What do you love about other European countries/cultures except your own?
October 5, 2024
^^^What the title asks.
34 comments
I love French culture for their films, their language, their beautiful cities, and generally speaking their contributions to Western Civilisation. I suppose I could say this also for Italian, German, and for the most part for Greek culture and many more. However, I really like French culture. The French (and I include especially Parisians) get way more hatred than they deserve.
I love Lithuania for their culture (good music, pride in quality, great beer, great food, interesting language branch) and their environment. 30% forest cover, over 6000 lakes, great summer weather and beautiful towns and cities.
Love how Spanish last names work. That everyone keeps their own name when getting married and children get one last name from each parent.
I love Greece – beautiful sea, incredible scenery, good food and warm people. We’re going again in a couple of weeks!
I love Germany because of their medieval and modern history, some of their cultural and artistic movements like the Sturm und Drang and Expressionism, I loved every place I’ve visited and local dish I’ve tried there, and because I think they’re close to us in many ways.
Well, since I currently live in Germany, I guess I can start with that.
I love that so many cities have their own opera/ballet/theatre/orchestra, and they offer very good performances for reasonable prices.
There are many public swimming pools which are again affordable and clean.
So many spas, great if you like to have a good sweat every so often.
Many lakes etc where you can swim (if the weather allows).
I can go everywhere by bike (sometimes it’s a bit dangerous but okay).
There are stores like Rossmann which are great value for money.
Culture-wise, I love how people always greet one another. Like okay, not on a crowded street or park, but when you’re on a walk, bike ride, run, you always exchange greetings. It’s so nice. It’s not specific to Germany, of course, but yeah. Also, I find people generally very trustworthy and reliable.
I love:
– Spain’s healthy eating habits and lifestyle, and Spaniards’ fashion/pride in personal appearance. I also love the pride many Spaniards have in their land, heritage and culture, unlike in England where many people have been brainwashed to hate their country.
– I love Portugal’s coastline and lush regions like Madeira and the Azores – they remind me of Britain’s coastline and national parks, just with more sunshine.
– How advanced the Netherlands is and how they excel at efficiency and functionality. From greenhouses to public transport, water treatment processes to flood prevention, things in the Netherlands seem to work.
– Finland’s complete investment in their national defence and socioeconomic wellbeing, and how resilient they seem as a society. It seems nobody gets left behind in Finland.
– Lastly, I admire Ukraine’s resilience and immense effort and sacrifices they make during a time of extraordinary pressure on their country.
What I love about Northern countries is their (generally) good behavior and respect for the rules.
I think it gives people a lot of peace and they know what to expect.
I love the way that some European cultures take 3 people, some music, a bag of chips and makes a party (I’m looking at you, East)
So many things to love about pretty much every country but what came to mind first is British comedy/sense of humour. It’s really the best in the world imo.
I love Austria.
A beautiful blend off all great things Europe has to offer.
Beautiful mountains, stunning lakes, endless choices for outdoor activities, beautiful cities, idyllic townships, great food, almost no litter, fantastic looking grassy alms. All for a much lower price than Switzerland.
The only thing it doesn’t have is nightlife and sea access. But in return you get a great day-life and beaches by the lakes.
Italy, while now being in Cerdeña and having been in many cities of the country, and having been in loads of countries to compare with. Just WOW, what a country.
I loved Slovenia. To me it looked like the quintessential european dream. Green, clean, modern, safe, beautiful, with very little poverty or insecurity. And some other things I can’t say because they are not politically correct.
I love the danish way of coping with winter / cold (hygge?) and their culture of having hobbies and work / life balance
Love the relaxed attitude to being nude in Northern and Eastern European countries. It’s so much more mature than the weirdly sexualised approach to the human body of the Anglo-Saxon countries round the world (which is ironic considering where they came from)
I could definitely come up with way more profound examples, but the first thing that comes to my mind is UK pubs. I got a taste when living there, and now I miss it. We do have pubs, but it isn’t quite the same here. I don’t like getting drunk and being in some bar that plays music at 300% volume where you can’t have a chat. Pubs are the perfect sort of middle ground. You can have a pint or two but still hold conversations or do whatever else as a social hangout spot
I have some detailed and some general opinions here.
