Worst part about living in Europe

Two nuns are riding their bikes back to the convent.

One nun says to the other, “I don’t think I’ve ever come this way before.”

And the other one says, “It's the cobblestones.”

It seems the solution to all your problems are:

Big trucks
Suburban sprawl
Privatized healthcare
Rabid anti-communism
Christian-fascist leaders

3 of those are already set in motions.
- I live in the Netherlands. Every year I see more and more American trucks on the road. The cancer is spreading.
Or a mountain bike with suspension
Or simply waiting a bit before drinking the soda to let the CO2 settle and stop being a whiny little baby about minor inconveniences.
- Let a girl shitpost! My manager insisted that I take the day off to enjoy the nice weather and I'm bored as hell 😠
Number 4 is reasonable if people are educated on what Marxism is in theory and practice
- Now see. That is communism. And communism is just fucking Hitler.
  Fascist religious leaders on the other hand might save you in the end.

Would have been fine if you bought real food/drink.

How would padding it with vegetables have helped? Would seltzer water have been less shaken up?
Shaming someone biking to and from the store for getting zero calorie soda is ridiculous. Post the contents of your last trip to the grocery store. Made on foot or bike I’m sure, right?
To be clear, even if the answer to that was yes and you eat nothing but ‘health food’ it wouldn’t give you the right to sneer at what other people eat and drink.
- nah they're right, I eat like shit
- Nah, cola is fine, it's just that it's American. There are quite a few awesome local brands you can drink here.
Sometimes people want some nice snacks and shizz
- nice drinks don't support an Apartheid genocide
- No reason to buy American snacks, lots of European alternatives to choose from in that department.
Great username

As someone who's lived on a cobblestone street before, it's nice to look at, but a lot less functional than asphalt or concrete. Especially trying to walk home from the bar with a few drinks in you.

They're apparently also pretty good for slowing down cars in pedestrian-heavy areas, but yeah, taking a fall on those after a few drinks does hurt like shit haha
On the pro side, if done well, they outlast every tar road by centuries.
I don't live in Europe, but I've heard horror stories about how slippery those streets get in the rain
- They do, they get very slick in some conditions. In winter/freezing conditions it's an outright hazard. But there really aren't that many such streets left, and the few that are are slowly being changed to asphalt too.
- Can confirm, having worked food delivery in the Netherlands.
- There's a really good reason they're only used on low speed streets and squares, and now large roads.
- You are right. They are. But they're less common than driveways in the US and I don't know why you guys make yours so smooth that if there's freezing weather you can't even walk up it if there's the tiniest incline.
  Not that this is any sort of competition, just thought about it
I was very fortunate to go on a vacation last month in Belgium where we rode bikes to several different towns.
It was awesome, but the cobblestone streets in some of those old cities are ROUGH. Just bone shaking. The chain on the bike I was riding bounced off once when I needed to shift.
It also makes blisters on your feet hurt A LOT (probably not a problem for most people, but I have a condition that makes me blister a lot more :( it's ruined so many trips that I would have otherwise enjoyed)

Ha! I needed baguettes, got two and tossed them in the bike basket, feeling so European, until one loaf bounced out and was run over by a car, at which point I felt oh so American!

somebody crusha ma baguette 🐭😡
American here. I have seen plenty of roadkill in my lifetime, but none of it was ever a baguette.
- In my experience the roadkill is way more likely to be the cyclist. You really can't ride a bike where I live.

The worst part is becoming accustomed to fresh, high-quality food and espresso within 100m of every human at all times.

Also, OP, why are you having "American Breakfast"? Where's your croissant?

Where's your croissant?
In my MOUF
- The deathgrip. As if that croissant owes you money or something.
- Are you dipping that croissant in ketchup
- Are those croissants store-bought or from a bakery/cafe? Because i'd like to know where I can buy vegan croissants that look that good.
That's even "worse" than the 15 minute city. MAGA would lose their minds.

Shaking does not affect this the way you think it does. You'll be fine as long as you wait like 10-60 seconds after shaking vigorously. The liquid and gas pressure inside will reach equilibrium, and no matter how much shaking you do, it won't degas further.

Also, keep in mind that it's mostly temperature and surface area that causes soda to degas (fall out of solution).

Fun fact: this is why paper straws are inferior to plastic straws for drinking soda, because paper is insanely more porous than plastic, and causes rapid degassing of the soda inside of the straw, rather than in your mouth, throat, and stomach. (There are other reasons, too, but this one is often not considered by most people)

Carry metal straws. They're awesome
- I raw dog my drinks.
- I don't like the way they taste. I'm on team glass straws.

