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Hey there fellow travelers, Mark here with Walter's World. Today, we're here in Bratislava, Slovakia outside of the Bratislava Castle. And today we're going to talk about our eight ways you can learn more about the culture of the country you're visiting without having to go to a museum, cuz I know you can learn a lot from museums and I'm fantastic. I love going to them. My son, who's obviously allergic to museums, is sneezing at it. But whether you're going to castles or you're going to museums, you can learn a lot that way, but sometimes you want to learn more about the culture of the people themselves because the castles and the history are fantastic, but what about the people and
the culture of today, okay? So, I want to give you a kind of eight things you can do to learn more about the actual culture of the people versus the historical part. And the first thing I want to tell you to do is go to a grocery store. Look, you will understand more about a culture by going to a grocery store than pretty much anywhere else. You go to Italy, you know about pasta, but you don't understand just how many different types of pasta there are until you're there. Or if you're in Spain, you see the wall of the ham that's there, right? Or if you're going to Lithuania and you see the people with the little ice creams that are there. Like, "What are they getting there?" They like their little ice
creams from back in the Soviet times. It's already the cup of ice cream. I'm like, you really got to see how people really eat, how people really shop, and it really is an interesting experience. I know when we were living in China, when we go to the grocery store to see how people shopped in China really explained a lot about the culture to us. It was a really great experience, you know? And I think that's one of the things that's really nice cuz, you know, there's jokes in Portugal about, "Oh, a real Portuguese wife can make cod fish 365 days of the year and her husband will be super happy." Well, the thing is, when you go to a grocery store in Portugal and you see the salted cod laying out there, you're like, "Wow, they really love that salted cod."
Now, the next thing I recommend you do is go to the park. And this is really great if you've got kids, bring a little soccer ball. They're going to make friends when they're there. But, this is where you see people going out with their families, with their friends, hanging out, having picnics, maybe having a drink, or just having a you know just a time together. And you really start to see how the culture works. Do the parents play with the kids? You know, going to China was really incredible to see the older people like working out like in the parks. You saw them doing the tai chi and everything. It was just a really incredible experience and helped us learn more about the culture. So, from playing soccer in the park, my next
thing is actually going to watch soccer in a stadium. And I'm saying go to a sports match in the country you're at because you can learn a lot about the people near there. I mean, I can't tell you how much I learned about Italian culture by going to calcio games, Italian soccer games. I mean, I've been all over Italy. Like, I've been to like 30 calcio matches over the years for my Vicenza soccer team, right? And I've learned so much from the people, from the fans, from the people working at the stadiums. They found that, "Hey, you're an American coming to like a Serie A say, like a third division game? What are you doing here?" And so, it really is a great way to meet the people, but
learn about the culture. Go into a cricket match if you're in India or Pakistan or England. I mean, that is a whole other ballgame. If you're in the US, going to a college football game with tailgating, it's an experience all of its own. And you really start to understand Americans' infatuation with American football, you know? It's one of those things cuz like sports matches, you see the crazy in people. You see the chance. You see the cheering and the wave and all kinds of fun stuff. But, it is another way to learn about culture and learn about a country without going to a museum, all right? Now, next on my list is um just go to an outdoor cafe.
