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Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu
I've only been abroad one time, and there were little gecko/lizard things everywhere, climbing up walls and scurrying across roads, and nobody cared. I was constantly fascinated but to the locals they're just kinda there.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I'd be taking for granted?
Pic unrelated.
A statue of a dog pissing into a girl's mouth. It's a fountain. Not kidding either.
There is this bridge over a river that people come from all over the world to fuck under.
I have no idea why. It doesn’t even show up in search results for the bridge.
These fellas
On the flipside, when I was in Japan some old guy mocked me for taking a photo of a no littering sign.
I was visiting my friends in centrall europe and one if them wanted to show me the local speciality. We travelled 45 minutes by car and other 45 minutes by foot to look teeny tiny swamp. It was line 4m² and It was protectect area. My friend was really proud to show it to me.
I live in country where 26% of our landmass is swamps and wetlands...
When I visited the US I was excited to see squirrels running around. We don't have squirrels where I'm from. We took pictures.
It must have looked like we were excited to witness a cloud in the sky.
I love when people see deer here in North America. You'd think they're seeing a unicorn, when it's just some plain ol' mule deer.
Forest rats.
I love this and was about to post something similar because my family met a family from Australia at Disney World and the little girl was SO excited about the squirrels. It was adorable.
I live in the Midwest, so squirrels are just always there.
Used to work at Disney World. Can confirm the squirrel amazement. (And I worked at Animal Kingdom, the squirrels occasionally got more attention than the actual zoo animals. Although the local ibises hanging out with the spoonbills were still cool.)
I was a bit excited that the US squirrels are gray and large, we have smaller red ones in Germany.
We have grey squirrels in the UK, although they're not native. They're responsible for the decline in native red squirrels, you rarely see them now unless you go to particular areas.
If you really want to see huge squirrels check out a US college campus. They're so fat!
When I visited Canada from the US, my extended family and I drove in separate cars, thereby arriving at separate times spread out over a few hours.
Every group of us took basically the same picture when we arrived because we'd previously only seen brown squirrels and there was a solid, dark black one running around in the back yard.
My parents' neighborhood is ALL black squirrels. I thought they were rare until they moved (only 30 minutes from where I group up) so I was quite surprised to see dozens in their yard
When visiting the UK. Arriving at St. Pancrias International station and needed to get to waterloo. I had no idea how to move about.
But i found it weird how you have the power lines of trains ON THE GROUND and have TV adds of "hey dont get on the rails!". Plus that you cant even get onto the platforms without a ticket. That you cant get into the underground without a ticket!! That there are cameras and cops EVERYWHERE! And i only visited 2 years ago!
Only some metro systems, like the tube, have third rail - standard railways have overhead power. But since a lot of metro trains run outside tunnels as well it's not always obvious which rails are and aren't electrified.
The whole thing with gates is because the UK train system is privately run for profit and so respecting human dignity is less important than making sure every individual adequately prostates themselves before the company decides to provide service. Even TfL, the council-owned operator of the tube, is forbidden by law from receiving any taxpayer subsidy so must run at a profit.
Germanys trains are also private and we dont have that. So this isnt an excuse
All the castles and historical buildings. My city having a golden room. Old towns
Kangaroos, wombats and platypuses.
Kangaroos and wombats are dangerous when you're driving at night.
To be fair, I'm probably unique in my apathy toward, borderline dislike of, platypuses. When I'm out fishing and I see a platypus I pack up and go somewhere else because I know I won't be catching any fish.
Was at the RACV park in Inverloch (VIC) last weekend. Lots of kangaroos and wombats roaming around - one was being given space while it crossed over the bridge lmao. We love that everyone is chilled and everything was so quiet and peaceful.
I remember I was maybe 8 years old and lucky enough to go out on my dad and uncle's fishing boat. They were commercial fishermen, netting sardines.
I was so excited when dolphins showed up, only to discover that not everyone loves dolphins when my uncle got the shotgun out. He didn't actually murder any dolphins that day but not for lack of trying.
Suffice to say, I think most fishermen have a healthy dislike for other predators.
Platypuses don't eat fish. They eat worms and yabbies and insect larvae. I don't know why the fish stay away from them, but they do... Maybe the platypuses are territorial as they're competing for the same food? 🤷
The possums even more so I'd say, especially in the cities.
I'm actually not sure I've ever seen a wild platypus, and I haven't seen a wombat since I was very young, but I don't think I've ever lived in an area with them. Kangaroos were everywhere growing up in the bush though, in the backyard, school car park, sharp bend around a dark corner...
Whitetail dear. Don't stop to look at them. They are dear. Keep moving.
If you're in the UK, then here in the US, it's the sounds.
Crickets, frogs, birds, beetles, giant wasps, small mammals. The spring and autumn are wild with sounds.
My partner is a Brit in an industry where many get stationed here, and they all say the same.
Edit: And if you're outdoorsy, the geography, of course.
The Bude Tunnel
Or less locally the Hole in the Wall
The lack of a speed limit on our highways. Some people come here just to drive on a boring frigging highway.
Bonus question to anyone who visited the UK - was there anything that fascinated you but I’d be taking for granted?
Double decker buses maybe. I found them pretty cool compared to the boring buses we usually have here.
Edit: Also, urban foxes. I saw foxes maybe three times in my life before going to London, where they're basically seen as a nuisance.
I grew up in Portsmouth, England. Some my friends would come to school from the Isle of Wight on the hovercraft service. We all thought the hovercraft was pretty cool, but I only recently found out that it's the only commercially operated hovercraft in the whole world.
I was in pompy 2 years ago and yes i found the hovercrafts cool. I didnt know that fact! Thanks! I wonder if my boyfriend from pompy knows that fact too.
Fratton is quite scary though ngl
Is it still operating? For some reason I thought it stopped quite a while ago. Or maybe that's the one that used to cross the channel.
Yes it is! Costs £20 if i remember correctly
Bikes! I live in Copenhagen and they're everywhere of course. I love seeing people at a big train station taking pics of cycle parking being overfull
