Author: Sydney Lair

Throughout this trip in Europe, I have noticed multiple differences in restaurant etiquette in comparison to the United States. Some cultural differences are the doors, the drinks, the waiters and waitresses, and tipping for the meal. 

To begin with, the doors entering a restaurant are different than United States. The doors usually do not say pull or push next to the handle, so you would have to look at the hinges to properly open the door. I believe in America you usually pull the door before you enter, but in Europe I think you push to enter someplace more often. 

Once you get the menu you would look at the drink menu to decide on what you would like to drink. The Europe culture of drinks would come as a surprise to Americans because water costs money. Water usually costs between two to three euros while wine could cost around four or five euros. Since you have to pay for water, Europeans would usually get coffee, beer, or wine as their drink of choice instead. 

The waiters and waitresses have a different role in Europe than the United States because of the different culture involving water. In America, waiters and waitresses would come to the table often to refill your glass of water. Comparatively, Europeans that pay for a glass of water will not get refills resulting in the waiters or waitresses to not come to the table as often. 

After eating a delicious meal, it is time to decide on how much to pay. In the United States it is a cultural standard to pay a tip to the waiter or waitress around 20%. In comparison, a European waiter or waitress would not expect to receive a tip. European waiters or waitresses are already receiving at least minimum wage without tips included, so it is not necessary to give them a tip. A tip of 5% in Europe is very generous. 

The next time I go to a restaurant in the United States I will remember how different it was in Europe.

The tour at Mercedes-Benz was super cool to get to see the customer service area, the body shop, and the logistics area for the cars in the manufacturing plant. Our tour guide Max was great to explain and show us a little bit of everything in the manufacturing process. 

At the customer area, we watched a six minute video about how Mercedes-Benz car is more safe, industrial, and well constructed compared to their other competitors. The video discussed that they use a large amount of steal for each car. There is thousands of welding points throughout the manufacturing process, which was crazy to think about. The end of the video explained how Mercedes is ready for the future in innovation and technology. The Mercedes hybrid car was an example that will be produced more in the future. 

One of my favorite parts of the tour was the body shop. It was so cool to see how the beginning process of building a car works. It was interesting to learn that the body shop has 95% of robotics with 5% workers. I thought more workers would be involved in the beginning process of making a car since it is important to begin making the car correctly. 

I was impressed with the company by how many checkpoints and safety checks they would do in the manufacturing plant. Their workers would check if the car is built correctly, and then fix it immediately if there was a problem. Max showed us where the workers would check if the bolts were drilled in correctly. There was a green light if the car was good to move along the line. 

Overall, I really enjoyed the Mercedes-Benz manufacturing plant. I thought it was a great experience to see how a car is created from the beginning to the end. After this tour, I am second guessing to get a Mercedes car in the future when I am able to afford it. 

Neuschwanstein Castle was built in the 19th-century as a Romanesque Revival palace. This palace was commissioned and built by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and in honor of Richard Wagner.  The construction for the palace began on September 5, 1869.  This castle was a home for the king to withdraw from public life.  Neuschwanstein was opened to the public in 1886 seven weeks after the death of King Ludwig II. Since Ludwig II of Bavaria had died, the Neuschwanstein Castle has about 6,000 visitors each day in the summer to see the king’s private refuge. 
Ludwig II of Bavaria definitely wanted a private place since the castle was located high in the Alps. We climbed up a steep hill for about twenty minutes to get to the castle.  While walking up the hill, we got to see the beautiful scenery around us. 
Once we got inside the castle, we saw all of the intricate artwork and furniture that was for the king. Our tour guide gave us more detail for what was in the paintings and the purpose of the rooms. 
This castle was beautiful and lovely to live in. Too bad it was not completed before Ludwig II died in 1886. I felt privileged to be able to see the Neuschwanstein Castle and to learn more about the history. 
It is cool to see that the Neuschwanstein Castle has made an impact in the American culture.  At Disney World, they designed and built the Disney Castle based off of the Neuschwanstein Castle. I enjoyed making comparisons between the two while on the tour.