Interweaving his comic misadventures from the first trip with the razor-sharp insights of his older self, Bryson wanders through Paris, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Rome, Geneva, Vienna, and other great cities of Europe. With affection and wit he explains why the French are constitutionally incapable of "queuing", why Yugoslavian beer encourages your legs to "go in for a little involuntary moonwalking", and asks: Why didn't the armistice treaty require the Germans to lay down their accordions along with their arms?