There is a lot of secret restaurant language. You open your menu to chose, and when you are done you close the menu. This closing of the menu signals the waiter. Same with the position of your fork and knife on an empty-ish plate, cross them means you are still busy, put them side by side means you are done. And they never ever bring the check unasked. There's the dessert, the coffee, the cheese plate, the brandy, the whatever you feel like (no more cigar tho) to be enjoyed first. Rushing that is a CRIME against humanity. Prices on the menu must be all included, extra's like service, tip, VAT etc. are verboten!
"Same with the position of your fork and knife on an empty-ish plate, cross them means you are still busy, put them side by side means you are done." Or put your knife and fork on the plate at 25 past five position. That also means you're done.
Crosing of the cutlery on a plate means that you weren't happy with the meal. If you're not done (when you go to the toilet for example) you rest the fork and knife on the plate, the fork on the left and the knife on the right with their handles on a table (for right-handed people). When you finish you position the fork and knife together on a plate with their points toward the middle of the plate and the handles to the edge of the plate. This is all very basic (however etiquette can be quite different around the world).
In the UK if a waiter came to them the way they do in the USA, they'd leave... If a stranger spoke or acted the way Americans do, they'd be checking their pockets and avoiding them as much as possible. American positivity, confidence and forthrightness is considered "forced" or "faked" and as a consequence those doing it are untrustworthy and 0otemrially a conman...
I agree. I like to go out and enjoy my meal in a restaurant. Not be interrupted mid bite or mid conversation every 5 minutes to ask if everything’s ok and if we need anything. And when a complete random stranger stops you in the middle of the street. To compliment you and ask a bunch of questions while having an over the top smile. I would expect they were trying to sell something to me or con me in some way. It’s a way for them to try and quickly gain someone’s trust by being flattering and over friendly. But in reality it makes most people suspicious.
There’s a German word for going on a walk after eating: 'Verdauungsspaziergang' = 'Digestive Walk'. Walking improves the digestive process, that’s why you feel better when you go for a walk after eating instead of sitting down which makes you tired and you need a nap. We have a word for that as well (of course) 'Verdauungsschlaf' = 'digestive sleep'
I can attest to how good walking is. I'd normally do that every place I studied or worked at until my 30s because the eating place was always at some (short) distance. Then my office moved to a place with no food options nearby, and I began to order food. Then I noticed that in the afternoons, I often felt drowsy and/or had constipation. At least the food, which was brought warm, was good, but when they switched to pre-cooled food that tasted like nothing when warmed up, I had enough, and got permission to take a train three stations away where there were multiple restaurants (10 min train ride + 10 min walk). Thanks to all the walk to/from the stations, all the bad symptoms went away.
Finally a You Tuber who has understood that the experience is more important than the camera! 👏 I am very glad that you were able to make such good experiences, although Europe also has its downsides and not every European is automatically a good person. 👋 cu soon
@@Ezekiel903 As an european i'm totally fine with it. I have urge to buy alcohol more often than urge to buy firearm ;) But whatever, you need to be prepared - 10:00-22:00 only for alcohol here (in stores).
Eating out in Europe is about spending time with friends or family. It is a social gathering. We are there to talk with the rest at the table. So having a waiter and ask "How You doin'?" all the time will take away from that. As it is a social thing, talking after dinner is normal. Having another glass of wine (or a few) is nothing special. If you are in a nice discussion, why break that conversation? And drinks are often a higher profit margin than food. Drive ins do exist, but mostly it will be to pick up the food and eat home. But if you are there already, why not get out and eat there? Again: social. Or people take their food home. Yes, people smoke more compared to the US. Toilets in Europe are made to save water. The reason the water is still there is so it keeps away the stench. Water usage is about half, as far as I understand. There will be a brush that you can use standing next to it, if needed. To save water there is also often a smaller and a bigger button for No1 and No2. Or like at my home a short push will release a short bit of water, enough for No1. All yo you need to do is replace the bit of water in the toilet. More on e.g. th-cam.com/video/VKre9_wM3Mo/w-d-xo.html Something you could also react to.
@@royvankan2723 But in Holland waiters in a restaurant insist on asking how the meal is when you're about halfway through. Guess one Dutch person must have picked that up while in the usa and as we know, the Dutch will do anything to resemble the Americans. We like to call them the 51st state of the us.
I once was in Mexico and the toilets in the ressort I stayed were advertised with a sticker as "American standard". You were reminded not to waiste things like drinking straws, but when you flushed the toilets (and you couldn´t control the amount of water required) a real tsunami poured out. American standard!
I'm Irish, and I've been to the US several times. I remember the first time I needed to use the restroom in the US. I was 14. I went in and was immediately a little freaked out by the complete lack of privacy in the cubicles. So much so, that I was reluctant to go use them. But nature was calling. I took off a jacket I was wearing and lay it over my lap. Couldn’t get out of there quickly enough. Having a meal in a restaurant in Europe is regarded as a relaxed social occasion. It is never a rushed experience. You enjoy your meal, a few glasses of wine, and a good conversation. If a restaurant was to do that, they would close their restaurant in no time at all due to lack of customers. I love how you are informing yourself, Heidi, educating yourself about the world outside the US. Some of your observations and your questions to us suggests that you have some way to go, which is absolutely fine. Enjoy the journey🙂🙂🙂
@patriciamillin1977 Thought about that but couldn't. But being able to lay my jacket over my lap gave me some privacy. It is really disconcerting, makes you feel really exposed, and vulnerable, even in a ladies' restroom. I like wearing long, stylish scarves, so I started to always carry them with me, in a bag, whatever the weather each time I went back to the US. Good to drape down and cover the gaps.
@@ItsmeeSaoirse That's a brilliant idea! I don't think I'll be going back to the US, I'm retired and don't have the money for travels like that anymore, but if by chance I do get to go back, I'll remember to take scarves with me (which btw I also like to wear).
As a European, the US dining experience sours the meal, false smiles, false attitude, stress stress stress, If I'm out to dinner, I expect to be able to sit, eat, socialise and talk for at least, 2½ if not 3 hours, easy. When I was in the US, servers started giving us the stinkeye at 60 minutes, by 90 minutes it was starting to feel actively hostile. Why would I ever go back to a place that makes me feel unwelcome?
and fake foods.... have you seen any of the american Hells Kitchen shows with Gordon Ramsay... thats plain disgusting.... and yes.. it is in Europe aswell....
I agree...I kinda felt pressured to eat or get out now. And the forced tips...to me makes me feel the restaurants is actually very expensive. All fake.
It's because they care about making as much money as possible. If they let people sit in the restaurant for 2+ hours, they may only seat 120 people. However if they try to get people to eat faster and leave earlier (around 1 hour) then they can seat maybe 200-250 people and make even more money. Everything is geared towards making as much money as you can here in the US instead of enjoying your meal and time with friends/family.
@@erics607 Ohh we know that... Thats the american way.... Over here its about giving people a nice, quiet and relaxed time and if it takes 15 minutes extra because someone wanted a second coffee, no worries, we got all the time in the world....
Of course the service in restaurants is more relaxed. Here (Italy), people go out to relax, chat and spend the evening socializing in front of a table with good food and drink. Here you "rent" the table and can sit as long as you like. The service is therefore appropriate to the context. No one attacks you immediately to find out what you want to order, but you are given time to settle in and then there are various dishes to be consumed. Three worst case scenarios and all flat shifting. Tipping is only something you can decide to leave, but it's not mandatory at all because waiters are paid for their work, not forced to beg for survival. I'm sorry, but unfortunately in the USA there is no culture and respect for food and related conviviality.
You can get "the look" from waiters in Europe too, I've experienced it in France and Sweden. But it was at busy hours and they were loosing customers if you hogged the table for an hour extra. So it depends on how busy they are, mostly they're not 100% at capacity. I've also experienced in Denmark getting notice when we called and reserved the table in advance that we had it between 18-20. I think that's a good idea if the food isn't delayed. Then you know.
Quite often used to drive traffic out of the city centres that would otherwise be driving in to visit the take-away. Usually close to the arterial routes but away from pedestrians.
I'm British. I lived in Germany, the US, then Switzerland for most of my life; I now live in Thailand. Living in Denver and visiting shops and more-so restaurants was infuriating! 'Hi, how are you today?' Today? I never saw you before. At the restaurants impossible to have a nice meal quietly chatting with friends; and then the tip!! Tip 10‰ and get an aggressive stare! In Europe the amount on the bill is rounded up. If the service was very good 10-20%, in Asia no tip is expected, in fact if you leave money on the table, they will run after you 'Hey, you forgot your change!'
I was just wondering whether one could in the U.S. ask the waitstaff at the beginning to not bother you during your stay (while maybe promising to tip 25%)? Sure, their boss might think the staff is being inattentive but if the waitstaff tell them this request they should be ok with that,
I iive in Europe, specifically Portugal, I have never tipped in my life, and it was never expected of me to do so. If I don't tip cashiers, why would I tip waiters? One job is not more deserving of tips than the other. It's a weird concept and unfair to other low paying jobs. However, many tourists like to tip, and it's really annoying to start seeing those tip options on the payment machines in the touristy areas, that force you to specify that you do NOT want to leave a tip.
In the UK. My local artisan bakery started putting those tipping options on their point of sale machines a couple of years ago. Suggested tips of up to 20%, for simply handing over a loaf of bread, cake or pastry. I was so annoyed by it, I've not been back to the bakery since. It's not good for customers or staff, where it quickly turns into a reason not to pay them a living wage.
We (Hungary) have that in bars where I think there it's okay, and my impression is that it's mostly because you can't really hand over extra cash (we use the "round up" system for tips here) when you pay with card.
Walmart tried that "greeter at the entrance" thing in Germany. But a person madly smiling descending on you, doing VERY much that bombardign thing, weirded people out.
Well some higher priced stores do have that person at the entrance in Germany sometimes, not often though. If done right people could ask where some specific items are in the store and feel happy being welcomed, similar like in a good hotel. I think the suptle difference is how such a person approaches people, in the US they will approach people actively, in Germany (all of Europe?) they just greet you and be open for questions. In Germany, this approaching would often thought of as "oh, they want to talk me into buying more"
@@Delibro i have never seen a greeter in my entire life as a native german of 29 years of age and ive been to all of the supermarket chains are you talking about the information clerks in some bigger supermarkets? i dont think their function is comparable to greeters at all of course if i make eye contact i do greet but still
I live in the UK. The last time I went to an expensive, very busy restaurant in Central London, we had to book a table in advance. But despite the queues outside of people who hadn't booked but were hoping to get in anyway, once we were at our table and had placed our order, the staff left us alone unless we called them over (usually for more drinks) and didn't try to hustle us out. We were there for over 3 hours, leaving just before they closed.
As a german it`s wonderful to watch your videos about Europe and Germany. The cultural exchange is so interesting and sometimes very funny. Last year in June i made a road trip through Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico and i fell in love with land and people :-)
@@HailHeidi German toilets are the worst. They have a little shelf, where everything just ...sits... until you're ready to flush, at which point it gets tipped into the water. I commented on this to a German and he seemed astonished by my attitude..."but...don't you want to look at it?" "No!.... weirdo!" Also, the phrase you were looking for regarding leaving marks is "skid the pan".
@@Murdo2112 The Dutch had the same for decades but they're not becoming rare. Germans and Dutch eat a lot of raw meat, which brings the risk of a worm infection. You can easily find out if this is the case if you can see your poo, hence the toilet. Your poo also tells you a lot about your health, so being able to look at it, can help out in that department. It what comes out of your has become social taboo, so you get the reaction you had, but having grown up with toilets, it is quite normal.
Denmark here! We do have some drive-throughs here, but it’s mainly outside of the city center - and it’s not that common. It’s only McDonalds and Burger King that offer drive-through (I think). So glad to hear that you had a good trip to Europe.
Toilets are always fun to talk about :) Anyhow, in the US the water used for flushing is in the actual bowl. In Europe the water is kept in a separate cistern and released on flushing = more pressure, less...hmm...clogging 😁 Oh, and you avoid dipping various parts into...you know.
I've always wondered about that. How do American men avoid getting their penis wet when sitting down on the toilet? (Btw, we use the English acronym WC but it seems no native English speaker ever uses it)
That was something I wondered about when I was in the US that the toilets there didn't really "flush" the way I understand the term, they sort of SUCKED down everything. In a European toilet, the water sort of literally flushes down from the top edge when you flush the toilet, but an American toilet was more like a whirlpool that just sucked everything into it.
that type of toilet flush mechanism was invented in Australia, and saves up to a whole gallon (63%) of water, and as you noticed is quite common in Europe now also.
