America and Europe: Old World vs. New World | Bert Gonzalez

“Welcome to the New World, Sir,” is the last line in the movie The Hunt for Red October, as spoken by Alec Baldwin’s character, Jack Ryan, to Sir Sean Connery’s Captain Marko Ramius, after he said, “A little revolution now and then is a healthy thing, don’t you think?” as they make their way up an American river to hide a Russian nuclear submarine. What is striking about that scene isn’t necessarily the submarine but what both lines mean and their impact on the entire world. It would serve in part as my inspiration for this article.

From Scotland to the New World

My wife and I recently visited Scotland, where we spent over three weeks traveling the country. Magnificent! only partially covers how beautiful this country and its people are. The nicest folks you could meet and the scenery is spectacular, especially the famed Highlands where there is no shortage of breathtaking landscapes. As I contemplated my next article and now that the World Cup is over, a great, great tournament as spoken by someone who played “The Beautiful Game,” I have the premise. The Scottish fans that came here along with the Norwegians and many others who absolutely embraced America really drove home my idea about the similarities and differences between the Old World, them, and the New World, us.

We’ve traveled extensively within the US and Europe…Italy, Greece, England & France (honeymoon), Argentina, Canada, Spain, Portugal, and recently Scotland. All very enjoyable, and we’ve had the opportunity to observe the many similarities and differences, both good and some less than. Firstly, we didn’t experience any negative attitude towards Americans as reported by many who have traveled to Europe, save one: a socialist POS cab driver in Barcelona in 2019 whose taxi we happened to stumble into after a FC Barcelona match. Yes, Messi scored, and Barca won, and a great time was had by all, and we were embraced by the fans around us once they learned we were Americans. Once we got in the cab, it was a different story. The driver made it clear he didn’t like Americans, and by the time we arrived at the hotel, it took everything we had not to slap the you-know-what out of this guy, but we refrained. In all of our travels to the Continent, that was the only negative interaction we had. None in France, which is the usual culprit; everyone there was also nice and helpful. But when it came to the Scots, we can’t say enough about how friendly EVERYONE was. They treated us as if we were one of their own, many asking questions about what home was like, and when their fans came here for the World Cup, they found out just how great America is.

First World-Not Quite

Here is where I may begin to upset some, but facts are facts, and they can’t be changed. Let’s start with a basic, simple, American convenience that is virtually everywhere- air conditioning. If you travel to Europe, be prepared because very few places have A/C, especially the older hotels and homes. If you go in the summer, or even the shoulder seasons, good luck! We travel during shoulder seasons, Spring/Fall, to avoid the heat and the crowds, and discovered that even when A/Cs are present, the management doesn’t turn them on until May/June, and you must insist (demand) that they do. Don’t care for it much, but that’s part of their culture. I know that in some northern states they still don’t install A/C units in new construction, but come on, man! We prefer not to suffer.

The Everyday Conveniences We Take for Granted

Next up, Clothes Dryers. Yes, you read it right. There are small washing machines in homes and apartments but no dryers. Ever try hanging two weeks’ worth of clothes out to dry as we did before the 70s? In Scotland and most of Europe, this is the way. I was interested in why very few have dryers, so I Googled it. Firstly, it’s part of the culture, ok, but why stay in the past when you have most of the other modern conveniences? What surprised me was that the United Kingdom and Europeans believe that dryer electricity is too expensive and therefore hardly used at the residential level. Mmmm. So, dryer-electricity is expensive, but why do so many more people, as compared to the US, have electric vehicles? That is expensive! In Scotland, and I’m sure throughout the UK and most of Europe, there are wind farms everywhere! You couldn’t drive more than an hour without running into another wind farm. Do you know how expensive it is to manufacture, assemble, erect and maintain one turbine? Doesn’t make sense. I’ll take my gas-powered GMC Sierra 2500HD pick-up, and have A/C and dry clothes, thank you very much.

Gas Stations-very few outside of the larger cities. We traveled 1400 miles during our time in Scotland, and we could drive 40-60 miles without encountering a gas station. In the more rural areas, forget about it! You better top off every chance you get because you will not run into a gas station until the next town, and if it’s a really small village, they may not have one. Planning your road trip is key, so beware.

Grocery Stores-There were very few large “supermarkets”. We found one comparable in the bigger towns: a TESCO. Good store, not quite as large as a Walmart, Publix in Florida, Winn Dixie, Ingles, Costco or BJ’s Club, but they have a wide variety of goods. In the smaller towns, they have Cooperatives, which are convenience-store sized and supplied by local farmers and others. Are we spoiled here? You bet, but we worked, bled, and died for our way of life, and I offer no apologies for it. We can go virtually anywhere in America and find what we need, at almost any time. Good, bad, bit of both? Perhaps, but it’s there, especially if you need a pharmacy. Pharmacies in Europe are small and don’t have 24-hour services. Hopefully you don’t need it but it’s good to have.

