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The Marling Menu Master series is the best for interpreting restaurant offerings in France, Germany, Spain, and Italy.
Marling Menu Master
France
Marling Menu Master
Italy
Marling Menu Master
Germany
Marling Menu Master
Spain
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Note: Italicized notations by the author.
Rolling luggage sure beats lugging a pack on your back.
Delsey Luggage Helium Fusion Light 21 Inches Expandable Carryon
Day luggage for your walkabout.
Delsey Helium Fusion
Personal Bag
A rugged travel combo.
McKleinUSA Buckingham Tech-Lite Ballistic Nylon Executive Travel Combo
A bungee cord is very handy for tying your shoulder bag to your roller bag frame.
Crawford-Lehigh 6102 Bungee Stretch Cords Assortment
Wear a money belt under your shirt to protect your passport and valuables, especially if you are staying in hostels or dorms.
Victorinox Deluxe Concealed Security Belt
An RFID blocking wallet protects your passport and credit cards from identity theft in public places.
Travelon RFID Blocking Passport Case
This portable combo door stopper and alarm will give you additional security in your hotel room.
GE 50246 Smart Home
Door Stop Alarm
Weather protection is important. This is a great lightweight water repellent windbreaker.
The Stormbreaker
by Turfer Sport
Turfer Women's Featherweight Jacket
Look sharp and be comfortable.
Three Dots Women's Longsleeve Turtleneck Tee
Jones New York Womens Double Breasted Rain Jacket
Clarks Women's Wave.Run Slip-On
Tilley Endurables TH9 Women's Hemp Hat
Wear a scarf for comfort and style. Nobody will ever suspect that you are an American.
Very soft houndstooth neck scarf, Kanye West style, different colors available
I wore one similar to this on my early spring trip to London and Dublin.
Lamb Leather Bomber Jacket - Brown
This is my "standard" shirt for most of the year in Europe.
Men's Combed Cotton Euro Design Ski Turtleneck
My favorite T-shirt/undershirt has a pocket for securely carrying passport, cash, and credit cards.
Turfer Tagless ComfortSoft T-Shirt with Pocket
Wool Blend Ivy Cap
For leg comfort on the plane.
Arriva Travel-Tec Travel Legwear with Smart Compression Technology
Block the light and noise while flying.
Bucky Shades Sleep Mask
With Earplugs
Certainly a better pillow than the corporate issue on the plane, if there is one on your plane.
Bucky Fuzzy Wuzzy U Pillow With Snap & Go
, , , , , , , ,
It rains. Be prepared.
Totes Titanium Auto-Open/Close Umbrella
Walk on cork for all day comfort.
Birkenstock Bali Sandal
Birkenstock Arizona Sandal
Just as comfortable as tennies but look great.
Men's Riva
Comfortech Slip-on
by Florsheim
Make sure that your electrical appliances are 110-220 dual voltage so they will work in Europe.
Note:
These appliances require a plug adapter(s), NOT a converter, for the countries you are visiting.
Vagabond Compact Styler
Conair's Dual-Voltage Ionic Hair Dryer
Conair Flat Iron 2" Ceramic Straightener
Dual Voltage
Conair TS63R MiniPro Ceramic Curling Iron
Dual Voltage
Travel Hair Setter
Dual Voltage
Remington H-1015
SteamFast SF-717 Home-and-Away Mini Steam Iron (dual voltage)
Braun Series 1 150 Men's Shaver with Automatic Worldwide Voltage Adjustment
For light sleepers here is an international "white noise" machine. Includes a Continental
plug adapter.
Marsona TSCi-330 White Noise Travel Sound Conditioner For both USA and International Use
This CPAP machine is specified for 110-240 dual voltage. All you need is a plug adapter to use this in Europe
RemRest Tier 3 CPAP Machine by Evo Medical
For coffee or tea in your room, without waiting or paying for room service.
Lewis N. Clark Immersion Heater 120/240V
You will need one or more of these plug adapters for your appliances and chargers.
For details on electricity in Europe see chapter 11,
Electricity in Europe: Travel Voltage Fundamentals
Plug Adapter (doubler)
Universal to Continental Europe "Europlug."
4.0 mm prongs
SIMRAN PLUG ADAPTER
Adapts grounded USA plugs to European "Shucko" plug.
4.8 mm prongs
This is a universal plug adapter for the UK and Ireland.
Grounded Adaptor Plug for Britain and Ireland
The holes of many Italian outlets are too small for the Schucko plug. One of these will probably fit.
If you have the Europlug (above) you do not need this plug.
Italy Adapter Plug B
Ungrounded
4.0 mm prongs
Plug Adapter for Italy
Universal to Grounded 3 pin
To use this with American plugs you'll also need the USA to Continental Europe adapter.
Grounded Adapter
Europe to Switzerland
For charging the batteries of more than one gizmo at a time use this 250 volt universal
power strip. It comes with a grounded Continental plug.
Surge Protector
Power Strip
6 Universal Outlets
220/240 Volt 50/60Hz
To use the surge strip in Britain and Ireland you will need one of these plug adapters.
Grounded Adapter
Europe to
Britain and Ireland
To use the surge strip in Italy you will probably need this plug adapter.
