Well, that was a whirlwind... Seventeen days, four countries, eleven hotels, two transatlantic flights, five train trips and hopefully a life altering experience for the Things.
I have to say that the socialist hellscape of Europe was a lot less hellscape-y than it was alleged to be by the National Review. What I saw in France and the Netherlands in particular was a much stronger sense of social contract and reciprocal obligations. Tourists jumped the lines, but not the French. Roadways were orderly - buses and trucks stayed to the far right, the middle lane was for travel and the left lane was exclusively for passing - and well maintained.
Public transportation was clean, on-time and efficient. It functioned at least in part on an honor system (especially the Dutch tram system). The populace was multi-lingual.
The one exception was Belgium. The roads were worse, and the train system was not nearly as well run as the Dutch/Germany system.
It wouldn't surprise me if this was a function of Belgium's divided internal politics. The Flemish and Walloons just don't get along. That can lead to a less functional government.
Speaking of which, how is Donald Trump doing?
UPDATE: And here's the chronicle of what we did:
http://bandofsquabblingbrothers.blogspot.com/
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