The Golden Arches

Surprisingly, McDonalds here is a pleasant hang out place. I love going to McDonalds abroad and noting differences. Here in Austria, the food is mostly similar but the atmosphere is totally different. For example, McCafé is a different part of the restaurant, where you can order actually good coffee and tons of pastries including doughnuts. There is a seating area for the café and then an upstairs area for the rest of the restaurant. The most notable feature of McDonalds is free WiFi which means that us Salzburg College students without Internet at home frequent it on the weekends. Yesterday afternoon, Beth and I ran into Megan and Brittany using their computers in McDonalds.

The food at Austrian McDonalds (while perhaps not healthier) is of better quality than in the United States, and all of the food is locally grown and produced. They had an ad with a potato in a felt Alpine hat with feathers proclaiming "I AM AUSTRIAN!" The best dish that they have here that is not available in the US is Gitter Pommes, or seasoned waffle fries which they serve with sour cream sauce. They would be a huge hit in America, I am sure, and while Beth and I were in line to order them, about 4 other groups of high school students did as well.

The weirdest thing is the fees that McDonalds charges that Americans would never, ever in a million years tollerate. Ketchup costs €0.20. That's right. KETCHUP. However you can substitute the Sour Cream sauce for Ketchup if you order Gitter Pommes. To use the bathroom, you have to buy a €0.50 voucher for McDonalds. There is a turnstile blocking you from using the bathroom. I found out from my Host-Father that this is a legal grey area. There is a law that says that you can't charge to use the bathroom in Austria. However so many people were going to McDonalds to use the bathroom without buying anything, they made it so you have to buy the voucher ensuring that you will at some be forced to buy SOMETHING from McDonalds. I told him that in the US McDonalds was basically served as a road trip rest stop where it was common knowledge that you could stop and use the bathroom without buying anything. And you could stop and pump out a gallon of free Ketchup while you are at it.