Driving in Germany
A bunch of us rented cars and drove Munich this past weekend. Originally, the trip was planned so that five of us could drive down on Friday, ski in the Alps on Saturday, and explore Munich Saturday night and early Sunday. We cancelled our plans to ski earlier in the week because it would have been too much. Somehow, our group of 5 somehow grew to 10. We reserved two cars through Yahoo Travel. Unfortunately, Yahoo travel sucks and ended up sending us to the wrong car rental center that did not have the cars we needed. Because most of Germany drives manual vehicles, finding an automatic was a difficult task. By the time we went to rent our vehicles on Friday, most other rental offices were closed. We decided to wait until early the next morning and go to the rental center where our reservations were "supposedly" made. The next morning at 7:30 was the same story. At this point, the nine of us were frustrated-- however we were not nearly as frustrated as one of the group member who had taken the afternoon train to Munich and was expecting us the night before. Out of our desperation, we made one last attempt at finding a car by going up to Tegel (the Berlin airport). This, thank goodness, proved to be fruitful. The other group's "Ford" reservation turned out to be a Mercedes station wagon, complete with a navigation system. I was more excited about our beautiful, new black Volkswagon Golf. It reminded me much of my Jetta, and drove just the same as well.
We finally left the airport a little after 9 in the morning. My friend Rachel drove the first leg of the trip. The scenery outside of Berlin was quite surreal-- rolling open fields, towering pine trees... however, the most interesting sight was the wind turbines... fields and fields of them, one right after another, of enormous metallic windmills dotted the landscape in front of us. The way in which they were built, however, was not intrusive to the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. The mix of technology with the rolling hills of the farms was a beautiful mix. Perhaps the Germans enjoy showing off their efficiency and "environmental friendliness" by placing this windmills so close to the major highway for everyone to see... or perhaps I am wrong and this is how it is throughout the Brandenburg area.
What made the trip even more amazing was the fact that we were DRIVING ON THE AUTOBAHN!!!!!! Without a speed limit, we often hit 160 km/hr+, sometimes going as fast as 180. This converts to over 100 mph-- and the best part is that this is totally acceptable in many parts. There are areas with speed limits at some points, but for the most part you can fly down the road. I enjoyed the drive but I never went above my comfort limit out of mindess to my friends in the car with me.
I began driving in a small town called Gleitz after our fruitless search for a place we could buy food. For the first 2 hours my drive was pleasurable, however once we were about 75 km from Munich it began to snow very heavily and the traffic began. A 2.5 hour driving shift turned into almost 4 hours. Once we got into Munich, we realized the snow was not stopping. In the end, it turns out that Munich had more snow that day than it did in 50 years. Driving in the city was not hard for me, since I am used to driving in New York. We were able to leave the car in the Wombat hostel's garage. The hostel was very clean and the 10 of us stayed comforably there. In the evening we went to the Augustine Brauhaus and ate a veryyy hearty Bavarian dinner with great beer. We trekked back to the hostel to get our free drinks at the "Wombar." Afterwards, a few of us went out to a club called Cord while the others decided to stay in and rest. We had a great evening and came back around 3:30. Our checkout time was 10 and breakfast was earlier, but I did not have much of a problem getting up at all. After we checked out, we took a free walking tour of the city and saw the historical center as well as Munich's famous glockenspiel. Overall, it is a very beautiful city with more of an "Old Europe" charm than Berlin.
We left Munich around 2 p.m. with the idea that we would return home sometime around 7. At some point in the trip we ended up on A3 toward Frankfurt. I am not sure how we deviated from our path at the A9 but, needless to say, we were lost. We tried to take a small local root back to the A9 and ended becoming more lost. I give KT props for staying collected and in good spirits throughout the entire ordeal (she was driving at the time). After a bit of navigation and some asking for directions, we were back on the right track to the Autobahn we needed. We passed through some of the most beautiful towns I have ever seen. They were small, quaint and isolated... hidden in the German highlands of the South. They looked like something you would see in a fairy tale with their crumbling castles on the cliffs and with the small mountain cottages intermixed with the pine trees and old wooden bridges over the stream. I have often seen something like that in a Thomas Kinkade painting (Look him up and see what I am talking about!!), but never in person.
The rest of the drive was normal highway driving. By the time it was my turn it began to snow again... Driving back through Berlin was not bad for me. I now can add the cities of Munich and Berlin to my "fun places were I have driven" list (and believe me, there is a list! It is just in my head at the moment). I was able to catch up on some studying when I got home, but I went to bed early because Rachel and I had to be up at 7 to bring the car back to the airport. We got home around 10:30ish, losing those hours to the time in which we were lost. I must say that, as short as the trip was, it was worth it. Not only was the experience amazing, but I also had to have it with people I really enjoy spending time with.
