I have been thinking about blogging for a while now and am finally getting around to it. I wanted to start with an interesting topic first, like driving in Germany. Since bringing my family to Germany last fall along with our family car, a 2000 VW Beetle diesel, I have had a crash course in German driving style, if you can call it that.
Let's start with the Autobahn (freeway). Not all sections are unlimited speeds, but there are many good portions that are indeed unlimited and this is ridiculous! You are allowed to drive as fast as you want and I have even gone well over 100mph on these roads, but I normally keep it well below, why? My wife and I did the calculation and we realized it costs us about $85 (USD) to fill the tank here. Yep, $85 and that definitely takes away some of the desire to drive top speed for extended periods of time and I constantly wonder what the hell the guy who drives by me at 150mph+ in a G-Klasse Mercedes does for a living?
Problem two with the Autobahn is the fact that although you can drive as fast as you want, about every 2 miles you will have to slam on the brakes, because some ass driving a tractor trailer from Poland or Holland is driving 50 mph in the middle lane and everyone has to scramble to get around them. Let's not forget that there is constant Stau (traffic jam) around any place you want to go.
Problem three with the Autobahn is, it is filled with German drivers. Now, not trying to offend ayone, but these people spend thousands of Euros to learn to drive and still have no idea how to do it. No turn signals, constant tailgating, and don't get me started on merging. Okay us Americans have plenty of problems here too, but we pretty much get handed a drivers liscense at 15 and are told to figure it out on our own. By the way, Germans kick our asses at parallel parking, making due with tiny cars, and NO ONE drives in the left lane unless they are exceeding the normal speed. You won't have to worry about some putz middle-aged guy driving 65mph in the fast lane, because of the "no one should ever have to drive faster than me" attitude. He would end up with a several thousand pound Audi in the back seat.
My last comment on driving in Germany is the damn street lights. Germans have very short necks is what I am guessing, because they don't put street lights in the middle of the intersection, but instead right above where you are supposed to stop. This wonderful idea leads to people having to stop way before the light just so they can see it or stopping under it and gawking up at it akwardly causing a cramp in their necks.
Bis nächstes Mal!
Chris
Let's start with the Autobahn (freeway). Not all sections are unlimited speeds, but there are many good portions that are indeed unlimited and this is ridiculous! You are allowed to drive as fast as you want and I have even gone well over 100mph on these roads, but I normally keep it well below, why? My wife and I did the calculation and we realized it costs us about $85 (USD) to fill the tank here. Yep, $85 and that definitely takes away some of the desire to drive top speed for extended periods of time and I constantly wonder what the hell the guy who drives by me at 150mph+ in a G-Klasse Mercedes does for a living?
Problem two with the Autobahn is the fact that although you can drive as fast as you want, about every 2 miles you will have to slam on the brakes, because some ass driving a tractor trailer from Poland or Holland is driving 50 mph in the middle lane and everyone has to scramble to get around them. Let's not forget that there is constant Stau (traffic jam) around any place you want to go.
Problem three with the Autobahn is, it is filled with German drivers. Now, not trying to offend ayone, but these people spend thousands of Euros to learn to drive and still have no idea how to do it. No turn signals, constant tailgating, and don't get me started on merging. Okay us Americans have plenty of problems here too, but we pretty much get handed a drivers liscense at 15 and are told to figure it out on our own. By the way, Germans kick our asses at parallel parking, making due with tiny cars, and NO ONE drives in the left lane unless they are exceeding the normal speed. You won't have to worry about some putz middle-aged guy driving 65mph in the fast lane, because of the "no one should ever have to drive faster than me" attitude. He would end up with a several thousand pound Audi in the back seat.
My last comment on driving in Germany is the damn street lights. Germans have very short necks is what I am guessing, because they don't put street lights in the middle of the intersection, but instead right above where you are supposed to stop. This wonderful idea leads to people having to stop way before the light just so they can see it or stopping under it and gawking up at it akwardly causing a cramp in their necks.
Bis nächstes Mal!
Chris
