Comical things in Europe

The following are things which bewildered and appalled us on our travels.

1. M and M's in Norway


It's M and M's people. You can get either/or.

2. Pods for rent in Italy

There was no natural light, no heating, no bathroom and they've probably been out of use since 1972, but I could not help but, ever so slightly, want to stay in one of the pods. Because it is a pod.

3. Giant grapes in Finland

They're just really big grapes.

4. Footwear all over Scandinavia

Once again, the Scandinavians adopt a controversial but comfortable Third Way. While the rest of the world remains bogged down in the eternal struggle between sock and sandal, Scandinavia boldly says no. Sock and sandal are not mutually exclusive pieces of footwear.

5. No MOSE protestors in Venice

MOSE is a program in Venice designed to prevent the flooding and destruction of Venice as changing weather patterns threatens the future existence of the great city. Apparently some Venetians have taken great offence at this and are protesting against the preservation of their city.

6. The redundancy of walking in Vilnius

There is something really wrong about developing walking aids for the able-bodied. This particular cool dude is perusing sweatshop oil paintings of bridges, flowers and kittens. He never gets off his Segway, but silently rolls back and forth very, very slowly. It was like that cold sore ad where the woman is so ashamed of her facial herpes that she wears just such a helmet everywhere only to soon be freed by the miracle of Zovirax. It's also strange that this is taken in Vilnius (that's the capital of Lithuania sweetheart) which is barely 15 years out of Soviet rule and appears to be leading the world in the uptake of totally useless and disturbingly expensive consumer goods.