I’ve only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they’re just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I’d be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
Cheesesteak sandwiches (Philadelphia area). It’s just blocks of low-quality frozen meat fried up on a grill with some onions and cheeze-whiz (or provolone if you’re not insane). The bread is good but god damn.
What in your country/area is totally normal but visitors get excited for?
This is so mundane fried chicken for me, just comfort food in the Philippines, but no thanks to some influencers, tourists flock to this specific fast food restaurant expecting it to be some culinary treasure.
Kinda the opposite of the question, but I’m a USian and I was super excited when I saw some European countries have public bathroom doors that didn’t have tiny slot that you could see through while I was pooping.
What the fuck are we doing over here? Besides the letting fascists take over thing.
I’m lucky enough that I see these little guys on a regular basis.
The first time I went to London, the size of the Ravens caught me off guard. I couldn’t get enough of seeing those things. We only really see Grackles in South Texas that regularly and they’re half the size, so I’m sure I was the weird bird guy that day to many people.
I’ve eaten armadillo (yes, it tastes like chicken). This was before I found out they can apparently spread leprosy to humans.
Lived in the UK for a while - Squirrels, and the fact that the church in the town we lived in was built before ANY humans set foot in New Zealand
It’s not very common to see squirrels in Japan but they’re all over the place in the states. I was hiking in the woods with a group and one of the Japanese people spotted a squirrel and told everyone so they could have a look. Where I’m from maybe you’d point out a deer or rabbit or something (although those are pretty common too), but it’s pretty much impossible to not see a squirrel or chipmunk if you go outside.
Damn, that’s an old church, I know there are a few still standing from around the Norman conquest
Hot air balloons. I see them in the sky most mornings when I go for a walk, weather permitting.
Not my country, but something that fascinated me in Greece. Greece is a land of honey…and marble rock. Beautiful, swirling, sparkly rock in all different shades. It is so terribly abundant that they use marble in place of concrete.
To the Greeks, it is normal to use marble literally everywhere. They disrespect the beautiful stone, turning it into a curb on the street & slathering it in yellow paint. I saw a yellow curb that was cracked open - exposing the glittering marble rock inside. I found it so funny & sad that I took a picture. We love marble, we think it’s so decadent & fancy, it’s flooring in the finest hotels, businesses, and homes. These people just use marble everywhere; it’s just a rock to them. 😆
It really puts things into perspective.
Marble is expensive in places where there isn’t already a lot of it simply because it’s HEAVY.
But it also isn’t used in the fancy rich places simply because it’s expensive, it’s also because it’s beautiful.
The Autobahn.
I live in the US northeast coast in a touristy area. People have been surprised to see: white beach sand, seashells, docks, boats, seagulls, deer, opossums. I could go on. I get most people don’t live coastal, so none of these reactions surprised me except the white sand one. Apparently a lot of lakes in the mainland just have dirt at their shores. Never would’ve guessed.
I grew up in Ohio and we had shitloads of opossums. Also deer.
Climate stuff comes to mind. Big storms, it being sunny almost all the time, and -30C. There’s other climates that are similar, of course, but I guess most people don’t live in them, because visitors remark on it. Europeans tend to be gobsmacked by the amount of empty space there is between human structures, too.
A lot of pests people think are everywhere are just nowhere to be seen because of the cold. That’s more something that’s missing, though.
Free healthcare and French labeling, for the Americans. I’m not sure if they think the money is cool or just stupid.
Sunny and -30°C. You live in the arctic?
Kay, but summer/spring is brutal for the deer flies and mosquitoes
Québec? Quelle partie?
The Redlight district. Every city has/had them and for us it’s just normal. As a kid I had to pass some of those windows to get to school.
Norwegian fjords. I live here, and to me it’s mundane landscape.
Aaaah 🤯
Must be nice taking that beautiful scenery in for granted
Squirrels
Czech beer…
I really loved Staropramen when I was there but apparently that’s like the Bud Light of the Czech Republic.
And cathedrals/castles. I was in a tourist group, thinking “Can we move on? I can see two peak Gothic sites from my house roof.”
P-U!
-Gem show
-Rodeo week
I personally couldn’t be bothered for either, but it’s cool that people like them.
Yes I understand the irony that “Horsey” doesn’t like rodeos, lol. Eventing in the horse world is just too damn expensive for me to want to compete.