**France 🇫🇷 (Paris and South)**
– sense of fashion, beauty, aesthetics, cuisine and the beautiful language. Also, very friendly, thoughtful people if you make at least an effort to ask “Vous parlez anglais?”
**Spain 🇪🇸 (Barcelona, the South, Madrid, Canary Islands)**
– warm, extroverted people, very easy to make friends with. I like to smile and joke around with strangers, it’s possible there. I like the sense of community.
**Italy 🇮🇹 (North and around Rome/Naples)**
– similar to Spain, beautiful language. Fashionistas, sense for the finer things, god-tier cuisine. Loud, but you feel alive there. Passionate.
**Greece 🇬🇷 (Islands and Thessaly)**
– similar to Spain, very easy to vibe with, genuinely curious and friendly. Whenever we’re on vacation there the hosts (often Marias) have adopted us in their family after a day. Exceptionally beautiful landscapes. Heaven-tier cuisine. Particularly handsome dudes.
**Poland 🇵🇱 (the South)**
– unexpectedly warm and chatty people, mentality wise oddly similar to Italians or Croatians, very good sense of humor, the South strongly reminds me of parts of Bavaria/Austria/Czechia, underrated landscapes and mountains there, food is the bomb, felt very safe everywhere I went.
**Netherlands 🇳🇱 (general)**
– friendly, always in a good mood, open-minded people you can easily make friends with. Very direct, progressive minded “live and let live”, language sounds funny (in a positive way).
**UK 🇬🇧 (general)**
– particularly good taste in music (especially regarding House/EDM). Hilarious sense of humor.
**Portugal 🇵🇹 (general)**
– very similar to Spain, although more melancholic.
**Ireland 🇮🇪 (general)**
– exceptionally nice people.
A lot of things: the Irish language, French countryside, Belgian ale, Dutch biscuits/cookies, Danish mythology, Italian Renaissance painting, German towns and villages, the bravery and commitment to their national freedom of the people of Ukraine, ancient Greek philosophy, fruity sangria from Spain, the friendliness of the Polish, lagers from Czechia, Romanian castles and folklore, the music of Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky … I could go on, and I’m only naming a few examples from a handful of nations. But I think each country is unique and offers its own benefits and virtues to the world.
I love how calm, kind and respectful northern Europeans are. It’s an introvert’s dream. The nature up there also speaks to me the most. There’s something oddly heartwarming about the crisp, cold air. Polar day and polar night, the northern lights. Just how variable the weather is. Sunny one minute, windy and rainy the next.
Swiss democracy, the cycling culture in the Netherlands, the hospitality in various Balkan countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, etc.)… There’s probably much more.
I adore Italian cooking. And I am not talking about pizzas (though they are ok) and spaghetti drowned in cream. I mean real Italian cooking. The breath of regional kitchens. The myriad of ingredients. And the way they take three ingredients and make a masterpiece. I also love the intense passion Italians have for food. (Sometimes I don’t want to go home because I know I am going to get food-depressed).
Very specific, but I admire Czech handicraft, especially leatherwork.
I love how Germany is just no bullshit about everything. Going there from the UK there is none of this fake niceness we have here. People are exceptionally kind but it’s not fake you don’t have to try to figure out if they are just being nice to your face.
I also love how organised everything is, and as much they complain about Deutschebahhn it still beats the train system we have in the UK, at least it’s affordable
I envy Czechs having Prague, a decent-looking capital other than ours. and I might be Polish but I am so terribly fragile and susceptible to cold, something that is probably unlikely in Northern Europe (and I mean me freezing under °15-10 degrees). gotta start swimming in ice holes I guess
I’m not sure I “love” those things, but I do appreciate them very much:
*Czech Republic: this year, I went to Prague for the first time. I was totally blown away by the beauty and the tidyness. And not just Prague, pretty much every place we went looked nice and was clean. We felt really safe and secure (except in the tram where some students were scammed by the conductor and the police). And of course the food and especially the beer was superb.
*UK – how friendly people are. It’s always such a stark contrast to most other countries (perhaps except the Netherlands). I’m not saying people in other countries are unfriendly, but somehow the UK sticks out a bit.