Hospitals & Urgent Care Centers

You guessed it-few outside of the larger cities, and in the rural areas you’re in trouble if something serious happens. While I’m on medical and emergency services, Fire Rescue and Police Patrols? Scotland has a national police force, but outside of Edinburgh and Glasgow the patrols are few. If I saw 10 cops in three weeks, that was a lot. They don’t have a Fire Rescue system like we do; no one does. Not that they aren’t professional and competent; they are just very few, once again. Better know first aid.

Roadways

This is the first time that I have driven on the “wrong side of the road,” and it was stressful to say the least. I, we, had to be 110% focused on what we were doing. My wife tried her best to hit the brakes on her side of the rental, and I think she may have dented the floor. While not only driving on the right side of the car, making sure I stayed “in my lane” whilst avoiding the oncoming traffic was pucker-factor at its peak. Add this to the very poor condition of many country roads. Pot-holes everywhere, and even the locals complained about this. We drove roads so narrow that they all had little cut-outs called “Passing-Places”, so you can allow the oncoming cars to pass, and with a standard 60 mph limit. Yes, 60 in the countryside. Crazy! This part of the trip we didn’t care for AT ALL and will never drive a country like this again. Nope, not happening.

Food

They have us beat there. Not in the quantity of course, but the quality is better than ours and reasonably priced. As many do on vacation, we ate, and ate, and ate, and drank and drank, and ate some more, and coupled with the amount of walking we did, we barely gained any weight. What little we did gain was gone within a week of being home. Their food is much less processed than ours and healthier, and that is the primary reason we don’t gain much weight while traveling Europe. RFK Jr. and the mission to improve our food is vitally important for us, but Europe is way ahead of us on this. Did I say we ate and drank? I had so much great beer there, and of course, whiskey, a staple food, if you will, for the Scots.

What Makes a First-World Country?

These are some of the main reasons why I believe there is only one true, First-World country, and that’s the US. I give the others a rating just below us, because they just don’t have everything we have. Yes, you’re upset, and I sound arrogant, but the facts are the facts, and that can’t be changed. So, if you decide to travel overseas, you will have a wonderful time, but be prepared to experience much of what I have outlined.

The Politics

You knew that I was going to get into this. More than once our tour guides let it slip that they didn’t care for UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer, now gone, and it seemed to be a widely held opinion. This, along with the belief that the English are still oppressing the Scots, goes back to the last Jacobite uprising of 1745-1746. They still hold a grudge. But you know who they do like? Americans, and the United States. As a matter of fact, many throughout Europe that we’ve encountered have a very positive opinion of us, and that became oh-so-evident during the World Cup. Look at how the hundreds of thousands that came here to follow their teams embraced America. We know that the leftists and left-wing media here and abroad have been feeding the rest of the world lies about us, and the fans discovered the exact opposite. They fell in love with our country, our way of life, our food, our roads, our stores, and of course, our people. Many fans posted YouTube videos of stores like the truck stop Buc-ee’s, and were awed by the size of a “gas station,” and how much bigger and better stocked they were than many of the grocery stores back home. They fell in love with Texas and Kansas City BBQ; who wouldn’t? Ranch Dressing of all things, and how they embraced us, the American people. There were 78 World Cup matches in total. FBI Director Kash Patel said it was like securing 78 Super Bowls, and you know what, not a single incident. Everyone got along just fine. They were with us and we were with them. They were astonished at what they learned about us and criticized what the media had been telling them all these years.

World Cup Highlights

The biggest take-aways were not just the games. Though great and the best Cup ever, and accepting that my two teams, the USA & Argentina (I’m a Messi fan and from Argentine parents), fell short, the biggest take-away was what all of the fans did. When the US Men’s Team played, win, lose, or draw, the fans broke out into “Take me home, Country Roads, to the place I belong…” which was so great and showed how much Americans love the game. And it is called Football! Futbol! Fusball! etc. It’s actually played with feet, so embrace it, cause it’s here to stay! But what the visiting fans did was wonderful. The Scots drank Boston dry and marched in the streets; imagine that. We tried to find out where the Tartan Army was hanging out in Miami when the team played here but couldn’t get to them. What fun it would have been after just having visited their homeland. And the Norwegians doing the Viking-Row everywhere they went. That was cool! The Argentine fans that took over the stadiums, Cabo Verde fans singing and dancing, along with Morocco, Croatia, England, Colombia, Brazil and Spain, of course congrats! They were the best team. But to all of the fans that made America their home for a few weeks. It was spectacular, and everyone had a great time!

Old World, New World

The World Cup showed us how similar we really are. We love sports; we love family and friends and making new ones; and because of the Norwegian fans, our next trip to Europe will be to Norway and the Scandinavian countries. Yes, the other countries of the world don’t quite have everything we do, but that’s ok. They have things we don’t and that we are still learning about, accepting that we don’t have all the answers. But what we did show everyone everywhere is that they are all welcome to travel our Country Roads in the New World…