First, on the subject of potato chip flavors, the dominant theme in both places was paprika and sweet chili. In Prague, we also found pizza and kebab. But what about this?
Just what everyone needs: Kim Possible and High School Musical chips! If these characters mean nothing to you, you are clearly not part of Disney's target demographic.
Then there's the little matter of dog droppings. In the Stadtpark in Vienna, we came across this little sign:
The pup appears to be asking if those things are sausages. Ewww. I wonder if anyone ever gets slapped with the 36 euro fine. I didn't notice any offenses but then again pretty much everything was covered in snow.
Now in Prague, I did notice that the sidewalks were super clean -- free of poop, cigarette butts (which was nothing short of amazing because everyone seemed to be a smoker), and other trash. We took a walking tour with an engaging fellow close to 80,a retired singer for the state opera, who regaled us with tales of his life and the history of the Czech Republic. Without my even saying anything, he pointed out to me a box strapped to a light pole holding brown paper sacks for picking up after your pet, complete with a cardboard scoop on the inside. He offered to give me one as a souvenir and how could I refuse? Call me weird but it delighted me more than the prospect of buying crystal, garnets, or amber which were in plentiful supply in the tourist shops. This particular sack had an ad for Pedigree dog food.
If you want to know more, go to www.fedog.cz and click on the amusing but informative English translation of this entrepreneurial Czech effort to keep the streets clean. I particularly liked the opening sentence: "One of the criterions of the cultural level of the nation is whether sanitary and aesthetic rules are observed." You said it buddy.
6 comments:
Just to clear up the confusion - the dog asks if you don't care about the (fine of) 36 Euro. It's slang for feeling indifferent about something which works really nicely here with the sausage connotation.
Thanks for the clarification!
I am enjoying the pictures of your travels. I especially loved the decorated tram in Vienna. Hopefully one day I will get to walk through one of those European Christmas markets.
Sorry I haven't been around much lately, but I try to stop by every once in a while.
Let's see. In my front yard, I'd like a little dog statue holding a sign saying "One of the criterions of the cultural level of a neighborhood is whether sanitary and aesthetic rules are observed."
Seriously, I have been trying to come up with appropriate verbiage for a sign.
I'm visiting Copenhagen, which by any measure that I can think of is a wonderfully civilized place, and I've seen dog poop all along the sidewalks in the suburb where we're staying. Why? There was snow on the ground when we got here a week ago, and one person told us that it's not considered quite so important to pick up the doo-doo when dogs deposit it the snow.
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