Ice isn't just a French or Italian thing.

[Halloweenqueen]

I've had several trips where a seated commode is quite the luxury! My first experience was in a Russian airport. Nothing but pit toilets and a little old lady standing there selling paper scraps. I don't even know how much money I handed her...after a long flight I wasn't about to negotiate! Oh, and no stalls or doors in these bathrooms either! I wouldn't even tell you about China!

Now Ice....I NEVER ask for ice in a foreign country. Many people get sick from the way it is made or handled.

 

[BriarRosie]

But isnt that because the drinks are usually cold?

Yes, that's true. But I have no problem drinking from an unrefrigerated can. I have a carton of Diet Dr. Pepper from Costco, and I bring a couple cans to work, sitting in a bag in my cubicle. While I like cool soft drinks, I still drink them at room temperature.

Bathrooms are another story. I would not want to manhandle a toilet, but I survived the worst bathroom experience during a shore excursion at a "rest stop" outside of Caracas, Venezuela. I think the toilet situations where we are going will be posh by comparison!

 

[Gigi22]

Reminds me of a story my late FIL had, about trying to get a cold beer in England during WWII. He was in a pub and ordered a beer, which he received--but as far as he was concerned, the beer was warm. So he asked for a cold beer. Barman chipped a hunk of ice off a block of ice, and dumped it into FIL's beer. FIL quickly learned to drink beer at cellar temperature afterwards.

 

[steve76]

In Europe, if you ask for a drink, you tend to get an actual drink (i.e. not 80% ice). If you want more, you buy another one (just as you would do a meal...).

In the US, if you ask for a drink, you get 80% ice, but then you often get free refills to compensate.

Horses for courses. Personally I always feel a bit short-changed when I ask for a drink and get mostly ice. It's just a cultural thing.

 

[disneyholic family]

Doesn't matter how many years i've lived on this side of the ocean, i find the ice thing annoying (although it's not the only thing)..

it's been a few years now, since Israel finally discovered ice.....not sure how it happened, but it's now available in abundance (bags of ice sold in every little store and gas station).....
and when you order a drink, it usually comes with at least some ice and you can specify that you want a lot and they'll bring it....

But it's a pretty newfangled thing here....

before that, if you got ice, it might be one cube if you were lucky - or worse - those stupid plastic fluid filled things that you put in the freezer and supposedly would cool down your drink (they don't and who knows where those things have been)..

anyway, ice did make it here, so i suppose there's hope for Europe...

on the other hand, most places in europe still don't think they need air conditioning....
which reminds me, if you plan on going to europe in the summer on your own (not with ABD), be sure to check that your hotel has a/c....many many don't despite it getting very hot there in the summer.....

 

[GAN]

I love these types of stories, they are quite funny -the cultural differences are what make travel so interesting(maybe frustrating?). My wife prefers ice, personally I don't care -I do as the locals do, whether suffering is involved or not. Something like this usually worked for us(in Italy obviously)...

Per favore, ghiaccio supplementare nella mia bevanda

I'm not sure how Kevin was asking when he received the payload of ice -but I'd be surprised if he was asking in Italian based on the result. In general, Italians are more likely to help you(and respect you) if you attempt to speak their language -no matter how poorly it is done. Rome is tough because many restaurants(especially in tourist areas) will approach you and speak English, so naturally we respond in English. If you ask, "most" will speak Italian and help when you don't understand. Buona Fortuna.

 

[WebmasterMike]

As long as there is not 3 sea shells or a water cannon blasting my keister, I should be OK. I am sure I can find a vintage Sears catalog to take with me.

 

[luke]

We seem to get decent amounts of ice here in the uk, can't remember it being a problem when I lived in Spain either.
I'll always ask for no, or very little, ice if I'm getting a soda from a 'fountain' as it's generally cold anyway and I feel you get less soda if you get ice. If it's a bottle or can I'm getting tho I don't mind the 'full hit' of ice.

Oh and refills, they're a rare treat here. Pizza Hut offer unlimited refills as a 'perk' but very few restaurants would. And don't even start me on charging for bread here! Must be very annoying for Americans who come over.
Service here really does pale in comparison to what I've been used to on vacations to the USA - I think our wait staff not relying on tips as much has a lot to do with it...

 

[jpeka65844]

Oh my. These are funny.

I traveled through Europe in college and one thing I never understood was pay toilets. That seemed to be something you should be able to do for free. So we'd take turns paying and holding the door open for the next person in our group.

We also found that if you ever bought bottled water, itwas usually carbonated. We couldn't read the labels so there was always that anticipation and eventual disappointment at the "pppsssssssshhhhhh". I love plain carbonated water so I always gotto drink what other people didn't want.

 

[wishspirit]

You'll be ok with ice in the UK just specify how much you want, but free refills are pretty rare (usually only in American style places).

As far as I know our bathrooms are ok, but we don't have toilet seat covers, it's something I always miss when I get back home.

 

[kbelle8995]

I was in London and we went to the bar. I asked for a beer and figured that it would be warm. But the waitress brought it with ice. Very Sweet of her made my day much better.

 

[luke]

Beer with ice? Can't say I've ever seen that!!!

 

[wishspirit]

Beer with ice? Can't say I've ever seen that!!!

Me either! Cider with ice maybe...

 

[MamaJessie]

In my very limited European experience.....refills were not an option.

Some of our funniest memories revolve around asking for ice.

With ABD, we visited the oldest restaurant in Rome. It included a sort of ancient Roman dinner theater with gladiators and dancers.

I asked for ice for my Coke Light and our waiter looked perplexed. All of a sudden, you could see that he understood what I was requesting and held up his index finger, as if to say one minute.

A few minutes later, he and another waiter came out with the LARGEST silver bowl (think laundry basket) of crushed ice. It took two of them to carry it.

They set it on the table (I think the table sagged) and walked away.

Everyone in the restaurant came to our table (not just the other ABD folks) to get ice for their drinks. Several came back a second time during dinner.

In another restaurant, I asked for ice and the waiter brought one of those hollow tube ice cubes on a small plate directly out of the scalding hot dishwasher. I received a sliver of ice and warm water.

Ice and bathrooms were the things that vexed us....but we laughed about it all through Italy.

It seemed that no matter where we went....the bathroom had one important piece missing.

In one place it was paper. In another it was a toilet seat. In a third...it was a door. In another it was a sink.

In one of our hotels, I could not figure out to flush the toilet.

I poked, I felt underneath. I pushed. I pulled. I kept thinking..c'mon Kev....you can figure out how to flush a toilet.

I finally had to call John. After several minutes of frustration, John found a small, flat, silver plate on the wall...several feet from the commode. It was about 5 inches by 8 inches and looked to be made of aluminum.

If you put your hand on it and gently rocked it up and down.....the toilet flushed.

If John hadnt found it...I could still be there, manhandling that toilet.

The whole post had me laughing but I am stuck on the image of the laundry basket full of ice