More Interesting Things About Europe (videos)

While generally good, this one isn't one of Wolters' best and I found the attitude toward 'Eurofunk' particularly distasteful.  What I heard in that is Euros will smell bad to his senses on a hot day.  Most of his stuff I find useful and informative but this part I found offensive.  It's America that gave the world anti-bacterial soap which is another ineffective antiseptic product which does nothing for health and which the world didn't need.  Imposing that useless standard on people is as ugly American as you can get.


Something he omitted regarding the British Museum is they have a great many Greek antiquities and Greece has been trying for many years to get them to return these stolen treasures of Greek history.  In Greece, such things are revered but presumably they're in sub-basement G of the British Museum.  Even Melina Mercouri when she was the Greek Minister of Culture couldn't get the Brits to return the Greek antiquities.


He makes a big point of telling you tourists, particularly tour groups, are comprised of mostly of jerks but that's true anywhere in the Universe and is one of the reasons I have no interest in doing tourist things.  The museum is the world and all the cultures around it.

An example is going to Greece without knowing about Constantin Cavafy (Ithaka). He was one of their greatest modern poets and likely any Greek will know his name.  Similarly, going to Germany without at least some knowledge of Bertolt Brecht is not such a good idea.  My knowledge of his work is nowhere near where it should be but it will get there.

It's not bad to have at least a passing awareness of how many first-rate directors of American films came from Germany.  I've just watched "Stalag 17" again for the fascinating character studies in the story.  Otto Preminger, surprisingly, did not direct the film but rather appears as the Stalag 17B's Colonel von Scherbach.  (Stalag 17B is the actual name of the real POW camp on which the movie is based)  Billy Wilder directed it and that name sure sounds 'American' but he was Austrian.

The character of Sefton, played by William Holden, was based on a real POW flier in Stalag 17B and his name was Joe Palazzo.

Possibly a droll side-note:  the Stalag 17B set for the movie is in California and Mormons currently use it for meetings.


Wolters has remarked previously about the worldliness of Europeans and of course they are as they live in it while America isolates itself from it and sees it only on TV.  Euros know fairly well what is happening in America and that's why you will never hear the Bush family mentioned with any respect.

It's only good manners to have some knowledge of matters within any country you would like to visit.  I've said I admire Angela Merkel because she wasn't like just another wooden soldier in dealing with Putin ... BUT ... she is another conservative and definitely not a member of the Green Party which is taken very seriously in Germany.