Dining Culture

After eating out at restaurants, cafes, and other wonderful establishments for the past few weeks, I have become accustomed to (and I would even go so far as to say that I prefer) the dining culture in Europe.  The only other time that I have been traveling where I was on my own for meals was the Wind Ensemble tour to Tennessee last J term (whish is the bulk of the material for my comparison).  We had a group of that ate lunch together on our 10 day tour, and we were always focused on time.  We were in a rush to find somewhere to eat, while weighing the options between quality, convenience, and price. 

During our trip, I have been impressed with the quality of the food at practically every place we have eaten.  Never once have we been impatient for our food, and not once was the service bad. In fact, the our meals seem to be prepared faster than we expect, and are very reasonably priced.  One of the main differences is the lack of tap water in restaurants.  Yesterday for lunch was the first time that tap water was on a menu, and was 70cents for 1/8th of a liter.  Usually, water is only available in a fancy glass bottle, and costs more than the beer on tap.  In America, water glasses are constantly refilled, and is sometimes on the table before you even sit down.  There drinks come cold, but are not chocked full of ice.

The biggest difference and the best part of our dining experiences is the laid back atmosphere.  We have not felt pressured to leave, or felt rushed at any point thus far.  Our meals average about 45 minutes to and hour, and we have time to socialize.  The check is only brought out when we ask the waiter, and there is never any rush to leave after the check has been paid.  Often I get fed up with the fast pace of life at home, and feel that I am supposed to be relaxed and extremely productive at the same time (which doesn't make much sense).  Spending time in this dining atmosphere is excellent, and is something that I will surely miss. 

The lack of fast food further expresses the importance and value of spending time for meals.  The only fast food places that I have seen have been, Burger King, McDonalds, Subway, and KFC (sound familiar?).  There are places where you can get "fast food" here, but it is typically a pre made sandwich (made that day) from a bakery.  Most food is eaten in the place it was purchased, and most of the European versions of "fast food" are around the train stations.  I would just like to point out two major benefits to this model.  First, less fast food equals less packaging, waste, and stuff that ends up in a landfill (plus most of the packaging is paper!), and second, less fast food translates to more quality food.  (side note, there are so many more healthy people here than in America).  All in all, I am loving the dining culture in Europe, mostly because it allows for comparison with that of the USA.