What We Know that Europe Does Not Know – Part 1

To be fair–I am patriotic–I have to write about the good aspects of the great United States as opposed to the good things about Europe.

Here’s what we do better: fast food and food courts.

We know that we can travel on the interstate in the U.S. and find eating establishments along the way whether it be fast food or Chili’s, Cracker Barrel (in the southeast, as least). In Italy–and we covered a great bit of territory there–they have something called Autogrill. These are built either over the autostrada (interstate) or 1 on each side of the interstate at one exit. First, if it is over the interstate, you have to make sure you don’t get confused and go out the door that is on the other side of the interstate. Yes, I did this once and led a whole group of ladies with me. We exited the building and looked around and realized our error. Then we had to go back inside the building and follow a maze (more later) to get out the other side. I think other members of our group did this also.

The Auto Grill (doesn’t even sound Italian, does it) is a combination of a convenience mart, gas station, cafeteria, fast food, and tourist trap. It sounds nice, but it’s not like having a McDonald’s, Burger King, Arby’s, or Chik-Fil-A all at the same exit. Inside, you have to decide if you are going the cafeteria route (expensive!) or do the pre-made sandwiches. It took us a couple of times stopping at these to understand that you pay for your food first, and that means you had to go up to the crowded counter and look at the offerings in the glass case (usually sandwiches), try to figure out what you wanted (understanding Italian), wait in line to pay for the food, then take your ticket back to the crowded food case and wait in line to get your food. By that time, the tour guide is getting nervous about getting everyone back to the bus on time. You also had to make sure you bought everything else you might want (water, Coke, candy bars, etc.) when you pay for your sandwich; otherwise, you would have to stand in line again.

If you decided on the cafeteria, you had to go through several sections and select your food, and before you knew it, you were paying $20 for lunch! On one occasion, I spilled the balsamic vinagrette dressing in the floor; the attendant scolded me for it (not what we would do here in US). At the same place, we took our food off of the trays to put on the table, and the same attendant scolded us for that. Yes, they were rude!

So, now, you are done with your food, whatever you decided, and you have to find your way out of the building. You cannot simply walk out the door. You have to follow a virtual maze through their aisles of merchandise to get out the door and hope you don’t end up on the other side of the interstate Thus, we know how to do food at an exit much better! Lots of choices, not too expensive and fairly easy to figure out the logistics of getting the food!

http://autogrill.com