Like, if there's a square or there's an outdoor cafe at a busy street. Just sit outside and watch the world go by cuz you start to see some of the cultural nuances, some of those differences when you're out there. I know when we're sitting in Paris, you see the people sitting outside smoking, having their cigarette, but you don't see them walking and smoking their cigarette. Also, you'll notice in France, you don't see people walking and snacking. The only people you see with food in their hand when you're going around are the French children when they're either walking around or they're in their
strollers and they have their little baguette that they're gnawing on while they go around. And so, just going by and watching the world go by when you're in places really can help you learn about the culture a lot. And so, it helps you kind of calm down and take it all in. So, do sit at the park, sit at a cafe, sit somewhere and just take it all in as it goes by and that can help you learn about the culture. Now, next up we have going shopping. Yes, you can learn a lot by going shopping in different countries. And I know I talked about the grocery store, but this time I'm talking about more like products like clothing products or home good products. I mean, the
pharmacy. I mean, honestly, you go to the pharmacy you can learn so much about a country right there like how they deal with things, the medicines they have, how they discuss these kind of topics about health and wellness. It's It's an incredible experience. But going shopping, and when I say going shopping, I'm not saying going to a IKEA or H&M or Zara, those international chains that are the same everywhere in the world. You want to go to local boutiques cuz you go to local boutique, a small shop, a small store, a lot of times you might actually get the owner that's there. And the owner is going to tell you about the history of their business, what it's like to do business there, the
neighborhood, the history of the area. I mean, they're really wanting to promote their business, but also the neighborhood they're in. And that's why we've learned so much like in France and Portugal, Italy, we learned so much from the local shopkeepers. That's a really great experience. And I'll be honest with you, the pharmacy people, they know a lot in South America. So, if you need to know anything when you're in South America, hit up the pharmacy cuz they'll hook you up with the gossip and the truth about the place you're at. Now, another place you need to check out is a local restaurant. Not the big chains, not the huge you like Hofbrauhaus kind of things that are just huge, big
tourist kind of trappy kind of big old restaurants. You want to go to a smaller local restaurant because a lot of times the smaller local restaurants, the owners are the one cooking for you, the owners are the one taking your order or their kids are, and you're doing that, the more you go there, you become part of their family cuz you're helping their business survive and thrive, and they tend to want to share stories with you. I know with us in Rome was a restaurant we went to for years and years. I remember William's here with me now and he's 14 and he was a baby. We're talking like 8 weeks old and they're like, "Let me hold the baby. You guys
eat. It's totally fine." I mean, it was a fantastic experience we had with them and we got to know them over the years. We go back year after year to see them and hang out with them, and it's really kind of a fun thing. That local restaurant, the local owner, they're really going to make it a much more intimate setting for you to eat and enjoy the culture, but also they're going to share why is this dish important to this town? Why is this restaurant important to this town? How is the town changed? What's the food you want to try if you're not here? And that's what the local restaurants will teach you about the culture that, you know, a McDonald's or the IKEA food court won't.
Now, another thing that I only do occasionally is go get your hair cut or for me, get your beard shaved when you go and travel because when you go to the barber shop, it is a cultural experience because the hairstyles are totally different. I know whenever we go to Italy, the boys always get their hair done and they come out looking like little Italian models. It's hilarious, but it's also a fun experience. I know when I lived in Portugal, I would always go and have a guy do my beard for me cuz I'm like, why shave it? It was a good thing. It was a good experience and I got to talk to the locals and get to know the gossip cuz the guys that are in your the barber shop back home, you
know, you go to the salon back home, it's all the gossip, it's all the things going on and you learn so much about the culture, but it's a really fun experience and I don't have to bring my clippers with me when I travel. So, it's a double win. And then, the eighth place you can learn about the culture without having to go to a museum is stay at a B&B. No, not an Airbnb, not an apartment rental, not a hotel. Stay at a bed and breakfast because at a bed and breakfast, the owners live there. The owners are from that town and they want to share their experience of loving their town and loving their bed and breakfast. And it's one of those great things when you come back from seeing
the city, and you hang out and talk to the owners by the fireside chat, whether it's in Scotland or England. We've done that in Ireland, and it really helps us learn more about the culture while we're there. And that's why staying at a B&B is a great way to really learn about the culture. So, what are some other things that you've done that helped you learn about the culture of a country that you were visiting that wasn't in a museum or a castle? Let us know in the comments below so we can help other travelers. And if you want to learn more about traveling the world, why don't you hit that subscribe button cuz we have stuff to help you out all around the world.
Bye from here in Bratislava.
