Vanity: Report From Germany Vacation

1-9-10 | self

[paul in cape]

First of all, I want to sincerely thanks all of our Freeper friends who responded back in mid December for ideas of what to see on our Germany-Austria vacation. Our plans evolved a bit, but we were able to take in some sights, many of which were recommended by you folks here.

[paul in cape]

We stayed in Munich most of the first day before going to Mitterfels the first night. Spent the day in Regensgurg. No snow there for skiing, so we moved down to Lofer and stayed at Schloss Grubhof, a renovated 19th century mansion. Toured the Salt Mines, spent a day in Salzburg, toured the fortress, etc. Skied at Schmitten in Zell am See.

The last 2 days we spent in Freising, and had a wild (for them) New Years Eve. All the locals bring fireworks. At 11 PM Mariaplatz was empty, by 11:45 it was like WWI broke out.

We did take the suggestion of a fellow Freeper and went to Zugspitze, Garmish, took the gondola up the mountain and skied in the bowl on top. Absolutely breathtaking, but I'm never taking that gondola again...once in a lifetime experience.

We were locked out of the Deutsches Museum, but found our way over to the Haufbrau House, which was a blast.

Finally, the plane ride home was uneventful, but Luftansa wound up wanding everyone through security because of the threats.

One last thing...never travel without a GPS... it was a godsend, and made driving a pleasure, although I spent more time looking in my side mirror on the Autobahn than out the front. zoom zoom zoom.

I'll post some photos once I upload them.

Again, thanks to everyone for keeping the ideas coming, God Bless you, and Happy New Year.

[sam_paine]

ende gut, alles gut!

[paul in cape]

The last half of the ride was straight up the right side on the cliff...scarier than hell!!

[stayathomemom]

One last thing...never travel without a GPS... it was a godsend, and made driving a pleasure, although I spent more time looking in my side mirror on the Autobahn than out the front. zoom zoom zoom.

My husband and I traveled on the autobahn once. It was white knuckle driving for him, but then he does not like to drive. My biggest problem was that with the length of the town names (you know those Germans), combined with the autobahn speeds, you needed to be a speed reader when reading road signs or you could easily miss your turn, which we did. I can see where a GPS would help a lot!

[kkalman]

A friend recently returned from a vacation in Germany and
driving on the Autobahn. He said there sure are a lot of
towns named “Ausfahrt” in Germany.
PS. Ausfahrt means Exit.

[paul in cape]

Ausfahrt

My teenagers kept pronouncing the German names phonetically...if you know what I mean!!

[paul in cape]

It was amazing that when you check your side mirror, cars would come out of nowhere and zoom by you in about 3 seconds. BTW, both me and Mrs. Paulincape got to 160 KPH (100 MPH) in our KIA Wagon. Scared the hell out of me.

[Hillarys Gate Cult]

Somebody told me with every trip to Germany, he noticed that sections of the Autobahn with no speed limit cover less and less miles than they used to due to the expense of maintaining them. Can anyone confirm that they are cutting back?

[martin_fierro]

Forget the rest of Germany.

I'm making a beeline for this place.

[commish]

I am just the opposite. Lived in germany for 5 years courtesy of Uncle Sam. Had an RX-7 (european spec) while I was there. If I wasn’t going at least 150 Mph it meant I was slowing down for my exit.

[LiberConservative]

Teenager? You can be middle-aged and get a giggle from the name “Ausfahrt”. (snort)

[mikrofon]

I'm making a beeline for this place

Ich bin ein Beeliner

[sionnsar]

You get used to the autobahn in time. Just stay as far to the right as you can, only moving left to pass. And be sure to signal!

For the long hauls I've not found GPS to be a necessity, but navigating the cities is another story completely!

[Charles Henrickson]

Ausfahrt means Exit.

In Sweden it's "Utfart." And a speed bump is a "Farthinder."

[conservative cat]

My teenagers kept pronouncing the German names phonetically...if you know what I mean!!

Your teenagers pronounced it correctly. We lived there as kids when dad was stationed there his second and third times (he met my German mom his first tour). It never grew old. : ) I forgot to warn my husband when we visited Christmas of '08 with the kids- I think he found it funnier than our children did! Oh, and entrance is Einfahrt. Can't wait to see your pictures. Christmas in Germany is my favorite. It was hard for me when we moved back.

[edzo4]

like this!

