So I just got back from Europe and I have some questions...

MikeNificent

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7: There are a lot of ways our pancakes are made, they are usually about the same diameter, but differ in thickness and filling. At home we usually have thin pancakes (not like crepes, cause those are wayyy thinner) and in pancake diners we get thick filled ones. But not like american pancakes.

8: We don't fall a lot? I dunno tbh hahaha. But yeah I would never wear a helmet unless I'm mountain biking off road or something.
Netherlands pancake kung fu appears stronger than I had imagined. I will dig deeper. Also, I will refrain from any further criticism of your pancakes until I have eaten ALL OF THEM. On behalf of America, I'm sorry for rushing to pancake judgment based on incomplete pancake data. Tell me more about 'pancake diners.' Do they serve unsweetendd iced tea?
 

MikeNificent

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Many congratulations on your wedding! I can't speak for all countries, but here is the lowdown (my opinion) from the UK:

1: All: What do you have against iced tea?

A: The UK has something called "Lypton Iced Tea", it is a soft drink from the 1970s and can only be found in the refrigerators of Newsagents. It comes in two flavors, Lemon and Peach. Lypton is the brand, not a technique, it is unclear if the drinks on sale are vintage examples left over from the 1970s.

2: All: Why is your coffee so small?

A: The higher the concentration of caffine the smaller the beverage. An expresso is diddy at something like 150ml but has more caffine than a whole liter of Grande Skinny Machismo or whatever the hell Starbucks and Costa are churning out these days.

3: England: Why do you eat beans with your breakfast?
A: Like bread, Baked Beans in tomato sauce can be used with any meal. In fact, so many beans are eaten it was found the city of Nottingham eats more Beans On Toast than anywhere else in the UK, perhaps even the worlds. I cannot find any links to back this fact up, which makes me sad.

6: Scotland: What's the deal with haggis? Even your own people won't eat it, so why should I feel obligated to?
A: I am not Scottish but my Dad is. On Burnes Night he reads a poem and stabs a Haggis. If it were not for that Robert Burnes poem, I am sure Haggis would have gone the way of the Dodo long ago, but because of Tradition, Haggis endures.

11: All: Kudos for motor vehicle drivers in all 6 countries making pedestrians scatter like cockroaches when the light comes on. Roads are for cars. Thank you for

A: In the UK this comes from out long history of Public Service Announcement ads on TV. Literally anyone within ten feet of a car in those PSA's die gruesome painful bloody deaths. Cars move, pedestrians move.

12: France: I drank some crazy cider maker's apple moonshine at 74% alcohol. My throat still burns. Thanks!
A: Next time try the Absinthe ;)

13: All: I noticed a distinct increase in body mass index as I traveled through the 'french fry belt' (term I coined for all of the countries who claim to have invented french fries). Is this something you have noticed as well? Or could it be the waffles and chocolate also prevalent in these areas?
A: All the thin people were not visible as they were in the Fry factories making fries for the fatties you saw.

15: England: If your money, Scotland's money, and Northern Ireland's money are all the same, why did the wierdo at the laundromat in London refuse to accept Scottish or Irish currency?
A: Although the "United Kingdom" is indeed united, there are a few factors which cause this - Firstly, although the Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English identify as being British, none of them equate that with being Irish if they are Scottish or being Welsh if they are English etc etc. Secondly, the English are only trained in identifying fake English notes and coins. A fake Scottish note could have a picture of Jimmy Krankie on and an English shopkeeper would not know that was not a person who would or would not appear on a Scots note. EDIT - I was not aware the currency would need to be converted, you learn something new every day!

16: All: In a restaurant, why do you pay more for soft drinks and even water some places, than beer or wine? I would be a complete alcoholic if I lived there, simply because I refuse to pay 4 Euros for a glass of water and don't mind paying 3,50 Euros for a glass of beer.
A: As drinking and driving is illegal in the UK, restaurants here know they have a captive victim who is limited to a very small selection. All of that selection is inflated in price to earn as much £ off the sucka as possible, it is a punishment for not booking a taxi, and is known as the Tax on being Responsible.