Then there’s rural England. That’s the only exception where I’d use the word “love”. The stunningly beautiful landscape, tiny villages which seem to have been left untouched since 1874, walks along rivers and through valleys where time seems to be a concept that isn’t all that important.
And last but not least: ale. You guys make some really fine ale. I hope that the hazy IPA craze passes by (just as the sour craze went by). And with beer, of course, come pubs. Sadly, pubs aren’t doing well and haven’t been doing so for a couple of years. (All the while wet-her-spoon reports +75% increase in revenue… But I can see the appeal of those places, too…)
I love how Copenhagen is built. It felt like the perfect city. It’s so vibrant without being overwhelming or too in your face. I find a lot of cities can be very over stimulating but Copenhagen had the perfect balance of being lively without giving me sensory overloads.
The scent of oranges in Portugal and Spain is such a randomly specific thing but oh my god they smelt amazing. Fields and fields that all just smelt literally how I would expect heaven to smell.
Love the swedes for their ability/culture (despite their size ; population) to hit above their weight with regards to innovation and making stuff that works. Stuff like making cars (volvo), trucks (scania), furnitures (IKEA; yeah know that much it is made in eastern europe etc.. though concept was swedish), fighter jets (other nations making such stuff is the size many times sweden).. telecom (ericcson pioneering).. SKF (innovating the ball bearing) etc.. on top of that also those contributed to science. The like of Linne, Celsius, Nobel etc.. (the famous ones).. but also those less famous but gotten their share of the history… like Arne Beurling etc.. There is something in that swedish culture that one got to love and admire.
Don’t love much about them, not much about my own, but as long as they are decent demoraties they are ok. Countries are not made for loving they are made to house people. Beautiful countryside and views can be loved of course and most countries have plenty of that.
The two countries I not only like but deeply admire from Europe are Switzerland and Iceland, you won the developed nation lottery by being born there and if Catalonia or a part of Catalonia ever becomes independent we shall have no better examples on how to build a proper nation
The salaries. My country has the lowest salaries in the EU, so it’s better literally everywhere else.
So I’m from a part of Norway that’s very popular with tourists. I mean, it’s nice here but I’m kinda jaded about it. Looking at the Alps, and I wonder why people even bother traveling up here where I live. I’m totally in love with the Alps, Tyrol, the hills, the mountains, the nice weather, the beer and pizzas everywhere. It’s so fooking beautiful!
i’ve spent the vast majority of my life in the uk but i’ll say that i really like how casually everyone sort of speak to each other. You speak to younger or older people in the same way, by starting off with something like “you alright?” There’s no unnecessary formality, you can just kind of speak to everyone like they’re your friend. I’ll also add that British humour is good.
– Fika in Sweden, tall people, Stockholm is nice and the lakes in the south are beautiful, the potato roundabout in Mjölby deserves a special mention too
– Mont Saint Michel, Ardèche, Strasbourg, Colmar a lot of cuisine, a lot of wine from France
– That season during which Germany is overflowing with berries of all kinds being sold everywhere, kafe kuchen, German children songs, most Germans, my mom’s best friend Paul
– The Spanish language, the Spanish people, tortilla, how sophisticated but also so friendly some Spaniards are, Sangria, Flamenco
– Lisbon, the seaside (cold water! Love it), pasteis de nata, city parties and just being outside a lot at lunch, evening and night
– the damp gloomy interesting fascinating athmosphere of the British countryside. British people, as several of my best friends are Brits, a good Shepherd’s pie, musicals culture in London
– rough coastal areas, red haired people, also many of my friends who are Irish, can’t think of a food sorry, I’m not fond of Guinness
– my favourite thing about Finland is the sound of Finnish and their housing first anti homelessness policies
There’s still many countries I need to get to know better on this continent, and for my adoptive country, Belgium, there’s so many things I like, it would be a massive list.
I love Finland and its culture. I love the nature and the cool summers. I like how the transport is generally really good, with exception to some rural areas. I like the saunas and outdoor activities both summer and winter! I can tolerate the cold, and love the snow!
34 comments
I love French culture for their films, their language, their beautiful cities, and generally speaking their contributions to Western Civilisation. I suppose I could say this also for Italian, German, and for the most part for Greek culture and many more. However, I really like French culture. The French (and I include especially Parisians) get way more hatred than they deserve.
