Pav Explains... Going out in Europe

The extreme: Love Parade in Berlin

Well first of all, be prepared. Unlike many places in the states, you can stay out all night and find plenty to do. There is no such thing as a last call - at least not until 7:00 AM or so. Forget about going to a club before midnight, the place will be empty, and will peak between 2:00 and 4:00 AM. The craziest night life I've seen is in Spain. One particulary insane weekend, myself and a fellow American colleague of mine went to stay in Madrid with our Spanish colleague. She promised to show us how crazy spaniards like to spend their weekends. She was successful. Well, to sum it up, here's what we experienced: We went to dinner at 11:00 PM, and remarkebly, when we got to the restaurant areas, they were all packed with people eating, yes dinner! We started to realize what kind of night we were in for. Anyways, after bar-hopping, you start club-hopping, and then, as is tradition in Madrid, you go get churros (deep-fried sick-like pastries served with melted chocolate sauce for dipping). When you're finished with that, it's 9:00 AM, and time for some sleep.

The worst night life I've found was in Rome - which really surprised me for being such an alive, vibrant city. I was only there 4 days, but from what I gather, dinner is really the event of the evening, lasting at least a couple of hours, and then everybody seems to just go home. We did find a couple of places to hang out, but after 11:00 PM or so, good luck. One thing that is cool there is getting a gelatto (Italian ice cream), and just hanging out in one of the countless beautiful piazzas, enjoying the architecture and old fountains, and just people watching.

The few nights I was in London just reinforced everything that I had heard. Pubs close early there, so all the drinking is crammed into just a few hours. The result? Bar fights and more vulgar language than you've ever heard in your life. It's still a really fun city, but there's just too many morons hammered and out looking for nothing but a fight.

Paris has a great nightlife. It's really a trip the first time you see all the street cafés packed with people sitting outside at 3:00 AM with tons of cars driving by. Paris is a blast.

Amsterdam is..... do I even need to comment?

And one last thing, you won't believe what people wear to clubs over here. The more outrageous and gaudy you are, the better. Try to wear huge Italian sunglasses too - yes, in the club.