Grounded Adapter
Europe to Italy
Here is a smaller power surge strip with three universal outlets. It is wired with an American grounded plug so it needs a plug adapter for the countries you are visiting.
SM-60 Universal 3 Outlet Power Strip / Surge Protector for Worldwide Travel. 110V-250V with Overload Protection.
If your gizmos charge through a USB port this can keep you going. European cars have the same
12 volt system as American cars.
Scosche Dual USB
Car Charger
This transformer rated for 200 watts will power many of your appliances if they are only rated for 120 volts.
Transformer - 200 Watt Non Grounded Heavy Duty
Absolutely the best battery for digital cameras which use AA batteries.
Energizer
AA Lithium Batteries
4 Pack
Rechargeable batteries are expensive but pay for themselves over and over.
This charger is good for worldwide voltage and comes with 4 pre-charged batteries.
It requires a plug adapter for the countries you are visiting.
Sanyo Eneloop 4 Pack AA NiMH Pre-Charged Rechargable Batteries
w/ Worldwide Charger
This kit includes a pair of rechargeable batteries with a USB powered charger.
SANYO NEW 1500 eneloop 2-AA Ni-MH Pre-Charged Rechargeable Batteries
w/ USB Charger
Keep your stuff organized.
Luggage Packing Cubes
eBags 3pc Set
The two gallon size is excellent for packing your clothes, but it is hard to find in Europe.
Two gallon plastic bags
ZipLoc by SC Johnson
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Chapter 15
of
HOW TO EUROPE
The Complete Travelers Handbook
Internet edition. Without photos.
A page from
enjoy-europe.com
with
John Bermont
Man cannot live by Maxims alone.
HOW TO FIND A GOOD RESTAURANT
It's a constant question — "Where do we eat?" Being as
how we're not birds who pick their dinner from the ground, we
must seek out and decide between hundreds of places on a trip
to Europe. The search can be fun, or a gruel, as you decide
between menus, prices, and locations.
You have probably brought along a guidebook or two.
These looked worthwhile when you bought them but often turn
into waste paper and extra weight when you go to use them. My take on using
guidebooks is in chapter 10,
Guide Books, Maps, Dictionaries:
Travel in Europe with a Good Guide Book. I can't recall ever getting a good
restaurant tip from a guide book. Most of them, for example, boast on and on about the
rijstafel menus at Indonesian restaurants in Amsterdam. Well, boosh on that.
Indonesian restaurants are to Holland what Taco Bell joints are to the USA, and they smell
just as bad.
This chapter will explain how to find your own unique
eating discoveries. It also provides a general overview of the
features of eating out in Europe which you'll find to be slightly
different than dining out in your home town.
Streetwise Info
There is an easy way to find a good restaurant anywhere in
Europe. Rather than use the guidebooks and lists you bought or
were given just stop someone on the street and ask for a
recommendation.
The recommendation will depend on whom you ask, of course. Select
someone of approximately your own taste, determined by their
age, clothing, and general appearance. If you are looking for
specific items, e.g. fish, steak, pizza, vegetarian, etc., mention
that. Be ready with a pen and paper to write down the name of
the restaurant, or ask them to do it since you probably won't
know how to spell steak house in their language. Directions will
be confusing, so be ready with the city street map that you
picked up at the tourist office when you arrived.
It may easily take 10 minutes to get the message and
several more passers-by may stop to offer assistance and
comment during the intercourse. Europeans are not in such a
hurry as Americans and they are generally happy to take a few
minutes to help you out. Don't be too surprised if someone goes
10 minutes out of his way to escort you to his favorite
restaurant. And if the person to whom you have made inquiry
happens to have a car nearby, he might insist on driving you
there.
This works everywhere. You might be amazed at the
enthusiastic assistance you receive. But just imagine that if
someone with a foreign accent stopped you on the street in
Chicago and asked for a recommendation, you would help them
out also, wouldn't you?
Upscale
For the better places, ask owners of shops when you are
making other purchases. People in trade and business eat out
often and probably know the owner of their favorite restaurant.
They can recommend restaurants of good value, off the beaten
tourist trail. And when you arrive at the restaurant if you mention to the owner or head waiter that
it was recommended by Monsieur Shopkeeper, you may receive
a better table, portion, and service. Of course you can always ask
your hotel keeper, though he would be inclined to have you eat
in the hotel restaurant if there is one.
Downscale
If you walk in and see all the wait staff dressed in grungy denim you can pretty much
assume that you are at the lower end of culinary experiences. I take a look at the menu
and then usually walk out.
Look and Ask
You can window shop the menus of restaurants before
sitting down. Virtually every restaurant posts its menu in the
window or on a board out on the sidewalk. Sometimes it is on a chalkboard inside.
The first time I walked into a particular restaurant in Paris and asked for the
carte the waitress plunked a pair of binoculars on the table and
pointed to the chalkboard about 30 feet behind me. This has become one of my favorite
places in Paris.
In Brussels, the seafood is prominently exhibited in front of
the restaurants. In other cities ask to see what they have in the
kitchen if it is not displayed. I remember with a smile the time
that three new-found fellow travelers from South America and I
were given a tour of the kitchen in a Patras, Greece restaurant. The owner
took the lids off the pots and described what they were cooking.