If you shoot your finger against the side (like shooting away a cigarette bud) several times, then slowly rotate the bottle around it's axel while it's standing on a table several times, you can safely open them without them squirting all over the place. It truly works, also with shaken soda/beer cans.

What I do with these groceries is put them in a bag on my back or in my hand when cycling. The rack is for other stuff like veggies and other stuff that can handle the shaking or might get shitty when stuffed in a bag.

But you have a nice rack on your bike. Although it looks hard to take anyone on the back, unless they stand upright.

Better call Saul taught me this!
I can confirm, flicking your finger on the side of the bottle works. I have no Idea why tho.
- There's more CO2 dissolved in the water than there can be at atmospheric pressure. The CO2 is constantly trying to escape, but in order to do so it needs a nucleation site that disturbs the water. When the drink is shaken, lots of little bubbles form, and stick to the inner wall of the drink. These bubbles are nucleation sites. Flicking the side of the drink makes them float up and pop.
- Increases pressure so the gases dissolve back into the liquid. Probably.

No cobbles in the pictures

Press X to doubt.jpeg

This is why you need aomwthing with tank treads. Like a tank for example

Stupid part is that I can't ride a tank around here with all the tank-hostile architecture 😠 They got these triangular tank obstacles scattered around everywhere, it's so inconvenient!
https://www.slashgear.com/1567777/ww2-dragons-teeth-tank-obstacles/
- You need a Mars rover style split tank thread solution!
  Also some better shock absorbers, also like a Mars rover
Op didn't say if they were in Germany or not.
- Or just say you're feeling like Poland and tanks will appear

Cool them down and let settle before opening. Should help.

If that's the worst part you're having a goddamn amazing time.

They need to be cooled anyway before being drunk, so the beverage has some time to relax

also if you spin the bottle a few times (while it’s oriented normally) all of the bubbles stuck to the side go to the top and redissolve….
learned it on “better call saul” and it works amazingly.
….
since the bubbles are lighter than the liquid, when you spin it centrifugal force knocks the bubbles off the wall….

that's a first world problem if i've ever seen one

Now I'm gonna tell you a "secret".

We European drinks mainly water from the tap, when we don't drink beer or wine od course.

(except many Italians mi, they're stupid and buy water in plastic bottles).

In Barcelona, I was told their tap water was trash so I had to buy bottled water. The hotel I was staying at said the samething and they were giving me bottles for free.
- Talking seriously, I've been in some places where the tap water was disgusting. Probably safe but still undrinkable.

What kind of bike is that?

That's a lot of sugary drink 😂

All I know is that it's beige and from 2011! Held up pretty well all things considered, the battery still lasts for 10km or so, which is plenty for getting to work and doing grocery trips :D
- Oh I helped someone fix one of those. Nice.
- Looks pretty cool! Should have known it was an e-bike
Technically no sugar, it's the 'zero' variant.
- It's Zero caffeine too! Which makes it the 'zero zero' variant, I think

Did you know there is a maximum pressure in the bottle, at which point shaking has no more effect since the pressure keeps the bubbles in your drink? This point is quickly reached, and already happened before it went into the store.

Maybe you should put something to dampen that. Like bubble wrap, newspapers, stuffed animals?

You're saying I should have bought more chips?? Don't mind if i doo
- If you buy potato chips as shock absorbers you'll come home with potato dust
  Still tasty though

So where's the problem?

Seems like the worst part is not too bad, all things considered. All you need is half an hour patience with the fizzy drinks ;) Have to say, hate cycling on the cobbles, but love the look of them in the cities! Also, cobbles generally force cars to slow down indeed.

Get some shocks for your basket 🤷‍♂️

Or just wait a few minutes before opening them
Can you show an example? I can't imagine what that would look like if you're bike is not already full suspension.

I can feel your pain, switched to Picnic though, never looked back.

I have even put cobblestones in the garden now for nostalgic reasons. (Basaltkeien)

As long as they’re hot they shouldn’t pop. The fizzing over should only happen when it’s cold.

I get more bike maintenance issues if my route to work has a lot of cobbled roads. I end up taking longer routes to avoid the cobbles. There are not enough dedicated cycle paths.

I still wonder who ever thought cobbled roads are a great idea.
Terrible to ride. Terrible to walk. Bad at just about everything.

With cans you tap on the top a few times before opening them so that the fizz doesn't come bursting out. Is there a similar trick for bottles?

That’s half myth. It might work a little, it might not work at all. Best bet is to just let the beverage sit for a couple minutes.
- :O
  I learned it in some science-y educational TV show from when I was a kid. It's never failed me.
  Found another video with more info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YrizFz-bgX0
Contrary to what would seem logical, you’re actually supposed to shake them side to side, canceling out the fizz. It’s best to open it up right afterward as well, while holding it under your nose. Old wives trick