Feature: The European approach to thirst.

The European mentality is that if you are thirsty, you should either bring your own bottle of water or whatever you want to drink or else plan on buying it while you're out. This is to say that, if you are thirsty and really want a drink of water, you almost always have to buy it because there are no water fountains and water at restaurants comes in bottles. As for water fountains, I have only seen one while I've been here, and Dr. Taylor said that was about the third he had ever seen in Europe--and he's come here every summer since the seventies. At some restaurants, they are really nice and if you buy another drink of some sort, they'll give you tap water for free (as opposed to making you also buy either regular bottled water or carbonated bottled water off the menu). The results of the European approach to thirst are that 1) in most places except restaurants, people don't mind you bringing your bottle in with you--so you can shop with your juice or whatever, and 2) I am often dehydrated because one only wants to pack so much water for a daytrip and I don't like buying more. I wish water was more available, but I like how you can take your bottle in with you as a result of the no-fountain policy.

posted by LizC @ 4/11/2005 10:03:00 AM