After I go in a restaurant and take a seat, I usually take a
stroll. I cruise around the place and discretely look at tables to
see what people are having. If I see something that looks
appetizing I might ask the customer. It is fun and worthwhile to
look at the plates and ask the eaters what they are having and
how it tastes. Honest — just do it. I do this in the USA also. If
someone asked you, you would tell them, wouldn't you?
I also ask the waitress about any item with which I am
unfamiliar. In only a few countries will a waitress know the
American name for something unusual. However, there are always other
diners within earshot who are only too eager to help. I became
familiar with ostrich this way in a Düsseldorf restaurant a few
years ago. If you like steak you will love ostrich, sometimes confused
with emu. I don't know them apart either. In German Ostrich is der Strauß,
also spelled der Strauss.
A variation of my restaurant modus operandi is to keep an
eye on the plates that the waiter is bringing out. When I see
something interesting go by I ask what it is.
On the Road
Out on the highway, you'll probably pull over whenever
you're hungry and can find a place to slip the car in. The best
country to drive around in is France. Small to large country
restaurants all over the country serve the best meals every day of the
year. In the hills of Slovenia and Croatia just about every
roadside eatery has a couple of lambs roasting on the charcoal
out in front. I love roasted lamb. On the tollways in Italy and
France, restaurants are provided for travelers at rest stops just
as in the USA, except it is not the junk food you get on the Ohio Turnpike.
The food is not
bad and the prices are reasonable. Similarly, rest stops on the
Autobahnen in Germany usually have a restaurant with
respectable food and prices. You can also pull off the highway
and find a Stube in a nearby town.
Out on the road from Athens to Istanbul, we pulled into a roadside place where
not a word of our lingoes were spoken. The owner escorted us into the kitchen
where the meats on the menu were described as "moooo", "baaaa," and "oink."
That worked for us. The chicken was obvious.
On the Train
Most people on trains have packed a lunch because train
food can be a bit expensive. Eating in the dining car of a long
distance express train is a memorable experience. Learn more
about dining on the trains in chapter 17, part 2,
European Rail Stations.
Low Budget Cuisine
For the lowest cost eating make yourself a picnic. Go to the
butcher, the baker, the wine shop, and the cheese shop and buy a
little of each. To save time, go to a supermarket. Take your
groceries to a park bench, your hotel room, or your train and
make yourself comfortable. Cut the bag open and use it as your
tablecloth. Lay out your spread and start fixing your own. Wash
down a couple of high protein sandwiches with a few glasses of
Chateau Rouge and you're set for the afternoon or evening.
Some of my finest meals have been at the table in my hotel room
with a baguette, tomatoes, paté, a couple of beautiful smelly
French cheeses, plus a bottle of wine, of course. You can do this
for a few days to save up enough for a night at Maxims.
To expand your culinary experiences, picnic with some
local specialties, raw. Steak tartare (raw ground meat) is on the
menu of the best restaurants and sandwich shops. Less the
spices, the same thing is found at the butcher shop. In Holland it
is called steak Americaine.
Some raw, pickled, and smoked fishes are delicacies all over
northern Europe. Nieuw haring (fresh raw herring)
in Holland is delicious. Buy it in a fish shop or fish stand, right ready for
your champagne picnic. The Lijnzaat fish stand at the Botermarkt
in Haarlem is my favorite. Here you
can also buy cooked fish, sandwiches, and herring just like the Dutch. These stands
are typical throughout The Netherlands. Raw herring is served with chopped
onions and sometimes a sliced pickle. The fish monger will cut the raw fish into bite
sized pieces to eat with a toothpick. The traditional way to eat it is to pick it up
by the tail, put your head back, and chomp off a mouthful at a time. The day before my
return flight to the USA I go over to the Lijnzaat and buy 40 of the little darlings.
The fish monger vacuum packs them for me and I freeze them overnight at the
B&B Paula.
I have raw herring for an appetizer for many weeks after I return home.
RESTAURANT POTPOURRI
European restaurants are more varied than the hotels, and
almost as varied as the people. Generally, restaurants are
individually owned and are much smaller than at home. Except
for the fast sprouting "golden arches" and similar competitors
imported from the USA and England, there are few restaurant
chains in Europe. However, London is sprouting more and more KFCs,
BKs, and McDs than you could imagine.
Hours
This discussion does not apply to McDs, KFC, BK, and other fast food junk joints.
Restaurants are closed for a good part of the
day, and that part of the day varies from place to place. For
instance, it's almost impossible to have dinner in France before 7
pm, but difficult to get it after 6 pm in Norway. Spain and
Greece probably have the most unconventional eating hours.
Most people in those countries eat lunch between two and four
in the afternoon, then have dinner between nine and midnight.
In Scandinavia, many better restaurants have a live band and
dancing in the evening. They charge a hefty price just to walk in
the door. In Germany, most restaurants have a Ruhetag (day off)
even if they are part of a hotel. The Ruhetag is normally Sunday
because business people cannot write off expenses incurred on a Sunday.
