Throughout our time here in Europe, I have learned a lot about the culture of the countries we have visited. One of the biggest things I noticed revolved around the various means of transportation. Similar to the US, many people use public transportation such as trains and buses as did we many times. When it comes to personal vehicles, however, that is where things are different. For one, a much higher percentage of people ride bikes. It didn’t matter how big or small the city was, I have never had to check my shoulder for a biker so much in my life. There are also bike lanes in the middle of the sidewalk so we really had to be careful. It appeared to me as if bikers had the right away in most places and traffic moved around them.
A lot of people drove cars as well though, but there are a lot of different rules when it comes to cars. The soonest you can get your license is 18 which, for someone who loves driving like myself, is very annoying. Some of the people I talked to said their first cars were BMW’s or Audi’s or a Benz and that that wasn’t uncommon, and that surprised me too because a lot of my friends back home drove “beaters” for their first cars but you don’t see that here. That is mostly due to the extended list of annual checks that cars must go through. One thing I found very interesting that I learned during our boat tour in Hamburg was that all of the cars that don’t pass those standards are shipped to other countries that don’t have the same rules and can be driven for many more years. I think this form of recycling is a pretty good idea and benefits many people.
The last thing that is just a little different in Germany is that the speed limits on the autobahn are only suggestions and not mandatory. This can be good and bad, but it would be quite interesting if they brought that concept to America. Don’t worry though, Joop kept us cruising just under the speed limit safe and sound!
- Bobby McCaw