An American tourist traveling around Europe has taken issue with a big difference that he has noticed between the U.S. and Europe in a TikTok video.
Ben Pike from Massachusetts has hit multiple cities on the continent during his travels, including Amsterdam and Copenhagen. When he was in Paris he made an observation that hit home to him as an American, that nothing is open as early as things tend to be at home.
"There's literally nothing open until like 8 or 9," Pike told Newsweek. "In America, there is always going to be coffee places or breakfast places."
In a viral video which has received over 769,000 views since it was first posted on December 16, Pike records himself early in the morning in Paris, explaining that no shops or cafes are open.
"I'm sorry I have to say this, Europe is not a place for morning people. I thought it was just Spain, now it's France," he says. "Nothing is open before 7 a.m. No coffee shops, no places to get breakfast. Everything is closed before 7 a.m. and a lot of stuff until 8 a.m."
Speaking about how things are back home in the U.S., Pike told Newsweek: "There is always a food place that is open at 5 a.m. Starbucks and the other coffee places, a lot of them are open at like 5.30 a.m. Then a lot of them are usually open by 6 a.m."
Although he personally finds the later opening times inconvenient, Pike sees an up side.
"In Europe, there's respect for workers," he told Newsweek. "Here, it's not right to expect workers to get up at 4.30 a.m. They have a very good point. In America you don't even really think about it. If you work in a coffee place, you have to be up early like that.
"These [are] cultural differences that I didn't even think about before coming here."
Pike is one of many Americans who vacation in Europe. Southern and Mediterranean Europe, which includes destinations like Spain, France, Greece and Italy, prove to be the most popular with Americans, attracting roughly 8.3 million arrivals in 2022, according to Statista.
Pike's video received thousands of comments with people sharing their thoughts on this cultural difference between the U.S. and Europe.
"Wait are coffee shops etc open before 7 a.m. in the US? That's wild hours for service workers," said CC.
"Because many European countries don't have unhealthy work life balance and value time off," @melasol_tattoo commented.
AVAseries wrote: "Before 7:00, it's not morning, it's night."
"It's dark, even the sun is still sleeping, why are you up?" said Casio and Glitter.
Nissy shared: "As a Spanish living in France I wake up early for work and you know how I get my coffee? I make it at home!"
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