It is but get this; it is also illegal to drive without a working horn, just there is no way you can legally test that it works!
The American Tourist - Clumsy Travel Mistakes
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I wouldn't recommend driving in Indian. Indian drivers do not use wing mirrors and rely on hooting the horn to let other drivers know they are overtaking... ...actually it's not so different in São Paulo!
And "schnaps" is not even Dutch, but German.When visiting the Dutch TT races at Assen for the first time in 1987 me and my pal walked into a bar and I asked for 2 pints of schnapps. The guy looked at me funny so I repeated my request.
Long story short, for some reason I thought schnapps was a kind of beer! Seeing how red faced I was at my mistake the guy poured us both a shot of schnapps and refused payment.
I'll bet he still to this day relates the time two leather clad bikers from England made utter fools of themselves in his bar.
Regards,
Jay.
In the eighties we were still a little sensitive to anything of German origin.
Sorry Jay, just saying.
Having dinner in a small French bistro
La patronne was doing the rounds of the tables asking if everyone enjoyed their meals
A very English voice behind me replied “ yes, once I got over my surprise that the marrow was not a vegetable”
By the way, MY grilled BONE marrow was delicious
La patronne was doing the rounds of the tables asking if everyone enjoyed their meals
A very English voice behind me replied “ yes, once I got over my surprise that the marrow was not a vegetable”
By the way, MY grilled BONE marrow was delicious
I never said it was Dutch, I just happened to be there when I first sampled it.
Just saying
Regards,
Jay.
I lived in Bolivia for seven years, and the opportunity for cultural misunderstanding never ended. Because of bad roads, the driving was slow with lots of push and shove in the intersections etc with ample horn blowing. One thing I learned, however, was that there was a smile just below the surface because Bolivians did not take themselves too seriously.
The Hungarian word for kiss is puszi (silent z). And double puszi is the norm. Also its often used to say goodbye on the phone to loved ones which might confuse those within earshot who don't speak Hungarian.
Speaking of travel mistakes, I doubt anyone's story would top this one...causing an international flight to turn around 2 hours in and go back to Atlanta due to having diarrhea "all over the plane".
www.dailymail.co.uk
Delta plane forced to replace entire carpet after passenger's diarrhea
Passengers onboard shared updates detailing how staff used vanilla scented disinfectant while they made the return to Atlanta on Friday night, where the plane was thoroughly cleaned.
Fortunately I had a good natured Bartender in Belfast. I ordered an Irish Car Bomb and he happily made one for me without complaint. He then chuckled and said, "I haven't had one ordered in over 25 years." I think he was good natured about it mostly because I engaged him in some innocent conversation first. Still, I don't know what I was thinking. I do appreciate the memory.
The other thing I have done from time to time, both in Paris and Amsterdam, is to forget to engage the shopkeeper or sales person in courtesy chit-chat before moving on to a sale or inquiry about a product. In America it is common to say, "How much is that .... or Can I see such and such..."
I found the French and to some extend the people in Amsterdam to correct me with "Good Morning" or "How are you doing?" or something along those lines. To which I then correct myself. Even beginning with a Hello is not enough of a courtesy.
If you travel enough, no matter how much you think you know, exhaustion and weariness will eventually trip you up.
I found the French and to some extend the people in Amsterdam to correct me with "Good Morning" or "How are you doing?" or something along those lines. To which I then correct myself. Even beginning with a Hello is not enough of a courtesy.
If you travel enough, no matter how much you think you know, exhaustion and weariness will eventually trip you up.
This was one of the things that I didn't care for, as well as bartering. I hate bartering. They usually already want pennies on the dollar, why do they want me to talk them down? It never made sense to me. I would usually just walk away from their "peasant" little negotiation, only to have them running after me with a lower price, exasperated that I would walk away.
While technically not a foreign country, I concur with you about NYC. I spent about ten years working there on a freelance basis, driving in and driving out, usually on the same day. I pissed all over that city. With the exception of the few franchised fast food restaurants with parking lots and construction sites with spot-a-pots, there is no place for a motorist (or pedestrian for that matter) to take a leak. I got to the point where I could pull over, take a whiz, and be back in the car and on my way in under a minute. Much cleaner and better smelling that any other public restroom!