In most countries, virtually all restaurants are closed on
local holidays. In Holland everything is also closed on New
Years Eve, the biggest night out for Americans. Things are changing
in Amsterdam so that it is possible to have a party out on NYE.
Fixed eating hours generally don't apply to bar food. You
can get a snack in most bars and cafes during the day and late at
night, and at a reasonable cost. In Britain and Ireland bar food was about the
only food I ate, except for breakfast at the B&Bs where I stayed. Breakfast in B&Bs
on the Islands is pretty much the same all over, a very filling plate of
eggs, ham/bacon, potatoes, tomatoes, toast, juices, and coffee/tea.
Water
After getting a table, the first punishment for Americans in
northern European restaurants is: do not pass go, do not collect
a glass of water, go directly to eating. Actually there are at least
two ways to get a glass of water. One is to order bottled water,
and pay for it. Another is to order a cola, beer, tomato juice, or
whatever, and a glass of water at the same time. The water
usually comes for free, unless it's bottled water. Specify ice if
you want it and be happy with the meager cube delivered.
On the other hand, in many restaurants in the
Mediterranean countries, a carafe of water is brought to your
table with the menu. But it would be a good idea to avoid
drinking water other than from a sealed bottle in southern and eastern
Europe, especially during the summer. Catching an intestinal
bug can be devastating.
Service
Second punishment is the "service." Holland has probably
the worst restaurant service in Europe, but no country has
service of as good a quality as we are accustomed to in the USA.
You might sit helpless for ten minutes while the waiter stands
five feet away reading a newspaper. Take it easy! The waiter or
waitress gets 15% of the tab which is already included in the
price of everything on the menu, or added on before you get the
bill. Why move fast if the tips are fixed? A German friend of
mine told me that her father finally got tired of waiting for
service in one Dutch restaurant so he walked over to the waiter's
station and asked the waiter, who was having a cigarette with a
friend, "When are you going to bring the menu?" The waiter replied
that it wouldn't be long, and added, "You have to wait in the
doctor's office too, don't you?"
At a two star restaurant in Paris, there were more penguins
than customers, but most of them posed discreetly out of
earshot. It was impossible to get anything until they determined
that it was our turn. "Penguin" is my term for a waiter in a
tuxedo because that is what they look like.
I stumbled upon a Metzgerei (butcher shop) in Frankfurt a/M (am Main)
serving great sandwiches, salads, and beverages — cheap, fast, and good.
At most bars in Britain and Ireland you go to the bar and order your food and drink.
Pay for it and grab your beer or ale. Find a seat and tell the bar man where
you are going. In 5 or 10 minutes your food will be delivered to your table. I'll
never order fish and chips again. Ugh. Chili is good.
Fast Service
There are exceptions to every rule, and the best exception
to the surly café service in Paris is at the Triadou Haussmann
near the Gare St. Lazare (St. Lazare Train Station). I had the
funniest, fastest waiter in my life there. Ask for the service
rapide if it is still advertised on the front window. By the way,
the bad reputation of France is due, in my opinion, to the
malcontents who serve as café waiters in Paris. The average
Frenchman is as hospitable as the average American, and
Parisians in general are par with Chicagoans when it comes to
the friendly factor.
If you are really in a hurry to eat, tell the head waiter
immediately, before sitting down. Otherwise forget it, and forget
about going anywhere for the next couple of hours. It's just not
right to eat French food in a hurry, and they normally won't let
you do it.
Bummer Service
Don't let waiters intimidate you, bring things you didn't
order, and jack up the prices. In Madrid, a waiter left a full
bottle of wine on my table and I promptly told him to replace it
with the half bottle I had ordered. Then I ordered squids at 525
pesetas (this was before the euro) and he brought a plate with a
large fish on it. He had already made me wait long enough, so I
ate it. Then he gave me a bill for 900 pesetas, the price of the
fish I had eaten. I shoved that back at him and reminded him of
what I had ordered. A couple more waiters and a few minutes
later, they brought me a bill for 525 pesetas which I paid. It was
a darn good fish.
In Paris I ordered a demi at a café. The waiter brought out a
half liter glass of beer. I reminded him that I had ordered a demi
and asked him to take it back. He stood there playing dumb. I
stood up and told him to go fly his kite, well actually I made it a
bit more understandable by commenting on his maternal canine
ancestry or something to that effect. I walked over to another café.
In Athens I went out to dinner with some doctors from
Latin America, fellow travelers I met on the boat from Italy. The
service was good, but the waiters pulled some exorbitant stunts.
They kept delivering little trays of sauces which we thought
were included with the appetizers we had ordered. When the bill
came, we found out that those little trays cost two to five dollars
each. Watch out in the Plaka section near the Acropolis. The
food and entertainment are great, but the bill can bust your
budget with the slick "service."
Coffee and Tea
There is quite a difference in the types of coffee served in
Europe. In England and Ireland it is black or white. "White" is
with cream. Expresso, also called espresso, is my addiction. This
is a strong, two sip coffee served in France and Italy usually
accompanied by a twist of lemon peel. Coffee is very black in
Spain and Portugal, but not especially tasty. Greek coffee is a
sweet, two sip cup, half of which is fine muddy grounds. Ask for
"o-hee sak-reen" if you don't want a pound of sugar in your
Greek coffee, and don't stir it up! Turkish coffee also comes
with a half cup of grounds which doesn't leave much room for
the liquid.
