The Amazing Race - Day 9

"I Still Don't Like Germany"

Of all the countries in Western Europe, Germany was the one I cared the least about. All I've heard about Germany is they drink a lot of beer, so I was pretty much indifferent to the entire country. However, you can't do an amazing race around Europe and not visit Germany.

This morning I did a Free Walking Tour. I've heard so many amazing things about FWTs because you first go on the tour and at the end pay your guide what you think the tour was worth. I have no idea how much a tour is worth, just tell me how much you want me to pay and I'll decide if I think it's worth it.

But I went anyway, expecting to pay between 5 and 10 euros. And then my tour guide made a huge deal about how the tour isn't free, we just pay at the end instead of the beginning. He also made a big deal about how we needed to adjust for cost of living and how long the tour was - how much do you want to get paid for working four hours?

That's a valid question, and it got me thinking. For four hours, I want to be making somewhere around $40. That's more than I want to pay for a walking tour. However, since he's taking 12 of us on the tour, if we each only paid €4, he would still make more than me, even after taxes, and that's not even accounting for the euro-usd exchange rate. (Life is pretty much always like this as a math major.)

So does that mean I can pay €4 for this tour? Of course not, he already told me he expects more than €5.

I ended up paying way more than I wanted to, because the entire tour I was guilted into making sure I tipped well. If I had been on a paid tour, I would have paid the same amount and avoided all the guilt.

Strike one against "free" walking tours.

However, then I went on my paid bike tour of the city. In the rain. In a poncho. Just for future reference, it's a good idea to check the weather before booking a bike tour.

It was a fine tour, minus the soaking wet and cold part. Then we got to the end of the tour and all I wanted to do was go home and take a warm shower, but we had to have an end-of-the-tour goodbye meeting. I probably should have seen it coming -- but didn't -- when suddenly I was told I was expected to tip my guide. And I had to go through the whole process again - what is an appropriate tip for a bike tour? Luckily I only had one small bill in my wallet, so that was the tip. But really, I would have rather had the tip included in the original price so I could know from the beginning what I'm expected to pay. Why is tipping even a thing? Can I start a petition to get rid of tipping?

Strike one against paid tours.

In conclusion, I still don't like Germany. Anything Germany can do, Austria can do better, because Austria is amazing.