17: England: Why do people keep getting upset when buses hit bicyclists in London? Isn't this just natural selection?
A: UK Mums make their children change their underpants by saying "If you get hit by a bus, the doctors will see your grubby undies. You don't want that!" Because of this, whenever we hear someone has been hit by a bus, we are assailed by years of our mums telling us if we are hit by a bus we need clean pants on, and no cyclist has clean pants on after they have been hit by a bus... Their mums would be ashamed, thats no way to go.
Well thought out and complete answers. I value your feedback.

#1 I tried your Lipton. Both flavors. It was marginally better than Iron Bru i.e. not good.

#2 I like MOAR coffee, not necessarily MOAR caffeine. I'll dilute or just order two of them I guess.

#3 Telling me you also eat beans on toast makes my tummy want to turn from an inny to an outy.

#13 I drank absinthe a long time ago. I got super drunk. It's 70% alcohol and only 30mg/liter of thujone aka the wormwood essence that makes you go crazy or whatever. In the old days when it was still legal to make it with higher concentrations, your average crazy artist or poet was sucking down that stuff at about 200mg/liter of thujone. The moral of the story is unless you find some very old stuff or you know a guy, you will get shitfaced and wake up in a puddle of black licorice flavored vomit before you ever get high off the stuff... or so I've heard.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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Well thought out and complete answers. I value your feedback.

#1 I tried your Lipton. Both flavors. It was marginally better than Iron Bru i.e. not good.
Yep, Iced Tea in the UK is an "Acquired Taste" meaning basically something you have to get used to before you can even contemplate enjoying it. The same goes for "Sparkling" mineral water, which usually tastes of Co2. I had no idea Co2 had a flavour before trying carbonated water.

Aha, "Iron Bru"...

You have stumbled across one of the great traps of UK society, let me explain:

Legislation in 1947 insisted any drink which contained the term "Iron" has to contain at least 0.125g of iron per fluid ounce - the spelling of the name of the drink was changed to "Irn Bru" as it doesn't actually contain Iron, this was probably the first instance of "Text Speak" roughly 50 years before Text Messaging was invented.

Unfortunately since then many pretender brands have popped up, it unclear as to if they actually include Iron in their recipies or if legislation on brand names changed, however if you have tasted Iron Brew, Iron Bru, Irn Brew or any other spelling combinations you have not tasted Irn Bru, it has been an inferior clone.

If you drank Iron Bru, you have not had Irn Bru. Other instances of names like this are the very funny "Dr. Pepper" clone, called "Doctor Peter." This problem has been made worse in the last 10 years with Supermarkets dropping their "Own Brand" labels and replacing them with faux brands with similar-but-not-the-same names, it was a sad day when the Tesco Value range became a thing only of memories.

Interestingly, the American recipe of Irn Bru has been formulated to comply to conform to FDA regulations which the original formula does not meet, so if you didn't like the taste it is perhaps because one or two ingredients in the beverage are banned in America and it is likely you have never consumed them.
 
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mindfart

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Netherlands pancake kung fu appears stronger than I had imagined. I will dig deeper. Also, I will refrain from any further criticism of your pancakes until I have eaten ALL OF THEM. On behalf of America, I'm sorry for rushing to pancake judgment based on incomplete pancake data. Tell me more about 'pancake diners.' Do they serve unsweetendd iced tea?




Some put a lot of stuff in it, some put a lot of stuff on it ;P

I have never seen unsweetened iced-tea in holland, except for when u order tea and just let it get cold ;P
 

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Some put a lot of stuff in it, some put a lot of stuff on it ;P

I have never seen unsweetened iced-tea in holland, except for when u order tea and just let it get cold ;P
Have you combined the idea of Pizza with pancakes? :O
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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Have you combined the idea of Pizza with pancakes? :open_mouth:
The brand name could be "Piz-cakes" but it needs a little work - Piz-cakes sound like the blue blocks you get in public toilet urinals.
 