I was never a tea drinker until late 2009 when I discovered green tea. Now
it is my first beverage of the day, followed by an espresso later in
the morning. Teas, even green teas, all have a distinctive taste. If you
are a tea drinker I recommend that you bring a supply of your favorite.
Cocoa
For those who want to stay awake and do not want to take
coffee, eat dark chocolate. A few ounces of dark chocolate has about
as much of the alkaloid caffeine in it as a cup of coffee, and is a
better pick up for me than caffeine. Chocolate can keep me
awake for half the night. I carry a bar of dark bitter chocolate
with me all the time for a quick afternoon pick up.
Menu
The word menu is often used to denote a particular dinner
selection, and card (carte or karte) refers to what we think of as
the menu. On the card are often several menus of three to seven
course meals in addition to the á la carte lists. The menus allow
substitutions, if stated, and they are less expensive than
assembling a meal from the á la carte lists. Look for daily
specials which can be posted on cards on your table, on a
blackboard hanging on the wall, or posted out front on the
sidewalk.
Often you will be told, after you order an item, "it is
finished." The translation of this is that you won't be eating that
one today, probably because they haven't had it available for a
week. In the eastern countries, menus list many items, only a
few of which have prices next to them. Most of the priced items
are available.
For an excellent introduction to European menus, consult
the practice menus in the Marling Menu Masters. Reading the
menus, even with a translating dictionary, is difficult until
you've been in a country for a week or two and know what to
expect. Many of the better restaurants provide an English
translation menu. Some of these translations are confusing or
amusing. Almost every one translates "escargots" to "snails."
This sort of spoils the essence of slugs baked in butter and
garlic. Once you get the drift of the local language you will probably prefer
to order from that menu rather than the English language one.
Prices
Restaurants on high rent boulevards are not likely to
provide a good value meal. It may be good but it will be expensive, not a good value.
In major cities, you'll often find
good restaurants in the financial district. If you see a few banks
on a street, look around for a place to have lunch. Top hotels also have good
menus. I try these places for lunch when the increased price is not so bad as
it is in the evening. Many top hotels have a main restaurant plus a lower cost
bistro. Do the bistro, unless you are on a corporate or government expense account.
Conversely, palatable food at cheap prices is likely to be found in the
neighborhood of a university. For really cheap food walk right
into the university cafeteria and get in line. To save money one day a
group of us from the Alliance Française walked into the cafeteria at the
Sorbornne in Paris once. The food was cheap, but awful. Bring your own ketchup! Our lunches
at the AF were pretty darn good, especially on lamb cous cous day. I love cous cous.
I would bring my girlfriend who worked at the French Ministry of Finance. That
was before I met Elizabeth at the AF.
As a general rule, you can eat much better at a lower cost in
a nearby smaller city than in a large city. For instance, from
Nice, go over to Antibes for dinner. With a Eurailpass this trip
costs you nothing.
In general, it costs less to eat and drink as you go south and
east. In northern Europe, the best values are to be had in Greek
and Italian restaurants, in small cafes and bars, and at
smorgasbords where you can pork out at a reasonable cost.
Prices are already low in Spain, but if you want to save a little
more, eat at the barra ("bar") rather than at a mesa ("table").
The champions in low cost eating are in the eastern
countries, and the further east you go the lower the cost goes.
In the west, fine restaurants can be within everyone's
budget if you're not too hungry, or if you know what to order.
One of the most magnificent stuffings I ever had cost less than
two Big Macs at a top hotel in Stockholm. The sillbord was an
appetizer of nine assorted types of herring, baked potato, sour
cream, and cheeses, and could feed two people plus a doggie
bag. One beer and a cup of coffee almost doubled the price.
Tip
A 15% service fee (call it the tip) is usually included in the
price of everything in most restaurants and bars in Europe. Look
for a note on the menu. When the 15% service fee is not
included in the printed price, it is always added to your bill and
demanded by the waiter. This add-on method seems to be a
common practice in Scandinavia, Italy, and Paris.
So as a general rule it is not necessary to tip in Europe and most people don't tip.
The waiter has already tipped himself. The price on the menu is
normally the total you will pay, tax and tip included.
Tax
The service fee notation will be accompanied with a
mention of the national sales tax. The tax can be known as
T.V.A., ETC, V.A.T., MOMS., I.V.A, or some other initials.
Consult your Berlitz or Marling for the local name. The tax
ranges from 7% to over 20% depending on the country. Tax is
always included in the prices.
Menu prices and bills don't always look the same. The
prices on the bill may be shown without the tax, and then the tax
is added on. The result should be the same as the total using the
prices on the menu. If you are in doubt, ask for an explanation.
If they made a mistake, give them a wide berth on offering a
rationalization.
Always ask the owner if you can look at a menu
before sitting down and ask if those prices include service and
tax. Do not ask the waiter after he presents the bill whether or
not his tip has been included. That is tacky and will embarrass
him, if he knows the meaning of the word tip.
