martinis don't contain vodka

Yours doesn't. Mine does. What upsets you pleases moi.;)

Correct.

Yes. And your drink is called a "vodka martini"... kind of like a "lamb burger" is a burger not made with ground beef but rather lamb. :D

Nothing wrong with either I'll add.

My two favorite martinis are:

1. Hayman's (Old Tom) stirred with high quality dry vermouth. With a twist.
2. Old Raj shaken solo and then poured into a very cold martini glass where the vermouth has been added, swirled and then tossed out. With a twist.

Your drink #2 isn't a martini. It's straight gin with a twist in a dirty cocktail glass. Nothing wrong with that, but a martini is gin and vermouth.

Arguments about martinis resemble nothing so much as arguments about religious doctrine, say the nature of Christ. Everyone is sure of his (and it's almost always a guy holding forth) opinion, and regards others as heretical. I can never tell what sect a bartender belongs to, and rarely order the drink in a bar.

Or it's a VERY dry martini! ;)

To your point, I also rarely order a martini at a restaurant or bar for the exact same reasons you mention - you never know what the bartenders take on the drink is going to be.

Upscale Martini - 1960 style
 

1962 - My first Martini in Europe, along with my first exposure to European wealth and sophistication, occurred in Rome, a chance encounter and an invitation to dinner, far more of a dinner than I, 22 and not near so worldly as hoped, had cause to expect.

Fir this forum, the Martini will suffice.....

Chilled stemmed glass and shaker, pristine ice fresh from the freezer, Vodka (Viennese Monopolova, bottle encased in ice), Lillet (not Vermouth, close but far more intense flavors), 5/1, a twist, olives served alongside, the little ones with pits in a saucer.

In terms of the classics, you can't go wrong with the Duke's martini:
http://londonunveiled.com/2013/01/17/dukes-bar/

I know this is blasphemy to some, but I don't like gin martinis. Now, a Chopin Vodka martini with a twist...now there's a drink!

Is vodka now the default for martinis in the US? It seems like I have to say "gin", or bartenders won't even ask, they will go straight to vodka.

Probably depends what kind of bar it is.

Yes. Unfortunately. But honestly, if you're ordering a martini call your liquor anyway. I'd never say "give me a martini please" and pay $12+ for the house gin or vodka.

Maybe if it's a bar that only serves gin :). Even at swanky cocktail bars, if you didn't specify they'd probably ask if you wanted vodka or gin. Put another way, there probably aren't many places in the US where the "default" is gin.

And it will just be vodka stirred/ shaken with ice if you ask for it dry unless you manage to convey to the bartender what a European/ global dry martini is.

My wife recently met a friend for dinner and, while waiting, ordered a vodka (don't blame me) martini from the bar. She received the martini and a side...kind of like you get a small beer back with a bloody mary. Thinking it odd, but assuming it was the vermouth so she could stir in her own level of "wet", she asked the bartender, who informed her they don't carry vermouth and their "martinis" are just vodka. So she received a glass of vodka - with olives - and a side of vodka. Personally, if I were there, I would have then asked for a glass of club soda and a lime on the house!

I think gin tastes like perfume & I am a vodka girl all the way. But what kind of restaurant/bar doesn't carry vermouth??? and serves a martini with a side of vodka? That is so strange.

It actually did happen to me! I got a shaken vodka no vermouth. I was surprised anyone could think that is a martini. I didn't get the side of vodka, which is really strange. But after that, I started experimenting with what happens when I order without adding any instructions, and my observations led to that question. Now I know.

While I respect that, when it comes to a martini, I think you should have to do the extra talking, not me. :)