Monday, May 5, 2008

Number one and two



Pictures and stuff from Munich coming soon. In the meantime, I just wanted to thank Europe in general. For what? Why, for the toilets!

You see, in my travels through Europe I have found the toilets are free and open. Whereas in America, Mexico, and other places people will do that shady thing of making you buy something before you can use their toilets, here in Europe I've only once (in Split,Croatia during high tourism season) been stopped and asked to pay for the pleasure of using the john. Frankly, I don't think anyone should ever have to pay to make water (or drink water, for that matter), but, alas, my radical opinion has not really caught on. So I just appreciate those times when I encounter people who share some of my high ideals in this area. And so......Europe, I salute you!

9 comments:

Iva said...

sorry to disappoint you, but ye old europe ain't all that glittery. actually, more often than not I HAD to pay for toilets in Europe: UK, Austria, Germany, Italy, Czech, Slovakia etc, and Slovenia falls into this category too (however only public toilets - in Ljubljana, they cost 17 cents - otherwise you just storm a bar, do your thing and nobody really cares). but i agree on the point that paying for this service really has no justification. ok, i understand that there is no free pee and someone has to buy toilet paper, get the dirt clean and so on, but honestly ... pay as you pee? so wrong.

Camille Acey said...

Iva,

I was only referring to restaurants and bars. In America, a lot of restaurants look at you like they want you pay for a plate of pasta first before you even THINK about peeing. It's absurd!

lili said...

belgium is the worst country for that. even in mcdonalds they make you pay as well as all the restaurants and bars and clubs. it can cost even 50 cents, which i think is absurd.

Iva said...

ohh, sorry for that! yeah, here you can actually do it, but also ... as lili says ... using a bar as a toilet can sometimes result in nasty looks of the catering staff.

Anonymous said...

Girl, you've obviously never set foot in Belgium or Holland! There's a "Madame pee-pee" (they do actually go by this name, I kid you not) at the toilet entrance, who pockets your 30 cents, but makes sure you're always greeted by a toilet that's spick and span. All the money goes in her pocket, so in the end, I don't think it's such a bad deal.

Camille Acey said...

@Poulette - madamame peepee, ha ha! yeah that is the sort of woman i ran into in Croatia, of course she wasn't really a proper madame -- more of an old gypsy babica....

Felicity said...

It can be very annoying, especially when you have to look for your money before you can go to the toilet.

Anonymous said...

geez, i remember some toilets in the Czech Republic where, after paying, they would send you in with a fixed amount of toilet paper too. everyone got there allotted squares...no more, no less.

Anonymous said...

Back when there was no 'former' in Former Yugoslavia, we drove to Zagreb with our then-neighbors. They had built a house on the outskirts of the city, and invited us to spend the week with them there in exchange for driving some stuff down for them in a 2nd car.

We stopped at a restaurant near the border to use the restrooms, which were actually brand new. The ladies even had a wonderful make-up mirror complete with lightbulbs all around.

If only they had had a Madame Peepee - or some toilet paper, mops, Ajax, Comet, etc!