We are on “fast train” to Amsterdam after our first train this morning, a regional German train, was canceled because of “lack of personnel.” The next train that came through, 30 minutes later was packed and we still had to get on.We were packed together like, well, sardines. However, our next stop was only 14 minutes away and we were able to get on this fast train.

The fast train, an ICE, had to be chosen after we missed the original ICE train, due to the regional train being cancelled with only 15 minutes notice. This ICE train had no seat reservations left at the last minute. But having a Eurail Pass we can ride on any train any time for 24 hours using what is called a travel day. This is our ticket but not a seat reservation.

As the train was arriving, there was panic among those wanting to get on. People were running, children were crying and it was a mad rush to find a seat. Karen, of course, had booked us in first class with our Eurail Pass. We did not have a reserved seat because the train app said none were available. But we found seats and just a few minutes ago arrived in Dusseldorph, where we transferred to this fast train to Amsterdam. It is 1:30 p.m. here. Karen has just returned from visiting the snack car, where she bought us two Cokes and two cinnamon buns. We were getting hungry.

Here are some observations about our trip:

WE’VE GONE TO THE DOGS

People treat dogs today as if they were people. Our family had a Yorkshire terrier when the boys were growing up. We loved him. His name was Chocolate. Actually, I think officially he was Mark’s dog. When Mark went off to college and law school, he became the ward of Karen, who took care of him as if he were one of our children.

However, he was not a child and we didn’t treat him as a person. In his last years he had bladder cancer that eventually led us to have him put to sleep because of his pain. Mark and I took him to the vet where he was put down. We cried all the way over there, during the procedure and all the way back home. We were so sad.

But, we knew he was a dog. We didn’t take him on trips with us. We didn’t take him shopping with us. We didn’t take him to the restaurant with us. He was a dog.

Since we’ve been in Europe, we’ve been overrun with dogs. People carry them everywhere. We’ve had to share space on our trains with dogs. We’ve had to share our hotel with dogs. One night at a restaurant in Innsbruck, a man at a table next to us was holding is rather large dog in his lap while he ate. I’m sure he was feeding the dog some, too, but I didn’t want to stare.

We’ve even seen beggars in the larger cities with dogs, sitting along with them on the sidewalks. It’s doggone something.

SOME CULTURAL DIFFERENCES

We’ve noticed cultural difference, especially in eating, than what we are used to at home. It’s not that there is a right or wrong, but just a difference.

Take spoons, for instance. At home we typically use a teaspoon for about everything. We eat with it, stir with it, put sugar in the coffee with it. It’s a great general purpose spoon. We have found here in Europe, most everyone uses a larger spoon for eating. At home we typically use larger spoons as serving spoons. I was surprised that I got a such a large spoon to eat my cereal for breakfast. It worked fine, just felt a little large in my mouth.

In Europe, people are quick to use a coffee spoon, which is smaller than a teaspoon. It usually accompanies a cup of coffee and a little too small to eat with. That is until we ordered some gelato in Rome. When we ordered a cup of gelato, it came with a spoon just a little bit larger than a spoon you’d be given at an ice cream store when you want a sample.

In many of the restaurants the silverware is not on the table or placed in front of us, but is brought to us on a plate with the napkins underneath the fork and knife.

Coffee, in particular, is much different than what we are accustomed to at home. We are partial to Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds coffee at home. We put the already ground coffee in the coffee maker, it brews and then we pour it in our cup along with adding some half and half and sugar. What we have found in nearly every restaurant and hotel we’ve stayed in in Europe is that each has a special coffee maker. They must be expensive because they yield so many different kinds of coffee. I though of Starbucks when we encountered out first one in Edinburgh.

With this do-it-yourself machine you have to know about different kinds of coffee. There’s coffee with hot milk, there’s coffee with cream, there’s espresso and then there’s lattes. We’ve about figured out that coffee with hot milk comes about as close to home as possible. Just because we didn’t know what we were doing, we had tried all of them. We still prefer what we brew at home.

