To be a bit envious of this lifestyle? (USA)

I found the picturesque coastal towns and bays to look very similar in: Croatia, Italy, France, and the Swiss lake of Maggiore. I went to Russia briefly and did not find it samey, although some of the baroque architecture there reminded me of some other parts of Europe. I thought Tallin was somewhat similar to some German towns, such as Nuremberg, and to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana. The lakes and mountains of the Swiss Alps, the French Alps, the Slovenian mountains looked somewhat similar. The German mountain towns reminded me of the Swiss Alps towns. I just saw a lot of similarities between many of the countries I'd been to. I haven't been to Greece but their island architecture of white buildings with cobalt-blue roofs looks unique. Brussels reminded me a little of German cities.

I found Copenhagen and Helsinki not too dissimilar.

This is a fair take. I'm an American in the US and my mother in law had a health event that resulted in two months' stay in the hospital, followed by a month at an acute rehab facility for intensive physical therapy. My in laws have excellent health insurance but have still been told by medical staff to prepare themselves for a high seven figure medical bill, after insurance. The reports you see about the cost of our healthcare are not hyperbole.

@DdraigGoch ah I really love Stockholm- we used to go lots when we lived in Copenhagen - we still go most new years - it’s dull and a bit gloomy or sometimes very snowy but there’s something I love about it . The great lighting, the lakes, warm and cozy cafes and bars, so many swedes who chat to us, and the fact they’ve got a chain called greasy spoon ( and yep it is , albeit a very good one )

It is terrifying. I have a trip coming up and I am for the first time really quite nervous as a non-citizen.

I preferred Stockholm to Helsinki to be honest.

Food-wise it can be quite samey - same fare in most supermarkets across the country, same (or similar) chain restaurants with similar menus…..
But when you get into regional foods? It can be glorious 😍
Cant remember the exact reason but it’s something to do with the water in New York does something to the pizza dough, which makes it the most incredible pizza.
Down in Louisiana/New Orleans?! An absolute flavour explosion everywhere you go. Gumbo, Jambalaya, seafood boils etc
Down south? The most amazing BBQ you’ll ever taste.
Down in Florida? The freshest seafood and authentic Cuban food.
Where I am, we have wonderful Mexican food. There’s a place we love that’s basically just a hole in the wall, looks like it probably hasn’t passed a health inspection in a while and it’s been owned by the same family for 50 years. To the point where if you look past the counter into the kitchen, the current manager’s Abeula is sitting on a chair, hand-rolling tortillas. That place is ultimate flavour town 😍

@DdraigGoch Europe has to be the most varied place on earth- if you factor in language, food, scenery and customs

thingcwith US is it does have the variety of scenery but it’s all the same language and to some extent similar food - so if anywhere has lots of ‘same y’ aspects it’s the US . I think that’s why Europe is full of US tourists- it’s the variety but within short and cheap travelling distances. My H loved Helsinki - I haven’t been -

@ThisFluentBiscuit. I don’t disagree or doubt your sincerity but bear in mind my experience in living in Bath is lots of warm friendly people of all ‘classes’ , some very lovely Bathonians too who have always lived here but other posters on mumsnet ref Bath declare it stuck up and unfriendly - people who live round Wolverhampton ( when I lived there for a few years) always said ‘Black Country people are friendly and warm’ - I never found it remotely that way - it really depends on the luck of the draw, your circle and whether you live somewhere and are seen as a local I think - you live in a very liberal, educated and pretty well to do ( on the whole) state - I’ve not met many ass hats in Cali either and have been a lot ( the odd store owner and cabbie maybe and a few working at fuel stations ) - however I met a ton of rude abrupt ass hats in New Jersey, Philly and NY too - my working class original home town in UK - a right old mish mash there too - I do think hospitality and leisure places tend to be much politer in the US and a bit more in your face ref service, in general service is better - but I think the tipping culture is a big factor in that.

Finland, actually so not technically Scandinavia. Lovely people. I'm currently on the ferry to Tallinn to see if that is "samey" compared with Helsinki, Stockholm or Hamburg. Or Brussels for that matter. I've not found the stench of piss from the area around Midi station replicated anywhere else.

You sound like you've only ever visited a few places on the Med. Perhaps the place in the UK you grew up in was Portmeirion.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/11/australian-with-us-working-visa-detained-insulted-deported

“Are you deaf or just retarded?”

“Trump is back in town; we’re doing things the way we should have always been doing them.”

Yeah, this official sounds charming, doesn‘t he? Ian Foot (David Walliams' parody of a racist immigration officer) has nothing on this lot.

Over the next four years, "the wrong ones" aren't even going to pretend to be polite.

No; why?

What do you do? Are you in high-level corporate/senior management?

I can only tell you my experience, which is that Americans are on the whole warmer than Brits.

@DdraigGoch got to be Scandinavia - my H had a remarkable dish with reindeer in Norway - we had some amazing food when we lived in Denmark too -

Yes, I know, but what do you suggest we do? The press calls him out all day every day, and there are protests. Not sure why you think no one's calling him out! His actions have also faced legal challenges from judges.

Edit: He's gone quite mad. I genuinely wonder if he has dementia. Last time was no picnic either, but this is something else. I think many people who voted for him had no idea he was going to do all this. I take some comfort in telling myself that after this, I think it will be a long time until the reds get in again.

I have to be honest, I'm basing this on some pretty distant memories. I'm sure if I travelled there again now, my memory would be refreshed and I wouldn't come away remembering it as samey.

@ThisFluentBiscuit now that’s simply not true Asa whole race.!! what you mean is the ones ‘you know ‘ in your social sphere and your area. I’ve met some total rude ass hats over there - be it in hospitality or in business- and certainly not all warm and friendly. Same is true anywhere.

Woopy do! Its the fact the constitution and laws are so weak he can just deport who he doesn’t like, choose the press he has in the Whitehouse, get rid of diversity programmes, dictate to unis what they reach, get rid of entire departments, hold everybody to ransom, make laws to protect himself…. and the American public just sits there. Nobody is brave enough to call him out on it.

I do find a lot of it quite samey, although obviously not the same. And it is deeply Catholic. Not all Catholic, of course, but that's the history and heritage of much of the continent. 🤷‍♀️

The Americans are the nicest people - so warm and friendly. Maybe you've met the wrong ones! Most of the ones I've met have seemed lovely to me, as a Brit.

If it was intended as satire then it was far too convincing, it really looked like you believed it. Particularly the bit where you dug your heels in on "Europe is all Catholic with the same architecture" and repeated the claim over several posts.

Obviously as an environmentalist I hate that it's so easy to fly but it's undeniable that travel is generally a lot cheaper in Europe than North America, even after normalising for distances and populations. In a number of other areas too - such as food and medicine - stiff competition keeps prices very low in the UK.

@DdraigGoch Would you like me to reduce American cuisine to "basically about how many things you can do with high fructose corn syrup and lots of salt"?

Now you're getting it! What made you write the above is exactly how I feel when outsiders criticise America endlessly with no acknowledgement of any positives!

There were co-ordinated protests all across America the other day, Saturday April 5. I meant metaphorically open-mouthed.