There are also drive-thru restaurants in Europe. But these are actually only American fast food - McD, KFC, Pizza Hut ... So something that offers pseudo food ... 🤭 Europeans are not in the habit of eating in the car. Something like this can happen on a few hours' highway driving on holiday, but not on a normal day.
I went to a restaurant in Canada with my now wife (she's Canadian) and her family about 7 years ago and it was a buffet thing. Kinda nice. I'm British btw. We walked in, was shown the large table the family booked (there was about 15 of us), and we then walked to the buffet area and served ourselves. Never saw or needed any waiter/waitress or any empoyee for the few hours we were there. When it came to pay the bill (for my now wife and myself), it came to $85.20, I noticed there was a 30% gratuity added. This was apparently manditory - it said on the bill. I questioned this at the counter - what was I actually paying for and what did they do to deserve this? I was told it's the restaurant rule and it's on all bills for every customer, even though ALL customers get food and drinks from the buffet. The staff litterally do nothing once we are taken to our table. I said no way, I'm not paying a gratuity for something that they don't deserve and for a 'service' they couldn't even describe. I asked to speak to the manager and was told no, she's unavailable, and I had to pay or they would call the cops. So, I deducted 30% from the bill and then paid them in cash, $59.64, to the cent, wished them a nice evening and informed the woman (who was shouting at me saying I can't leave!), and told her I'd never return. I have never been back and no poilice chased me up.
Someone might have noted this already. But I feel that the trend in Scandinavia seem to be to move away from toilet stalls altogether. Most places I shop at have actual rooms for each toilet. They’re still in that characteristic row like the stalls, just actual rooms with real doors. Usually still with the common wash area outside the toilet rooms to avoid unnecessary line buildup.
About drive throughs: I am Czech, I am 41 and I have never been to one yet nor do I plan to. I know they exist here. Off the top of my head I can remember just one, next to a large shopping center at the edge of a city. I vaguely remember seeing them along highways, coupled to gas stations, motorests etc. Personally I think a drive-through for food is a stupid idea. Average ocupancy of a car is around 1.2 people. So most customers will be drivers. Then you have a bunch of people behind steering wheels driving badly and eating badly. When driving your attention should be on driving. When eating you should have a healthy food at a table from a ceramic plate you can wash afterwards, not some hopefully non-carcinogenic plastic that goes to a landfill. There has to be a better way to find the time in your day to eat something than coupling it with driving. Drive through for some shops makes sense to me. Just last week I have been to several such places for building supplies. It is nice to load bags of cement mix right into your car and pay on your way out rather than having ot haul them across the parking lot in a huge shopping cart an then lift them a second time to your car. For such things drive through makes perfect sense to me. For food it does not.
I’m 37 also from Czechia and there are hundreds of drive thrus here both in city centers or outside cities (highways) and by the shopping malls. I go to some pretty much every week when driving with kids when I want coffee or soda, sometimes a quick snack. It’s so much simplet than getting kids out of the car and going for the coffee, than waiting, going back and securing them in their seats again. It saves both time and nerves 😂
Sweden here regarding the alcohol thing. We too have a state-operated chain that sell alcohol and it closes early on Saturday and closed on Sunday, but yeah, it's not unheard of to be served wine at smaller restaurants.
Almost every swedish guy I met in Germany was completely drunk. I guess they take the chance, when alscohol ist not so expensive and opressed like in Sweden.
In czechia, they will usually tell you the price before printing the receipt and you can say bigger number which basically includes the tip. Example your order is 270CZK(12.22$) and you say 320CZK(14.49$), but nobody expects you to do so. Most people leave 10-20% tips in this way anyway and the people who dont are not looked up upon as rude, but maybe they just have difficult financial situation.
I’m also from Czechia and I only see people tip 20% is they’re really heavily drunk 😂 Otherwise I’d say 10% is normal amongst younger people. Elders typicaly don’t tip much as tipping wasn’t really a thing back when they were younger…
20% tip in Czechia? More like up to 10% or more likely just round up. When prices of energy are going down but restaurant keep increasing price by a few CZK nearly every month I tip less and less.
12:40 US toilets use A LOT more water than European ones. A standard toilet in the US uses up about 7 gallons (= 26.5 liters) every time. European toilets use about 9 liters (= 2.4 gallons). Using so much water has no benefit btw, it's just a waste of a valuable ressource (water). The amount of ressources that are wasted for nothing in the USA in general (water, energy, materials...) is ridiculous.
I'm Swedish and yes, we have drive throughs. It's mostly hamburger places that have them. We also have places where you order and pay online and then get a message on your phone when your food is ready. Then you just go there and get it. Some places also drive the food to your home, not only pizza restaurants do that, I think. Some grocery stores also offer that. You order and pay online and a bit later someone shows up at your door with your groceries. It comes with a cost, of course. Last time I did that it was about $5.
Here in Hungary it is pretty much the same. Though grocery and food ordering is pretty general in most countries, I would think. The same with the ordering and paying online, and just going there for the pickup. I mean, there are apps here (and I presume in a lot of countries) where you can sort the restaurants with these in mind. (If you want it delivered or pickup, what you want to pay with, etc.)
Yes, we do have drive thru,s. I am from Czech republic, but I know for sure, they are in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and other countries. But, if you expect drive thrus for like "normal restaurants", then no, we do not have that. But if you are talking about fast-food, especially McDonalds, KFC, Burger King and others, then yes, that's quiet common. But it really depends on the country, I can imagine, that in Denmark it is not that common and also if you were in Italy in Venice and Padova, probably in those places weren't drive thrus,too. :) 💕
One aspect with restaurants in post-Covid Germany is, that the well-trained waiters all changed their job during the pandemic, when restaurants had to close. It‘s very hard nowadays for restaurants finding experienced staff.
Same in Spain. And even though there is high unemplyment, young people don't want to be waiters because inflation means that it won't be a liveable wage and have terrible hours. So young people just work for a few months and then quit. The constantly rotating staff and less enthusiasm means that quality of service has gone way down, if they can even find staff
Just pay better your waiters and waitress, is a tough job that cancel your private life, its hard, and often the clients are jerks. If you have trouble hiring, clearly something is off with your job offer, increese the quality of the offer and you'll find 😌
Same here in Belgium. In my town on the Belgian coast I know of restaurants that had to close for a bit during summer, during the busiest time of the year, because they couldn't find enough staff to hire.
Yeah, same here. Restaurants and cafes etc here tend to have fairly low wages, not terrible, but for the amount of work, the late hours, always working on weekends etc, I think it's fairly low. So the good waiters, who know their stuff, are rarer and rarer. Which makes total sense. Why would someone stay in a job if it's got bad hours and low pay. After all the lockdowns lots of cafes etc were complaining about staff that left, but they can't seriously expect people to wait for a lockdown to be over and not find another job? I used to go to a cafe that became more noteworthy over the years because their employees were actual trained waiters, they weren't teens working for 2 years and then moving on, they were adults, who could all balance giant trays, they all remembered everyone's order, there was no need for notepads or tablets, they also knew when to ask for the next order, I'm sure they had learned that over the years, but they always came at the exact right time, they could always give information on the many many special beers and wines they had on offer, or the weekly/monthly special or something. I guess the cafe was more formal as well, the waiters always wore a shirt and bow tie. It still exists, but it's practically a rarity now. I don't mind it if a cafe doesn't do all those things, but then the cafe owner can't piss and moan that there aren't enough experienced waiters, while paying them low wages. Either you get well paid, well trained staff, who stay for a long time, or you get low paid, inexperienced staff who leave after a year. You can't expect people to stay and be loyal to an employer who won't pay them enough.
yes something that I really hate when traveling to the US (and Canada)...you never get the price of what you are buying until you get to the cash point where they add the taxes.....can't they do that before and show the final prices already on the shelves...?? And about the restaurant experience, yes I sometimes find the waiters/waitresses to be over friendly and almost intrusive....like we have been friends for ages ...
Amen to all - I find it annoying that not only can you never know exactly how much you will pay, but you can't prepare exact change in advance for that reason in the US. Same feeling about the restaurants - last time I was in NYC the host asked me where I wanted to seat and then said "good choice!" and gave me a thumbs-up... I thought that was a bit much :D
I think that the reason they don't put the final prices on the shelves is because the tax rate changes often. I am Northern English and am thankful that the final price is always displayed on the shelves.
@@mgparis The idea with the tax added later is to show you how much the government is robbing you. A sobering experience we could very well have in Europe.
For the tax not included in the price, I have seen a video from an American YT trying to explain this. Not an official reason but it kind of makes sense in a way. Unlike in Europe where we have defined taxes for products wherever you are in the country, it is not the case in the US as they vary State to State and even sometimes Town to Town (in same state). For example lets take a chain fast food restaurant. They sell a burger for 2$ without taxes. In town A after taxes the burger will be 2.35$ while in town B it will be 2.45$. It's easier for the fast food restaurant to promote that their burger is 2$ everywhere...
Just glad you enjoyed your trip. Happy to have you guys over again. From all I hear about the US it's not a nice place to go - except for some landscapes. I don't wanna get stressed when on vacation or even dining out. Leave me alone and let me (hopefully) enjoy the meal/drinks.
Toilet water-levels: when this has been discussed in forums by Americans who have moved to Europe, they have said that there are many fewer toilet-blockages in Europe.I ( European ) have never had a blocked toilet in 50 years.
Had a spate of them until the cause was identified and expensively rectified, subsidence causing the concrete encased plastic 5 inch sewer pipe to crack and catch anything flushed. Wasn't helped by the house being on the side of a valley and only 18 inches of soil over the bedrock, the house having slipped half an inch down it in the 50 years since being built. Also caused two chimneys to need rebuilding.
The waiter service in Europe and Uk tends to be a lot more relaxed because they are not on a schedule to get you in, fed and out having pid a handsome tip. I have lived in the US for a very short while and really could not get used to the being greeted at the entrance shown to a table and then set upon to order. Also the bill arriving while I am still eating. My wife is American and loves living in UK because, for the most part, cafes, restaurants and pubs are not pushing you out for the next sitting.
1. So glad that an American recognizes the forcedness of kindness form US waiters :) It was always strange for me. 1b. However getting free water is something I liked a lot over there and I miss in Europe 2. Yes, we have drive-through for US burger chains :) Probably part of the experience. I am not excited about them though, I don't want a mess in the car. 3. Smoking is indeed a problem, that is another positive in the US. I was invited there for Thanksgiving, 20ish people, zero, or maybe one smoker. In Europe, it is more like 1 in 4, plus the "oh, I only do it at parties" person :D
Funfact: Drive Throughs are Drive Ins in Germany. Not only because it's shorter, but also when you take a word like through, not everyone will be able to pronounce it, making in way more attractive. And what some others also said, they are usually at the outskirts and more something you see at big chains like McDonalds, Burger King or KFC. One McDonalds in Hamburg even has, as far as I know, the only float through service where you can dock at a small walkway on the shore of a branch of the Elbe river, order via app and have it delivered down to you (Tom Scott made a video about it a while ago). In a city you might see a window for ordering something to go though
I am from South Africa, and our public toilets generally have stalls that provide near 100% privacy (sometimes you can see someone's feet). It took watching US content creators to finally understand why it seems to matter so much who uses which bathroom in the USA.
Your comment about servers reminded me of a visit to a beer garden in Munich where I wanted to order a small beer (1/2 liter). The response of the waitress was: " just wait until you're thirsty enough for a lage one ( 1 liter)".😂
Here in Italy we say (in pubs and breweries) "the small (0.2l) beer is immoral" :D We normally go for the 0.4l (I still don't get why we moved away from the 0.5l and get to pay the same...), rarely for the 1l because we like to enjoy conversation and drink slowly and the 1l gets warm by the time it's 2/3 gone...
Large beer in de is really 1l? It's "special" one here in cz. If we ask for a beer . We get 0.5 .. if we want small. We just say small beer. 0.3 .. one litre is too much. I will be warm. ..
I think we are talking on different things when going to restaurants. In Europe, we go to a restaurant primarily to have a good time, to chat with friends, or maybe also just relaxe alone. If your primary concern is hunger, you rather don't go to a restaurant but eat at home, at work or eat a Currywurst in the city etc. :)
I totally agree that you'll enjoy your vacation a lot more without taking pictures and recording videos all the time. I did that a lot a couple of years ago but when I quit everything was so much more enjoyable. Now I only take a picture here and there for memory and I may record a short video here and there where I really find a good reason to do so.
Its sad i know this but..... Most European countries use "wash down toilets" that use the force of water rushing into the bowl to flush and as such usually have multiple flush types. The US tends to use "siphon toilets" that use the suction of the water going over an "S trap" to flush via the siphon effect.
