What european countries are the best

[YourDad]

if you were going to move out of america and into europe what country would you go to? i have heard switzerland is good and also russia (and russia is very cheap too)

[mddemo]

1. euro

switzerland is nice, but if your anti gun forget it, everybody is in the army, they all have automatic weapons in their homes, Russia is cheap but crime ridden. Id stay stateside, unless you like paying lots of taxes.

[dutchdemocrat]

2. Holland

http://www.holland.com

Great country.

[praxiz]

3. Norway!

Ofcourse it is not traditional for us scandinavians to toot our own trumpets, but I believe the U.N. declared Norway to be the best country to live in.

Make a note of the fact that it specified "live in". Unless you make a Norwegian salary, you'll think that everything is horribly overpriced. $10 for a beer on a medium lucerative pub in the summer season is not unusual. However, relatively little crime.

It's not as cold as people think, unless you sleep outside during winter. We have to stay in the shade during summer just like everyone else.

Anyway, I should probably stop before I start posting pictures of bisons and state bugdets and weather statistics.

I believe the bottom line is that most Norwegians want everyone to know that Norway is the best country in the world, but that everyone should stay the hell away and not come here. :) Just kidding (not really)

[La_Serpiente]

5. I really like Norway

I really like Norway...I heard it is like a socialist country. But then again, the taxes are really high. But you sure get a bang for your buck.

Howeve, I heard that Norway does Whale Hunting.

I also don't like cigarettes. I heard that lots of people in Europe smoke. My friend told me that Netherlands has good anti-smoking laws.

Germany, France, and pretty much every other country is full of pacifist. However, as beautiful as it is, Italy is in some deep shit. Bersculoni has an entire media empire and he's just like Bush: he doesn't like people telling him he's wrong. He also owns 90 PERCENT of the Media in Italy, which is kind of scary.

However, Russia seems appealing right now. And I think in portugal, drugs are legal.

Overall, I'd go to Netherlands, Norway, Spain, or Russia. There are too many smokers in Germany. I heard half the population smokes there.

[dutchdemocrat]

6. They tried to ban

Smoking in Coffee Shops (marijuana cafes) in Holland earlier this year. Now how is that for odd?

[YourDad]

9. i don't mind smoking

it doesn't bother me

[YourDad]

16. how warm is spain and italy?

i think i would like a warm climate

[itcfish]

27. Spain is Great

Lived there for 3 years. Not as expensive as France and Italy. The people are great, kind compassionate, and love life. The weather is mild especially in the south does not go lower than 64 degreess in the winter. Food is good too. Medical health insurance is not expensive.
:party:

[janekat]

33. Yep - have a bunch of relatives there

If things don't straighten up here - I'd love to move there.

[mainer]

34. sadly, must disagree about holland

I have many Dutch relatives. My dutch in-laws just gave up on Holland and moved to the U.S. because of social disorder, overcrowding, and pollution in the Netherlands. There is so much plain old vandalism -- beautiful landmarks defaced by hooligans. While we were in Paris, some Dutch relatives came to visit and they kept remarking on how intact and beautiful the French monuments were. In Amsterdam, they said, the gold leaf on statues wouldn't last a week without someone taking a hammer to it. And then they remarked on the fact that some department stores have blue lights in the public restrooms -- so that junkies going in there to shoot up would have too hard a time seeing their veins.

Part of the problem is simply overcrowding -- too many people crammed into too small a country. Whenever I'm there, I always feel claustrophobic from all the dense housing. And there does seem to be a level of social anarchy in Holland that simply doesn't exist in, say, France.


But on the plus side, Holland is incredibly progressive, open-minded, and everyone seems to speak four languages!

[mddemo]

4. scotland

i would say my homeland, but apart from the crap weather, high taxes, high crime rate and poverty, we have nice scenery.

[dutchdemocrat]

7. Some of those accents

are pretty wild up there. Might as well listen to Swahili at times...

lol

[mddemo]

8. lol

when im drunk it dosent matter what i say to you it sounds as though im threatening you, oh and every word sounds like a swear word :)

[dutchdemocrat]

14. Sometimes Dutch sounds like English

It's weird. Friesen (spoken in Friesland) it the closest relative language to English.

[dutchdemocrat]

19. Trainspotting

Trainspotting kind of bangs into my desire to move to Scotland for some inane reason *smile.

All that council housing and heroin... lol

[marley]

10. I moved from

the US to Milan, Italy 12 years ago, best decision I ever made. Great food, wonderful people, perfect weather. The only drawback is I have to make a difficult decision every weekend, do I drive one and a half hours to the Italian Riviera, or drive one and a half hours to some of the best skiing in the world in the Alps ??!!!

[mddemo]

12. big plus

you also get to go to the san siro, now which team to support Inter or Milan.

[marley]

13. That's easy

Milan, Inter is for losers !!

[mddemo]

17. lol

i concur,

[Teh Magick]

11. I would totaly goto the UK

UK chicks are hot yow!

[mhr]

15. Southern France, Spain, or Italy

If you can afford it!

[TreasonousBastard]

18. France, Italy, Scotland, Germany...

would be up there on my list.

The Czech Republic is another one for the slightly more adventurous. Czechia, Poland and Hungary seem to have more business opportunities than Western Europe for those stout enough of heart. Don't even think of becoming fluent in Czech or Hungarian, though. Romania has interesting possibilities, too.

