Light them up

Not that I've tried multiple times lately to buy booze from vending machines in Northern Europe. Well okay, I have tried several times.

And always failed. There's age controls on all of them as far as I can see now - you need to swipe a state ID. It's hard to notice this without actually trying to buy from these machines.

I'm surprised at how sensitive I am to smoke nowadays. Back in the day when there was smoke everywhere I was really pretty much fine with second hand smoke. But now it bothers me for some reason. Getting old, or getting soft or both ....

This summer in Vienna we were surprised to see soooooo many people smoking at the outdoor restaurant and ice cream cafe tables. On a couple of occasions we noticed that we were the only tables not lighting up! Another time we moved indoors to the smokeless environment but when it started to pour down rain the outdoor people jumped up, ran in the restaurant then congregated in the doorway near our table to puff as often as they could, restaurant staff joining them.

Hank I think you're right, once you've been away from smoking for a while you really notice it and react to it. I grew up being driven around in a VW Beetle with a chainsmoking mom so you would think I would be good with it.

It was a huge deal a few years ago in Vienna when smoking sections in restaurants and bars were eliminated. Smoking anywhere outside is permitted. Small steps.

Small steps.

Agreed. I remember the bad old days when smoking was ubiquitous. I've never smoked. I don't think smokers realize how obnoxious their habit is to non-smokers. We are going to Viena in December and I hope we won't have to put up with people smoking around us.

DougMac since you are going in December it won’t be a problem for restaurants because you’ll probably be eating indoors and they’ll have windows and doors closed.

Unlike here in Canada, where the price of cigarettes is "to the moon"
like, the price in Europe is not a barrier or scare off.

That depends very much on where in Europe you are. The average price of a pack of cigarettes in the EU varies from €2.77 in Bulgaria to €13.43 in Ireland. https://www.statista.com/statistics/415034/cigarette-prices-across-europe/

I’m bemused. Of an age when people smoked on airplanes. Started smoking Tareytons in college. Why? Who knows? Was consistent. Stopped. Smoked off and on for years until I stopped cold turkey after realizing I only smoked at work. Was sitting in my 4 Runner across the street from Graumans Chinese Theatre. We were filming in the underground Metro Station at Hollywood and Highland. Simply recall thinking why am I smoking? Stinks. Bad for my health. So crushed the pack of Camel Lights.

That was in 2004.

My world travels these days are primarily to London so not often cognizant of others smoking. And phred is right smoking is nearly a hanging offense in the Land of La.

DougMac since you are going in December it won’t be a problem for restaurants because you’ll probably be eating indoors and they’ll have windows and doors closed.

We'll be visiting outdoor Christmas fairs in Viena, Salzburg and Ljubljana. Hopefully it won't be too bad. My mother was a heavy smoker. It ended up killing her.

I did find it odd that on the Austrian and Lufthansa flights we took, there were still NO SMOKING signs that were illuminated for the whole flight. And ashtrays in the bathroom doors! Makes me wonder, are there still airlines somewhere in the world that allow smoking?

And ashtrays in the bathroom doors!

Most airlines have ashtrays in the bathrooms. Despite smoking being banned, there are people ignoring the rules. And they need a safe place to put out the cigarette where it won't cause a fire.

Unlike here in Canada, where the price of cigarettes is "to the moon"
like, the price in Europe is not a barrier or scare off.

Periscope, you know better than to say "in Europe". I can smoke in Tirana for about 2 bucks a pack, but in Budapest a decent brand is almost 7 bucks a pack and has 2 fewer cigarettes in it than a US pack which costs about the same. Granted, Canadian cigarettes are about 10 US bucks a pack. But I suspect some of the left leaning European countries are just as expensive as Canada.

EDIT, quick check, cigs cost more than Canada in UK, Ireland, France and on par in about 4 more countries.

(good thing I quit)

In our limited time in Austria we were also amazed at the prevalence of smoking. We also noted that few, if any, butts ended up in the streets. There were places to dispose of cigarette butts everywhere. At least they are tidy smokers!

At least they are tidy smokers!

I wish I could say the same in Budapest. Well, maybe it is the same except in District VII where the trust fund brats congregate. But even there they clean the walks almost every morning and they power wash them at least once a week. A unhappy tourist once told me that the city was dirty, but they hid the fact from the tourists by cleaning it every morning. Huh?

there were still NO SMOKING signs that were illuminated for the whole flight. And ashtrays in the bathroom doors!

Actually both of those are present on US aircraft, and required by the FAA. One branch of my old company built the toilet modules for planes and still required to put ashtrays in the bathrooms. They also built seats, and up until somewhat recently, ashtrays were still required in seats, long after international smoking bans on planes. In both cases, the rationale was better to have someplace to safely put out a cigarette, than someplace flammable.

I was in Berlin a few weeks ago and noticed there were still a fair number of smokers, though there generally seems to be fewer smokers everytime I travel to Europe. Anywhere people were congregated outside, like the Admiralbrücke in the evening, cafe tables outside anywwhere, Alexanderplatz etc. Unlike here at home, I saw more cigarette smokers than vapers.
I had multiple relatives who were heavy smokers (most of them dead now) and I have always hated cigarette smoke. When I first started traveling to Europe in the 80s, there was still a "smoking section" on planes. I also remember traveling by train from Amsterdam to Heidelberg in the early 90s and even though there were "no smoking" signs in the car we were in, multiple people lit up and smoked anyway.

I was in Berlin a few weeks ago and noticed there were still a fair
number of smokers, though there generally seems to be fewer smokers
everytime I travel to Europe.

That depends very much on where you are in Europe, the rate of smoking varies a lot. The 2019 share of daily smokers ranged from 6.4 % in Sweden to 28.7 % in Bulgaria. https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=File:Share_of_daily_smokers_of_cigarettes_among_persons_aged_15_and_over,_by_level_of_consumption,_2019_(%25)_HLTH2022.png

In our limited time in Austria .... We also noted that few, if any, butts ended up in the streets.

Unfortunately, I cannot confirm this. Although a lot of rubbish bins on the street have an extra ash tray, the sidewalks are full of butts. It is better now than some years ago, but far away from being OK.

The city is campaigning for not throwing butts onto the ground, mainly because they are washed with rain water into the sewers where the contaminants in the butts are detrimental to the processes in the sewer purification plant.

(good thing I quit)

Good thing indeed.

On my recent 2 month trip through 5 countries, one positive thing was that you were guaranteed a bathroom stop about every 2 hours when traveling by bus or van - because the driver needed to stop for a cigarette.

Stay out of the Apres bars at Austrian ski resorts. The owner's attitude, "I'm in business to make money, and when the customers are outside smoking, they're not inside drinking, and when they're not drinking, I'm not making money!" I leave the rest to your imagination.

“We also noted that few, if any, butts ended up in the streets. There were places to dispose of cigarette butts everywhere.”

Laurel, I’m guessing you didn’t stray far from the First District, if you are talking about Vienna? Visit the 10, 11, 15, 21, etc next time and let me know ;)

Sam, and it should be different?

TTmom, the EU has regulations that require long-distance drivers stop every couple of hours. It's an enlightened safety measure, not the driver's prerogative. But yeah, Im sure they like it.

Emma’s point above and my response earlier are related I think. We did stay well outside the First Disteict and I’m thinking that’s why there were so many people smoking at our outdoor tables. As we would dine closer to the First District and at more expensive restaurants the number of smokers dropped off somewhat.