Amusing Things We Learned

Here's a list of amusing things we learned during our travels. All useless information to carry around in your head.

- The Mojito is the cocktail of choice in Prague, Czech Republic.

- Eva Longoria is the spokesperson for Magnum chocolates and ice cream in Europe. We saw her face on every ice cream cart we saw in at least five cities. Here's a link to some of her Europeans advertisements too.

- American celebrities lend their high-profile faces to other products where advertisements are only shown overseas, so not to effect their images in the United States. I know I saw George Clooney's face on a billboard in some city, and I was surprised. But I can't remember the product. Have his Nespresso ads aired in America?

- Swedish women (at least those in Stockholm) have great tans, even though they live in the Nordic. I cannot find any information to explain this online, but a friend told me he'd heard they have sun tanning bed-like lamps in their homes because there is so little sun in their area -- and it rains a lot in the summer.

- San Pellegrino is a village north of Bergamo and Milano. And there is actually a San Pellegrino factory there. We passed it on our way to the ski resorts.

- McDonald's in Portugal features a substantial soup menu. We noticed this in Lisbon. According to the Portuguese McDonald's web site, it looks like there might be six soups available. You have to search the tool bar because the site is in Flash.

- Kissing the Blarney Stone can be an unsanitary experience. I did it last spring, but Damon did not. He has issues with other peoples' germs. One of his co-workers recently kissed the Blarney Stone, then got cold sores on her lips the next day. Coincidence?

- There are weight scales on almost every corner in Gran Canaria. We have no idea why. We googled everywhere. Maybe they are simply a weight-conscious island?

- Some Stockholm museums have folding chairs available near the entrances. Patrons sometimes carry these chairs through the exhibits, then use them to sit down when they are tired or would like to rest while admiring a specific exhibit. We saw Swedes walking around the Royal Palace with the black chairs tucked under their arms.

- Baby strollers (or buggies as they call them here) have different covers to address weather conditions, based on the country. In Ireland, the buggies are constantly draped in plastic due to the daily rains. We call them "bubble babies." In Stockholm, we saw baby strollers with socks or sleeves made of thin wind-breaker or tent fabric, which slipped over the seat and had just a small hole for the baby to peek out of.

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