Switzerland has great mountains and skiing, but is a total bore to live in. An expensive bore, too. Spain has places of great beauty, but is still a dour place, with the ghosts of Philip II and Franco still haunting its people.

Some love the Netherlands, and there is a lot to be said for it. Friends of mine lived in and old windmill years ago, and its historical tolerance is legendary. I found it an interesting place to visit, but I don't think I would prefer to live there.

Belgium has always intrigued me, but I never spent enough time there to understand it.

Austria is another one that has great places to visit, but seemed more expensive than almost anywhere else but Switzerland, and not really worth the price.

[DoNotRefill]

20. If you're not rich, forget emmigrating to Switzerland...

They don't want you.

I hear the Ukraine is nice, as is Turkey.

[It was not a pretzel]

21. forget Germany

the place is sucking gonads at the moment.

1) Don't speak German? Forget it.

2) You have skills? Good, but do you have the papers to prove it and are those papers recognised by the authorities? And don't forget, do you speak German?

3) Are your skills' in IT? Unless your an expert on several SAP systems, forget it. Maybe we should all move to India.

4) Are you willing to start at the bottom? You'd better be, because that's how it works over here. 4-7 Euros an hour is common for unskilled work (and that's all you get if you don't qualify in point 2). I earned more than that washing dishes 14 years ago.

After 14 years here I'm actually considering going back to the UK. I don't really want to, but I may have no other option.

[even]

22. Albania.

Low cost of living. Nice climate. American protectorate. Friendly people.

[rooboy]

23. Mmmmm... New Europe... n/t

[It was not a pretzel]

24. you're taking the pish right?

Albania's poor beyond belief.

[Padraig18]

25. Ireland is quite lovely

It's also the most "Yank-friendly" country in Europe; the Irish genuinely LIKE Americans. :)

[veggiemama]

31. I can certainly vouch for all you say about Ireland

because I moved here in February. After Wellstone's death and the mid-term "elections", I felt it was time to move on, so my Irish spouse and I relocated to County Wexford.

If anyone's considering moving to Eire, here's a great article:

http://hartfordadvocate.com/gbase/News/content?oid=oid:21239

[Mari333]

32. agree...I loved visiting Ireland

the only thing keeping me in the US was that my sons live here..gads I wish I could talk them all into moving there..
Oh well, looks like I might be able to get over the border to Canada if they let us in...thats only 4 hours from me........

[Jen72]

26. They are many great european countries.

France is beautiful and varied. Hot is the south, cool in the north and has beautiful property and lots of space.
Germany has great cities such as Frankfurt,Colgone and Berlin
Holland
Ireland is beautiful and prosperous with fine towns.
Spain is very dry and mountianous, but it is a land with a heavy Catholic tradition and lots of festivals, it is also a holiday destination for have of northern Europe in the summer around the coast.
I love Italy which is very beautiful
Switzerland is pretty but it is very expensive and they are still a very isolated nation with four national languages.
The country that I have visited that I liked the least is Austria.
It has beautiful mountians but I found it to be a country to be a stange mixture of super effisancy but the fact that grown man really do work around in lederhosien and live it cockoo clock houses, tells me they seem to be clinging very hard to there past. One of the problems with Austria is that unlike Germany they have not been forced to face their past and their part in the rise of Nazi Germany.
I had a conversation with a waiter about it.
Having said that I did stay near Salzburg which is a lovely city and
so is Vienna but like Switzerland it is an expensive country.
Belgium is often joked about for being boring and a land of cows and chocalate but it has alot going for it too.

[spindoctor]

28. Ummm...

I always thought about retiring in Portugal, but that seems to be a popular destination these days. Europe's Arizona, or worse...Florida.

My favorit city in Europe is Avignon. Beautiful town, beautiful area. Stay out! I saw it first!

In the end I would probably settle down in Belgium, somewhere in the Ardennes, near the town of Spa. Again, beautiful surroundings, great beer, great wine, great food and within driving distance of the Netherlands.

Yea...Belgium it is.

[Cat Atomic]

29. France and Norway

Love 'em both. I also love Britain and Ireland, but their press suffers from a bit of the same problems that the American press suffers from today. Not nearly as bad, but it's there.

France is really great, just the way people have a different pace. They'll always spend a few minutes jabbering with you. Things can always wait.

Working over there was hilarious. I just got back from doing some work there with an American company in Paris.

There were some other Americans as well, and you could spot them easily at lunch time. Americans are always watching thethe clock to be sure they make it back to the office before the hour is up, and the French just sort of relax, talk, enjoy the food, and get back to the office when it happens. An hour and a half, two hours... whatever. Much healthier mind set.

[Jack The Tab]

30. Finland...I heard a great story about their egalitarian society..

I think it was a high-up Nokia executive was caught speeding, like 80mph in a 25mph zone.

The cops there look up your income tax return, and issue you a ticket, with the fine on it, dependent on your yearly income.

The idea being that a traffic ticket should be as much of a punishment for the multi-millionaire as it is for the man who makes 25k a year.

So the guy who makes 25k a year gets a $120 ticket, and that hurts. The guy who makes 14m a year gets a $70k ticket, and that hurts him too.

[LoneStarLiberal]

35. Italy or Hungary

Love'em both.

Slovenia is nice, too.