@10:00 Oh my, you're lucky that the liquor stor is open until 10pm! In Norway the state owned Vinmonopolet is open 10am to 5pm Mo-Wed, until 6pm on Thu-Fri and 4pm on Saturdays. Outside this you can get alcohol in grocery stores up to 4.7%, but they usually close the alcohol sale at 8pm.
We do, it's just not as big a thing as in the US. Apart from ordering fast food at lunch or the evening for your entire family it's not really used. I've never seen anyone go to a drive-thru for coffee in the morning or even breakfast at all. Fast food places with drive-thrus are also always on the edge of the city as to not impact traffic.
;) about the alcohol / drinking culture - I am living in the small town of Bistrita (ROMÂNIA), South East Europe - in my city (as on every other city) - you can buy every kind of alcohol 24/7. The first non-stop shop is at about 200m from my home. For my American friends (from my Steam gamer group Cassandra.Confluvium ) I had to send them videos made in time I'm talking to them (in order to be credible).. It's funny. Btw, you should try Romania for the scenery / food / museums / castles.
I have noticed the further South I go in Europe, the more people smoke usually. In Finland and other Nordic countries it is mostly a dying habit compared to Germany and Italy for example.
But in the more Nordic countries snus is also way more common. If I'm not mistaken I think I read an article a few years ago that compared the two and the use of tobacco is similar, it's just the way of taking it in that differs. But yes, smoking is more prevalent here.
In Belgium smoking has been banned about everywhere where large crowds gather. From public buildings to workspaces. Instead you'll find small designated spaces outside for smokers.
@@bastiwen there is actually a quite a big snus smuggling business going on between Sweden and Finland, because in Sweden snus is allowed, but in Finland it is illegal. 😁
Most American fast-food chains in Germany have drive-throughs outside the city centers. In my countryside, there are also drive-throughs in the smaller towns. For some time now, more and more bakeries have also been offering drive-throughs. Without thinking twice, I can name 6 bakeries here in Münsterland that have a drive-through counter.
The service staff are paid halfway decently and don't have to put on a show for the tip. A visit to a restaurant should relax the guests, they should enjoy the food and the ambience. Stress is not helpful. Nevertheless: Who was satisfied with the service, the food and everything, may give gladly tip and does it as a rule also. There are definitely drive-thru "restaurants" that are predominantly operated by the well-known burger chains. Less pronounced here in Europe than in the U.S., so there is less need for drive-ins.
Service staff is payed the same as the rest of employees in a restaurant. If they are not, then they they are not schooled waiters. (This is common practise in most Western Europe.
You definitely made the best choice, first of all you had to enjoy your travel experience, especially in new places without thinking all the time about making videos. The experiences you lived were for sure much more "real" without the camera! And we will wait for your stories even without footage! 😀
Hi Heidi🙂 I'm happy you liked us in Europe even without the tip Culture 😁Personally I would go crazy 🤪over the tip Culture in America😄I'm from Sweden and we never tip,because the employee is very well paid 💵😊 See you soon 😘
Very good observations, I always find the waiters in the US extremely annoying, you cannot just sit there and enjoy your food, and they more or less expect you to leave immediately after you finished your meal. To me this tells a deeper story, in the US everything is centered on earning money and spending money. There is little room for social interaction, and that is why I think you experience a more relaxed Europe. Here, it is very normal to go to a restaurant, eat a small meal and stay for two hours, talking, reading, drinking a coffee and so on. And though, we import a lot of things and habits from the US (like drive-through, but this is very limited to US chains), I hope that not everything changes. Just to add one thing, waiters here can be also annoying, because sometimes they just ignore you. In some countries this is nearly a tradition 😉
Thanks for your reaction. Just a little thing about water level in toilets. I can't say for ALL countries, but I remember that when I was in France, each appartment unit had a meter for water, so the had to pay a monthly water bill, so that may explain it. I stayed in an appartment with friends, and the roomate was always rushing me for the shower & kitchen, because I raised the water bill & he didn't like it. I'm happy that you finally made it, and glad to watch your experience in Europe ( I was the one who suggested you to record your own experience once back home). Very interesting & I'll wait for your other videos, especially the one about France (it was my first destination in Europe & I'm curious to see what changed in 25 years)--I was there in 1997, before cell phones, internet & Euros (yess, had to change currency for each country I visited & did everything the old fashion way: paper maps & asking people for directions). Have a nice day, Heidi.
Tipping is usually for really good/exceptional service/experience. Tipping just for the sake of tipping is not very common. I think Drive thrus correlate to the eating habits. Most people will sit and enjoy their meal, so most restaurants don't offer drive thrus that much, I think. Of course, most fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, etc etc will offer drive thrus, but even then I think most people will park the car to eat, or even take it home to eat at home. At least that's the case in Germany and in Portugal as well. But the places that do have drive thrus will advertise them in a visible manner. Having wine is very usual with most meals. At least in southern/south western Europe. I know a lot of people who don't enjoy ANY meal without some type of wine. Drinking in general is very common. Young people will generally get drunk on the weekends to party. In Portugal and Germany alike. At airports security sometimes asks for the shoes to be taken off. Possibly when they suspect you could be hiding something in them? I'm not sure. It's happened to me that I went to Italy from Germany and nobody asked me to take off my shoes. On the way back to Germany they asked me to take them off (same shoes) Smoking is still big here, too. It's been fading a little, but nevertheless it's more than in the US from what I hear. Regarding the toilet's water levels, I'm sorry to ask, but I'm genuinely curious: doesn't water splatter more when... You know? Regarding the thing you were talking about, there's usually brushes next to the toilet bowls in order to brush off whatever happened in there.
About the bakery thing, the most grocery stores have a bakery inside, and the most of the bread is from factories, but baked freshly the night before it came in to the shop, that’s also why in the Netherlands at the end of the day the choice of bread is smaller.
There are some drive through McDonalds around, but in general we don't eat and drive, and this is one of the things makes us from EU go bonkers about that when a car is presented by someone in the US they ALWAYS put emphasis on "cup holders" (and towing capacity). For us those 2 things doesn't make any sense at all. But we are plenty of food deliveries (either at home, but more rarely) or at work. Oh by the way, restaurants (and food in general), at least here in Italy, are more about "social and cuisine experience" than "filling ourselves with human fuel", so that's probably the main reason restaurants are that way. If you just need some "fuel" to move on, it's plenty of delicious street food around that can help in that. About shoes in the airport: sometimes you're asked to remove them here too, it depends of what shoes: if they have nails inside and make the metal detector to blink, then you're asked to put them in the x-ray scanner. About toilets: and you didn't see those that were common (not sure if they still are) in certain east countries like Hungary, where the drain hole is in the front and there is like a "tray" where you deposit your "products", so that you can check if there's something not good coming out of your body... Finally about alcohol: at least here in Italy, and out of teenage or people with problems, we enjoy alcohol in a social way, and we drink a bit because we have so many good liquors to choose, and we avoid to get drunk because that's a huge sign of immaturity... So alcohol is everywhere and if, now, they are *a bit* more careful not to serve it to people below 18yo, in general that's not so enforced. But last summer I was in Finland and it was a disaster: no alcohol in supermarkets (they have those crazy 0° wines that are blasphemy for an italian...), VERY expensive beers in the pub, no outdoor alcohol service (at bar) after 10PM, very rare proper alcohol shop (and super expensive...)... Let's say that in general the alcohol main problems with abuse has always been into more nordic countries or former soviet ones. Southern EU never really had social problems with that.
In the Netherlands the tray toilets are also common, for the reason you described. Both types are being used here. We also have some driver through KFC (and maybe burger king), but it's mostly McD. Another reason for having less of these is that in Europe we don't have (m)any fastfood restaurant with a big parking lot around them in/near the city center. So there is simply not enough space.
I think you did a good job capturing some general things happening in Europe. We do have drive thru, only not really a lot and they usually are outside the city center. In the restaurant you can let them know you are kind of in a hurry and if it is possible for faster service. If it’s not they will definitely keep an extra eye on your table, to follow up. I’ve been to the US a few times already and I find dinner /ordering food over there is a horrible experience. After dinner most of us usually enjoy a small walk. Even if sometimes it’s just to find the car. People smoking depends on the country, there is quite a difference. I don’t know why the water is low in the toilets but finding it clean off certain traces also mostly depends on the county I noticed.
Also: As other people have mentioned, drinking culture varies WILDLY across Europe. Scandinavia has strict blue laws (Denmark excepted), and tend to be binge drinkers. France and Italy are relaxed about it.
I like your personality and laughter. As many Americans you don't know many things people of your age would know in Europe but at least you are open, curious, and want to learn that is great. Every young American should travel to other countries in particular Europe.
Toilets: When you need to replace all the water in the bowl, plus extra to make sure all the waste went down, it takes a lot of water each flush. Australian toilets, for example, are similar to the European ones you described. We even have a half flush button for when you go number 1, because you only need enough water to give the bowl a rinse, and replace the water that was in the hole. We're famous for droughts, so being water conscious is a thing for us. Almost all of our shower heads are designed to use less water, too.
The two buttons (For different flush amounts) are also common for household toilets in europe. I remember 20 years ago when conserving water was the hype here in central europe, there were these "tips" to put a brick into the water tank to reduce the amount of water it has in there and thus the amount of water one flush would use. (In regions with abundant amounts of water that always felt strange to me, as the water isn't lost forever)
@@maxbarko8717 Well, TÜV checks Toilets that get onto the market in germany. No joke, i have seen a report about that. Every single bowl has to be able to handle the artificial "test saussage" in one flush and i think i remember it was 12 sheets of tp without clogging in another flush test. (And when the bowl is already one little pond, the force of flushing is low compared to when water has the ability to build momentum before hitting the smaller water surface)
@@nirfz Interesting! I didn’t know that but it makes sense. Here they are afraid of „soiled“ toilets. So instead of heaving a brush next to the toilet they have a plunger (pümpel). Guess what is more disgusting.
In regards to drive-through options, in general you only see it at fast food chains like McDonalds, but in typically in most parts of Europe it's not really a norm for common dining places. There will be a lot of take-out options and food-to-go, which assume people are already on foot or parked nearby - but since great parts of Europe are not that car-centric, dining places don't accommodate for people being reliant on cars to anywhere near the extend of the US. Like you don't see acres of space dedicated to parking lots and super wide streets everywhere for constant traffic, it's simply that heavy dependency on cars and associating everything around being in a car, is not a thing here. Some countries in Europe are more extreme in this regard, some are less. Some places you can even find entire towns and cities that are strictly car-free, something you just couldn't do in the US. Also in regards to the toilet water levels, typically in Europe the toilets will flush with higher pressure, and need less water present in the bowl to do so - whereas in the US you have more water to compensate for the lower flushing pressure. I am not technically inclined enough to specifically point out well defined pros and cons of either system, but the lower risk of backsplash in European toilets is a personal pro for me :b
Yes, I really dislike the over the top friendly waiter thing in the USA Here in Switzerland it is completely normal to see people having a beer or glass of wine early in the morning (typically night shift workers) Hell, I could even drink a beer while driving my car so long as I'm careful to stay under the legal limit
I'm from Poland where drinking is kind of an issue, but still, I find that driving after alcohol is kind of disturbing. Only ultra-right activists are in favor of relaxing these regulations. However, this idea does not have much support in Polish society.
Here are 3 thoughts on what I heard: 1) As for Drive Throughs, I'm sure somewhere in Europe they will exist. Maybe even somewhere in Greece. I'm not sure, I've never seen one. But in general we don't prefer them, on the one hand because we don't use the car that much so we don't have the desire/need for a drive through, and on the other hand because if we want food in the car for a longer trip... then we either order takeout or cook it , and we just take it with us! 😅 2) Regarding smoking, you should have seen Europe 10 or 20 years ago. People were even smoking inside the intensive care unit! Inside the planes. Inside the kitchens. This has changed, but the smoking culture has largely remained, and very recently smoking has been stopped in restaurants. As you noticed in some restaurants it hasn't even stopped yet. 3) Regarding the toilets. I had never thought about it before, but I recently traveled to America and experienced a toilet filled to the brim with water, and I didn't like it. Everything you do in there comes back to haunt you. So I guess in Europe the water is lower so it doesn't splash you. Everything you do falls on the porcelain, and if it gets dirty then you clean it with the pigal brush. I hope you had fun. We are waiting for the rest of the videos. And if you ever travel to Greece I will be happy to make you a detailed guide with everything you need to know!
You just can't beat a relaxed dining experience, with good food and a chilled atmosphere. Yeah, we have drive-thru here. They're everywhere except inner cities.
I suspect the main reason for the difference you experienced in Restaurants is due to the Restaurants in Europe and the UK being required, by law, to pay a living wage to their staff. Here in the UK you are free to tip or not as you wish, I think most people will leave a tip, but is is entirely voluntary.