This morning's drive to the airport was very easy. From the little amount I have driven it, the Berlin rush hour is not nearly as bad as New York. We had the car back in the possession of the airport by 8 and were home by 9, at which point I took a long nap and proceeded to write this entry. I think the most important thing I can take away from this experience, aside from the memories, is my newfound respect for Berlin. I think that I needed to get out of the city and explore Germany in order to see what the little things that make Berlin unique: The dialects of German, the style of dress, the people, the weather and, most importantly, the feeling of being a "Berliner." Maybe I am not one, however I do feel a sense of possession over the city because it will be my home for several months... I guess that counts for something. I wish I could have a similar experience in Munich because of my family's roots there, but for now I will make Berlin as amazing as possible. We go to Krakau, Poland in 2 weeks with the NYU program and will be visiting Auschwitz as well... that is something I will need to prepare myself for well in advance. In the mean time, I am excited that I will be able to spend the next few weeks here.
We finally left the airport a little after 9 in the morning. My friend Rachel drove the first leg of the trip. The scenery outside of Berlin was quite surreal-- rolling open fields, towering pine trees... however, the most interesting sight was the wind turbines... fields and fields of them, one right after another, of enormous metallic windmills dotted the landscape in front of us. The way in which they were built, however, was not intrusive to the natural beauty of the surrounding landscape. The mix of technology with the rolling hills of the farms was a beautiful mix. Perhaps the Germans enjoy showing off their efficiency and "environmental friendliness" by placing this windmills so close to the major highway for everyone to see... or perhaps I am wrong and this is how it is throughout the Brandenburg area.
What made the trip even more amazing was the fact that we were DRIVING ON THE AUTOBAHN!!!!!! Without a speed limit, we often hit 160 km/hr+, sometimes going as fast as 180. This converts to over 100 mph-- and the best part is that this is totally acceptable in many parts. There are areas with speed limits at some points, but for the most part you can fly down the road. I enjoyed the drive but I never went above my comfort limit out of mindess to my friends in the car with me.
I began driving in a small town called Gleitz after our fruitless search for a place we could buy food. For the first 2 hours my drive was pleasurable, however once we were about 75 km from Munich it began to snow very heavily and the traffic began. A 2.5 hour driving shift turned into almost 4 hours. Once we got into Munich, we realized the snow was not stopping. In the end, it turns out that Munich had more snow that day than it did in 50 years. Driving in the city was not hard for me, since I am used to driving in New York. We were able to leave the car in the Wombat hostel's garage. The hostel was very clean and the 10 of us stayed comforably there. In the evening we went to the Augustine Brauhaus and ate a veryyy hearty Bavarian dinner with great beer. We trekked back to the hostel to get our free drinks at the "Wombar." Afterwards, a few of us went out to a club called Cord while the others decided to stay in and rest. We had a great evening and came back around 3:30. Our checkout time was 10 and breakfast was earlier, but I did not have much of a problem getting up at all. After we checked out, we took a free walking tour of the city and saw the historical center as well as Munich's famous glockenspiel. Overall, it is a very beautiful city with more of an "Old Europe" charm than Berlin.
We left Munich around 2 p.m. with the idea that we would return home sometime around 7. At some point in the trip we ended up on A3 toward Frankfurt. I am not sure how we deviated from our path at the A9 but, needless to say, we were lost. We tried to take a small local root back to the A9 and ended becoming more lost. I give KT props for staying collected and in good spirits throughout the entire ordeal (she was driving at the time). After a bit of navigation and some asking for directions, we were back on the right track to the Autobahn we needed. We passed through some of the most beautiful towns I have ever seen. They were small, quaint and isolated... hidden in the German highlands of the South. They looked like something you would see in a fairy tale with their crumbling castles on the cliffs and with the small mountain cottages intermixed with the pine trees and old wooden bridges over the stream. I have often seen something like that in a Thomas Kinkade painting (Look him up and see what I am talking about!!), but never in person.
The rest of the drive was normal highway driving. By the time it was my turn it began to snow again... Driving back through Berlin was not bad for me. I now can add the cities of Munich and Berlin to my "fun places were I have driven" list (and believe me, there is a list! It is just in my head at the moment). I was able to catch up on some studying when I got home, but I went to bed early because Rachel and I had to be up at 7 to bring the car back to the airport. We got home around 10:30ish, losing those hours to the time in which we were lost. I must say that, as short as the trip was, it was worth it. Not only was the experience amazing, but I also had to have it with people I really enjoy spending time with.
This morning's drive to the airport was very easy. From the little amount I have driven it, the Berlin rush hour is not nearly as bad as New York. We had the car back in the possession of the airport by 8 and were home by 9, at which point I took a long nap and proceeded to write this entry. I think the most important thing I can take away from this experience, aside from the memories, is my newfound respect for Berlin. I think that I needed to get out of the city and explore Germany in order to see what the little things that make Berlin unique: The dialects of German, the style of dress, the people, the weather and, most importantly, the feeling of being a "Berliner." Maybe I am not one, however I do feel a sense of possession over the city because it will be my home for several months... I guess that counts for something. I wish I could have a similar experience in Munich because of my family's roots there, but for now I will make Berlin as amazing as possible. We go to Krakau, Poland in 2 weeks with the NYU program and will be visiting Auschwitz as well... that is something I will need to prepare myself for well in advance. In the mean time, I am excited that I will be able to spend the next few weeks here.