Too much merde?
2 Likes
Too much mishegoss.
3 Likes
Altoona was a railroad company town - as rail went west one of the hurdles overcome by the “Horse Shoe Curve”
as a result Altoona had some big time serious industry based on rail road repair and maintenance.
railroads failed, and Altoona basically drifted off into ‘has been’ and a come back has very limited success. a couple of big industry places left moved production to Mexico - seems labor is cheaper in Mexico than militant union shops.
4 Likes
À chacun son goût. 
I use non- English words, but not a fan of using beaucoup / très / mega in my everyday speech. Whatever floats other people’s boats.
1 Like
That’s really funny. I have mediocre German and Dutch language skills, my DH speaks fluent French. My French pronunciation really sucks but I can get by reading a menu (usually). I don’t try to speak French in public…there are so many letters of the alphabet they totally ignore.
2 Likes
If I try to speak French to a French person, s/he will immediately switch to English to save themselves from having to listen to it.
5 Likes
That was my experience with the Dutch when we lived in the Netherlands. It saved them a whole lot of time LOL!
2 Likes
The German for “very” is usually “sehr” 
1 Like
The same for me with Germans in Germany. One or two words in German from me and “would you like to speak English?” was next thing said! 
2 Likes
Well, when I was in Paris a while back, I tried to speak French to a native, and they in turn tried to speak Mandarin to me.
We both looked at each other, and then defaulted to English.
3 Likes
I really liked Prague a lot, but Krakow may edge it out in my personal favorite list of cities. Both are drop dead gorgeous and have a sweet personality but Krakow seems to be just a bit more outgoing.
The bugle call from St. Mary’s is the tie breaker in my book. But it could be argued that the sheer perfection of a draft Pilsener Urquel should take the honors…
1 Like
Having a back up language can help. I was in Portugal. My Portuguese is non existent outside of ola and obrigado. I met someone who didn’t speak English so we used French.
3 Likes
We vacation in France and some overseas French departments regularly. My wife is quite the shopper and has amassed a very fashionable French wardrobe so that when we are out and about, no one thinks she is an American as she dresses like a local. So the problem is that when she now walks into a shop or restaurant the staff immediately begin speaking in French to her. She usually then grabs me and pushes me in front. My French is passable. I get lost in the plus que parfait conjugation though.
2 Likes
I’ve only been to Krakow once. It was just ok for me.
As for beer – I loved U Fleku beer garden in Praha. Yes, I know it’s touristy. Don’t care 
1 Like
It’s no Altoona tho this much is certain. But the pizza is probably worse.
1 Like
The best is the Dutch who speak English to you when you try Dutch then correct you on your English. Love you nederlands!
3 Likes
No, an Italian heritage or population is not essential. I visited Boston and sampled what was supposedly the best of the best. As good as it was, I prefer what I can find in Austin,
1 Like
Are we talking about Italian-Italian restaurants or American-Italian restaurants ? Boston is very good at American-Italian restaurants, much less at Italian-Italian ones
The Dutch are very straight forward people!
2 Likes
Biggest knowitalls I’ve ever met ! Usually right !
1 Like