One restaurant in the town I live in is a quite traditional, certainly not over-hyped or otherwise fancy beergarden. Wanted to go there when a friend visited, but google said it's closed that day (I believe it was a sunday afternoon). Passed by there anyway and noticed it was actually open; we told the owner about the mistake, and he basically said "I did that on purpose, otherwise I get too many people in here, tourists in particular and I can't stand it if people come here, stand around waiting for a table making everyone nervous; then order, eat and leave after 20 minutes like I'm just waiting to take their money. They can keep their money, I'll have a nice slow evening with the locals only." I think that made quite an impression on my visiting friend, but I suppose it's the complete antithesis to the american restaurant ethos as well...?
@@AlessandroGenTLe It's Gasthaus Steneck in Innsbruck, Tirol. But surely there must be some similar no-nonsense places in Lombardia - I once spent a night in an agriturismo above Domaso (Fonte di Mariella) which I think had very similar owners, completely real deal - and Pizzoccheri that made you think you just came home into your grandmother's warm house after a long walk though a winter storm :). I mean, obviously we are tourists as well when coming to Lombardia, but I hope we're not rushing anyone or demanding too stupid things. Just enjoying good food and drink, doing hikes around the mountains and getting to learn something about the region and people.
I agree about the SMELLY DANISH prople. They are widely know for not taking personal hygiene too seriously. Even Shakespeare mentioned the rotten smell in Denmark. Turns out he was referring to the smelly people in Denmark.
Wait - You don't have the taxes included in a restaurant? 🤯 Man, that's infuriating! I knew this happens when shopping or buying groceries, but even a restaurant! Is it the same in bars as well?
It depends on the state. We were pleasantly surprised that Oregon includes the tax in the price. Also, Oregon pays you to bring your used cans/bottles back to the store.
Some airports will ask you to remove your shoes, depending on any number of factors. I've flown 5 times this year and been asked once in Amsterdam and once in Edinburgh. With regards to alcohol, most European countries legal age to drink or purchase it is a lot younger than the USA, so we have a much healthier attitude towards it because we don't have to sneak around and binge drink in the park until we're 21. The hotel I stayed in while in Munich had beer in the vending machine, for anybody to buy. if you did that in the USA then there would almost certainly be an incident followed by a lawsuit.
Beer used to be - and by law still can be - sold out of vending-machines in factories in Germany ( especially Bavaria ) and I am talking about big companies like BMW.
That explains it then, back in 2020 I flew from Exeter to Edinburgh. First time I had flown in about 10 years and the first time ever that I had ever seen the removing your shoes thing. So definitely Exeter and Edinburgh you have to remove your shoes, a real pain.
@@tyxeri48 Hmm, I've been a somewhat frequent flyer (6-20 legs a year) around Europe and SE Asia the last decade or so, and my choice of footwear is invariably low hiking boots. I think I've been asked to remove my shoes twice during all this time. And one of the places might have been Edinburgh, as others mention. I've always figured that some of the security people think the hoops and loops on my boots are metal, which they are not, but perceived thickness makes more sense.
The reason you don’t get the bill immediately your food arrives is because a) dining is a social activity, which can last a couple of hours, and b) so you can order dessert, coffee etc.
The only drive-throughs we have here are McDonalds and 1 KFC that I know of. Also, I had a reverse tipping experience when I was in the states - there wasn't even the no tip option. And that's one of the things I really don't get, like you don't charge for soft drinks at all but at the same time you want me to pay 20%+ (minimum at that restaurant) for service, which was you bringing us 3 cokes and a pina colada. Just charge for all drinks and you'd get more money that 120% of that pina colada price.
6:05 "Do you guys have drive throughs there?" - Places like McDonalds and KFC certainly do have drive throughs and there are also coffee chains like Starbucks and Costa that also do them.
Happy you didn't make your trip one big vlog. I always wonder why people go somewhere, and then only look at things through a camera. Curious what your next videos will offer.
In the UK we do have some drive thrus mainly McDonald's with some of the other major fast food chains also having them. Increasingly Starbucks drive thrus are appearing especially at the sort of places you stop on a long drive
I've probably mentioned this to you before, but one other big difference I saw in Europe vs. the US was in the car culture. I still ran into just as many "car people" as I do in the States, but the cars which drew attention were wildly different...I was visiting a friend whose husband was stationed in Germany (and who was deployed at the time), and she drove a full size Ram pickup truck with the extended cab. We got looks _everywhere_ as we were driving around, from pedestrians stopping to stare to other cars slowing down on the Autobahn to get a better look. At one gas stop we were even approached by a random local who very politely asked if he could take a closer look at the truck & get some pictures of it. It makes sense as vehicle taxes in Germany are tied to engine displacement (and now to pollutants as well), plus of course in many of the older towns it was nearly impossible to drive that truck around on the narrow, winding streets (she couldn't even get to my hotel to pick me up, though luckily it was within easy walking distance of her place on the base). So a huge pickup with a 5.7L Hemi engine in it was seen as an extravagance there, while something like a nice BMW or Mercedes was commonplace.
I'm a Finn and all my friends drive American cars. In fact, I have never owned anything else and never will. I wish I could afford a new Challenger but with car tax at over 100% it ain't gonna happen.Mecedeses are just taxicabs or gypsy caissons, why would anyone want one?
@@ImForwardlook You have well off friends or you are just lying about all of your friends owning american cars. I highly doubt that is the case. You might own one or want one but claiming all have one is little bit hard to believe. Still why drive something that hurts your valet every time you need to fill it up with gas? I would rather drive a Mercedes than any american car as I rather want to save some money not waste it on car that is just going to keep costing me more money than most others. Still most likely would not buy a Mercedes as its usually also just waste of money.
We used to have to remove shoes until recently, especially larger winter shoes that might have small metal parts, and also there were some more restrictions about stuff that you could carry on the plane, but many of them got lifted recently.
Why would I tip someone who's fake and annoying? I don't tip to begin with but I don't get it. And why would you not want a customer to stay? Rude to decide for customers when they're done. The listed price is what you pay, WOW WHAT A CONCEPT! Drive-through is for McDonald's. Benefit of having less water in toilet is less splashage.
Hello Heidi! Apparently you've been enjoying the different experience(s) of Europe. Great to see that you like most of those differences. I'm looking forward to your country-specific videos. Kind Regards from Germany
Part of my family are US Citizens living in NC. What i experienced is that americans love to work while we europeans love to live. Now im curious about your next videos. Youre doing an amazing job.
Thanks for sharing ur experiences with us. I am from the UK and just wanted to jump in regarding the shoes at airports, they often make people take their shoes off at airports here too
The in your face restaurant experience and the expectation of tipping really puts me off visiting the states because eating out would be daily whilst on holiday in the states and the stress of the restaurant experience scares me!
@12:10 in your Europe part 1 video you mention your Denmark video. Which one is that? You have a good few videos about Denmark like the forest kindergartens and the language. I'd be very curious to learn how you experienced the bike culture in Copenhagen. But maybe you just haven't uploaded that video yet
Thanks for a good vlog, hope you have further happy travels. I have travelled alot all over the globe and really seen all sorts of everything you mention and more, Here in Iceland we do not tip anywhere, all employees are paid in full, and the price on the menues include service fees, VAT and any other taxes, if something costs 10 bucks, it costs 10 bucks, however people in the service industry here due accept tips when handed to them, but you are not abliged to tip at all.
im from UK, in the main, unless it valentines xmas, you have to ask for the check, they are not looking to turn tables, the kitchen will probably close at 9pm, they are happy for you take your time, order more drinks, hang out and chat, whether your out with your wife girlfriend, family or friends.
I lived both in the States and various places in Europe, you are right about the streaks... :D I would recommend taking some TP to grab the toilet brush at public toilets..Just my two cents hehe
Yes, there are drive thrus on highways and outer boroughs. But in historic districts there are typically traditional restaurants where people also have a social life. And there are places where you can have a quick lunch on working days, without making eye contact. One of the significant changes was the appearance of "American fast food restaurants" in Europe, and there are countries where this is not very widespread here.
I live in Switzerland and sometimes it stresses me when I want to ask for the check and the waiter often just ignored you. While travelling to different countries I always enjoy feeling welcome and being treated friendly in a restaurant and would more likely come back to this place. I would also mention that drinking is a serious issue, especially if you know victims who can not deal with it. Interesting to hear your experiences.
In Sweden. It's usually calm when you're out and eat rarely any stress. Some places you can order food, but you have to go inside and pick up the food. When you pay, you can see the price, you can choose to write the price yourself to be able to tip.
Drive-throughs (or Drive-In's, as they're called here in Germany) definitely are a thing, but you won't find them in city centres. They're mainly a feature of fast-food places that are located on the outskirts of town or at Autobahn rest stops, so places that are designed to cater towards people passing by with their car. That's pretty much it, though. You won't find any Drive-throughs not related to food here in Germany.
6:25 there is a German saying for that. Nach dem Essen sollst du ruh'n oder tausend Schritte tun. Means after a meal you should either rest a while or walk a thousand steps 😁 And the only Drive/Walk troughs I know here in Germany are either the Fastfood chains or Dönerbuden 😅
wait _drive-through Döner_ ? for real?? I've never seen that, that's amazing what I have seen though was a drive-through for boats, which I guess makes marginally more sense when you remember that the same city also has ferries that count as a normal part of the bus and train system, but is still a bit weird I guess
There are drive-thrus, bu they're USA companies like McDonald's. We have them in London, England. The tip thing you mention on screens even at a counter is creeping in. We often do have to remove our shoes at UK airports, and I recently did at Madrid. The toilet thing might be about the desire to inspect faeces for health reasons (German design?) - not sure.
There is a lot of secret restaurant language. You open your menu to chose, and when you are done you close the menu. This closing of the menu signals the waiter. Same with the position of your fork and knife on an empty-ish plate, cross them means you are still busy, put them side by side means you are done.
And they never ever bring the check unasked. There's the dessert, the coffee, the cheese plate, the brandy, the whatever you feel like (no more cigar tho) to be enjoyed first. Rushing that is a CRIME against humanity.
Prices on the menu must be all included, extra's like service, tip, VAT etc. are verboten!
"Same with the position of your fork and knife on an empty-ish plate, cross them means you are still busy, put them side by side means you are done."
Or put your knife and fork on the plate at 25 past five position. That also means you're done.
@@hextatik_sound Never paid attention to that detail but now you mention it, yes, it's indeed about there that I put mine when I am done.
@@astranger448 Been doing that since first grade I think. It was taught in school and that just stuck.
Crosing of the cutlery on a plate means that you weren't happy with the meal. If you're not done (when you go to the toilet for example) you rest the fork and knife on the plate, the fork on the left and the knife on the right with their handles on a table (for right-handed people). When you finish you position the fork and knife together on a plate with their points toward the middle of the plate and the handles to the edge of the plate. This is all very basic (however etiquette can be quite different around the world).
@valentintapata2268 by that logic, I have never enjoyed a meal in my life 🤣🤣🤣
In the UK if a waiter came to them the way they do in the USA, they'd leave...
If a stranger spoke or acted the way Americans do, they'd be checking their pockets and avoiding them as much as possible.
American positivity, confidence and forthrightness is considered "forced" or "faked" and as a consequence those doing it are untrustworthy and 0otemrially a conman...
I agree. I like to go out and enjoy my meal in a restaurant. Not be interrupted mid bite or mid conversation every 5 minutes to ask if everything’s ok and if we need anything.
And when a complete random stranger stops you in the middle of the street. To compliment you and ask a bunch of questions while having an over the top smile. I would expect they were trying to sell something to me or con me in some way. It’s a way for them to try and quickly gain someone’s trust by being flattering and over friendly. But in reality it makes most people suspicious.
Same to all in France!
Same here in Portugal.
Denmark too.
NL as well 🇳🇱
There’s a German word for going on a walk after eating: 'Verdauungsspaziergang' = 'Digestive Walk'. Walking improves the digestive process, that’s why you feel better when you go for a walk after eating instead of sitting down which makes you tired and you need a nap. We have a word for that as well (of course) 'Verdauungsschlaf' = 'digestive sleep'
_"Nach dem Essen sollst Du ruh'n oder tausend Schritte tun"_
After eating you should sit/sleep to digest, or walk a thousand steps.
And never forget "Alkohol ist ein Kulturgut" = "Alkohol is a culture asset" .
I can attest to how good walking is. I'd normally do that every place I studied or worked at until my 30s because the eating place was always at some (short) distance. Then my office moved to a place with no food options nearby, and I began to order food. Then I noticed that in the afternoons, I often felt drowsy and/or had constipation. At least the food, which was brought warm, was good, but when they switched to pre-cooled food that tasted like nothing when warmed up, I had enough, and got permission to take a train three stations away where there were multiple restaurants (10 min train ride + 10 min walk). Thanks to all the walk to/from the stations, all the bad symptoms went away.
a hope you pay before you decide to go for a walk@@Daneelro
Fressnarkose
Finally a You Tuber who has understood that the experience is more important than the camera! 👏
I am very glad that you were able to make such good experiences, although Europe also has its downsides and not every European is automatically a good person.