Extra Costs
In Italy many ristorante and trattoria menus have a pane e
coperto (bread and cover) charge stated at the top of the menu.
You must ask for butter for the bread, but the butter is often
free. The bread charge in addition to the 15% service charge.
In Athens, many cafes charge extra at Christmas. A note on
one menu said, in English, that the service charge is increased
for the period December 16 through January 15 due to the
Christmas bonus, from 16% to 28%. Not all of them were doing
this.
Tastes Good and Not So
Americans are beef eaters. European beef generally does
not taste as good as that in the USA, and/or may be tough. Spain
is a possible exception to this statement. In the rest of Europe
look for an Argentine steak house for the closest resemblance to
American beef. If it is taking you five minutes to chew a cut of
beef then cut it thin at an angle, across the grain. This makes it much easier
to eat.
Pork, lamb, chicken, fish, and cheese in Europe is usually
better than that in America. Eat the local products and in-season
specialties for better dining and lower prices. E.g., spring is Spargel
season in Germany. This is a tasty large white asperagas.
However, the quality varies remarkably within Europe. The
British truly deserve their well-earned reputation for consistently
bad tasting food. Whenever possible eat in a Greek, Italian, or
French restaurant in London. For lower cost eat in pubs. Also, avoid any place on the
Continent with a British sounding name. Tip: Anglais and
Londres are French words meaning English and London,
respectively.
Our experience in Istanbul was outstanding. The food at a
local café near Topkapi Gate was so good that we ate there just
about every night, taking "our table" on the balcony to watch the
worlds walk by. It was fascinating. Other clients and the owner
were good conversationalists.
For the best overall dining in my book, get out into the
French countryside. Go to Burgundy (between Dijon and Lyon)
and the Loire Valley (between Orleans and Angers) for great
groceries, fowl, meat, and wine at a reasonable cost. The triangle
formed by Geneva, Orleans, and Strasbourg should have some
ebullient epicurean moniker attached to it. When I lived in
Holland, a friend told me that for my vacation I should eat my
way through France. That is outstandingly good advice.
On my way south from Holland to France, as I discovered
years later, I should have been stopping in Brussels. You can
become addicted to mussels in this city. Skip Brussels and you
have doomed yourself to having passed up some of the best
eating on the planet. Antwerp is just as good, and a more interesting
city to boot.
I have had memorable and low-cost meals in all of the
Mediterranean countries, and great fish in Portugal and
Scandinavia. During the fall, wild game is available in many
restaurants in Germany, Holland, and France. I love wild rabbit
in Holland and deer in Germany. Fall is also the time for real
bock beer from the keg and Beaujolais Nouveau wine in France.
This wine goes great with Thanksgiving turkey.
Food in the eastern countries was generally pretty bad in the early
1990s but has really improved. I found some excellent moderately priced
restaurants in the beautiful old town centers of Tallinn, Riga, and Vilnius.
Prague and Krakow are also high on my list of good food at a reasonable price.
Most travelers still bring along something to eat when
going to the east since there is no telling what you are going to
be served. The Chicken Kiev I was served every night at the
hotel in Kiev seemed to contain something different each time.
I'm sure the situation will improve, but in the meantime, just
accept it as part of the experience. Actually one of the
worse meals I ever had was the owner's specialty in a small
German hotel. It was a hausgemacht (home made) sausage with
blood still dripping out of it. The owner beamed as I ate it — to
avoid offending him.
A few years after the Fall of the Wall (that was November
1989), I had dinner in Leipzig (former East Germany) with a
couple of business colleagues and the situation can be described
as bizarre at best. We were seated at a table with a drunk, a
stoned drunk with his cheek on the table and fast asleep. They
soon took him out. Our meals came in shifts, at various
temperatures and with some semblance of what we though we
had ordered. My colleagues were Germans and they were just as
shocked as I. It was about the only place in town and we were
just short of starvation at the moment, so we suffered it. The situation
has improved considerably in the former East Germany as
I learned on my last visit to Dresden.
Seating
In some restaurants, every vacant table displays a
"reserved" card. Probably none of these tables is reserved. Ask
the head waiter for a table and you will be seated immediately if
you are properly dressed, i.e., no Levis and no Nikes.
If you walk in and notice that every table is occupied, ask
the head waiter for a seat anyway. He will sometimes seat you at
a table partially occupied by other guests, at least one of whom
wants to practice English. Don't be bashful. This is an excellent
opportunity to meet Europeans. If you don't know the local
language, simply say "Hello," and then add that you are a tourist
from America and sorry but you only speak English. You'll
probably have a pretty good conversation going in seconds.
Sugar & Spice
Sugar and fake sweetener are usually on the tables. Salt and
pepper are also present, but in northern Europe it is white
pepper, not black pepper.
Eating Procedure
How do you eat? I was taught at home to cut my food, then
put the knife down, transfer the fork to my right hand, put my
left hand in my lap, fork the food into my mouth, eat the food,
put the fork in my left hand, spear some food, pick up the knife,
and start again. Europeans laugh when they see this. They keep
the fork in the left hand and they keep it busy. They keep the
knife in the right hand cutting or scooping food up on the fork
and only put the knife down to take a drink of wine or beer.
