Saturday, June 23, 2007

Spending a Penny

One of the best indicators of the cost of living in a city is the cost or otherwise of public toilets. traditionally we speak about "spending a penny". This may have been true when I was a boy well for the girls anyway.... we went behind a tree. It is certainly not true in Europe.

In Harrod's London store, they have a super loo..... I am sure they do not call it that. You receive a handtowel and soap from a uniformed assistant, toiletries, they brush down your clothes etc. The cost ... 5 pounds sterling! This is at the upper end of the London market. For the bottom end (pun intended), or cultured end of the market, it is free at the museums and galleries.

In Bergen, it is 5 kroner. This is the bottom price you can find. You pay at the railway station, library etc. it is rather ironic that you can use the Internet free but have to pay for the toilet.

Wherever Aussie travellers gather, it can be free. You simply hold the door open after use and the next person enters but only the first person gets use of the hand dryer. Not that your 5 kroner will buy you very much in Norway.

5 comments:

theotherbear said...

I wonder how many Aussies you have met in toilets. It seems an odd place to meet people. Hahaha.

Miss Di said...

But have you met anyone you used to teach or live next door to or were related to? Last time we were in Manly we met someone Matt knew from Canada!

gailandrob said...

We have not met anyone we know but we can tell if people come from an education background!

Anonymous said...

I thought it had been a while since we discussed toilets... What is it with this family???

gailandrob said...

We have saved so much money that we are going to break out and have a bottle of wine.... not in a toilet.