LOL!!! Your move sounds exciting -- I'm getting a bit of a trip down memory lane as I remember my first encounter with the UK. The cheap booze thing is actually bad-bad-bad for people like me who don't go in for it, because they make up what they lose on the booze by marking up the food. And that means I'm paying for other people's cheap booze, which doth not make me happy.
Free refills? You have free refills for drinks in the US? Like, other than tap water?
And that means I'm paying for other people's cheap booze, which doth not make me happy. *L* Yes, but they also have cheap non-alcoholic drinks, at least in the cheap grocery stores and drink markets. And in the pizzerias you can split a small pizza between two people for about 5-7 euros. There are pizzerias everywhere for some reason. Like on every corner.
Free refills? You have free refills for drinks in the US? Like, other than tap water?Like, for everything except alcohol! I think it's in the Constitution somewhere. Europeans should revolt. Fountain drinks are really very cheap for the restaurants, and people will eat more if they have more to drink. This is also why we're fat. But happy. Oh, and we have ice. Speaking of free drinks, I really wish Germany had free tap water in the restaurants. I don't like paying upward of 2 euros for a tiny, warm glass of soda when I'd rather have a big glass of ice water (from the tap). And it might seem rude to bring in my own 2-Liter bottle of peach tea
( ... )
Except non-alcoholic drinks are cheap because they are water + sugar (unless we're talking fresh juice, and that's not cheap in Germany either, I suspect). Whereas alcohol actually costs the shops a fair bit in various taxes and levies in addition to the cost of the alcohol itself, so they make a loss on it (or a very very skinny margin), and use it to lure in people to buy other stuff at hiked-up prices. And also encourage teenage drinking. I'm all for dedicated bottleshops, or at least separate supermarket areas that have their own checkout. (It's actually illegal in Australia to sell booze in supermarkets unless it's a separate store attached to the s'market -- so that's the system I'm familiar with, but in the UK it's the same as in Germany
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The prices tend to vary a lot depending on quantity and convenience - in restaurants and train stations, they hike up the prices really high, not to mention the Pfand, or bottle return, which is usually 25 cents, which you get back if you can return it someplace that takes them.
In the US, you can still buy alcohol in grocery stores like normal, but it isn't cheap, and of course our legal drinking age is really high, but then it seems teens will drink alcohol no matter what. I don't really know what works best. I remember in Canada they had separate stores AND the alcohol was really expensive.
I am also used to drinking a lot of water or iced tea during a meal, and so I probably won't go out to eat as often here, either. If they have free tap water in Britain, that's another incentive for me to visit there. *L* I really want to revolutionize the German restaurant industry (Outback Steakhaus? Heck yeah). I like that they have the menus with prices listed outside the door, though.
Hahaha, European bureaucracy. Last time I was in France, you had to have an address to open a bank account, and a bank account to rent an apartment. Awesome! But at least they give you free tap water if you ask.
GARDEN GNOMES ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
Glad to hear you are settling in! And have found shoes!
To rent the apartment we had to pay the deposit either with a German bank account or in cash, so we ended up going all the way to the airport to a travel bank to draw out cash, because our bank will only allow so much to be withdrawn in one day.
YES, GARDEN GNOMES ROCK MY WORLD. ALAS, IT WAS ONLY A SHORT CLIP AND THEN IT WAS OVER.
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Free refills? You have free refills for drinks in the US? Like, other than tap water?
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*L* Yes, but they also have cheap non-alcoholic drinks, at least in the cheap grocery stores and drink markets. And in the pizzerias you can split a small pizza between two people for about 5-7 euros. There are pizzerias everywhere for some reason. Like on every corner.
Free refills? You have free refills for drinks in the US? Like, other than tap water?Like, for everything except alcohol! I think it's in the Constitution somewhere. Europeans should revolt. Fountain drinks are really very cheap for the restaurants, and people will eat more if they have more to drink. This is also why we're fat. But happy. Oh, and we have ice. Speaking of free drinks, I really wish Germany had free tap water in the restaurants. I don't like paying upward of 2 euros for a tiny, warm glass of soda when I'd rather have a big glass of ice water (from the tap). And it might seem rude to bring in my own 2-Liter bottle of peach tea ( ... )
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In the US, you can still buy alcohol in grocery stores like normal, but it isn't cheap, and of course our legal drinking age is really high, but then it seems teens will drink alcohol no matter what. I don't really know what works best. I remember in Canada they had separate stores AND the alcohol was really expensive.
I am also used to drinking a lot of water or iced tea during a meal, and so I probably won't go out to eat as often here, either. If they have free tap water in Britain, that's another incentive for me to visit there. *L* I really want to revolutionize the German restaurant industry (Outback Steakhaus? Heck yeah). I like that they have the menus with prices listed outside the door, though.
Reply
GARDEN GNOMES ARE VERY IMPORTANT.
Glad to hear you are settling in! And have found shoes!
Reply
YES, GARDEN GNOMES ROCK MY WORLD. ALAS, IT WAS ONLY A SHORT CLIP AND THEN IT WAS OVER.
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