Anyone with a map could tell you that there’s a divide between the UK and the rest of continental Europe. But there’s more than just the English Channel that divides the two geographic bodies. There are cultural differences as well. Some serious, some trivial. I’ve spent the last two years living in England, and have traveled around Europe fairly extensively. I thought I’d share a few differences, especially from a visitor’s perspective.
-Driving: You’ll find narrow lanes and twisty curves whether you’re in York or Germany. But you’ll only find yourself driving on the left side of the road in the UK and Ireland, not continental Europe. There’s a great article about the history of why this is here on Anglotopia.
-Money: The UK is in the European Union. So you may have assumed that meant the euro was the form of currency used here. But the UK still uses the pound sterling. There’s a lot of history to that decision, which I won’t go into (mostly because it’s not something I know a lot about). The only other time we haven’t used the euro during our travels were in Denmark, Sweden and Norway. Denmark has the same opt-out clause that the UK has, Sweden hasn’t yet joined the European Exchange Rate Mechanism which is a condition of adopting the euro, and Norway isn’t in the European Union. There are several other countries that haven’t yet met the requirements to adopt the euro.
From a practical point of view, the euro is very convenient. Whenever we return home from a trip in Europe, we never exchange whatever cash we have remaining. We just save it for the next trip over, since most of the countries we have plans to visit use the euro. And it’s a currency we’ve become familiar with, just like the pound, so we don’t have to re-learn what various coins look like each time we visit Europe.
What always strikes me as funny is that there are some coin machines here that will take either a pound or a euro coin (like grocery trolleys). If I have any leftover euro coins from trips, I always stash them in my car to use for that purpose.
-Electrical voltage. I’ve written about the UK outlets here before. But travels to continental Europe include yet another voltage change. Most European countries use a 220 volt system, but the UK uses 240. However, there has been an effort to harmonize this. Many products are now rated 230, which means they could be used with either voltage. The issue then becomes the outlet style itself. You’ll need an adapter to plug in a British electrical device in Europe (and vice versa)because the three-prong style is used in the UK and the two-prong style is used in Europe.
-Food. Obviously there are tons of variations in diet across borders around the world. Anyone who has traveled abroad knows this. It’s one of the things that makes travel interesting (and delicious). Two things always jump out at me when comparing Great Britain and Europe though. One is serious and one is trivial. The trivial? Sandwich style. In Europe, freshly baked baguettes are the norm, with a variety of fillings like cured meats and soft cheeses, as a quick snack or light lunch. In Great Britain, it’s what I call the “triangle sandwich.” Standard slices of bread, cut diagonally and pre packaged with fillings like egg and cress, tuna and sweet corn, and roast chicken. (Yes, you can get baguettes here, but it’s not the go-to sandwich the way it is in many European countries.) Either way, it’s healthier than a burger in fries, right?
The more serious issue? Obesity. The UK is the most obese country in the European Union and in my opinion, it’s quite obvious as you travel around, both here and in Europe. I’m not quite sure why this is. Maybe it’s diet (fish and chips aren’t exactly low calorie) or lifestyle, or a combination of both. Of course, the problem is far worse in the US.
