurant in the U.S. is at least $5-10 more. The only downside: they charge you $2-4 for large bottles of water at dinner. That’s a lot to pay for God’s water.
Second, driving as a whole is nuts. Scooters bob and weave and pass anyone and everyone at any time. It’s almost as if the laws don’t apply to them. Then again, maybe there are no laws. Cars wedge and merge themselves in at every intersection, inches away from hitting one other. They fly down 12-foot-wide roads, barely missing pedestrians — who don’t seem to mind. Traffic lights were sparse. I feel like once they turn 18, people are just given their licenses and told to “figure it out.” And I guess they have, as I didn’t witness or see the remnants of a single accident. As for me, I wouldn’t have made it a day without hitting someone or something. Guaranteed.
Lastly, the lifestyle (other than driving) is laid back compared to ours. The streets, shops and restaurants shut down between 3 and 7 p.m. for locals to go home and do whatever it is they do. Waiters rarely check on you (sometimes annoying) as they assume you’re going to take at least 90 minutes eating your four-course meal. Everyone minded their own business. It was an experience I will never forget.
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Shawn McFarland |