# Small things you notice when travelling abroad **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 9, 2018, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277 "2018-01-09T22:51:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/21 "2018-01-11T00:17:35Z")
> [@Roderick\_Femm](#): > > That’s what handkerchiefs are for. You use tissues to blow your nose, and handkerchiefs to blot your hands dry in the washroom. One reason, possibly the main one, that everyone carries a handkerchief in Japan. So you put wet handkerchiefs back in your pockets? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/22 "2018-01-11T00:38:07Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > No trash cans in London. > > My wife and I had bought some bottled water and walked about looking for a place to toss the empties, but there were no outdoor trash cans to be seen. In NYC one sees trash cans everywhere, but none in London. > > I asked the guys at work and they said it’s a terrorism thing…bad people can put bombs in trash bins. A few months ago I was there and I agree there were a lot less than one would expect, and they didn’t have separate slots for recyclables, but I was always eventually able to find one. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/23 "2018-01-11T01:18:54Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Pricing in Europe tends to be whole numbers or something similar. Something will cost 4.0 or 4.5 Euros, not 4.95. And all taxes are included. Where in Europe? As I’m always wont to mention in this kind of threads, Europe is a whole diverse continent of 47 countries, and though I haven’t hardly traveled all of them, I haven’t seen this in any European country I’ve been to. At the very least not in my home country, where everything is priced x.95 or x.99. ---
**Author:** ![Procrustus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/procrustus/32/2994_2.png) [@Procrustus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Procrustus)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 1:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/24 "2018-01-11T01:22:54Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Where in Europe? As I’m always wont to mention, Europe is a whole diverse continent of 47 countries, and though I haven’t hardly traveled all of them, I haven’t seen this in any European country I’ve been to. At the very least not in my home country, where everything is priced x.95 or x.99. I noticed it Amsterdam and Paris. I may have overstated the case, however, as I particularly noticed it in restaurants. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/25 "2018-01-11T01:31:56Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I noticed it Amsterdam and Paris. I may have overstated the case, however, as I particularly noticed it in restaurants. Ok, restaurants make a difference, as I know it from here in Germany and other European countries I’ve been to (including the Netherlands), they really usually charge x.00 or x.50 prices. I think it’s because it seems a bit more classy than supermarket pricing, which is almost always x.99 or so. Applies also to pubs and bars. ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/26 "2018-01-11T01:36:45Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > Pricing in Europe tends to be whole numbers or something similar. Something will cost 4.0 or 4.5 Euros, not 4.95. And all taxes are included. They’ve started to do this in fancy restaurants in Toronto, too, leaving out the cents. The menu will say: “Hamburger avec le fancy . . . . . . . . $14” Or they’ll even omit the currency sign: “Squidburger avec compôte d’ariel fait en place sur les pommes de terre . . . . . . . . 14” ---
**Author:** ![elbows](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/b3f665/32.png) [@elbows](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elbows)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/27 "2018-01-11T01:48:42Z")
On this Thai island most every place sells both cigarettes and bug coils. But NONE sell lighters or matches! My lighter expired five days before my holiday ran out and now I can’t find a light anywhere! Plus, people smoke everywhere and all the open air restaurants light many bug coils every night. How do they not sell lighters or have matches? ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/28 "2018-01-11T02:52:30Z")
In Belgium, cups of coffee come with a cookie and a piece of chocolate. ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/29 "2018-01-11T03:10:14Z")
> [@Ludovic](#): > > A few months ago I was there and I agree there were a lot less than one would expect, and they didn’t have separate slots for recyclables, but I was always eventually able to find one. I imagine they’ve been gradually coming back since the ceasefire. Certainly my experience in the early '90s mirrored **minor7flat5** ’s My contribution: In Australia, drink taps of some sort or another are ubiquitous in kids’ playgrounds. It took me waaaay to long, visiting UK/Europe post-kids and wondering why they never seemed to do the same there to realise … duh. Frozen pipes. Not something we generally have to worry about. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/30 "2018-01-11T03:10:41Z")
> [@Procrustus](#): > > I noticed it Amsterdam and Paris. I may have overstated the case, however, as I particularly noticed it in restaurants. > [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Ok, restaurants make a difference, as I know it from here in Germany and other European countries I’ve been to (including the Netherlands), they really usually charge x.00 or x.50 prices. I think it’s because it seems a bit more classy than supermarket pricing, which is almost always x.99 or so. Applies also to pubs and bars. Generalizing as much as Procrustus and I’ve only been around (multiple) parts of Western Europe: - prices in supermarkets tend to do the silly thing with the not-quite-there numbers, - but are less likely to do it with produce sold by weight than with stuff sold per item, - the only [del]restaur[/del] food places that do it are fast food places, whether chain or not, - clothing stores don’t do it, - cheap clothing stores often go for prices that end in 5 or 10, - but in Spain sometimes you see 6, because that’s what 1000 pesetas rounded to when we converted (you don’t see 12 or 18, only 6); yes, it’s been almost 20 years. - Big ticket items such as appliances may do it but only to the Euro/Pound (I didn’t shop for appliances in Sweden or Denmark). Another related one: in Sweden, tills automatically chop the decimals off the total. This is particularly curious given that pretty much everybody pays everything by card, the only place where I wasn’t able to pay by card was a public restroom (really? The one time people may be in a hurry is the one time they need to be carrying 5 Krone?). ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/31 "2018-01-11T03:27:12Z")