👋 cu soon
i love that example with alcohol, you cant buy it in US stores, but you can buy a gun without problem🤪
@@Ezekiel903
As an european i'm totally fine with it. I have urge to buy alcohol more often than urge to buy firearm ;)
But whatever, you need to be prepared - 10:00-22:00 only for alcohol here (in stores).
Eating out in Europe is about spending time with friends or family. It is a social gathering. We are there to talk with the rest at the table. So having a waiter and ask "How You doin'?" all the time will take away from that. As it is a social thing, talking after dinner is normal. Having another glass of wine (or a few) is nothing special. If you are in a nice discussion, why break that conversation? And drinks are often a higher profit margin than food.
Drive ins do exist, but mostly it will be to pick up the food and eat home. But if you are there already, why not get out and eat there? Again: social. Or people take their food home.
Yes, people smoke more compared to the US.
Toilets in Europe are made to save water. The reason the water is still there is so it keeps away the stench. Water usage is about half, as far as I understand. There will be a brush that you can use standing next to it, if needed. To save water there is also often a smaller and a bigger button for No1 and No2. Or like at my home a short push will release a short bit of water, enough for No1. All yo you need to do is replace the bit of water in the toilet. More on e.g. th-cam.com/video/VKre9_wM3Mo/w-d-xo.html Something you could also react to.
same here in Oz
All that you mentioned is exactly the same here in NL
@@royvankan2723 But in Holland waiters in a restaurant insist on asking how the meal is when you're about halfway through. Guess one Dutch person must have picked that up while in the usa and as we know, the Dutch will do anything to resemble the Americans. We like to call them the 51st state of the us.
same here in FR
I once was in Mexico and the toilets in the ressort I stayed were advertised with a sticker as "American standard". You were reminded not to waiste things like drinking straws, but when you flushed the toilets (and you couldn´t control the amount of water required) a real tsunami poured out. American standard!
I'm Irish, and I've been to the US several times. I remember the first time I needed to use the restroom in the US. I was 14. I went in and was immediately a little freaked out by the complete lack of privacy in the cubicles. So much so, that I was reluctant to go use them. But nature was calling. I took off a jacket I was wearing and lay it over my lap. Couldn’t get out of there quickly enough.
Having a meal in a restaurant in Europe is regarded as a relaxed social occasion. It is never a rushed experience. You enjoy your meal, a few glasses of wine, and a good conversation. If a restaurant was to do that, they would close their restaurant in no time at all due to lack of customers.
I love how you are informing yourself, Heidi, educating yourself about the world outside the US. Some of your observations and your questions to us suggests that you have some way to go, which is absolutely fine. Enjoy the journey🙂🙂🙂
So awful, isn't it? I hung my jacket over the gap if that was possible.
Its totally strange, and i can see why it adds to the issue of neutral toilets too.
@patriciamillin1977 Thought about that but couldn't. But being able to lay my jacket over my lap gave me some privacy. It is really disconcerting, makes you feel really exposed, and vulnerable, even in a ladies' restroom. I like wearing long, stylish scarves, so I started to always carry them with me, in a bag, whatever the weather each time I went back to the US. Good to drape down and cover the gaps.
@@ItsmeeSaoirse That's a brilliant idea! I don't think I'll be going back to the US, I'm retired and don't have the money for travels like that anymore, but if by chance I do get to go back, I'll remember to take scarves with me (which btw I also like to wear).
As a European, the US dining experience sours the meal, false smiles, false attitude, stress stress stress, If I'm out to dinner, I expect to be able to sit, eat, socialise and talk for at least, 2½ if not 3 hours, easy. When I was in the US, servers started giving us the stinkeye at 60 minutes, by 90 minutes it was starting to feel actively hostile.
Why would I ever go back to a place that makes me feel unwelcome?
and fake foods.... have you seen any of the american Hells Kitchen shows with Gordon Ramsay... thats plain disgusting.... and yes.. it is in Europe aswell....
Go to Japan and try restaurants there. Absolutely fascinating, tasty, quick, polite, not more expensive than in Europe and no tipping at all.
I agree...I kinda felt pressured to eat or get out now. And the forced tips...to me makes me feel the restaurants is actually very expensive. All fake.
It's because they care about making as much money as possible. If they let people sit in the restaurant for 2+ hours, they may only seat 120 people. However if they try to get people to eat faster and leave earlier (around 1 hour) then they can seat maybe 200-250 people and make even more money. Everything is geared towards making as much money as you can here in the US instead of enjoying your meal and time with friends/family.
@@erics607 Ohh we know that... Thats the american way.... Over here its about giving people a nice, quiet and relaxed time and if it takes 15 minutes extra because someone wanted a second coffee, no worries, we got all the time in the world....
Of course the service in restaurants is more relaxed. Here (Italy), people go out to relax, chat and spend the evening socializing in front of a table with good food and drink. Here you "rent" the table and can sit as long as you like. The service is therefore appropriate to the context. No one attacks you immediately to find out what you want to order, but you are given time to settle in and then there are various dishes to be consumed. Three worst case scenarios and all flat shifting. Tipping is only something you can decide to leave, but it's not mandatory at all because waiters are paid for their work, not forced to beg for survival. I'm sorry, but unfortunately in the USA there is no culture and respect for food and related conviviality.
You can get "the look" from waiters in Europe too, I've experienced it in France and Sweden. But it was at busy hours and they were loosing customers if you hogged the table for an hour extra. So it depends on how busy they are, mostly they're not 100% at capacity. I've also experienced in Denmark getting notice when we called and reserved the table in advance that we had it between 18-20. I think that's a good idea if the food isn't delayed. Then you know.
Drive throughs are common, but usually they are outside city centers where you mostly spent time in Europe.
Yeah mostly at american fast good chains
Quite often used to drive traffic out of the city centres that would otherwise be driving in to visit the take-away. Usually close to the arterial routes but away from pedestrians.
i wouldn't say they are very common,but yes they exist somewhere on the motorway or outside city centers
There are 173 McDonald's drive-thru's in The Netherlands alone. Don't know about Germany.
Yes, outside city center also here Italy
I'm British. I lived in Germany, the US, then Switzerland for most of my life; I now live in Thailand. Living in Denver and visiting shops and more-so restaurants was infuriating! 'Hi, how are you today?'
Today? I never saw you before. At the restaurants impossible to have a nice meal quietly chatting with friends; and then the tip!! Tip 10‰ and get an aggressive stare! In Europe the amount on the bill is rounded up. If the service was very good 10-20%, in Asia no tip is expected, in fact if you leave money on the table, they will run after you 'Hey, you forgot your change!'
I was just wondering whether one could in the U.S. ask the waitstaff at the beginning to not bother you during your stay (while maybe promising to tip 25%)? Sure, their boss might think the staff is being inattentive but if the waitstaff tell them this request they should be ok with that,
I iive in Europe, specifically Portugal, I have never tipped in my life, and it was never expected of me to do so.
If I don't tip cashiers, why would I tip waiters? One job is not more deserving of tips than the other. It's a weird concept and unfair to other low paying jobs.
However, many tourists like to tip, and it's really annoying to start seeing those tip options on the payment machines in the touristy areas, that force you to specify that you do NOT want to leave a tip.
In the UK. My local artisan bakery started putting those tipping options on their point of sale machines a couple of years ago. Suggested tips of up to 20%, for simply handing over a loaf of bread, cake or pastry. I was so annoyed by it, I've not been back to the bakery since. It's not good for customers or staff, where it quickly turns into a reason not to pay them a living wage.
We (Hungary) have that in bars where I think there it's okay, and my impression is that it's mostly because you can't really hand over extra cash (we use the "round up" system for tips here) when you pay with card.
@@gargaj Same as CZ and SK (I do not know others)
Walmart tried that "greeter at the entrance" thing in Germany. But a person madly smiling descending on you, doing VERY much that bombardign thing, weirded people out.
Well some higher priced stores do have that person at the entrance in Germany sometimes, not often though. If done right people could ask where some specific items are in the store and feel happy being welcomed, similar like in a good hotel.
I think the suptle difference is how such a person approaches people, in the US they will approach people actively, in Germany (all of Europe?) they just greet you and be open for questions. In Germany, this approaching would often thought of as "oh, they want to talk me into buying more"
@@Delibro i have never seen a greeter in my entire life as a native german of 29 years of age and ive been to all of the supermarket chains
are you talking about the information clerks in some bigger supermarkets? i dont think their function is comparable to greeters at all
of course if i make eye contact i do greet but still
@@TheNinj47 I rather not mean supermarkets, more like rich peoples clothing stores, larger juwellery stores etc. but yes, it's not so common.
I live in the UK. The last time I went to an expensive, very busy restaurant in Central London, we had to book a table in advance. But despite the queues outside of people who hadn't booked but were hoping to get in anyway, once we were at our table and had placed our order, the staff left us alone unless we called them over (usually for more drinks) and didn't try to hustle us out. We were there for over 3 hours, leaving just before they closed.
As a german it`s wonderful to watch your videos about Europe and Germany. The cultural exchange is so interesting and sometimes very funny. Last year in June i made a road trip through Colorado, Utah, Arizona and New Mexico and i fell in love with land and people :-)
Yes, the toilets design is to save water. Nearly all toilet has a 2 function system. A big flush and a small flush (for pee only).
And honestly, the small flush typically takes care of the bigger entries, too.
Also you do not get splashed as easily if u drop a heavy load :)
I did notice that, too! We have that every once in a while here, but definitely seemed more common in Europe. 👍
@@HailHeidi German toilets are the worst.
They have a little shelf, where everything just ...sits... until you're ready to flush, at which point it gets tipped into the water.
I commented on this to a German and he seemed astonished by my attitude..."but...don't you want to look at it?"
"No!.... weirdo!"
Also, the phrase you were looking for regarding leaving marks is "skid the pan".
@@Murdo2112 The Dutch had the same for decades but they're not becoming rare. Germans and Dutch eat a lot of raw meat, which brings the risk of a worm infection. You can easily find out if this is the case if you can see your poo, hence the toilet. Your poo also tells you a lot about your health, so being able to look at it, can help out in that department. It what comes out of your has become social taboo, so you get the reaction you had, but having grown up with toilets, it is quite normal.
Indeed. When you are starting a meal & enjoying it, you don't want constant interruptions, it stops the flow of your enjoyment.
Denmark here! We do have some drive-throughs here, but it’s mainly outside of the city center - and it’s not that common. It’s only McDonalds and Burger King that offer drive-through (I think). So glad to hear that you had a good trip to Europe.
Same in Sweden.
Toilets are always fun to talk about :) Anyhow, in the US the water used for flushing is in the actual bowl. In Europe the water is kept in a separate cistern and released on flushing = more pressure, less...hmm...clogging 😁 Oh, and you avoid dipping various parts into...you know.
🤣
I've always wondered about that. How do American men avoid getting their penis wet when sitting down on the toilet? (Btw, we use the English acronym WC but it seems no native English speaker ever uses it)
@@SuperDirk1965 I was talking about your hands! Jeez 😁 I guess it's not a problem for everyone, maybe they are built to US specific requirements? 😏
@@svensvensson8102 no you were not 🤪
That was something I wondered about when I was in the US that the toilets there didn't really "flush" the way I understand the term, they sort of SUCKED down everything. In a European toilet, the water sort of literally flushes down from the top edge when you flush the toilet, but an American toilet was more like a whirlpool that just sucked everything into it.
that type of toilet flush mechanism was invented in Australia, and saves up to a whole gallon (63%) of water, and as you noticed is quite common in Europe now also.
I find it so nice, that you prefered taking all the impressions and emotions in, than being always on cam. bravo😊
There are also drive-thru restaurants in Europe. But these are actually only American fast food - McD, KFC, Pizza Hut ... So something that offers pseudo food ... 🤭
Europeans are not in the habit of eating in the car. Something like this can happen on a few hours' highway driving on holiday, but not on a normal day.
I went to a restaurant in Canada with my now wife (she's Canadian) and her family about 7 years ago and it was a buffet thing. Kinda nice. I'm British btw. We walked in, was shown the large table the family booked (there was about 15 of us), and we then walked to the buffet area and served ourselves. Never saw or needed any waiter/waitress or any empoyee for the few hours we were there. When it came to pay the bill (for my now wife and myself), it came to $85.20, I noticed there was a 30% gratuity added. This was apparently manditory - it said on the bill. I questioned this at the counter - what was I actually paying for and what did they do to deserve this? I was told it's the restaurant rule and it's on all bills for every customer, even though ALL customers get food and drinks from the buffet. The staff litterally do nothing once we are taken to our table.
