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But I agree with you about the posting of American military forces to Europe. Its been 70 years. Europe is a rich continent and is more than capable of defending itself. American forces are no longer necessary in Europe.
Which is why there's been such a significant drawdown in troops as well as base foreclosures over the past 25 years, especially in Germany. Yay for everyone!
Chester Beatty Museum - free
National Museum of Ireland - free
Dubliniana - 8.50€
National Portrait Gallery - free
Lisbon
Gulbenkian - 5€ (a terrific museum)
Museum of the Orient - 6€ (collections based on Portuguese explorations in Asia)
Bernardo Museum - free, modern art
Museu de Arte Antiga - 6€ (Bosch, Durer...)
Barcelona
Fundació Joan Miró - 12€
€8 is ok, but I do not think €12 is cheap. I guess American art museums are just overpriced. MoMA, Guggenheim New York and The Met are all $25.
She was probably once in Italy and now thinks she knows it all.
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Ok so I will answer the statements:
1) Yes, it might have two buttons
2) Hardly
3) You can
4) They don't except for a couple of countries
5) It might
6) No, it doesn't
7) True
8) True
9) Wifi is free
10) True
11) Not true
12) No, it doesn't except in Italy
13) True, except for boiled eggs. Them we have
14) Not true
15) Probably compared to the US
16) Is there any other way?
I get that impression as well, she seems to think Europe is one culture where everything is the same all over.
The milk things is weird. So food is limited because because they don't have six different types of milk?
She must be very, very young and naive.
I think a lot of places get labelled very quickly. I know in Canada, someone goes to Toronto and thinks they know the country.
There is some truth in some of the claims but a lot of sterotyping is there and not all countries behave the same. My experience of Europe, having lived there and visited many times
1.) There are many ways to flush a toilet
Dual flush toilets are more common there. In USA it is more common to find a low volume flush toilet
2.) Showering can be a challenge.
Some hotels. Most modern chains are standardized
3.) You can’t leave the hotel with your room key.
There is a grain of truth here. In older properties they still use the large keys that are too bulky to carry. So you leave that at front desk when you go. They also give only 1 such key per room.
4.) Things close down at lunch time.
Saw that mainly in Spain but not much elsewhere.
6.) Dinner takes two to three hours to eat- Ready for a quick bite to eat? Think again..
On the whole dinner and luch sit down meals are a bit slower than US. I experienced it most in France.
8.) Public toilets aren’t free.
This is a major peeve of mine. One has to have a Euro ready at a minimum. Toilets in USA are almost always free and every mall and large department store has free restrooms.
9.) Wifi isn’t free and isn’t always available.
A bit of reverse situation compared to US. Here lower end hotels give free Wi-fi in rooms and upper end full service hotels make you pay for it for in -room wifi. So people gather in the lobby for free wifi. In Europe the very upper end hotels give free wifi but the rest charge for it.
11.) Almost all museums are free (or at least cheap).
Not completely true
13.) Breakfast is cold cuts, cheese, and bread- Eggs don’t seem to be common for breakfast.
Which is why there's been such a significant drawdown in troops as well as base foreclosures over the past 25 years, especially in Germany. Yay for everyone!
These troops are nearly all stationed in a few military installations in Germany and Italy and their numbers continue to shrink, year after year.
Which is more than anywhere else in the world, with the possible exception of Japan. Much more than anywhere the US is currently waging war in. Germany, Italy and Japan - hmm... I wonder why those particular three countries. And while the US military presence does have economic benefits, at the same time it sends a clear message: we fear you, we do not trust you, and we'd better keep troops ready, a lot of troops, you know, just in case. War Beagle is right: it's been 70 years. Maybe it's time to stop with the distrust?
Which is more than anywhere else in the world, with the possible exception of Japan. Much more than anywhere the US is currently waging war in. Germany, Italy and Japan - hmm... I wonder why those particular three countries. And while the US military presence does have economic benefits, at the same time it sends a clear message: we fear you, we do not trust you, and we'd better keep troops ready, a lot of troops, you know, just in case. War Beagle is right: it's been 70 years. Maybe it's time to stop with the distrust?
You really think that the US is in Germany and Italy because of distrust of Germany and Italy now?
Let me break it down for you: When Germany and Italy lost a big war 70 years ago, yes - the winners of that war invested a lot of money into installations in these countries - as well as into the economies of those countries. Then as the Cold War came along and European governments WANTED the US presence in central Europe. When the Cold War ended, the US lost billions of dollars of infrastructure as it closed down most of it's installations in Europe and handed these buildings and facilities over to the host countries.
But hey, another nasty kid on the block - the perpetually gnarly Middle East - became an even bigger presence, and the UN, including the European countries and the US and the rest of our allies, decided that hey, maybe some of those billion dollar installations, which were already there, could continue to be used due to their proximity to the ME. So that is why there are still US (and UN) troops using a handful of facilities in Europe, which just happen to STILL be in Germany and Italy.
We didn't build new facilities, we're just using very old facilities. And they're not in Germany and Italy because we, or the UN, are being punitive toward either of those countries.
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