@Joannie@diligent - I like Scottish people, too - have a good friend - the lady celebrated her 90th birthday this year and had planned to fly herself and some friends over to Scotland to celebrate - she is well off (but Covid19 cancelled that). I also knew her husband, a lawyer. She is an actress and related to a comedian, called 'Stanley Baxter' - but I have not met him. She is a most wonderful woman, still writing scripts, directing amateur shows - when they still lived in 'my' street I would be invited to their parties, there was also a New Years Eve's Party amongst them and it was a riot, but more civilised than yours.
In Europe we celebrate New Years Eve with all kinds of silly customs too, so it wasn't entirely new to me, but I did enjoy the company, Her husband has since died and she has moved to smaller premises, but is still active and we meet from time to time for a chin wag at a local restaurant.
re Germans; they are infamous for the 'towel trick' in seaside holiday resorts - alas I have never been to any of those resorts, so wouldn't know. I have met a few Germans in my time through my club, and generally, they are a bit more obsessive, the men are very motivated to get ahead professionally, but I cannot cope with their insistence on knowing everything better etc. - at least the men of my generation were like that. The young ones are different, but still fairly disciplined and I think they are managing to inflict that characteristic on a young migrant generation too.
Not a bad characteristic, but a little anathema to an Austrian although we/they are pretty hard-working, too. No I must run Taurisk