In Chicago, I walked into a bar to use the restroom. I DID see the sign that said patrons only. I was willing to pay for a beer that I had no intention of drinking to be able to piss. But, then engaged the conversation of ridiculousness. "You have to drink the beer, sir."
"But, I don't like beer."
"why did you buy it then?"
"Because I have to piss."
"That doesn't make sense."
"I know, right?"
I am also certain that pre-Uber Taxis in big cities were all used as toilets, That's what they all smelled like. I wonder if Uber has increased the demand for toilets.
After a couple of frantic, wide-eyed dashes into restaurants in NYC that I am certain rivaled any entry that Kramer ever made on the Seinfeld set, I gave up and either did as the natives did and treat the entire city as the toilet that it is, or kept an old Nalgene bottle in the car.
I love how the dominant theme in this thread from the beginning has been about public restrooms and associated problems lol.
Both my late wife and my wife were/are better drivers than I am. I am hopelessly deliberate and strictly drivers ed. My one speeding experience was on a road trip with two buddies in college, from Chicago to Florida where we pretty much kept up a ninety miles an hour pace. The tires were good, so I'm here today. This was in a Rambler American station wagon! Otherwise, I'm strictly drivers ed, and occasionally risk being murdered for driving too slowly looking for a turn where the street sign is far back in the bushes.
However... with both my wives, overseas, where the driving is in the left lane, they have always tossed the keys to me, on the basis that, if I am going to be so damned deliberate, I might not kill us both. Frankly, I wouldn't try it again today. But at the time, even having to shift manually with my left hand, I did okay, translating the left turns into right turns and so on, and seated on the right hand side of the car.
In UK and Ireland, I believe when the roads reach a certain degree of narrowness, they build a stone wall on each side of the road.
My wife is an experienced Manhattan driver and also spent years of her life on the Long Island Expressway which in addition to having fast traffic, have what I am sure are lanes at least six inches more narrow than most states. There's one turn in Midtown Manhattan where you make a left from an intensely busy street and suddenly find yourself (it seems) driving at forty down a narrow hallway in the basement of a building. Luckily my wife was driving, so it was just a thrill for me.
My late wife was was what I considered NASCAR qualified. Though she wore glasses, she had incredible peripheral vision and unbreakable concentration. When she was ill toward the end, and I wasn't with her, some yahoo in a truck tried to run her off the road. Poor bastard. She could have run him into a bridge embankment and kept going, and I guess he figured that out since he dropped back and quit the chase. Mostly, people never honked or gestured; she knew where everyone was at all times. The highways in heaven are safe with her.
However... with both my wives, overseas, where the driving is in the left lane, they have always tossed the keys to me, on the basis that, if I am going to be so damned deliberate, I might not kill us both. Frankly, I wouldn't try it again today. But at the time, even having to shift manually with my left hand, I did okay, translating the left turns into right turns and so on, and seated on the right hand side of the car.
In UK and Ireland, I believe when the roads reach a certain degree of narrowness, they build a stone wall on each side of the road.
My wife is an experienced Manhattan driver and also spent years of her life on the Long Island Expressway which in addition to having fast traffic, have what I am sure are lanes at least six inches more narrow than most states. There's one turn in Midtown Manhattan where you make a left from an intensely busy street and suddenly find yourself (it seems) driving at forty down a narrow hallway in the basement of a building. Luckily my wife was driving, so it was just a thrill for me.
My late wife was was what I considered NASCAR qualified. Though she wore glasses, she had incredible peripheral vision and unbreakable concentration. When she was ill toward the end, and I wasn't with her, some yahoo in a truck tried to run her off the road. Poor bastard. She could have run him into a bridge embankment and kept going, and I guess he figured that out since he dropped back and quit the chase. Mostly, people never honked or gestured; she knew where everyone was at all times. The highways in heaven are safe with her.
If you want a bit of excitement when driving in London; take a large car through the side (not the main tunnel) into the centre of Heathrow Airport. A Mercedes E class has at most a couple of inches spare on each side; I found the best approach was just to go for it staring straight ahead... ...and don't even think about sneezing.
Once, while in Japan, I got on the wrong side of the train platform and ended up going in the opposite direction for an hour before realizing it. Another time, I tried to tip a waiter in Australia, only to be told tipping isn't customary there.
That must have been in a different millenium
While tipping is not obligatory, it is a nice gesture, especially if the wait staff have been attentive and friendly