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Outdoor farmers' markets that we do one day a week in the states, they do daily in Europe and make money in the process. Imagine selling meat, cheese, bread, vegetables, fruit, plus crafts and sometimes off-the-wall things like shoes, under umbrellas in the city square. It works because people live in town.
Many Europeans prefer to live downtown in owned or rented apartments. We learned that the less affluent Croatians were forced to move to the suburbs because housing in downtown Zagreb was too expensive. That strikes many Americans who live in the suburbs by choice as simply backwards. Go figure.
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Repeatedly we hear that in Croatia and Slovenia people are not particularly religious. This trait they share with the rest of Europe, which is said to be in a post-religious phase except for the Muslim immigrants.
In the Balkans the Muslim immigrants are not Arabs, Africans, or Asians. Instead they are European Muslims from Bosnia or Albania. Here as everywhere else, they are a problem. We heard and saw a protest march by Bosnians in downtown Ljubljana, complaining about poor wages and treatment as second class citizens. In truth they probably are not citizens.
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There are RVs in Europe but they are smaller than those in the States. There are conventional trailers, but almost no 5th wheel trailers because there are almost no pickup trucks to pull them. There are class C and class A motorhomes, again not large. There are few class B motorhomes (van conversions). I wonder where Europeans park their RVs when not in use? I don't believe I've seen what we in the States call a "boneyard," or RV storage yard.
A typical RV campground here provides only electric hookups. You'd think they'd provide water as a hookup, they don't. They provide water to fill your RV's tank. I suppose like the RV parks in New Zealand they have ample showers and WCs. Many of their RV parks are along rivers or lakes, not unusual. I've not seen the sort of classy RV park that exists in the U.S. Most of them here look a little run down. They probably only operate 4-5 months a year.
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I suspect that most Americans don't know much about the Adriatic coast of the Balkans, how scenic much of it is. It has been a place Europeans have come for vacations in the same way they've gone to the Greek islands and Turkey. The combination of mountains and seacoast with the occasional walled town or castle is very picturesque, if only I could read the language.
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I wonder why Europeans don't buy pickup trucks while Americans do? In New Zealand you see one occasionally, they call them "utes" which stands for utility vehicle. The most popular single vehicle in North America is the Ford F 150 pickup, with the Chevy and Dodge units not far behind. Is there anywhere else on the planet where light trucks are the modal vehicle? This says something about our cultures, how they differ. If only I could figure out what it is.
Maybe it's related to that live-in-town predilection noted above. Light trucks are very handy to help suburban home owners bring home bulky stuff that urban apartment dwellers have little use for and no place to store (e.g., lawn mowers or patio furniture). Trucks are also useful to haul yard waste to the land fill, a problem those living in apartments don't need to solve.