I said no way, I'm not paying a gratuity for something that they don't deserve and for a 'service' they couldn't even describe. I asked to speak to the manager and was told no, she's unavailable, and I had to pay or they would call the cops. So, I deducted 30% from the bill and then paid them in cash, $59.64, to the cent, wished them a nice evening and informed the woman (who was shouting at me saying I can't leave!), and told her I'd never return. I have never been back and no poilice chased me up.
👏😏
So the buffet magically refilled itself? Did you also wash the dishes afterward?
@@boghag so the dishwasher people get something from the tip the waiter receives?
This may not be legal. Even in Canada.
@boghag it's a job brother . Pay your staff , don't expect for others to do that for you
love your content about europe you should visit here more and I'm glad that you didn't take videos out of everything. Enjoying the moment is the key!
Someone might have noted this already. But I feel that the trend in Scandinavia seem to be to move away from toilet stalls altogether. Most places I shop at have actual rooms for each toilet. They’re still in that characteristic row like the stalls, just actual rooms with real doors. Usually still with the common wash area outside the toilet rooms to avoid unnecessary line buildup.
About drive throughs: I am Czech, I am 41 and I have never been to one yet nor do I plan to. I know they exist here. Off the top of my head I can remember just one, next to a large shopping center at the edge of a city. I vaguely remember seeing them along highways, coupled to gas stations, motorests etc.
Personally I think a drive-through for food is a stupid idea. Average ocupancy of a car is around 1.2 people. So most customers will be drivers. Then you have a bunch of people behind steering wheels driving badly and eating badly. When driving your attention should be on driving. When eating you should have a healthy food at a table from a ceramic plate you can wash afterwards, not some hopefully non-carcinogenic plastic that goes to a landfill. There has to be a better way to find the time in your day to eat something than coupling it with driving.
Drive through for some shops makes sense to me. Just last week I have been to several such places for building supplies. It is nice to load bags of cement mix right into your car and pay on your way out rather than having ot haul them across the parking lot in a huge shopping cart an then lift them a second time to your car. For such things drive through makes perfect sense to me. For food it does not.
I’m 37 also from Czechia and there are hundreds of drive thrus here both in city centers or outside cities (highways) and by the shopping malls. I go to some pretty much every week when driving with kids when I want coffee or soda, sometimes a quick snack. It’s so much simplet than getting kids out of the car and going for the coffee, than waiting, going back and securing them in their seats again. It saves both time and nerves 😂
Did you know there are drive in banks in america! So weird country.
@@pippen1001 Finland had them already in the 1960:s. Super convenient!
@@pippen1001 They are drive through, drive in is a misused term in Europe and shows the very limited knowledge of Europeans.
@@fxaman that makes a bit more sense than making it a daily breakfast or something like that.
Sweden here regarding the alcohol thing. We too have a state-operated chain that sell alcohol and it closes early on Saturday and closed on Sunday, but yeah, it's not unheard of to be served wine at smaller restaurants.
Almost every swedish guy I met in Germany was completely drunk. I guess they take the chance, when alscohol ist not so expensive and opressed like in Sweden.
In czechia, they will usually tell you the price before printing the receipt and you can say bigger number which basically includes the tip. Example your order is 270CZK(12.22$) and you say 320CZK(14.49$), but nobody expects you to do so. Most people leave 10-20% tips in this way anyway and the people who dont are not looked up upon as rude, but maybe they just have difficult financial situation.
I’m also from Czechia and I only see people tip 20% is they’re really heavily drunk 😂 Otherwise I’d say 10% is normal amongst younger people. Elders typicaly don’t tip much as tipping wasn’t really a thing back when they were younger…
That's if they don't cheat you before.
Czechs, you need to tell your waiters to stop doing this.
20% tip in Czechia? More like up to 10% or more likely just round up. When prices of energy are going down but restaurant keep increasing price by a few CZK nearly every month I tip less and less.
12:40 US toilets use A LOT more water than European ones. A standard toilet in the US uses up about 7 gallons (= 26.5 liters) every time. European toilets use about 9 liters (= 2.4 gallons). Using so much water has no benefit btw, it's just a waste of a valuable ressource (water).
The amount of ressources that are wasted for nothing in the USA in general (water, energy, materials...) is ridiculous.
I'm Swedish and yes, we have drive throughs. It's mostly hamburger places that have them. We also have places where you order and pay online and then get a message on your phone when your food is ready. Then you just go there and get it. Some places also drive the food to your home, not only pizza restaurants do that, I think. Some grocery stores also offer that. You order and pay online and a bit later someone shows up at your door with your groceries. It comes with a cost, of course. Last time I did that it was about $5.
Hej! 😁
Here in Hungary it is pretty much the same. Though grocery and food ordering is pretty general in most countries, I would think. The same with the ordering and paying online, and just going there for the pickup. I mean, there are apps here (and I presume in a lot of countries) where you can sort the restaurants with these in mind. (If you want it delivered or pickup, what you want to pay with, etc.)
@@siriuspyramid7441 Tjena! 🤣
Drive through ar also common here in Denmark, but mostly only in McDonalds or other burger joints.
And of course, with that delivery fee you're *not* expected to tip the delivery person
Yes, we do have drive thru,s. I am from Czech republic, but I know for sure, they are in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and other countries. But, if you expect drive thrus for like "normal restaurants", then no, we do not have that. But if you are talking about fast-food, especially McDonalds, KFC, Burger King and others, then yes, that's quiet common. But it really depends on the country, I can imagine, that in Denmark it is not that common and also if you were in Italy in Venice and Padova, probably in those places weren't drive thrus,too. :) 💕
One aspect with restaurants in post-Covid Germany is, that the well-trained waiters all changed their job during the pandemic, when restaurants had to close. It‘s very hard nowadays for restaurants finding experienced staff.
Same in Spain. And even though there is high unemplyment, young people don't want to be waiters because inflation means that it won't be a liveable wage and have terrible hours. So young people just work for a few months and then quit. The constantly rotating staff and less enthusiasm means that quality of service has gone way down, if they can even find staff
Same here in Portugal.
Just pay better your waiters and waitress, is a tough job that cancel your private life, its hard, and often the clients are jerks. If you have trouble hiring, clearly something is off with your job offer, increese the quality of the offer and you'll find 😌
Same here in Belgium. In my town on the Belgian coast I know of restaurants that had to close for a bit during summer, during the busiest time of the year, because they couldn't find enough staff to hire.
Yeah, same here. Restaurants and cafes etc here tend to have fairly low wages, not terrible, but for the amount of work, the late hours, always working on weekends etc, I think it's fairly low. So the good waiters, who know their stuff, are rarer and rarer. Which makes total sense. Why would someone stay in a job if it's got bad hours and low pay. After all the lockdowns lots of cafes etc were complaining about staff that left, but they can't seriously expect people to wait for a lockdown to be over and not find another job?
I used to go to a cafe that became more noteworthy over the years because their employees were actual trained waiters, they weren't teens working for 2 years and then moving on, they were adults, who could all balance giant trays, they all remembered everyone's order, there was no need for notepads or tablets, they also knew when to ask for the next order, I'm sure they had learned that over the years, but they always came at the exact right time, they could always give information on the many many special beers and wines they had on offer, or the weekly/monthly special or something. I guess the cafe was more formal as well, the waiters always wore a shirt and bow tie. It still exists, but it's practically a rarity now.
I don't mind it if a cafe doesn't do all those things, but then the cafe owner can't piss and moan that there aren't enough experienced waiters, while paying them low wages. Either you get well paid, well trained staff, who stay for a long time, or you get low paid, inexperienced staff who leave after a year. You can't expect people to stay and be loyal to an employer who won't pay them enough.
Good day. Very nice and correct description of the differences between Europe and the USA. Enjoy your day.
yes something that I really hate when traveling to the US (and Canada)...you never get the price of what you are buying until you get to the cash point where they add the taxes.....can't they do that before and show the final prices already on the shelves...?? And about the restaurant experience, yes I sometimes find the waiters/waitresses to be over friendly and almost intrusive....like we have been friends for ages ...
Amen to all - I find it annoying that not only can you never know exactly how much you will pay, but you can't prepare exact change in advance for that reason in the US.
Same feeling about the restaurants - last time I was in NYC the host asked me where I wanted to seat and then said "good choice!" and gave me a thumbs-up... I thought that was a bit much :D
I think that the reason they don't put the final prices on the shelves is because the tax rate changes often. I am Northern English and am thankful that the final price is always displayed on the shelves.
@@mgparis The idea with the tax added later is to show you how much the government is robbing you. A sobering experience we could very well have in Europe.
For the tax not included in the price, I have seen a video from an American YT trying to explain this. Not an official reason but it kind of makes sense in a way.
Unlike in Europe where we have defined taxes for products wherever you are in the country, it is not the case in the US as they vary State to State and even sometimes Town to Town (in same state).
For example lets take a chain fast food restaurant. They sell a burger for 2$ without taxes. In town A after taxes the burger will be 2.35$ while in town B it will be 2.45$.
It's easier for the fast food restaurant to promote that their burger is 2$ everywhere...
@@S3nn4hexcept it’s not 2$ in any of the cities.
Just glad you enjoyed your trip. Happy to have you guys over again.
From all I hear about the US it's not a nice place to go - except for some landscapes. I don't wanna get stressed when on vacation or even dining out. Leave me alone and let me (hopefully) enjoy the meal/drinks.
Toilet water-levels: when this has been discussed in forums by Americans who have moved to Europe, they have said that there are many fewer toilet-blockages in Europe.I ( European ) have never had a blocked toilet in 50 years.
The first time I went to the States I thought the toilet was blocked due to how high the water level was!
I bought a toilet plunger when I moved to Germany and it's never been used. Of course the toilet brushes are used every day, which is different.
Had a spate of them until the cause was identified and expensively rectified, subsidence causing the concrete encased plastic 5 inch sewer pipe to crack and catch anything flushed. Wasn't helped by the house being on the side of a valley and only 18 inches of soil over the bedrock, the house having slipped half an inch down it in the 50 years since being built. Also caused two chimneys to need rebuilding.
I have had one in 59 Years.
The waiter service in Europe and Uk tends to be a lot more relaxed because they are not on a schedule to get you in, fed and out having pid a handsome tip. I have lived in the US for a very short while and really could not get used to the being greeted at the entrance shown to a table and then set upon to order. Also the bill arriving while I am still eating. My wife is American and loves living in UK because, for the most part, cafes, restaurants and pubs are not pushing you out for the next sitting.
1. So glad that an American recognizes the forcedness of kindness form US waiters :) It was always strange for me.
1b. However getting free water is something I liked a lot over there and I miss in Europe
2. Yes, we have drive-through for US burger chains :) Probably part of the experience. I am not excited about them though, I don't want a mess in the car.
3. Smoking is indeed a problem, that is another positive in the US. I was invited there for Thanksgiving, 20ish people, zero, or maybe one smoker. In Europe, it is more like 1 in 4, plus the "oh, I only do it at parties" person :D
I think your observations and stories line up Very Well with reality in Europe.
GOOD JOB, I'm happy for you!
I'm glad you had an interesting and eye-opening experience in Europe. Which continent next? The wonderful land of Oz?
Funfact: Drive Throughs are Drive Ins in Germany. Not only because it's shorter, but also when you take a word like through, not everyone will be able to pronounce it, making in way more attractive. And what some others also said, they are usually at the outskirts and more something you see at big chains like McDonalds, Burger King or KFC. One McDonalds in Hamburg even has, as far as I know, the only float through service where you can dock at a small walkway on the shore of a branch of the Elbe river, order via app and have it delivered down to you (Tom Scott made a video about it a while ago). In a city you might see a window for ordering something to go though
I am from South Africa, and our public toilets generally have stalls that provide near 100% privacy (sometimes you can see someone's feet). It took watching US content creators to finally understand why it seems to matter so much who uses which bathroom in the USA.
❤ great that you have a good trip, and take time to feel it.
Your comment about servers reminded me of a visit to a beer garden in Munich where I wanted to order a small beer (1/2 liter). The response of the waitress was: " just wait until you're thirsty enough for a lage one ( 1 liter)".😂
Yup that sounds about right ;-)
Here in Italy we say (in pubs and breweries) "the small (0.2l) beer is immoral" :D We normally go for the 0.4l (I still don't get why we moved away from the 0.5l and get to pay the same...), rarely for the 1l because we like to enjoy conversation and drink slowly and the 1l gets warm by the time it's 2/3 gone...