Ordering food in restaurants is different, as well. First you have to know whether to seat yourself or be seated. In some restaurants we’ve stood inside the restaurant waiting to be seated when a waiter would come by and say “just seat yourself anywhere.” We did that at one place and we waited and waited for service. Finally, we flagged down a waitress she told us we had to go to the bar to place our order.

There’s a huge difference in what happens after you’ve eaten your meal. At home, when you’re finished the waiter usually comes by and asks if you want anything else. If we say no, the waiter produces the check, we pay and leave. Not so here in Europe. Once our order arrives and we finish it, the waiter does not stop by and ask if we want anything else. In fact, we’ve wondered how long a restaurant would let us sit at a table We’ve found that we have to ask for our bill before it’s brought. What’s peculiar to me is that the restaurant will let me sit at the table as long as I want even when there are other folks waiting to be seated.

Most places we have eaten take a debit or credit cards. But in the smaller towns we’ve been, like Boppard last night, Rothenburg the night before, they want strictly cash. In a couple of the restaurants we were met at the door and the first thing said to us is, “cash only.”

We ate supper in Amsterdam tonight, where we ate at an American restaurant and both had hamburgers and fries. We started talking about the entire time we’ve been gone, we have not had a straw to drink with, nor have we been offered one.

Another thing we have noticed is the lateness of breakfast. Most do not start breakfast until 7:30, a few at 7 and one did not offer it until 8 a.m. In Paris some of the restaurants didn’t even open for breakfast until 7 or 7:30. It might have been just tourist areas but it is still late to eat breakfast.

GOING GREEN

We’ve noticed that all of Europe is very conscious of “saving the planet.”

In several of our hotels, we’ve had to insert our door key card into a slot next to the door before we can have power in the room. You have to take your key card with you when you leave, which means all of the power is off.

We’ve seen, especially in London, buses and boats have big signs on their sides proclaiming “100 percent electric.” And of course, in all of these towns public transportation is used by many people.

We have seen very few gas or petrol stations. And, with the prices of fuel in Europe we can understand why many people take mass transit or ride motorcycles, scooters. Gasoline in the Netherlands is nearly $6.50 per gallon converting euros to US dollars. In England it’s $5.96 per gallon.

In every European county we’ve been, bikes have special lanes in which to ride. In some of these countries the lanes are as big as lanes for cars. Often these lanes are painted with a special color like red or blue.

And a scary part of all the bike riding is that when we are out walking we can hear gas powered vehicles some, but not so with bikes. We have come very close several times to stepping out in front of a bike that whipped around a corner and us not hearing it.

We have also noticed many houses with solar panels. In Germany there are also large barns for animals that have one entire side of the roof in solar panels.

HOTELS

The hotels we have stayed in have ranged from small to about the same size as most hotels in the US. However, the bedding situation has been somewhat different. While everything has been super clean there has only been one hotel, other than a Marriott, that has had washcloths. All have had two hand towels and two bath towels.

And all the hotels have extremely hot water.

The bedding is another thing. Many of the rooms have been like we are used to with a top sheet and comforter covering the entire bed. But there have been several where we have had two comforters on the bed. They are not large enough to go across the entire bed, just enough for each person to use one. Some of the beds have had a bottom sheet covering the entire mattress but some have had individual bottom sheets. Many of the beds looked like they could be used as twin beds but are placed together, kind of like on a cruise.

AMERICAN INFLUENCE

We have been surprised at the number of American businesses and shops we have seen. Of course McDonalds is everywhere but we are still surprised to see other places that we recognize. Some are Kentucky Fried Chicken, Burger King, Five Brothers, T Mobile, UPS and Amazon trucks. But no matter where we have been and there is music playing it is lots of American tunes. Not only what is current today, but some old ones that we recognize also.

Here is the way several of our beds have been made up. It looks like twin beds pulled together with a comforter on each side. The problem is that when I toss and turn the comforter ends partially or fully off the bed.