Seagon

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1: All: What do you have against iced tea?
Maybe it's not that popular, we're probably still stuck at icetea.

2: All: Why is your coffee so small?
We used to have nice large mugs, or at least we always drank them like this. I think it's some sort of faux elitism that trickled over from the coffee specialist country of Italy. (i always just ask for a big cup and an extra dose of water to make it drinkable)

3: England: Why do you eat beans with your breakfast?
(i'm Dutch, but this is a great source of protein). I believe it's one of the most healthy breakfasts i know.

7: Netherlands: Ok so you have weed and hookers, but let's be honest your big pancakes are really just crepes. I know you know how to make pancakes, because the mini pancakes are in every restaurant ever. Why can't you make bigger pancakes?
You probably visited the wrong places, our pancake houses make pancakes as small as a child's hand and as large as a grown man's torso. t's all about what you pick and where you go.

8: Netherlands: Bicycle helmets?
Safety first, without helmets we'd all end up asking questions like this ;-)

11: All: Kudos for motor vehicle drivers in all 6 countries making pedestrians scatter like cockroaches when the light comes on. Roads are for cars. Thank you for
Heh, visit Amsterdam, you wouldn't get through a line of pedestrians if your life depended on it. If they started walking, they aren't stopping.


13: All: I noticed a distinct increase in body mass index as I traveled through the 'french fry belt' (term I coined for all of the countries who claim to have invented french fries). Is this something you have noticed as well? Or could it be the waffles and chocolate also prevalent in these areas?
The fa...threat is real! everywhere! It's all about western foods, it's all kept fresh with additives and none of it helps ones health.

16: All: In a restaurant, why do you pay more for soft drinks and even water some places, than beer or wine? I would be a complete alcoholic if I lived there, simply because I refuse to pay 4 Euros for a glass of water and don't mind paying 3,50 Euros for a glass of beer.
Odd places those, never sat that happen here.
 
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MikeNificent

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1: All: What do you have against iced tea?
Maybe it's not that popular, we're probably still stuck at icetea.

2: All: Why is your coffee so small?
We used to have nice large mugs, or at least we always drank them like this. I think it's some sort of faux elitism that trickled over from the coffee specialist country of Italy. (i always just ask for a big cup and an extra dose of water to make it drinkable)

3: England: Why do you eat beans with your breakfast?
(i'm Dutch, but this is a great source of protein). I believe it's one of the most healthy breakfasts i know.

7: Netherlands: Ok so you have weed and hookers, but let's be honest your big pancakes are really just crepes. I know you know how to make pancakes, because the mini pancakes are in every restaurant ever. Why can't you make bigger pancakes?
You probably visited the wrong places, our pancake houses make pancakes as small as a child's hand and as large as a grown man's torso. t's all about what you pick and where you go.

8: Netherlands: Bicycle helmets?
Safety first, without helmets we'd all end up asking questions like this ;-)

11: All: Kudos for motor vehicle drivers in all 6 countries making pedestrians scatter like cockroaches when the light comes on. Roads are for cars. Thank you for
Heh, visit Amsterdam, you wouldn't get through a line of pedestrians if your life depended on it. If they started walking, they aren't stopping.


13: All: I noticed a distinct increase in body mass index as I traveled through the 'french fry belt' (term I coined for all of the countries who claim to have invented french fries). Is this something you have noticed as well? Or could it be the waffles and chocolate also prevalent in these areas?
The fa...threat is real! everywhere! It's all about western foods, it's all kept fresh with additives and none of it helps ones health.

16: All: In a restaurant, why do you pay more for soft drinks and even water some places, than beer or wine? I would be a complete alcoholic if I lived there, simply because I refuse to pay 4 Euros for a glass of water and don't mind paying 3,50 Euros for a glass of beer.
Odd places those, never sat that happen here.
I did indeed visit Amsterdam. My wife almost got run over by a bicycle between the train station and the hotel. Those roads are not very conducive to cars. Pedestrians I would say had the easiest time there than any of the other 5 countries we visited. That said, those bicyclists will f#@king run you down, and when they do, it's a a family of 3 on the one bike, so they weigh more than an American. Serious stuff. In hindsight, the pedestrians should have helmets there instead of the cyclists.
 

