An American tourist has sparked a debate online after a sharing a long list of all the things she doesn’t like about Europe.
The first clip of the two-part video series by @thestrawberryannie, has been seen by over 4.7 million people in one week.
She told viewers ‘I used to romanticise Europe, but after going there three times, I feel like I’ve really gotten to see what it truly is. So, I’ve been able to make a list of the things that I don’t really like.’
The caption reads ‘This list is mostly based off of the three week trip I spent in southern Spain, southern France, and Italy last month.
‘Not every single city or every establishment was like this, but this is what we found to be common. We still love visiting European countries, but I sure do appreciate the Bucees bathrooms in the United States of America’ – read on for the TikToker’s full list.
An American tourist has sparked a debate online after a sharing a long list of all the things she doesn’t like about Europe
No condiments
The first thing on her list, was the lack of condiments.
She said ‘I feel like in America, we’re very saucy people and we have sauces or dips that go with everything, it comes with the meal.
‘They don’t have that there, so for example I ordered calamari, they didn’t serve it with like cocktail sauce or tartar sauce or even a lemon wedge – there was nothing, it was dry.
‘The food there is so dry, you have to pay extra for sauce.’
An American commenter added ‘No sauces with calamari is insane. That and no ice and dr. pepper yeah i would cry if i had to live there permanently’.
No shower curtains
Next, the TikToker complained of a lack of shower curtains:
‘There’s not a curtain in sight, it was all like glass walls, but half of the tubs, the glass wall shower thing only covered half of the tub.
‘So, you just felt like you’re just gonna get water everywhere, it wasn’t very comfortable.’
However, people were quick to defend this in the comments, with one user writing ‘glass walls are so much better than curtains’.
No washcloths
She continued ‘I couldn’t exfoliate in the shower, I just had to use my bare hands.
‘Which is like fine but not really cause I wore a lot of sunscreen when I went and I just really wanted to scrub my skin off at the end of the day.
‘They didn’t give you washcloths, only like a hand towel and a body towel – that was it, not like a little washcloth.’
Viewers were shocked by this point, writing ‘You wanted to se a public wash cloth!?!?!?’ and ‘genuine question: I’d rather die than use a hotel washcloth, even if it has been washed in between customers, is it a normal thing in the US?’
The TikToker said ‘Next we have no free water or free refills at restaurants. ‘I spent so much money on water at restaurants, it really made me miss the unlimited giant glasses of cold water in America’
No free water or free refills
The TikToker said ‘Next we have no free water or free refills at restaurants.
‘I spent so much money on water at restaurants, it really made me miss the unlimited giant glasses of cold water in America.’
One commenter advised ‘So many of these are actually available in Europe… you just need to know what to ask for. In most of Northern Europe you have to ask for tap water.’
Another added ‘wait the no free water??we literally drink tap in most of Europe and it’s perfectly safe and good.’
No free public bathrooms
Next, she explained ‘There’s also no free public bathrooms, you have to go to the bathroom somewhere where you bought something so I would always go every time we would go to restaurants.
‘You would think that since you’re buying something and you’re in like a facility, the bathroom will at least be nice – wrong.
‘Wrong, even the bathrooms that you pay for are disgusting. That was the case in Spain, France and Italy.
‘Germany is a little bit better about the bathroom stuff, but man oh man those bathrooms are crusty.’
Missing toilet seats
On the topic of bathrooms, she added ‘The toilets didn’t have seats on them so I had to either squat or sit on a bare rim of a toilet. It was not fun.’
Viewers commented ‘im sorry NO TOILET SEATS??’ and ‘I found the public bathrooms in Austria and Germany to be very clean but was still shocked I had to pay for them.’
Someone else wrote ‘I was in pompeii once and the bathroom was a hole in the ground’.
No free hotel breakfast or vending machines
She continued ‘The no free hotel breakfast sucks too, you have to pay extra for that. No good old continental.
‘There were also no vending machines in the hotels, so if you want a sneaky snack late at night, good luck because there’s no vending machines in the hotels.’
One commenter advised ‘Hotel breakfasts there actually have good food instead of powdered eggs. Totally worth paying.’
Long flat pillows
Next, the TikToker said she didn’t like the pillows:
‘Also in the hotels, long flat pillows. They weren’t like fluffy, they covered like the whole bed.