@@AlessandroGenTLenothing wrong with warm beer
Large beer in de is really 1l? It's "special" one here in cz. If we ask for a beer . We get 0.5 .. if we want small. We just say small beer. 0.3 .. one litre is too much. I will be warm. ..
@@MrRichieHK it depends on the region. In Bavarian beergardens it often is.
I think we are talking on different things when going to restaurants. In Europe, we go to a restaurant primarily to have a good time, to chat with friends, or maybe also just relaxe alone. If your primary concern is hunger, you rather don't go to a restaurant but eat at home, at work or eat a Currywurst in the city etc. :)
I totally agree that you'll enjoy your vacation a lot more without taking pictures and recording videos all the time. I did that a lot a couple of years ago but when I quit everything was so much more enjoyable. Now I only take a picture here and there for memory and I may record a short video here and there where I really find a good reason to do so.
I plan on moving to Prague in central Eurooe in the near future. Can't wait. Glad you had fun
Its sad i know this but..... Most European countries use "wash down toilets" that use the force of water rushing into the bowl to flush and as such usually have multiple flush types.
The US tends to use "siphon toilets" that use the suction of the water going over an "S trap" to flush via the siphon effect.
Why sad, this is a fascinating bit of knowledge
I too was in the trade and was aware of the different pans. I believe the US pans have a 3" outlet against a 4" in Europe hence the risk of blockages.
@10:00 Oh my, you're lucky that the liquor stor is open until 10pm! In Norway the state owned Vinmonopolet is open 10am to 5pm Mo-Wed, until 6pm on Thu-Fri and 4pm on Saturdays.
Outside this you can get alcohol in grocery stores up to 4.7%, but they usually close the alcohol sale at 8pm.
im in England, but im pretty sure they also have drive-thrus in "Europe" as well.
We do, it's just not as big a thing as in the US. Apart from ordering fast food at lunch or the evening for your entire family it's not really used. I've never seen anyone go to a drive-thru for coffee in the morning or even breakfast at all. Fast food places with drive-thrus are also always on the edge of the city as to not impact traffic.
On thoroughfares it's more common - typical candidates are indeed American brands like McDonald's. 😊
;) about the alcohol / drinking culture - I am living in the small town of Bistrita (ROMÂNIA), South East Europe - in my city (as on every other city) - you can buy every kind of alcohol 24/7. The first non-stop shop is at about 200m from my home. For my American friends (from my Steam gamer group Cassandra.Confluvium ) I had to send them videos made in time I'm talking to them (in order to be credible).. It's funny.
Btw, you should try Romania for the scenery / food / museums / castles.
I have noticed the further South I go in Europe, the more people smoke usually. In Finland and other Nordic countries it is mostly a dying habit compared to Germany and Italy for example.
But in the more Nordic countries snus is also way more common. If I'm not mistaken I think I read an article a few years ago that compared the two and the use of tobacco is similar, it's just the way of taking it in that differs.
But yes, smoking is more prevalent here.
That is very true.... I live on Costa del Sol in the south of Spain, and Malaga is known as the Smoking Capital of Europe...
I’ve been to Italy many times and I never see people smoke there lately. Maybe Germany because of many immigrants from Turkey who smoke more.
In Belgium smoking has been banned about everywhere where large crowds gather. From public buildings to workspaces. Instead you'll find small designated spaces outside for smokers.
@@bastiwen there is actually a quite a big snus smuggling business going on between Sweden and Finland, because in Sweden snus is allowed, but in Finland it is illegal. 😁
Most American fast-food chains in Germany have drive-throughs outside the city centers. In my countryside, there are also drive-throughs in the smaller towns. For some time now, more and more bakeries have also been offering drive-throughs. Without thinking twice, I can name 6 bakeries here in Münsterland that have a drive-through counter.
The service staff are paid halfway decently and don't have to put on a show for the tip. A visit to a restaurant should relax the guests, they should enjoy the food and the ambience. Stress is not helpful. Nevertheless: Who was satisfied with the service, the food and everything, may give gladly tip and does it as a rule also.
There are definitely drive-thru "restaurants" that are predominantly operated by the well-known burger chains. Less pronounced here in Europe than in the U.S., so there is less need for drive-ins.
Service staff is payed the same as the rest of employees in a restaurant. If they are not, then they they are not schooled waiters. (This is common practise in most Western Europe.
You definitely made the best choice, first of all you had to enjoy your travel experience, especially in new places without thinking all the time about making videos. The experiences you lived were for sure much more "real" without the camera!
And we will wait for your stories even without footage! 😀
Hi Heidi🙂
I'm happy you liked us in Europe even without the tip Culture 😁Personally I would go crazy 🤪over the tip Culture in America😄I'm from Sweden and we never tip,because the employee is very well paid 💵😊
See you soon 😘
same in Australia.
I have now followed you few months, and I really like your videos. Hello from Finland 🥰
Not smoked since 2017 january, but I think countries want their people to be healthier, so it is only allowed to be smoked outside 👍
Very good observations, I always find the waiters in the US extremely annoying, you cannot just sit there and enjoy your food, and they more or less expect you to leave immediately after you finished your meal.
To me this tells a deeper story, in the US everything is centered on earning money and spending money. There is little room for social interaction, and that is why I think you experience a more relaxed Europe. Here, it is very normal to go to a restaurant, eat a small meal and stay for two hours, talking, reading, drinking a coffee and so on.
And though, we import a lot of things and habits from the US (like drive-through, but this is very limited to US chains), I hope that not everything changes.
Just to add one thing, waiters here can be also annoying, because sometimes they just ignore you. In some countries this is nearly a tradition 😉
Thanks for your reaction. Just a little thing about water level in toilets. I can't say for ALL countries, but I remember that when I was in France, each appartment unit had a meter for water, so the had to pay a monthly water bill, so that may explain it. I stayed in an appartment with friends, and the roomate was always rushing me for the shower & kitchen, because I raised the water bill & he didn't like it. I'm happy that you finally made it, and glad to watch your experience in Europe ( I was the one who suggested you to record your own experience once back home). Very interesting & I'll wait for your other videos, especially the one about France (it was my first destination in Europe & I'm curious to see what changed in 25 years)--I was there in 1997, before cell phones, internet & Euros (yess, had to change currency for each country I visited & did everything the old fashion way: paper maps & asking people for directions). Have a nice day, Heidi.
also in Italy we have a meter for water
Tipping is usually for really good/exceptional service/experience. Tipping just for the sake of tipping is not very common.
I think Drive thrus correlate to the eating habits. Most people will sit and enjoy their meal, so most restaurants don't offer drive thrus that much, I think. Of course, most fast food restaurants like McDonald's, Burger King, KFC, etc etc will offer drive thrus, but even then I think most people will park the car to eat, or even take it home to eat at home. At least that's the case in Germany and in Portugal as well. But the places that do have drive thrus will advertise them in a visible manner.
Having wine is very usual with most meals. At least in southern/south western Europe. I know a lot of people who don't enjoy ANY meal without some type of wine. Drinking in general is very common. Young people will generally get drunk on the weekends to party. In Portugal and Germany alike.
At airports security sometimes asks for the shoes to be taken off. Possibly when they suspect you could be hiding something in them? I'm not sure. It's happened to me that I went to Italy from Germany and nobody asked me to take off my shoes. On the way back to Germany they asked me to take them off (same shoes)
Smoking is still big here, too. It's been fading a little, but nevertheless it's more than in the US from what I hear.
Regarding the toilet's water levels, I'm sorry to ask, but I'm genuinely curious: doesn't water splatter more when... You know? Regarding the thing you were talking about, there's usually brushes next to the toilet bowls in order to brush off whatever happened in there.
About the bakery thing, the most grocery stores have a bakery inside, and the most of the bread is from factories, but baked freshly the night before it came in to the shop, that’s also why in the Netherlands at the end of the day the choice of bread is smaller.
There are some drive through McDonalds around, but in general we don't eat and drive, and this is one of the things makes us from EU go bonkers about that when a car is presented by someone in the US they ALWAYS put emphasis on "cup holders" (and towing capacity). For us those 2 things doesn't make any sense at all. But we are plenty of food deliveries (either at home, but more rarely) or at work.
Oh by the way, restaurants (and food in general), at least here in Italy, are more about "social and cuisine experience" than "filling ourselves with human fuel", so that's probably the main reason restaurants are that way. If you just need some "fuel" to move on, it's plenty of delicious street food around that can help in that.
About shoes in the airport: sometimes you're asked to remove them here too, it depends of what shoes: if they have nails inside and make the metal detector to blink, then you're asked to put them in the x-ray scanner.
About toilets: and you didn't see those that were common (not sure if they still are) in certain east countries like Hungary, where the drain hole is in the front and there is like a "tray" where you deposit your "products", so that you can check if there's something not good coming out of your body...
Finally about alcohol: at least here in Italy, and out of teenage or people with problems, we enjoy alcohol in a social way, and we drink a bit because we have so many good liquors to choose, and we avoid to get drunk because that's a huge sign of immaturity... So alcohol is everywhere and if, now, they are *a bit* more careful not to serve it to people below 18yo, in general that's not so enforced. But last summer I was in Finland and it was a disaster: no alcohol in supermarkets (they have those crazy 0° wines that are blasphemy for an italian...), VERY expensive beers in the pub, no outdoor alcohol service (at bar) after 10PM, very rare proper alcohol shop (and super expensive...)... Let's say that in general the alcohol main problems with abuse has always been into more nordic countries or former soviet ones. Southern EU never really had social problems with that.
In the Netherlands the tray toilets are also common, for the reason you described. Both types are being used here.
We also have some driver through KFC (and maybe burger king), but it's mostly McD. Another reason for having less of these is that in Europe we don't have (m)any fastfood restaurant with a big parking lot around them in/near the city center. So there is simply not enough space.
I think you did a good job capturing some general things happening in Europe.
We do have drive thru, only not really a lot and they usually are outside the city center.
In the restaurant you can let them know you are kind of in a hurry and if it is possible for faster service. If it’s not they will definitely keep an extra eye on your table, to follow up. I’ve been to the US a few times already and I find dinner /ordering food over there is a horrible experience.
After dinner most of us usually enjoy a small walk. Even if sometimes it’s just to find the car.
People smoking depends on the country, there is quite a difference.
I don’t know why the water is low in the toilets but finding it clean off certain traces also mostly depends on the county I noticed.
Also: As other people have mentioned, drinking culture varies WILDLY across Europe. Scandinavia has strict blue laws (Denmark excepted), and tend to be binge drinkers. France and Italy are relaxed about it.
I like your personality and laughter. As many Americans you don't know many things people of your age would know in Europe but at least you are open, curious, and want to learn that is great. Every young American should travel to other countries in particular Europe.
Toilets:
When you need to replace all the water in the bowl, plus extra to make sure all the waste went down, it takes a lot of water each flush.
Australian toilets, for example, are similar to the European ones you described. We even have a half flush button for when you go number 1, because you only need enough water to give the bowl a rinse, and replace the water that was in the hole. We're famous for droughts, so being water conscious is a thing for us. Almost all of our shower heads are designed to use less water, too.
The two buttons (For different flush amounts) are also common for household toilets in europe.
I remember 20 years ago when conserving water was the hype here in central europe, there were these "tips" to put a brick into the water tank to reduce the amount of water it has in there and thus the amount of water one flush would use.
(In regions with abundant amounts of water that always felt strange to me, as the water isn't lost forever)
American toilets clog a lot which I never experienced with German toilets.
@@maxbarko8717 Well, TÜV checks Toilets that get onto the market in germany. No joke, i have seen a report about that. Every single bowl has to be able to handle the artificial "test saussage" in one flush and i think i remember it was 12 sheets of tp without clogging in another flush test.
(And when the bowl is already one little pond, the force of flushing is low compared to when water has the ability to build momentum before hitting the smaller water surface)
@@nirfz Interesting! I didn’t know that but it makes sense. Here they are afraid of „soiled“ toilets. So instead of heaving a brush next to the toilet they have a plunger (pümpel). Guess what is more disgusting.
@@maxbarko8717 😁
In regards to drive-through options, in general you only see it at fast food chains like McDonalds, but in typically in most parts of Europe it's not really a norm for common dining places. There will be a lot of take-out options and food-to-go, which assume people are already on foot or parked nearby - but since great parts of Europe are not that car-centric, dining places don't accommodate for people being reliant on cars to anywhere near the extend of the US. Like you don't see acres of space dedicated to parking lots and super wide streets everywhere for constant traffic, it's simply that heavy dependency on cars and associating everything around being in a car, is not a thing here. Some countries in Europe are more extreme in this regard, some are less. Some places you can even find entire towns and cities that are strictly car-free, something you just couldn't do in the US.