Europeans normally break off a piece of bread instead of
biting off a piece. Sandwiches are usually open face and are
eaten with a knife and fork.
When finished with your soup, put the spoon in the saucer
that the soup bowl came in. When done with your dinner, put
your knife and fork on your plate with the handles on the right
side. Waiters understand these positions and are more likely to
clear your table when they see them.
At a seafood restaurant in Portugal, instead of knives and
forks, the waiter gave most people a mallet and a small square of
wood. It was a noisy restaurant, and the people were having a
great time bashing open those crab legs.
Alcoholic Beverages
Many Americans start dinner in a restaurant with a cocktail.
In Europe people will start with a glass of dry sherry or another
wine derivative.
Beer, wine, and locally distilled spirits are part of the way
of life in most of Europe. Children are brought up with spirits
on the table and consequently it is no big deal to turn 21 for the
first legal drink as it is in the USA. Some cafés are posted with a
minimum age, 16 or 18, but usually not. I've never seen anybody
checking ID in a bar or restaurant.
The exception to liberal drinking laws is Scandinavia. They
have a pretty weird attitude on alcohol up there. Official policy
is to make it as difficult as possible to have a drink. In Finland,
it is against the law to sell gin, vodka, or akvavit (a nicely
flavored distilled grain alcohol) in a café unless it is mixed in a
drink. All alcohol sold in Finland is controlled by the state
monopoly ALKO. This company imports French wine in bulk
and bottles it under its own labels, OY ALKO. In Sweden,
alcoholic beverages are sold by the state monopoly
Systembolaget.
These unusual laws create aberrations which tourists can take
advantage of. For example, wines in Swedish restaurants are not
marked up as high as beer. For the price of three beers, you can
get a full bottle of French Beaujolais or German Riesling.
Before ordering any distilled spirits, specify what size you
want. The menu normally gives prices for 2cl and 4cl. In the
Scandinavian and Mediterranean countries, you might get 8cl if
you just order the "big one." Specify 4cl if that is what you
want.
There are very strict laws regarding drinking and driving in
every country. For more details, see chapter 18,
Driving in Europe.
Toasting
Americans toast by clanking glasses with an appropriate
"To your health!" or some other greeting. In Holland, Germany, and
some other countries the custom does not include clanking the
glasses. But it does include a straight eyeball-to-eyeball stare for
a second as you hold your glass up.
Dessert
The desserts offered after dinner in Europe are beautiful.
They are not big but they are beautiful. From cream cakes to
fresh fruit to the darkest chocolate creations, you normally have
a challenging choice.
I rarely take a dessert. I'm sweet enough already. I prefer the cheese
platters. There are so many cheeses and so little time. In better restaurants
the waitress will bring out a platter with maybe a dozen wedges of cheese
on it. You can choose three, a piece of each will be cut for you, and your
bread basket will be refilled.
I was with distant relatives Ida and her son Hermann in Austria
a few years ago. We were driving around the Tyrol visiting other distant relatives.
At each stop we were offered chocolate cake and coffee. I was full but Hermann
stopped for lunch anyway. Since I wasn't too hungry I ordered the
cheese platter. The waitress brought it out and left it on the table. I cut off
a few pieces for my lunch. When we were done and had paid the bill Ida picked up a napkin,
wrapped all the rest of the cheeses in it, and put it in her bulging purse. There
must have been a couple of pounds of cheese there! I'll bet that was the last
time that they left the platter on the table. Ida and I had plenty of
cheese for the next few days.
The Bill
After eating, getting attention and getting the bill is often a
problem. Wave at the waiter. When he notices you, hold up your
left hand and mimic writing squiggles on it with your right. He
will understand.
When the waiter presents the bill, check the prices versus
the menu, and the addition. In Holland and in Spain I have had a
different menu and prices shown to me after I questioned the
price of dinner. In Holland the waiter went back to the kitchen
after my protest and came back ten minutes later with a menu on
which he had taped little squares of paper with higher prices. I
couldn't believe it. "Be fair," I said, and paid the amount shown
on the table menu.
Mistakes in adding up the bill are common, and most of the
time the numbers run a little high. Many restaurants are
changing to computerized bill printing. This is nice because now
I can read them. Handwriting and numbers are difficult to
interpret in Europe. I haven't found any errors in arithmetic on
the electronic bills, but have seen cases where the price or
quantity of an item was inflated. Also, make sure that something
you didn't order is not slipped onto your bill.
Bar Food
For good food at reasonable prices, eat in a bar. At almost
any time during the day in Holland and Dutch-speaking parts of
Belgium, ask for an uitsmijter (white bread topped with ham or
cheese and two sunny-side up eggs) or erwtensoep (delicious
heavy pea soup with sausage) and roggebrood (black rye bread)
with raw bacon on the side, but only available during the
winter. In France and French-speaking parts of Belgium ask for
a croque monsieur (toasted ham and cheese sandwich) or a
croque madame (toasted ham, cheese, and egg sandwich). In
Greece, the taverns have all kinds of things to eat and you
usually get an appetizer with your drink. Over in Italy I found a
gourmet cafeteria in the back of a tavern in Milan. For under six
bucks I had two large pieces of salmon, a garden of groceries,
and a glass of good red wine.
