'Coffee shop in Salzburg that said "serving you since 1472"': 30 People share their strangest experiences traveling abroad

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Remy Millisky • Writer and Editor
Apr 23, 2023 11:00 AM EDT

Be prepared for culture shock when you travel to a new country! As these traveller shared, the traditions, norms, and day-to-day life will be completely different once you travel from the USA to Europe. For future travelers, these folks compiled their experiences that made them say "What in the world?!"

Many people reflected on the history going back hundreds or even thousands of years longer than the USA. Locals are totally used to it, of course. Some people mentioned the trend of eating dinners later – around 8PM or even later. And then of course, there are people who had run-ins with locals who are unfazed by tourists. Unless, that is, if you ask for some directions — then that person will spend many minutes telling you all about the place. There are so many differences while traveling that will make a trip truly unforgettable. 

Next up, this car buyer haggled the price a little too hard, bugging everyone at the car dealership. 

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  • 01
    Font - r/AskReddit Posted by u/Cyber-Gon Americans who visited Europe, what was your biggest WTF moment?
    via u/Cyber-Gon
  • 02
    Font - [deleted] Had a positive what the f moment in Greece in the eastern Peloponnese where I saw a guy walk down to the end of a pier and throw an actual f king trident into the Aegean and pull out a wriggling octopus. Dude walked up the beach and handed it over the deck railing to a chef.
    via u/deleted
  • 03
    Font - efshoemaker Spent a summer in Germany. They had the cleanest/safest/best tasting tap water, but nobody drank it and they called it toilet water. Also the older people in village seemed super grumpy and mean and would never smile or respond if you said hello or good morning, BUT if you asked them a substantive question, like how to get to the museum, they would spend 15 minutes telling you the fastest way to get there, the scenic way to get there, everything interesting you should do on th
    via u/efshoemaker
  • 04
    Font - westicular Funny enough, my biggest WTF moment came from an American. We were at a restaurant in Cinque Terre, Italy called Trattoria Dal Billy. About halfway through our meal, I overheard a guy with a Tennessee/Arkansas accent say, verbatim, in a frustrated tone "you need to speak more American!" to his waiter. This isn't Rome. This isn't Venice. It's a small town called Manarola. The odds of finding someone fluent in your language are drastically lowered; however, this guy was pompous e
    via u/westicular
  • 05
    Font - ThaRippla One time in Rome, it started pouring. As I sought shelter, I saw an older man selling one single umbrella. Strange as it was, I needed that umbrella, so I haggled with him and settled on 3 Euro (he had the upper hand in that transaction). I wander over to a coffee shop to dry out for a little bit. When I go to leave, the umbrella is no longer in the bucket by the door. Upset at myself for being so trusting, I head into the rain again. Guess who I see? The same old man selling th
    via u/ThaRippla
  • 06
    Font - groovychick Going to a soccer game in Italy. When buying a ticket, they needed to know which team I was rooting for to determine where I could sit. Then, during the game, people were setting things on fire.
    via u/groovychick
  • 07
    Font - o davidjoshualightman Late to the thread but here goes... Went to Sweden on a vacation package. Stayed at a wonderful historic hotel for part of the trip that had a restaurant inside of it. Part of our package called for a free dinner at the hotel and we had asked that it be the night we arrived. We arrived and got settled in our room and then went to check out the restaurant. As soon as we walked in, there was no one there, only a hostess. She immediately said they were expecting us and
    via u/davidjoshualightman
  • 08
    Font - We were shocked, we apologized profusely and told them that we had booked through another company and would have just scheduled it for another day. He said it was no problem and we had some free extras such as wine and dessert. The main course ended up being a huge piece of meat, which we jokingly said must have been because we were big fat Americans. No one rushed us, we had a great time, and after we left they closed the restaurant for the night. It was a total WTF moment because if you
    via u/davidjoshualightman
  • 09
    Font - Noahs Arcade84 2000 year old Roman columns sitting half sunken in a dudes yard, and he was just mowing around it like it was an old stump.
    via u/NoahsArcade84
  • 10
    Font - notwearingwords We were driving through Spain, and to the side of one of the roads, we noticed these MASSIVE bird nests in the high power electrical towers. They were at least twice the size of eagles nests that I had seen. And there were so many of them! Then we saw these giant birds in them! We stopped by the side of the road and tried to take some pictures (didn't have a great zoom lens, sadly). But no one else was stopping. It was so odd. We are accustomed to at least a few people sto
    via u/notwearingwords
  • 11
    Font - Storks. Those are storks. Of course, don't you know that? They are everywhere and such a nuisance. Don't you have storks in America? Well...no? Then she looked confused. Well, if you don't have storks, who brings the babies in kids stories? Storks. Um...how does that work? And that was when we realized that the story of the storks makes a whole lot more sense when storks are nesting on every chimney, tree, or tall place....
    via u/notwearingwords
  • 12
