Well, it's been a while, but I got back from a two-week German vacation around the 23rd of September. I haven't had much time to post about my visit yet, since I had to start college right after I got back. But anyway, just thought I'd share my automotive experience.

Saw only two or three Euro Accords. Honda is not terribly popular in Deutschland. The people's cars are Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi, and Volkswagen (and the POS Opels, Fords, etc...) I have a sweet spot for German cars, and it was quite nice to see so many beautiful cars around. The nice thing is that even the cheapest of cars are designed to handle high speeds for autobahn cruising.

Autobahn cruising, however, isn't what I thought it would be. Traffic jams were a regular occurence, and many sections of them have limits. However, when there was a stretch of no limit driving, it was quite nice to hit 180-200 km/h. The 2004 Passat TDI wagon we had as a rental car was amazing. It felt as stable driving at 200 klicks as it did driving 80. I don't know how some of our cars over here would handle such high speeds. All of our domestically made SUVs would probably not like the no-limit too much. The BMW, VW, and MBZ SUVs were doing it just fine, however.

Another aspect of German driving is the quality of drivers. German drivers make most American drivers look like pigs. The left lane on the autobahn is actually for passing. If someone is coming up faster than another car passing, the slower vehicle actually pulls over to let them by...what a novel concept. Further, the "fahrschule" they have to go through costs thousands of dollars and requires some serious concentration. The Germans take their driving seriously.

On another subject, I wish that diesel engines would catch on over here. The low sulfur diesel engines VW, Mercedes, and BMW make are SUPERB. They run smooth, provide EXCELLENT fuel economy, don't really stink, and are VERY peppy. I'd buy one in a heart beat.

- - - - -

ANYWAY, as to where we stayed, and visited, etc... We flew into Frankfurt/Main direct. Our friends picked us up and took us to Piesport on the Mosel river. Beautiful place to visit. It's a major wine valley. Vineyards cover the whole area, and it's amazing to see how steep some of the vineyards are on the hills. Anyway, after a few days at a very nice gausthaus in Piesport, we headed down to our German friends' home in Wielheim, just west of Munchen. Stayed there for the rest of our trip (about 8 or so days). I ended up going into Munchen with a friend of mine, she showed me around, my family and I went to Dachau, saw Neuschwanstein castle, opening day of THE Oktoberfest, drove into Austria, etc... We ended up heading back up towards Frankfurt a couple nights before we left for back home, so we didn't have to wake up so early...we stayed in Bingen then.

Overall, it was an AMAZING experience. It's a country I really, really love.

Sorry to bore you guys with some nitty gritty details...but if you wanna hear more, just ask. I'd love to tell more about the trip.

 

Sounds like you had a good trip.

Now get back to posting. You've got two weeks worth of posts to catch up on.

 

The aura of the Autobahn is wearing off I think, but I'm glad that I can drive on this side of the Atlantic.

 

good post spud. I was there last year, loved it...esp the beer & sausages...

 

I'll post some pics eventually You're right, even though it lost its aura after awhile, it is cool to be driving across the pond.

However, I was so incredibly tired of eating after the first few days. Had to start eating Italian

 

nice thought...but what about the German chicks there?

 

sounds like a nice trip, I still haven't been to Europe before.

 

Awesome, im half german, my mom, grandma, are full german. My brother just got back from a month trip their studying abroad. I really want to go, im studying the languge now, hopefully sometime soon! btw, where are the pics!!

 

Seems kind of wasteful, you've got a whole country full of broads, and he only studied one? Was she at least hot?

 

You silly!! :gheylaugh:

He did tap a cute one though

 

3/4 German here...love the German way of life. I have tons of pictures...but I don't have them on my computer. I will post some as soon as I get them.

As for the hot German girls...Lufthansa flight attendants are AMAZING. Kind of cold, but that's the German way

 

you don't know enough deutsch to get ya around ?

 

I lived in Austria for 3 years & been to Germany 3 times - my impression is that most of them are pretty big. either way or both.

 

Did you know in Germany (at least when I went in 2003) workers get 6 weeks paid vacation! I could use 6 weeks paid vacation.

 

Par for the course in most of Europe.

 

My brother said the same thing. He said the girls are really hot, but they give you the cold shoulder alot. Strange?

 

Glad to hear that you had a good trip. I'm originally from Germany, lived there a total of 14 years. I was born in Hanau, and lived in Frankfurt, Erlensee, Babenhausen, and Kitzingen. I havent been back since 2001. One thing i dont miss is the weather. But the wine fests in the summertime are something everyone should experience.

 

And in academia...

 

Welcome back spud - what a cool trip to a country I've always wanted to see. My (Chinese) wife speaks German (go figure), so maybe we'll go this Spring

 

Spent a few hours on the Autobahn yesterday. For some reason my cruise set at 95MPH was still not enough on some streches. It's so nice to be able to go any speed you feel like and have no worries about :cop: