[jseutter]

Had a chuckle at this excerpt:

"The guests feel struck with awe in that dining-room, and solemnly bolt their food as quickly as they can. You hear less noise in an American hotel dining-room containing five hundred people, than you do at a French table d’hôte accommodating fifty people, at a German one containing a dozen guests, or at a table where two Italians are dining tête-à-tête."

The author clearly has a ranking of how much each nationality speaks while eating :)

[midoridensha]

It's actually really interesting, because it's nothing like that these days. Now, it's the Americans who are easily the loudest people in the room.

[fennecfoxy]

I thought this was hilarious, too. And I'm so sending it to my Italian friends.