So I have had a request to talk more about specific things
that I have observed here that are different than in the States. So I will
randomly be posing blogs on some weird stuff! But its all stuff I find very
interesting and different! So I hope you enjoy!!
Water Closets (that’s what they are called here)
Bathrooms have been an experience here in Europe; I don’t
even know where to begin! But I am going to start here in Trier and try to
think of all the crazy experiences! First of all we have a WONDERFUL bathroom
in our Flat, the toilet is nice and the shower is large! Normal Nice toilets
are similar to that in the US but also very different. They don’t have the
typical flush handle that we are used to. They have 2 small buttons on the top,
one bigger than the other. The small one is for peeing and the large one for
other stuff! This is super-efficient; the small one does not use much water at all!
When we first arrived in Trier we used the bathroom at the train
station because we had no idea where we were and we really needed to pee. We
walked up to a door and had to pay €.50 in a slot by the door just to get
in, once we were in we could chose to go to the boys or girls. Paying to use
the restroom is very common in most of Europe in the community areas. Bathrooms
in the college buildings are coed. So You just walk in and there could be a guy
using the urinal. This is also a common feature in bathrooms. Europeans aren’t embarrassed
and ashamed of themselves like American are, they have a lot of community
bathrooms, showers, changing rooms… etc…
Here in Trier we go to a huge swimming pool to work out and
swim. After you pay you walk into a huge open area with lockers, this is where
you change and store your cloths and purses. This is partial separated between
male and female. There is one isle of female and one isle of male then the rest
is “Family” you do have your own showering area though which is nice!
When we went to Italy things were different, of course. Public
bathrooms were nasty and very few and far between. Walking around the towns you
had to go in and buy something to be able to use their restrooms, this though
is common in all of Europe. But they were kind of jerks about it in Italy, and
the restrooms were NASTY! Most of the time you had to pay a euro and walk
through security doors to get and use them.
In Paris the toilet paper was all PINK! Sooo weird, and a
lot of places we could not flush the paper; we had to use it and throw it in a
trash can. But the bathrooms were nice and they had more public bathrooms all
over, we still had to pay to use them but at least they were available and decent.
Most of the time we would walk into a McDonalds to use their bathroom, Kenra
would buy a water and to use the bathrooms here you had to have a receipt and
scan it at the door of the bathroom so it would open up and you could use it.
Sometimes we got lucky and just followed someone in so we didn’t have to buy
anything. This one bathroom we went to
while we were in line to go into the catacombs was weird. I walked in and there
was a typical sink with a stall and a door. The door was for the men and the
stall for women, when I walked into the stall there was another toilet and sink
but no towels or hand dryer or trashcan. Confusing….. but oh well!
All of Italy has bidet (pronounced ba-day). like all the Hotels and the apartments have these.... no one knows how to use them and not one has tried :) A bidet is a low mounted plumbing fixture or type of sink intended for washing everything................. weird.......
Amsterdam was where we found the people who stood outside
the bathrooms and made you pay them before you go in. and you had a time limit!
One guy was in the men’s for quite a while and the lady in charge banged on the
door really loud and yelled at him. When he came out she yelled at him again! And
this was in the McDonalds bathroom! J
Some other places just had a cup we had to put money in before we go in. Amsterdam was also very interesting, we saw something we hadn't ever seen before. The public Urinals. they were SUPER nasty! i will put a picture on at the end of it to show you! guys just walk up to it and pee in it, the urinal was full of trash and they smelled terrible! But i assume if your High then when you gotta pee you gotta pee.
Most toilets have the 2 buttons on top; some have had some
where you step on the button on the floor to flush. None that I have used have
been automatic at all. It’s just very interesting how they bathrooms work, I
have had friends that have traveled and said the “toilet” was just a hole in
the floor… that scares me, I hope I never run into that! And at some places we can’t
figure out how to get the toilet paper out. It’s right there, we can see it but
we are not smart enough to figure out how to get it out! This is a funny
experience J
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