    Font - Hrekires every meal in Paris taking 3 hours. I loved the culture and I'm all about eating a relaxing meal, but sometimes it was just like "wtf" when we were on a schedule and had to meet up with a tour group or had reservations for something.
    via u/Hrekires
  • 13
    Font - western_style_hj Feeling proud of myself for eating late, like a local, at 21:00 in Lisbon only to walk in to a empty restaurant. By the time I'd finished eating at 22:00 the place was full.
    via u/western_style_hi
  • 14
    Font - [deleted] I was in Scotland this summer and in Edinburgh I asked someone for directions, they told me "Just go past the tron" in a very thick accent. I though she was saying "train" except while walking to the train I saw earlier I noticed a bar called The Tron.
    via u/deleted
  • 15
    Font - Dmillz34 For me it was a lack of insects in England. Not that they don't exist but I'm from Michigan with lots of swampy land around me. When I showed up at my dorm and saw there was no screen on my window I was just thinking about all of the bugs that are gonna get in my room. I got one fly the entire month stay there.
    via u/Dmillz34
  • 16
    Font - [deleted] It was subtle at first, but it eventually boggled my mind how old everything was and it was still integrated into everyday life. Like in the UK, drinking in pub that had been in the same spot since the 11th Century, or eating dinner at restaurant in an 18th cathedral. Or in Prague going to club in a 14th Century stone cellar or staying a hotel/brewery that had be operating since the 15th Century. The oldest building in my vicinity is from the 1750s (which is prehistoric by US st
    via u/deleted
  • 17
    Font - Edit: Decide to do some quick research for perspective. The oldest surviving Native American structure in the US dates to 750AD. The oldest structure from Spanish Colonists is from 1521. The oldest structure from English Colonists is from 1637.
    via u/deleted
  • 18
    Font - drakeprimeone Paying to use a public restroom. I get why though. Just a horrible feeling if you really had to go and you don't have any change.
    via u/drakeprimeone
  • 19
    Font - [deleted] Every night in Spain, around 3 a.m. this MASSIVE fleet of street scrubbers, vacuum-mobiles, and water hoses appeared and cleaned the entire city for about an hour. It was like ~100 people every night just cleaning the city. The following morning, all of Salamanca was spotless. That s was magical.
    via u/deleted
  • 20
    Font - [deleted] "This is the best bratwurst I've ever had. And this is an airport!"
    via u/deleted
  • 21
    Font - icantstopicantstopic I stayed with a family in France for a week. The first thing the son did when I got there was to show me their "American refrigerator." I was confused at first because it was a Samsung, but what he really meant was it had an ice machine! He was so proud to have it. I was happy to have ice for the first time in 2 months.
    via u/icantstopicantstopic
  • 22
    Font - PullTheOtherOne In Italy there is virtually no threshold for how much distance should be left between a speeding car and any obstacles (including pedestrians) it is zooming past. A bus driver will rush down a narrow cobblestone street with about a centimeter to spare between the sides of the bus and any parked cars, walls, ancient monuments, or playing children.
    via u/PullTheOtherOne
  • 23
    Rectangle - stufiweggooi This is no joke. Taxis racing through the narrow streets of Naples scares the s out of other Europeans too.
    via u/stufiweggooi
  • 24
    Font - literocola431 When I visited the hospital and had X-rays done, spoke with two doctors and was triaged by a nurse, all with no health insurance, and my total bill was 24euros. Then I had to pay 10 additional euros for some painkillers, again with no insurance or anything.
    via u/literocola431
  • 25
    Font - [deleted] The Vatican: You can't wear shorts. Luckily there are street vendors that'll sell you a pair of paper pants that cost about the same as a brand new pair of real pants.
    via u/deleted
  • 26
    Font - [deleted] Oh, also, I went to a coffee shop in Salzburg that said "serving you since 1472" - also WTF worthy
    via u/deleted
  • 27
    Font - Good KORE4N In Venice wanting a coffee. The local café had a menu by the entrance with two prices for take out and seat in. Seat in is more expensive as you pay for the service charges. We were in the mood to continue with roaming around with a coffee, so asked for a coffee to go. The owner said, "If you aren't going to drink the coffee in my café, no coffee for you. Ciao."
    via u/KORE4N
  • 28
    Font - crazybioguy In the UK, light switches are often outside the entrance to the bathroom. So you are constantly walking in and then walking back out once you remember that the switch isn't actually inside the room. It also makes it easy for people to turn the light off on you. This seems like a nightmare for anyone with children.
    via u/crazybioguy
  • 29
    Font - mtcorey In Germany they have to give something like 60 days notice if they are planning to fire/planning to quite a job. For some reason that seemed so crazy but I realized being fired with no notice whatever is pretty fed and we should have a similar system honestly:/ and how great their recycling system was. And also I didn't realize the water closet was the bathroom until after my trip. I felt stupid, really stupid.
    via u/mtcorey
  • 30
    Font - CaptainLawyerDude Not really a WTF moment but seeing women in Rome navigating ancient stone roads and walkways wearing stiletto heels with no broken ankles impressed me quite a bit.
    via u/CaptainLawyerDude

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europe Italy Spain Travel traveling france
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