I love Lithuania for their culture (good music, pride in quality, great beer, great food, interesting language branch) and their environment. 30% forest cover, over 6000 lakes, great summer weather and beautiful towns and cities.
Love how Spanish last names work. That everyone keeps their own name when getting married and children get one last name from each parent.
I love Greece – beautiful sea, incredible scenery, good food and warm people. We’re going again in a couple of weeks!
I love Germany because of their medieval and modern history, some of their cultural and artistic movements like the Sturm und Drang and Expressionism, I loved every place I’ve visited and local dish I’ve tried there, and because I think they’re close to us in many ways.
Well, since I currently live in Germany, I guess I can start with that.
I love that so many cities have their own opera/ballet/theatre/orchestra, and they offer very good performances for reasonable prices.
There are many public swimming pools which are again affordable and clean.
So many spas, great if you like to have a good sweat every so often.
Many lakes etc where you can swim (if the weather allows).
I can go everywhere by bike (sometimes it’s a bit dangerous but okay).
There are stores like Rossmann which are great value for money.
Culture-wise, I love how people always greet one another. Like okay, not on a crowded street or park, but when you’re on a walk, bike ride, run, you always exchange greetings. It’s so nice. It’s not specific to Germany, of course, but yeah. Also, I find people generally very trustworthy and reliable.
I love:
– Spain’s healthy eating habits and lifestyle, and Spaniards’ fashion/pride in personal appearance. I also love the pride many Spaniards have in their land, heritage and culture, unlike in England where many people have been brainwashed to hate their country.
– I love Portugal’s coastline and lush regions like Madeira and the Azores – they remind me of Britain’s coastline and national parks, just with more sunshine.
– How advanced the Netherlands is and how they excel at efficiency and functionality. From greenhouses to public transport, water treatment processes to flood prevention, things in the Netherlands seem to work.
– Finland’s complete investment in their national defence and socioeconomic wellbeing, and how resilient they seem as a society. It seems nobody gets left behind in Finland.
– Lastly, I admire Ukraine’s resilience and immense effort and sacrifices they make during a time of extraordinary pressure on their country.
What I love about Northern countries is their (generally) good behavior and respect for the rules.
I think it gives people a lot of peace and they know what to expect.
I love the way that some European cultures take 3 people, some music, a bag of chips and makes a party (I’m looking at you, East)
So many things to love about pretty much every country but what came to mind first is British comedy/sense of humour. It’s really the best in the world imo.
I love Austria.
A beautiful blend off all great things Europe has to offer.
Beautiful mountains, stunning lakes, endless choices for outdoor activities, beautiful cities, idyllic townships, great food, almost no litter, fantastic looking grassy alms. All for a much lower price than Switzerland.
The only thing it doesn’t have is nightlife and sea access. But in return you get a great day-life and beaches by the lakes.
Italy, while now being in Cerdeña and having been in many cities of the country, and having been in loads of countries to compare with. Just WOW, what a country.
I loved Slovenia. To me it looked like the quintessential european dream. Green, clean, modern, safe, beautiful, with very little poverty or insecurity. And some other things I can’t say because they are not politically correct.
I love the danish way of coping with winter / cold (hygge?) and their culture of having hobbies and work / life balance
Romanian-French man here.
Spain: diversity, lifestyle, culture, weather
Germany: culture of big cities, food
Belgium; architecture, fohod, comics
The Netherlands: cheese, Amsterdam, ladies
UK: music, culture
Hungary: culture, language
Croatia: seaside
Serbia: everything
Bosnia: food
Kosovo: people, food
Albania: hospitality, country
Bulgaria: language, food
Poland: food, ladies
Czechia: culture, lifestyle
Portugal: architecture, Algarve
Greece: everything
Luxembourg: everything
Italy: Venice
Monaco: Monaco
Love the relaxed attitude to being nude in Northern and Eastern European countries. It’s so much more mature than the weirdly sexualised approach to the human body of the Anglo-Saxon countries round the world (which is ironic considering where they came from)
I could definitely come up with way more profound examples, but the first thing that comes to my mind is UK pubs. I got a taste when living there, and now I miss it. We do have pubs, but it isn’t quite the same here. I don’t like getting drunk and being in some bar that plays music at 300% volume where you can’t have a chat. Pubs are the perfect sort of middle ground. You can have a pint or two but still hold conversations or do whatever else as a social hangout spot
I have some detailed and some general opinions here.