Also in regards to the toilet water levels, typically in Europe the toilets will flush with higher pressure, and need less water present in the bowl to do so - whereas in the US you have more water to compensate for the lower flushing pressure. I am not technically inclined enough to specifically point out well defined pros and cons of either system, but the lower risk of backsplash in European toilets is a personal pro for me :b
Yes, I really dislike the over the top friendly waiter thing in the USA
Here in Switzerland it is completely normal to see people having a beer or glass of wine early in the morning (typically night shift workers)
Hell, I could even drink a beer while driving my car so long as I'm careful to stay under the legal limit
Cant drink and drive in Sweden. we have 0 as leagel limit.
I'm from Poland where drinking is kind of an issue, but still, I find that driving after alcohol is kind of disturbing. Only ultra-right activists are in favor of relaxing these regulations. However, this idea does not have much support in Polish society.
12:25
The toilets have a lower water level to avoid splashing your aß when you are making a number 2.
Here are 3 thoughts on what I heard:
1) As for Drive Throughs, I'm sure somewhere in Europe they will exist. Maybe even somewhere in Greece. I'm not sure, I've never seen one. But in general we don't prefer them, on the one hand because we don't use the car that much so we don't have the desire/need for a drive through, and on the other hand because if we want food in the car for a longer trip... then we either order takeout or cook it , and we just take it with us! 😅
2) Regarding smoking, you should have seen Europe 10 or 20 years ago. People were even smoking inside the intensive care unit! Inside the planes. Inside the kitchens. This has changed, but the smoking culture has largely remained, and very recently smoking has been stopped in restaurants. As you noticed in some restaurants it hasn't even stopped yet.
3) Regarding the toilets. I had never thought about it before, but I recently traveled to America and experienced a toilet filled to the brim with water, and I didn't like it. Everything you do in there comes back to haunt you. So I guess in Europe the water is lower so it doesn't splash you. Everything you do falls on the porcelain, and if it gets dirty then you clean it with the pigal brush.
I hope you had fun. We are waiting for the rest of the videos. And if you ever travel to Greece I will be happy to make you a detailed guide with everything you need to know!
my town got even a Döner drive thru.... and MD and BK...the most famous fast food joint is a Greek place right next to MD....
I noticed that here in Slovakia people smoke less than in the west or south. Young people rarely smoke. But we drink too much.
You just can't beat a relaxed dining experience, with good food and a chilled atmosphere.
Yeah, we have drive-thru here. They're everywhere except inner cities.
I suspect the main reason for the difference you experienced in Restaurants is due to the Restaurants in Europe and the UK being required, by law, to pay a living wage to their staff. Here in the UK you are free to tip or not as you wish, I think most people will leave a tip, but is is entirely voluntary.
One restaurant in the town I live in is a quite traditional, certainly not over-hyped or otherwise fancy beergarden. Wanted to go there when a friend visited, but google said it's closed that day (I believe it was a sunday afternoon). Passed by there anyway and noticed it was actually open; we told the owner about the mistake, and he basically said "I did that on purpose, otherwise I get too many people in here, tourists in particular and I can't stand it if people come here, stand around waiting for a table making everyone nervous; then order, eat and leave after 20 minutes like I'm just waiting to take their money. They can keep their money, I'll have a nice slow evening with the locals only." I think that made quite an impression on my visiting friend, but I suppose it's the complete antithesis to the american restaurant ethos as well...?
If that's in Lombardia (Italy) tell me its name because that's the perfect place for me to go having a good dinner and the owner is a genius :)
@@AlessandroGenTLe It's Gasthaus Steneck in Innsbruck, Tirol. But surely there must be some similar no-nonsense places in Lombardia - I once spent a night in an agriturismo above Domaso (Fonte di Mariella) which I think had very similar owners, completely real deal - and Pizzoccheri that made you think you just came home into your grandmother's warm house after a long walk though a winter storm :). I mean, obviously we are tourists as well when coming to Lombardia, but I hope we're not rushing anyone or demanding too stupid things. Just enjoying good food and drink, doing hikes around the mountains and getting to learn something about the region and people.
I agree about the SMELLY DANISH prople. They are widely know for not taking personal hygiene too seriously. Even Shakespeare mentioned the rotten smell in Denmark. Turns out he was referring to the smelly people in Denmark.
Wait - You don't have the taxes included in a restaurant? 🤯 Man, that's infuriating! I knew this happens when shopping or buying groceries, but even a restaurant! Is it the same in bars as well?
It depends on the state. We were pleasantly surprised that Oregon includes the tax in the price. Also, Oregon pays you to bring your used cans/bottles back to the store.
You are awesome. Come to Iceland next 😊 (maybe to our brethrens in Faroe Islands too)
Some airports will ask you to remove your shoes, depending on any number of factors. I've flown 5 times this year and been asked once in Amsterdam and once in Edinburgh. With regards to alcohol, most European countries legal age to drink or purchase it is a lot younger than the USA, so we have a much healthier attitude towards it because we don't have to sneak around and binge drink in the park until we're 21. The hotel I stayed in while in Munich had beer in the vending machine, for anybody to buy. if you did that in the USA then there would almost certainly be an incident followed by a lawsuit.
Beer used to be - and by law still can be - sold out of vending-machines in factories in Germany ( especially Bavaria ) and I am talking about big companies like BMW.
You are asked to remove your shoes mostly when you wear heavy boots. Or thick sneakers.
That explains it then, back in 2020 I flew from Exeter to Edinburgh. First time I had flown in about 10 years and the first time ever that I had ever seen the removing your shoes thing. So definitely Exeter and Edinburgh you have to remove your shoes, a real pain.
@@tyxeri48 Hmm, I've been a somewhat frequent flyer (6-20 legs a year) around Europe and SE Asia the last decade or so, and my choice of footwear is invariably low hiking boots. I think I've been asked to remove my shoes twice during all this time. And one of the places might have been Edinburgh, as others mention. I've always figured that some of the security people think the hoops and loops on my boots are metal, which they are not, but perceived thickness makes more sense.
The reason you don’t get the bill immediately your food arrives is because a) dining is a social activity, which can last a couple of hours, and b) so you can order dessert, coffee etc.
The only drive-throughs we have here are McDonalds and 1 KFC that I know of.
Also, I had a reverse tipping experience when I was in the states - there wasn't even the no tip option. And that's one of the things I really don't get, like you don't charge for soft drinks at all but at the same time you want me to pay 20%+ (minimum at that restaurant) for service, which was you bringing us 3 cokes and a pina colada. Just charge for all drinks and you'd get more money that 120% of that pina colada price.
Absolutely, the required tips make me so mad.
6:05 "Do you guys have drive throughs there?" - Places like McDonalds and KFC certainly do have drive throughs and there are also coffee chains like Starbucks and Costa that also do them.
Happy you didn't make your trip one big vlog. I always wonder why people go somewhere, and then only look at things through a camera. Curious what your next videos will offer.
In the UK we do have some drive thrus mainly McDonald's with some of the other major fast food chains also having them.
Increasingly Starbucks drive thrus are appearing especially at the sort of places you stop on a long drive
I've probably mentioned this to you before, but one other big difference I saw in Europe vs. the US was in the car culture. I still ran into just as many "car people" as I do in the States, but the cars which drew attention were wildly different...I was visiting a friend whose husband was stationed in Germany (and who was deployed at the time), and she drove a full size Ram pickup truck with the extended cab. We got looks _everywhere_ as we were driving around, from pedestrians stopping to stare to other cars slowing down on the Autobahn to get a better look. At one gas stop we were even approached by a random local who very politely asked if he could take a closer look at the truck & get some pictures of it.
It makes sense as vehicle taxes in Germany are tied to engine displacement (and now to pollutants as well), plus of course in many of the older towns it was nearly impossible to drive that truck around on the narrow, winding streets (she couldn't even get to my hotel to pick me up, though luckily it was within easy walking distance of her place on the base). So a huge pickup with a 5.7L Hemi engine in it was seen as an extravagance there, while something like a nice BMW or Mercedes was commonplace.
I'm a Finn and all my friends drive American cars. In fact, I have never owned anything else and never will. I wish I could afford a new Challenger but with car tax at over 100% it ain't gonna happen.Mecedeses are just taxicabs or gypsy caissons, why would anyone want one?
@@ImForwardlook You have well off friends or you are just lying about all of your friends owning american cars. I highly doubt that is the case. You might own one or want one but claiming all have one is little bit hard to believe. Still why drive something that hurts your valet every time you need to fill it up with gas? I would rather drive a Mercedes than any american car as I rather want to save some money not waste it on car that is just going to keep costing me more money than most others. Still most likely would not buy a Mercedes as its usually also just waste of money.
We used to have to remove shoes until recently, especially larger winter shoes that might have small metal parts, and also there were some more restrictions about stuff that you could carry on the plane, but many of them got lifted recently.
Why would I tip someone who's fake and annoying? I don't tip to begin with but I don't get it. And why would you not want a customer to stay? Rude to decide for customers when they're done.
The listed price is what you pay, WOW WHAT A CONCEPT!
Drive-through is for McDonald's.
Benefit of having less water in toilet is less splashage.
Hello Heidi!
Apparently you've been enjoying the different experience(s) of Europe. Great to see that you like most of those differences. I'm looking forward to your country-specific videos. Kind Regards from Germany
Part of my family are US Citizens living in NC. What i experienced is that americans love to work while we europeans love to live. Now im curious about your next videos. Youre doing an amazing job.
13:00, Streaks.... In Sweden we call it a Sliding Dallas 😁
Thanks for sharing ur experiences with us. I am from the UK and just wanted to jump in regarding the shoes at airports, they often make people take their shoes off at airports here too
The in your face restaurant experience and the expectation of tipping really puts me off visiting the states because eating out would be daily whilst on holiday in the states and the stress of the restaurant experience scares me!
@12:10 in your Europe part 1 video you mention your Denmark video. Which one is that? You have a good few videos about Denmark like the forest kindergartens and the language. I'd be very curious to learn how you experienced the bike culture in Copenhagen. But maybe you just haven't uploaded that video yet
Thanks for a good vlog, hope you have further happy travels. I have travelled alot all over the globe and really seen all sorts of everything you mention and more, Here in Iceland we do not tip anywhere, all employees are paid in full, and the price on the menues include service fees, VAT and any other taxes, if something costs 10 bucks, it costs 10 bucks, however people in the service industry here due accept tips when handed to them, but you are not abliged to tip at all.
im from UK, in the main, unless it valentines xmas, you have to ask for the check, they are not looking to turn tables, the kitchen will probably close at 9pm, they are happy for you take your time, order more drinks, hang out and chat, whether your out with your wife girlfriend, family or friends.
I lived both in the States and various places in Europe, you are right about the streaks... :D I would recommend taking some TP to grab the toilet brush at public toilets..Just my two cents hehe
Yes, there are drive thrus on highways and outer boroughs. But in historic districts there are typically traditional restaurants where people also have a social life. And there are places where you can have a quick lunch on working days, without making eye contact. One of the significant changes was the appearance of "American fast food restaurants" in Europe, and there are countries where this is not very widespread here.
I live in Switzerland and sometimes it stresses me when I want to ask for the check and the waiter often just ignored you. While travelling to different countries I always enjoy feeling welcome and being treated friendly in a restaurant and would more likely come back to this place. I would also mention that drinking is a serious issue, especially if you know victims who can not deal with it.
Interesting to hear your experiences.
We do have drive thru places in the UK, usually fast food places like MacDonalds or Costa or Starbucks.
In Sweden. It's usually calm when you're out and eat rarely any stress.
Some places you can order food, but you have to go inside and pick up the food. When you pay, you can see the price, you can choose to write the price yourself to be able to tip.
Drive-throughs (or Drive-In's, as they're called here in Germany) definitely are a thing, but you won't find them in city centres. They're mainly a feature of fast-food places that are located on the outskirts of town or at Autobahn rest stops, so places that are designed to cater towards people passing by with their car.
That's pretty much it, though. You won't find any Drive-throughs not related to food here in Germany.
6:25 there is a German saying for that.
Nach dem Essen sollst du ruh'n oder tausend Schritte tun.
Means after a meal you should either rest a while or walk a thousand steps 😁
And the only Drive/Walk troughs I know here in Germany are either the Fastfood chains or Dönerbuden 😅
wait _drive-through Döner_ ? for real?? I've never seen that, that's amazing
what I have seen though was a drive-through for boats, which I guess makes marginally more sense when you remember that the same city also has ferries that count as a normal part of the bus and train system, but is still a bit weird I guess
There are drive-thrus, bu they're USA companies like McDonald's. We have them in London, England. The tip thing you mention on screens even at a counter is creeping in. We often do have to remove our shoes at UK airports, and I recently did at Madrid. The toilet thing might be about the desire to inspect faeces for health reasons (German design?) - not sure.