MikeNificent

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As someone stationed in Germany for 4 years, and has visited all of the same places- thank you. This made my morning. :joy:
I spent a year or so pre-sandbox in Germany. I only visited northern Italy and France while I was there, but I was 19 and sh#tfaced the whole time, so I didn't take notes. Thanks for your service and glad to have provided a laugh or two.
 
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MikeNificent

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Yep, Iced Tea in the UK is an "Acquired Taste" meaning basically something you have to get used to before you can even contemplate enjoying it. The same goes for "Sparkling" mineral water, which usually tastes of Co2. I had no idea Co2 had a flavour before trying carbonated water.

Aha, "Iron Bru"...

You have stumbled across one of the great traps of UK society, let me explain:

Legislation in 1947 insisted any drink which contained the term "Iron" has to contain at least 0.125g of iron per fluid ounce - the spelling of the name of the drink was changed to "Irn Bru" as it doesn't actually contain Iron, this was probably the first instance of "Text Speak" roughly 50 years before Text Messaging was invented.

Unfortunately since then many pretender brands have popped up, it unclear as to if they actually include Iron in their recipies or if legislation on brand names changed, however if you have tasted Iron Brew, Iron Bru, Irn Brew or any other spelling combinations you have not tasted Irn Bru, it has been an inferior clone.

If you drank Iron Bru, you have not had Irn Bru. Other instances of names like this are the very funny "Dr. Pepper" clone, called "Doctor Peter." This problem has been made worse in the last 10 years with Supermarkets dropping their "Own Brand" labels and replacing them with faux brands with similar-but-not-the-same names, it was a sad day when the Tesco Value range became a thing only of memories.

Interestingly, the American recipe of Irn Bru has been formulated to comply to conform to FDA regulations which the original formula does not meet, so if you didn't like the taste it is perhaps because one or two ingredients in the beverage are banned in America and it is likely you have never consumed them.
Found a pic of the bottle. It was indeed "Irn Bru." Original and terrible.
 

NaffNaffBobFace

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Found a pic of the bottle. It was indeed "Irn Bru." Original and terrible.
I would be super interested if you could track down an American Irn Bru and see if it tastes similar of if it has been altered to suit the US palette... and also if it still contains Quinine - a few countries do not allow the addition of Quinine as its usual use is as an anti-malaria drug (or the secret ingredient in Tonic Water usually used in Gin and Tonic.)

This ad was the one that got me on to Irn Bru, it's a testament to the power of advertising that i'd get used to its taste just because of an advert, Coke 'aint never sold a cola with an ad like this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1nb_T1JKps
 
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MikeNificent

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I would be super interested if you could track down an American Irn Bru and see if it tastes similar of if it has been altered to suit the US palette... and also if it still contains Quinine - a few countries do not allow the addition of Quinine as its usual use is as an anti-malaria drug (or the secret ingredient in Tonic Water usually used in Gin and Tonic.)

This ad was the one that got me on to Irn Bru, it's a testament to the power of advertising that i'd get used to its taste just because of an advert, Coke 'aint never sold a cola with an ad like this:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w1nb_T1JKps
That commercial is pretty epic. I will see if I can find American Irn Bru. For science.
 

Seagon

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I did indeed visit Amsterdam. My wife almost got run over by a bicycle between the train station and the hotel. Those roads are not very conducive to cars. Pedestrians I would say had the easiest time there than any of the other 5 countries we visited. That said, those bicyclists will f#@king run you down, and when they do, it's a a family of 3 on the one bike, so they weigh more than an American. Serious stuff. In hindsight, the pedestrians should have helmets there instead of the cyclists.
In hindsight you look the cow up the ass.
(literal translation of a Dutch saying).

But you're right, I'm rather sturdy though, knocked a few bicyclists off their bikes for bumping in to me when i wasn't paying attention crossing a ped crossing in my day. I don't fall over fast :)
 
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