I disagree that Americans don’t need trips to Europe.  I need them.  Just went to Vienna for a week, and it was absolutely wonderful.  

Europe runs at a slower speed than the U.S. – at least vs the East Coast and Midwest where I have lived. 

They also appreciate some of the basic routines of life more – like eating.  No seriously, let’s just sit around at a restaurant for a long time and not be hounded by stressed-out waiters every 5 minutes.  The food quality is way better there – definitely no Frankenstein ingredients like high fructose corn syrup. Mmmmm… the goulash and wiener schnitzel were especially ausgezeichnet!  My favorite beer was the Zipfer. 

Each region has their own foods. And wherever I travel, I always make it a big priority to go to the grocery stores, as I find it the best reflection of the culture.  I always buy some of the local chocolate milk, because it always tastes a little different in each place.

Some of these old monarchs, e.g., Maria Theresa, Prince Eugene, Franz Joseph, actually did help their people out by building these grandiose palaces that we Americans love to see as well.  It’s always worth the entrance fees to these places and losing yourself in the splendor of the paintings and history. At Belvedere, the old paintings 5-600 years ago still portray failure, sorrow, happiness and satisfaction as we identify them today.  I’m a military history junkie though, so the Heeresgeschichliches museum was high priority!  Man, those pikes were about 4 times the size of the man.  Also, why were the kings and princes constantly at war? 

I feel refreshed and recalibrated to focus on things that matter now, so I respectfully disagree.  I need my long trips to Europe where we find a city and just plant for a week to recharge our souls.