‘It was so long and like just flat, I didn’t get my own pillow, it just weird. Sorry is that rude? Not weird, different, it was different.’
Large beds were twins pushed together
She continued ‘Large beds for like couples are just twins pushed together, so if you wanna cuddle one of you guys is gonna be laying in the crack.
‘You’re gonna be in the crack of the bed.’
Only sheets on the bed
The final complaint for hotel bedrooms was the lack of duvet.
She told viewers ‘So, for the first week that we were there, we thought that they just didn’t have duvets or comforters there, but then we realised that they just don’t fully make the bed for you.
‘The comforter is like in a cupboard somewhere, you have to go find it and do it yourself, which is whatever I guess.’
Hot coffee served in glasses with no handles
Moving on to drinks, she said ‘They served hot coffee in glasses with no handles.
‘When we were in Spain we got coffee and churros at this churro place and they served it in a cup with no handle.
‘So, we couldn’t drink it until it cooled off cause the freaking glass was on fire it wa so hot.’
Two giant straws in cocktails
When it came to alcoholic drinks, the American again wasn’t impressed:
‘Also, they serve two giant straws in cocktails versus in America we do those like short skinny black straws, two of those.
‘They do two giant straws which I just thought was funny, cause I’m like am I supposed to drink out of both? Because I’m gonna drink this really fast if that’s the case.
‘Or is it like just for decoration but if so why are the straws so big? I just don’t understand.’
Shopping bags cost money
Claiming that ‘nothing is free’ she said ‘Shopping bags cost money so if you’re a tourist and you don’t have a bag with you and you’re just walking about, you’re just gonna have to pay for a bag or carry all of the stuff that you’re buying, cause nothing is free.
‘Nothing is free there, don’t think for a second that it will be cause it’s not.’
French fries are really bad
Next on the list is the quality of French fries.
She said ‘French fries are really bad, they’re barely golden brown, not even crispy, kinda soggy.
‘I think we had one good French fry place the whole time we were there, it was pretty disappointing.’
Lemonade is ‘sugar soda water’
The tourist was also confused by the lemonade in Europe, explaining ‘Lemonade is just sugar soda water, so literally soda water with like a packet of sugar and they squeeze like one lime wedge in there and that’s your lemonade. I hope you enjoy it’
Fries and salad are the only sides
She also found there to be limited food options: ‘Fries and salad are the only sides to literally anything. I was so sick of the crappy fries, I was like can I please have some mac and cheese or broccoli or literally anything else as a side?
‘Even their salads aren’t like extra like we make our salad so extra here with all the toppings.
‘Their salad is jus like greens and the oil and vinegar dressing and that’s it, that’s what you’re eating’.
Tiny water glasses
Nearing the end of the list, she complained about the ‘tiny water glasses’ which she said got ‘so old so fast’.
The TikToker said ‘the water is so expensive, there’s no free refills, so you’re just guzzling this water out of this tiny little teacup.
‘I’m just like so thirsty, I could not get hydrated, it didn’t matter how much water I drank, I wasn’t gonna get hydrated.
‘Something’s in that water, it just does not penetrate the veins, I don’t know.’
No hair conditioner
Finally, her last complaint about Europe was the lack of hair conditioner.
She told viewers ‘I guess they just don’t believe in hair conditioner, every single hotel that we were at did not have conditioner.
‘It was either shower gel and shampoo or a combo of the shower gel and shampoo, no conditioner anywhere to be seen – hair is dry, that’s it.’
Concluding her video, she clarified ‘There are many things that I did like as well but we just got so homesick cause we were gone for so long that we ended up making a list of all the things that we noticed were different than home.’
However, the video sparked a debate in the comments, with Europeans defending their countries and Americans agreeing with the TikToker.
Viewers wrote ‘I mean I’m only 3 deep into your list and they’re all incorrect so far. Will update’ and ‘This list is entierly false’.
Others chimed in with ‘this is such a touristy perspective on Europe’ and ‘I am 5 items in and I already know it is all wrong’.
Others from the USA defending the video, writing ‘i wouldn’t be able to survive without ranch’ and ‘The lack of washcloths is absolutely THE WORST’.
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