**France 🇫🇷 (Paris and South)**
– sense of fashion, beauty, aesthetics, cuisine and the beautiful language. Also, very friendly, thoughtful people if you make at least an effort to ask “Vous parlez anglais?”
**Spain 🇪🇸 (Barcelona, the South, Madrid, Canary Islands)**
– warm, extroverted people, very easy to make friends with. I like to smile and joke around with strangers, it’s possible there. I like the sense of community.
**Italy 🇮🇹 (North and around Rome/Naples)**
– similar to Spain, beautiful language. Fashionistas, sense for the finer things, god-tier cuisine. Loud, but you feel alive there. Passionate.
**Greece 🇬🇷 (Islands and Thessaly)**
– similar to Spain, very easy to vibe with, genuinely curious and friendly. Whenever we’re on vacation there the hosts (often Marias) have adopted us in their family after a day. Exceptionally beautiful landscapes. Heaven-tier cuisine. Particularly handsome dudes.
**Poland 🇵🇱 (the South)**
– unexpectedly warm and chatty people, mentality wise oddly similar to Italians or Croatians, very good sense of humor, the South strongly reminds me of parts of Bavaria/Austria/Czechia, underrated landscapes and mountains there, food is the bomb, felt very safe everywhere I went.
**Netherlands 🇳🇱 (general)**
– friendly, always in a good mood, open-minded people you can easily make friends with. Very direct, progressive minded “live and let live”, language sounds funny (in a positive way).
**UK 🇬🇧 (general)**
– particularly good taste in music (especially regarding House/EDM). Hilarious sense of humor.
**Portugal 🇵🇹 (general)**
– very similar to Spain, although more melancholic.
**Ireland 🇮🇪 (general)**
– exceptionally nice people.
A lot of things: the Irish language, French countryside, Belgian ale, Dutch biscuits/cookies, Danish mythology, Italian Renaissance painting, German towns and villages, the bravery and commitment to their national freedom of the people of Ukraine, ancient Greek philosophy, fruity sangria from Spain, the friendliness of the Polish, lagers from Czechia, Romanian castles and folklore, the music of Mozart, Beethoven and Tchaikovsky … I could go on, and I’m only naming a few examples from a handful of nations. But I think each country is unique and offers its own benefits and virtues to the world.
I love how calm, kind and respectful northern Europeans are. It’s an introvert’s dream. The nature up there also speaks to me the most. There’s something oddly heartwarming about the crisp, cold air. Polar day and polar night, the northern lights. Just how variable the weather is. Sunny one minute, windy and rainy the next.
Swiss democracy, the cycling culture in the Netherlands, the hospitality in various Balkan countries (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, etc.)… There’s probably much more.
I adore Italian cooking. And I am not talking about pizzas (though they are ok) and spaghetti drowned in cream. I mean real Italian cooking. The breath of regional kitchens. The myriad of ingredients. And the way they take three ingredients and make a masterpiece. I also love the intense passion Italians have for food. (Sometimes I don’t want to go home because I know I am going to get food-depressed).
Very specific, but I admire Czech handicraft, especially leatherwork.
I love how Germany is just no bullshit about everything. Going there from the UK there is none of this fake niceness we have here. People are exceptionally kind but it’s not fake you don’t have to try to figure out if they are just being nice to your face.
I also love how organised everything is, and as much they complain about Deutschebahhn it still beats the train system we have in the UK, at least it’s affordable
I envy Czechs having Prague, a decent-looking capital other than ours. and I might be Polish but I am so terribly fragile and susceptible to cold, something that is probably unlikely in Northern Europe (and I mean me freezing under °15-10 degrees). gotta start swimming in ice holes I guess
I’m not sure I “love” those things, but I do appreciate them very much:
*Czech Republic: this year, I went to Prague for the first time. I was totally blown away by the beauty and the tidyness. And not just Prague, pretty much every place we went looked nice and was clean. We felt really safe and secure (except in the tram where some students were scammed by the conductor and the police). And of course the food and especially the beer was superb.
