Tourists describe their biggest culture shocks when visiting Europe
European countries share a number of quirks that seem baffling to foreigners. They include the size of the cars, the age of the buildings and tiny breakfasts
Every year, millions of visitors from across the world pour into the countries of Europe to soak up the culture, history and natural beauty.
But often the tourists, whether they are from America, Asia or Africa, are also shocked by certain characteristics that European states share.
Holidaymakers have now been sharing the details of the biggest culture shocks they had when visiting Europe on the online forum .
The number of young people smoking, the size of the cars and the general age of all of the buildings were all issues that baffled tourists.
Read on to find out what other European characteristics seem odd to others…
Young people smoking everywhere
'Asya Grechka from the US said: ‘I was pretty surprised that just outside school tons of middle and high-schools students would smoke like it was nothing.'
She continued: 'I only knew about some smokers in my high school in the US, never in middle school, and they would never smoke in front of everyone like that.
'In France, it wouldn’t be surprising to share a smoke with your teacher'
A love of queueing
Fernando Pilz from Mexico said: ‘While I’m sure Europeans don’t relish visits to the department of motor vehicles any more than Americans do, I was surprised to see that waiting in line for various things seems to be a well-tolerated part of European life.
‘In the US, any time there is a line for anything, it’s likely that you’ll see people loudly complaining and fidgeting restlessly.’
The ancient buildings
Sherry Chen, from Atlanta, Georgia said: ‘There is history everywhere - everything had a story.
‘Wait, that bridge has been here since when? Holy c*** the Colosseum was from the Roman era.
‘To someone from an area where most the infrastructure was built in the latter half of the 20th Century, my first month in England was spent ogling [everything].’
The tiny cars
Joel Oleson from California said: ‘Cars stood out as much, much smaller, with many smart cars and tiny vehicles on tiny roads.'
He continued: ‘I was driving in England and had to drive through narrow metal posts going through an old village - the car barely squeezed through.
‘In Amsterdam one of the vehicles looked like a toy.’
Small breakfasts
Amanda Hernandez from California said: 'Big breakfasts are not a thing in Europe, which makes me a little sad.
'I love traditional American and Mexican breakfast foods and those aren't available in Europe.
'Toast or pastry with coffee is what they have - I've even seen toast and coffee as advertisement on McDonald's ads.'
An openness about nudism
Devang Sanghani from India said: ‘Amsterdam has the biggest Red Light District and there were many strip clubs, swinger clubs and so on, but they were also also in other countries, and people walked around with nonchalance as if it is part of regular life.
‘The same applied to beaches in Spain and parks or saunas in Germany where nudism was very normal.’
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