5 or 6 soft drinks with a meal? My kids don't drink 5 or 6 soft drinks in a week! This is why, as Flanneruk said, you do not find many soda fountains in Europe.

I don't drink a lot of soda, but while I've had fountain drinks served in England, I have never seen free refills. If you don't want your son's "bar bill" to exceed the cost of the meal, you might tell him one soda per meal, then tap water after that. :)

Even forgetting the cost aspect--and yes, sodas can frequently cost more than beer or wine throughout Europe--what about the health aspect of your son drinking six sodas with a meal?

In response to the comment above, I admit I did do the horrible thing of going to Schlotzky's Deli in Berlin. I was on a walking tour of Berlin (not Brewer's, which tours I have also described favorably, but another tour whose name I don't remember). The guide (Michael from NYC) took us all in there and for less than 5 Euros I had an excellent lunch (but no soda, since I don't like it). I had some meals at "German" restaurants for rather more that were not as satisfying.

I should also add that on Brewer's walking tour of Berlin, he took us to a Turkish place where I had an even cheaper and also very good lunch (no soda refills there, but reasonably priced drinks). But I can't regret going to Schlotzky's (which also has nice bathrooms).

Imagine your son eating 7 teaspoons of sugar and multiply that by 5 or 6. If he's drinking diet stuff, substitute cancer-inducing sweeteners for the sugar.
I like pop sometimes but the more you can cut back the better.
Even if it was dirt-cheap I wouldn't drink that much in a sitting! Some of the frizzy lemonade stuff is quite good however and maybe Europeans don't put as much sugar in them??
How old is he by the way?

The good side of wine and beer and water is that they are all natural. So you could alternate these if your son is older than 16 or so.

No refills generally in Europe and bottomless coffee cups either.

Your son drinks an obscene amount of soda and it can't do him any good. Perhaps ask him to cut back, mention the health issues and drink the local tap water. Most kids in Europe drink tap water or juices.

I hope he is OK health-wise, because either diet or full flavoured sodas are extremely bad for you. Might be nice to try freshly squeezed lemon and water with a little sugar (less than Coke) or freshly squeezed orange juice. In Paris they have Limonade which is not so sugary.

Good luck!

lindilindi, there's more than 1 tsp. of sugar in a can of soda. so though i'm definitely with you in the spirit of your post, it's even worse than you described!!!

In my post I said 7 tsp (although I heard it can be up to nine!)
So 7 times 5 is 35 teaspoons.

There are so many better things to drink... tea, coffee, hot chocolate, lemonade, juice, wine, beer, water....

If you don't want to buy 6 glasses of juice it is a great alternative to buy 2 or 3 and dilute it with water. A friend of mine always asks the waiter for a drink made of half juice and half carbonated water.

Last time I was in Paris, I had an unfortunate experience with large sodas. Sitting down at a sidewalk cafe, I ordered a coke. They waiter asked me if I wanted a large. I said yes and he came back with a liter of Coke! It was in what in Germany is known as a "Mas" (a liter-sized beer mug.) I never drink this much at one go. Never in the U.S. either. The price was close to 30 euros. I was completely dumbfounded. Oh well. C'est la vie.

Sorry lindilindi- totally my mistake, I mis-read your excellent (and frightening) math on the subject.

I took 4 teenage girls to Italy in February. Their sodas were almost as much as their food. We usually stoped at a grocery store and bought extra each night, so they had sodas for in the evening. They were usually served cans in the restaurants and yes they are quite expensive. Average about 3-4 euro each.

While everyone knows that soda is not good for you, I doubt Rich's son is any different than most other American teenage boys. Even if his soda consumption was limited at home, he'd still have easy access to it at school, at the mall, friends houses, etc...

Convincing a teenager that they should be drinking plenty of nice, healthy water instead of soda is probably much easier said than done. :)

Kay, Maybe we could hit him in the wallet. Although I have proven my poor math above, I'll try again.

Let's see 5-6 drinks per meal at 3-4 Euro each... brings the beverage total for one person alone up to 18-29USD!!!

My teenage son is a big pop drinker. When we went to Italy I generally let him have one pop with a meal and then bottled water. 3-5 Euro is about right for what it costs. No refils. I also was pretty generous with ordering pop at outdoor cafes for rest stops. It was a way of buying his agreement to see one more church.

Joelle

I rarely drink colas when at home, but I am so thirsty for them when in Europe! What's that about? There was just something about a cola that could quench my thirst when beer or water just wouldn't do the same. And much as I love wine, it doesn't quench thirst, in fact it makes one more thirsty. Nevertheless, I typically settle for just one when in Europe.

I get huge cravings for big gulp style diet coke (slightly flat, big glass) whenever I know I can't get it. And I never get them at home either.....

Luttrell-what and how much you drink of it is your own business. I cannot recall ever seeing fountain drinks in Europe except at McDonalds (but I was not really looking that hard) We found soda considerably more expensive than wine or beer. Never, ever seen what we refer to as bottomless. We find that in the summer, the sweetness of the drink actually increases your thirst.

I've found most sodas are small servings with little or no ice. My suggestion is learn to like sparkling water and order a large bottle. It should be plenty for two to share. Cheaper and healthier and this is coming from a Diet Coke addict!