*UK – how friendly people are. It’s always such a stark contrast to most other countries (perhaps except the Netherlands). I’m not saying people in other countries are unfriendly, but somehow the UK sticks out a bit.
Then there’s rural England. That’s the only exception where I’d use the word “love”. The stunningly beautiful landscape, tiny villages which seem to have been left untouched since 1874, walks along rivers and through valleys where time seems to be a concept that isn’t all that important.
And last but not least: ale. You guys make some really fine ale. I hope that the hazy IPA craze passes by (just as the sour craze went by). And with beer, of course, come pubs. Sadly, pubs aren’t doing well and haven’t been doing so for a couple of years. (All the while wet-her-spoon reports +75% increase in revenue… But I can see the appeal of those places, too…)
I love how Copenhagen is built. It felt like the perfect city. It’s so vibrant without being overwhelming or too in your face. I find a lot of cities can be very over stimulating but Copenhagen had the perfect balance of being lively without giving me sensory overloads.
The scent of oranges in Portugal and Spain is such a randomly specific thing but oh my god they smelt amazing. Fields and fields that all just smelt literally how I would expect heaven to smell.
Love the swedes for their ability/culture (despite their size ; population) to hit above their weight with regards to innovation and making stuff that works. Stuff like making cars (volvo), trucks (scania), furnitures (IKEA; yeah know that much it is made in eastern europe etc.. though concept was swedish), fighter jets (other nations making such stuff is the size many times sweden).. telecom (ericcson pioneering).. SKF (innovating the ball bearing) etc.. on top of that also those contributed to science. The like of Linne, Celsius, Nobel etc.. (the famous ones).. but also those less famous but gotten their share of the history… like Arne Beurling etc.. There is something in that swedish culture that one got to love and admire.
Don’t love much about them, not much about my own, but as long as they are decent demoraties they are ok. Countries are not made for loving they are made to house people. Beautiful countryside and views can be loved of course and most countries have plenty of that.
The two countries I not only like but deeply admire from Europe are Switzerland and Iceland, you won the developed nation lottery by being born there and if Catalonia or a part of Catalonia ever becomes independent we shall have no better examples on how to build a proper nation
The salaries. My country has the lowest salaries in the EU, so it’s better literally everywhere else.
So I’m from a part of Norway that’s very popular with tourists. I mean, it’s nice here but I’m kinda jaded about it. Looking at the Alps, and I wonder why people even bother traveling up here where I live. I’m totally in love with the Alps, Tyrol, the hills, the mountains, the nice weather, the beer and pizzas everywhere. It’s so fooking beautiful!
i’ve spent the vast majority of my life in the uk but i’ll say that i really like how casually everyone sort of speak to each other. You speak to younger or older people in the same way, by starting off with something like “you alright?” There’s no unnecessary formality, you can just kind of speak to everyone like they’re your friend. I’ll also add that British humour is good.
– Fika in Sweden, tall people, Stockholm is nice and the lakes in the south are beautiful, the potato roundabout in Mjölby deserves a special mention too
– Mont Saint Michel, Ardèche, Strasbourg, Colmar a lot of cuisine, a lot of wine from France
– That season during which Germany is overflowing with berries of all kinds being sold everywhere, kafe kuchen, German children songs, most Germans, my mom’s best friend Paul
– The Spanish language, the Spanish people, tortilla, how sophisticated but also so friendly some Spaniards are, Sangria, Flamenco
– Lisbon, the seaside (cold water! Love it), pasteis de nata, city parties and just being outside a lot at lunch, evening and night
– the damp gloomy interesting fascinating athmosphere of the British countryside. British people, as several of my best friends are Brits, a good Shepherd’s pie, musicals culture in London
– rough coastal areas, red haired people, also many of my friends who are Irish, can’t think of a food sorry, I’m not fond of Guinness
– my favourite thing about Finland is the sound of Finnish and their housing first anti homelessness policies
There’s still many countries I need to get to know better on this continent, and for my adoptive country, Belgium, there’s so many things I like, it would be a massive list.
I love Finland and its culture. I love the nature and the cool summers. I like how the transport is generally really good, with exception to some rural areas. I like the saunas and outdoor activities both summer and winter! I can tolerate the cold, and love the snow!