At bars in Italy they do make it a bit difficult to get served.
First survey the food on display and then go over to the cashier
and pay for what you want. Then go back to the counter with the
receipt and order your food. Give the receipt to the
waiter/waitress behind the bar as payment. He/she will promptly
give it a rip and throw it on the counter next to your selection.
It's doubly difficult for those of us who don't speak Italian. How
do you tell the cashier what it is that you want when the
unknown delicacy is on a counter 30 feet away? Somehow it
happens.
Over in Madrid, the tourist office will give you a city map
showing where most of the taverns are located. Each one has a
selection of things to eat and I spent several days making the
rounds trying all the tapas possible. In one bar, I ordered paella
— a heap of saffron rice with a few small clams, crabs, and
pieces of chicken. There I was in a public place staring at two
little red crabs hiding in my rice, and they were staring back at
me! They were about three inches across and too small to break
open. What else could I do? They were already cooked, so I ate
them, eyeballs, shell, and all. They were crispy like potato chips
and tasted pretty good.
If you're starving late at night in Holland, ask for a tostie
while you have a beer and trade tales with your new-found
Dutch friends in a cozy brown bar. A tostie is a cheese or ham
sandwich popped into the toaster.
Pubs in Britain and Ireland are always a good place to eat just about any
time of the day. Menus are usually scrawled on blackboards in front of the
bar or behind the tap. Order and pay at the bar and take a seat. The bar man
will bring it to you shortly. Sometimes the bars have pans in a steamer so
it can be dished out to you immediately.
Toilets
Toilets in restaurants are usually marked with the symbol of
a man or woman, i.e., skirt and slacks, or have the local name for "man" or "woman"
on the door. Some may simply have a triangle on one door and a
circle on the other. Other obtuse symbols can also be seen. If
uncertain, ask, or wait to see who comes out or goes in.
Toilets normally go under other names over there but are
never called the "bathroom." Though often labeled W.C. (for
water closet), local names like toalet in Scandinavia, services or
aseos in Spain, or loo in Britain are commonly used. Generally
you can get what you want by asking for the "toilet" or W.C.,
but pronounced as "wee cee" (France, Italy, etc.), or "vay say"
(Germany, Holland, eastern Europe, etc.).
The eastern countries normally use the hammam, a form of
toilet that is simply a square ceramic depression in the floor. It
has two elevated shoe shaped platforms in it and a hole in the
middle. You'll find these in many cafes in France, Italy, and the
eastern countries.
Do not expect toilet paper in European toilets. Let yourself
be surprised. Tip: you won't often be surprised in the eastern
countries. If you find toilet paper you might not recognize it,
except for the fact that it is in the toilet room.
I never eat in MacDonald's "restaurants" but I'm glad they
are parked in a few countries with less than standard sanitary
standards. MacDonald's toilets have clean thrones and white
toilet paper.
Virtually all toilets in Europe require payment. There may be a dish
with coins in it
near the door, with or without an attendant watching over it.
If the attendant is not present she is probably mopping up around
the men's urinals. Guys, don't turn around until you zip up.
Emergency Snack
There are few things more uncomfortable than hunger so
travel on a full belly and/or with a full meal in your sack. You'll
have an unusual timetable, not always of your own making.
Arrival times will not be regular, and trains can run late, causing
missed connections and late arrivals. On the highways, traffic
jams can be worse than anything you've seen at home.
Carry some bread, cheese, and fruit on the train or in your
car. Carry a can of sardines or some other durable at all times for
those late night emergencies. A chocolate or granola bar can tide
you over for a couple hours. A spoonful of peanut butter is
another great snack.
Smoking
Even though there are beaucoup more smokers in Europe than at home
the no smoking laws have reached Europe. In many countries you cannot smoke
in any public building, including restaurants, cafes, and pubs. If you puff
walk around and find a cafe with outdoor seating and ashtrays.
Where it is still allowed it is fashionable to smoke cigarettes. Also, cigars are
common and acceptable for an after dinner smoke, outside.
Holland has great cigars, and they're cheap. Holland is one of the countries
which has banned indoor smoking, except for marijuana in "coffie houses."
Have a joint.
I was amused in Copenhagen to see two women light up cigars after eating.
Apparently this is an old tradition of Danish women.
Doggie Bags
There are no doggie bags in Europe. This should not stop
you from rolling up your leftovers and some bread in a paper
napkin and taking it back to your hotel. It might be all the
breakfast you need tomorrow morning.
NOTE TO READERS
I welcome questions and comments. If you have any concerns about your trip to
Europe that have not been covered well enough in this chapter do not hesitate to write and ask.
My email address is
johnbermont@enjoy-europe.com.
When you write please include as much detail as possible. There are about 50 countries in Europe.
It will help me answer if you mention the countries and/or cities you plan to visit.
I will reply in a day or two.
Don't forget to scroll through the Table of Contents below. The other 29 chapters of
HOW TO EUROPE
are also available, free to read on line. In addition, the Google search box below can locate specific subjects
in any chapter or page on site.
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Packing List and Last Call:
For Travel In Europe.
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