Try a Chinese overnight train, Bob - even your Indian one would have seemed sanitary! And I never minded the squat toilets either: to some extent they are more natural than a sit-upon one...
John in Brisbane -----Original Message----- From: PDML [mailto:pdml-boun...@pdml.net] On Behalf Of Bob W-PDML Sent: Tuesday, 7 July 2015 5:16 AM To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List Subject: Re: PESO: Rapid Transit I think the golden arches were inspired by two boys in a pissing contest... I've only eaten at McD 3 times in my life (and that's two times more than I wanted) but they are handy for toilets sometimes, and in both Russia and Romania I was told that they did an enormous amount to raise standards of service and hygiene there. You should be able to get an Americano in Paris, even in places like Deux Magots. They're called Americano precisely because Americans can't drink espresso, so they added hot water to it. As for the toilets, well when I was there recently I was bemoaning the fact that that type of toilet has all but disappeared from French bars and brasseries, although there are still some in the vespasiennes of the Midi. They were very common when I first started visiting France in the 70s - I never understood them, but it's all part of the texture and stopped the world being a bland homogenised bleh. Since travelling in the 3rd world I do understand them now, and they are much healthier than the western ones and, on Indian trains at least, much cleaner. You have to unlearn your western habits though. B > On 6 Jul 2015, at 14:17, Daniel J. Matyola <danmaty...@gmail.com> wrote: > > Thanks, Rick and Alan. > > What interested me was the McDonald's logo. Wherever I travel, I am > unable to escape their evil influence. OTOH, I always advise > travelers to look for the McDonald's when they first arrive in a > strange city. Without fail, it is located in the middle of the major > attractions, and it is a reliable source for clean, warm and free > toilet facilities, as well as large doses of decent, if not excellent, > coffee. In Paris, my wife and I had lunch at a famous left bank cafe. > They featured 20 varieties of ham and cheese sandwiches and 2 ounce > servings of coffee. When we asked about the rest rooms, we discovered > there was only one, in the basement, with only a porcelain ring on the > floor. We quickly fled to McDonald's, with its very comfortable > bathrooms and 20 ounce cups of hot black coffee. > > Shortly after arriving in Beijing, we took a stroll around the > neighborhood while waiting for our room to be ready. We walked to the > main Beijing train station, which was an overwhelming experience. O, > the humanity! <G> We were the only westerners in sight. We then > crossed the main road to a large shopping center. In contrast to > Tokyo (or even Kyoto) there was no written or spoken English anywhere. > The only Latin letters in sight were on one sign outside a restaurant: > KFC." Nothing else in English, just the three letters. Nearby was > another restaurant bearing the "roof" log of Pizza Hut, but not even > the name of the franchise was in English. It was a most informative > and educational 90 minutes indeed. > > In any event, that is why the golden arches caught my eye on this vehicle. > > Dan Matyola > http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola > > >> On Mon, Jul 6, 2015 at 12:26 AM, Alan C <c...@lantic.net> wrote: >> Imagine trying to pedal that thing uphill with 4 large passengers! >> >> Alan C >> >> -----Original Message----- From: Daniel J. Matyola >> Sent: Sunday, July 05, 2015 10:42 PM >> To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> Subject: PESO: Rapid Transit >> >> >> http://photo.net/photodb/photo?photo_id=18048442&size=lg >> Pedicabs outside the Summer Palace in Beijing Comments are invited. >> >> Dan Matyola >> http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above >> and follow the directions. >> >> --- >> This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software. >> https://www.avast.com/antivirus >> >> >> >> -- >> PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List >> PDML@pdml.net >> http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net >> to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above >> and follow the directions. > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > PDML@pdml.net > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow > the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions. -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