> [@movingfinger](#): > > The toilets in Germany are…strange. At least they were in 1965 when I was there. They have a shelf just above the water line for you to inspect what you have created before consigning it to history. Not a bad idea from a health standpoint, but…unusual to Americans. Those shelf toilets were still alive and well in Budapest when I lived there in the late 90s/early 00s and when I last visited this past March. If anyone has difficulty imagining it, [here’s what it looks like](https://amsenneff.wordpress.com/2010/09/18/heres-a-culture-lesson-for-you-the-pooh-shelf/). I don’t know how popular they were as a current toilet model, or if they’re even still being made, but the majority of the apartments my friends and I lived in had those type of toilets. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/32 "2018-01-11T03:32:11Z")
> [@Sunspace](#): > > They’ve started to do this in fancy restaurants in Toronto, too, leaving out the cents. The menu will say: > “Hamburger avec le fancy . . . . . . . . $14” > Or they’ll even omit the currency sign: > “Squidburger avec compôte d’ariel fait en place sur les pommes de terre . . . . . . . . 14” Yeah, common here in Chicago, too, at mid-range and up bars and restaurants. [Here’s the menu](http://www.skylarkchicago.com/menu/) of a neighborhood pub’s menu. Lots of places won’t even do increments of 0.50, just dollars, [like this.](https://b.zmtcdn.com/data/menus/822/16754822/775c09fe24d9c3b2d48c52ed8d3270e0.jpg) (ETA: Oh, wait, there’s two $1.50 items right at the bottom. But minus those two items, that type of menu with just whole numbers after the dish and its description is pretty common around here. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/33 "2018-01-11T04:52:18Z")
The last time I was in Germany you could not get coffee to go. I still cannot process that. > [@Chefguy](#): > > I don’t know if there are still public toilet matrons in Moscow, but in the USSR days there was always an older woman who you gave a few kopeks to and she would hand you a few sheets of crepe-y toilet paper. They were still there in this millennium - porta-potties outside the underground. Little old ladies sold socks in the … damn, I forget what to call them, passage ways under the busy streets. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 6:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/34 "2018-01-11T06:07:31Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > No trash cans in London. > > My wife and I had bought some bottled water and walked about looking for a place to toss the empties, but there were no outdoor trash cans to be seen. In NYC one sees trash cans everywhere, but none in London. > > I asked the guys at work and they said it’s a terrorism thing…bad people can put bombs in trash bins. It varies from place to place. ---
**Author:** ![Riemann](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/riemann/32/3133_2.png) [@Riemann](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Riemann)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 6:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/35 "2018-01-11T06:28:20Z")
> [@pdhenry](#): > > Lane discipline on motorways. Even in Italy. Driving on U.S. freeways is far worse than any other First World country. Drivers are completely unpredictable, make frequent lane changes without signaling, and will generally go at whatever speed they feel like in whatever lane they feel like. For a visitor, all of this is compounded by the fact that signs often tell you the name of the road, but _not where it’s going_. To someone who doesn’t know the area, what fucking use is a sign saying “New Jersey Turnpike”, if it doesn’t also say where that road takes you? ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 8:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/36 "2018-01-11T08:55:42Z")
In two countries Ive been in the past couple of years (Cambodia and Somalliland), all prices are quoted and payment tendered in US dollars. Those countries do have their own paper money, but it is only used for fractional currency, because there are no US coins. For that reason, nearly all prices are rounded off to the nearest dollar. In my restaurant in Siem Reap, all menu offerings were a dollar each. If you’re extra hungry, order two. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/37 "2018-01-11T11:51:47Z")
> [@minor7flat5](#): > > I asked the guys at work and they said it’s a terrorism thing…bad people can put bombs in trash bins. Bad people _did_ put bombs in bins - the bins were removed because of a number of incidents where bombs were left in bins (it’s an easy place to put a bomb - it just looks like you’re throwing away trash, and once it’s in there, it is is unnoticeable) - I’m sure it was partly an economic decision - if the council does not provide bins, they don’t need to pay people to empty them. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/38 "2018-01-11T14:54:52Z")
> [@romansperson](#): > > In Belgium, cups of coffee come with a cookie and a piece of chocolate. It’s become quite rare nowadays but reading your post reminded me of it. It was perfectly normal in the 80s and early 90s. Also, a small bowl of salt peanuts to go with your beer. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/39 "2018-01-11T15:02:58Z")
> [@pdhenry](#): > > Lane discipline on motorways. Even in Italy. I’d forgotten about this. Passing on the right, except in an emergency, was against the law and drivers just didn’t do it. Changing lanes from left to right was worry-free, as you knew nobody would be there, and camping in the left lane just didn’t happen, other than by tourists ignorant of the law. Also, making obscene gestures to other drivers was a criminal offense, at least in Germany. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2018, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277/40 "2018-01-11T17:24:15Z")
> [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](#): > > It’s become quite rare nowadays but reading your post reminded me of it. It was perfectly normal in the 80s and early 90s. Also, a small bowl of salt peanuts to go with your beer. I was in the West Flanders area in 2015 and loved that the coffee was served this way. I don’t recall any bar snacks, though, now that you mention it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/small-things-you-notice-when-travelling-abroad/806277.md?page=3)