Things Are Different in Other Countries, See for Yourself

Let me continue my world tour, and now we’re heading straight to Europe. Let’s start our journey in Greece, a place with thousands of years of history. Even in modern days, there are still ancient ruins there that are being carefully preserved, and it’s an interesting ride.

The airport of Athens has a built-in museum with ancient artifacts. And here’s how ancient and modern coexist there: there’s the view of the Acropolis from the street. A Spartan roaming the streets of Greece. A Redditor shared a photo of a modern building built right over the ancient ruins. The visitors can see the ruins through the glass.

Greece is also very well known for its cats roaming the streets everywhere. This Redditor spotted a cat guarding the National Bank of Greece. These days, everyone is trying to reduce the usage of plastic. Some use paper straws, and some go with glass straws... but this café in Greece offered to use macaroni as straws.

Another user went to a restaurant in North Macedonia and got baffled when they served slices of pizza on waffles. Double win: a snack and no waste. In Romania, vending machines seem to be a thing. For example, is a machine with ham. And a better one: a vending machine selling cartons of eggs. Scrambled eggs, probably.

Europe is a place where old neighbors are modern, and this combination is mesmerizing. I’ll show you. This Redditor shared a photo of a modern basketball court squeezed between 700-years old walls in Croatia. Modern problems require modern solutions: these traffic lights light up the ground so that people who store their phones could notice when the light changes.

Italy is a work of art with thousands of years of history. I have quite a bunch of stuff for you from there. Some ruins date back thousands of years, and a lot of that gets preserved. A Reddit shared a photo of a lobby of a hotel that has a glass floor so that the ruins were visible.

And these are the railing in an Airbnb. Even street signs are a work of art in Italy. Look at this one: Another Redditor shared even more designs: This Redditor showed a photo of a supermarket that is located in an old theater in Venice. Another user added one more photo of that supermarket.

Since we’re talking about supermarkets, apparently, pets are allowed there. There are even special carts to carry them. Cities are centuries old, and there are quite a few narrow streets, so post vehicles have to adjust to fit them. Some cities have canals or are located on islands, so boats are a thing. This is a UPS boat at Murano island.

Europe is packed with countries. The city of Basel in Switzerland is located right on the border with France and Germany. So, the airport has three exits: you can walk out of it to France, Germany, or Switzerland.

Let’s walk out in Germany. Look, there’s a traffic light with a girl walking a camel. The reasons are a mystery to me because camels aren’t really a German thing, but it’s cute. There’s another unique streetlight, featuring Karl Marx, a famous German philosopher.

Back to baffling vending machines: in Germany, you can find vending machines with sausages. Hamburg is Germany’s major port city. There’s a river that connects it to the North Sea. No wonder there’s a drive-through Mcdonald’s for a boat. Look at this design of mineral water that is being sold in the Swiss alps.

A Redditor brought a souvenir from France. These are baguette-shaped pens. Look at this narrow house in Spain. I wonder what it looks like inside, but, unfortunately, the Redditor only shared the exterior. In Portugal, cell phone towers are disguised as trees. And this is a bus that can ride the roads and then turn into a boat.

A Redditor spotted doors in London that have doorknobs in the center. This seems super inconvenient, but, apparently, the handle doesn’t turn and exists only to pull the door closed. And the metal part with the keyhole has a little handle on the bottom of it.

Europe is a historical place. This postbox bears the mark of a king ruling over a century ago. Back in the day, red telephone boxes were in high demand. Now, when every person has a cell phone or two — not so much. So, telephone boxes are being used in different ways.

Luxembourg is a small but rich country squeezed between France, Germany, and Belgium. And they have baguette vending machines. Let’s move north, first — to the Netherlands. Farmers border their fields with a strip of flowers and put up a sign with a QR-code where people can pay for picking the flowers.

In Denmark, in Aarhus, a city founded by the Vikings in the 8th century, you can find traffic lights with Vikings pictured on them. Some trash cans in Swedish subways have a separate space for cans. Homeless people can pick them up and exchange the cans for some cash. There’s a giant statue of a silver moose in Norway. And these are signs on bathroom stalls, depicting reindeer.

Apparently, Finnish people are as polite as Canadians. On the bus, they have a button to thank the bus driver. Also, a Redditor spotted a raccoon pattern on a bus seat. We all know rocking horses. Most of you probably had one in your early days. Well, Finnish little people have rocking moose.

Many people come to Iceland hoping to see the Northern lights. A Redditor had a phone in the hotel which had a special button to wake the guest up when the Northern lights appear. Lithuanians sometimes put fake police cars on the sides of the road to combat road speeding.

Europe has been ruled by kings and queens for centuries. Even today, many countries, like the UK, The Netherlands, Spain, Denmark, Belgium, and some other countries have monarchs. So, no wonder that there are hundreds of castles scattered across Europe. Poland doesn’t have any monarchs these days, but it still has 500 castles. There’s a warning sign for ghosts next to one of them.

In Wrocław, all landmarks have a model so that visually impaired people could touch and see them too. There’s also a statue of Darth Vader in one Polish city. In reality, it’s a statue of a Polish magnate who supervised the construction of a port. But from time to time, locals dress the statue in Lord Vader’s costume. This sign in Poland specifically prohibits bikes, tractors, and horses to go on a highway. In some places, there’s a separate line on the sidewalk for people who are walking and staring at their phones.

And now we travel across the Atlantic, to Africa. This is “Dune 7” in Namibia, the seventh-biggest dune in the world. It’s as tall as the Empire State Building. An internet user shared this photo. Someone in Tanzania put a literal penthouse on top of the building. I did some research and found out that it’s a hotel. Still doesn’t explain the roof, but I’m totally buying it. Maybe it’s marketing.

Drivers in Mozambique should be careful and watch out for elephants. And this is a sign from South Africa, watch out for penguins. And another one that asks to baboon-proof the trash bins. So, baboons are the raccoons of South Africa.

Trees growing through roads aren’t surprising anymore, but this is a palm tree in Morocco growing through multiple balconies. A Redditor shared a photo of a runaway horse in Israel returning to the backyard in an urban area. Urban horse encounters are relatively common in the country. A hotel in Turkey served a whole honeycomb for breakfast to this Redditor.