[combat_boots]

“KIA Wagon”

110 MPH and the thing rattles like you’d see in a cartoon. And the Beemers & Benzes pass you like they’re skating on a leisurely afternoon. Amazing.

[Erasmus]

My brother-in-law was stationed there in the US Army in the 50’s.

One day he took the city bus from his base to see the sights of the city. He made sure he would be able to get back by memorizing the street sign at the front gate.

Later, when it was time to return, he asked the bus driver how to get back to the street his base was on. He got, for a moment, a blank stare. The driver, who fortunately spoke some English, explained that “Einbahnstrasse” meant “one-way street.”

[Erasmus]

And “ausgang” doesn’t take you to the New York Mob.

[Erasmus]

13 years ago the Autobahns already had speed limits in urban areas, at least everywhere I drove.

[TheConservativeParty]

Yikes, I can see why the gondola ride up the mountain was unsettling.

I went to Germany for the first time in Oct 2008.
My mother went with and she had been there several times before. We stayed with my husband’s family near his hometown of Darmstadt. His cousins drove us all over Bavaria.

We spent 3 days in Munich. We went to Oktoberfest one night. I liked the outdoor markets in Munich.

We toured many castles, and I liked Castle Linderhoff the best. I loved the King Neptune fountain, with the 4 horses pulling Neptune’s chariot.

The horse drawn carriage ride up the mountain to Castle Neuschwanstein was nice. I was missing my own horses, so I really liked the carriage ride. The castle wasn’t bad either.

The best part for me was spending 10 days with my husband’s cousins and meeting the other family members.

The food was wonderful. I did tire of the amount of meat they eat. I turned vegetarian the last few days of the trip and had lots of potato soup, potato pancakes, etc instead. The pastries were devine!

Thanks for the non-news thread, always good to read about something nice!

Guten Tag!

[gunner03]

Having German relatives, I’ve been to Germany many times. One of the most memorial was a visit to Heidelberg Castle one night to see a production of “ The Student Prince” It opened with the entrance of a coach drawn by 4 white horses entering the cobbled courtyard which was lit by torches. Beautiful would be an understatement.

[Palladin]

EEK! That’s an experience I could live without.

[cartan]

I spent more time looking in my side mirror on the Autobahn than out the front. zoom zoom zoom.

That was a good idea. Switching into the left lane not realizing there’s someone approaching with 150 mph behind you is not a good idea…

[HenpeckedCon]

When I was stationed in Germany I was amazed how may streets were named “einbahnstrasse.”

[JMJJR]

Yes, I’ve noticed, all roads lead to Ausfahrt ;)

I visit Reutte fairly regularly.

[TheConservativeParty]

Wow, that does sound awesome! We saw the castle ruins at Heidelberg too.

I seriously can’t recall everything we did in those 10 days. My pictures turned out badly since we used disposable cameras. Won’t make that mistake again.

Glad you survived the gondola ride! Geesh! I went over the Royal Gorge in one a few years ago and it was frightening.

Regarding the Autobahn, thank goodness my driver was german and a very safe driver. They had just gotten a new Mercedes station wagon a few weeks before we arrived. It held the luggage of all 4 of us and it rode like a dream. If I had to be in a Kia going 100 mph I would have been nervous.

They told me that a Mercedes in Germany is no big deal, since there are several levels of price for that maker. Not like here where a Mercedes is thought of as a special car.

I hope to go back to Germany with my husband someday. This summer when our German hosts visit us, we will talk about the next trip to Germany.

The only thing I really didn’t like, and there’s no way around it, is the long flight. It was painful for a tall person to endure. Lufthansa was great, but that long in an airplane is uncomfortable. I liked the daytime flight home better than the night time flight there. The plane on the way home had more leg room too.

[fieldmarshaldj]

Did you visit the Von Trapp house in Salzburg ?

[paul in cape]

We took the mini tour (1 1/2 hrs) and drove past the different houses used in the movie, as well as other scenes I forgot about. Well worth it.

[Hot Tabasco]

The last 2 days we spent in Freising,

Yea, its freising all over the U.S. right now too......good thing you're not vacationing in Floida right now.

[JMJJR]

Looking up Looking down Morning traffic Beautiful country !

[fieldmarshaldj]

Sounds like fun. For now, the closest I will have come to “The Sound of Music” was meeting with and having a conversation with Robert Wise (who directed it). ;-)

[wolf78]

Somebody told me with every trip to Germany, he noticed that sections of the Autobahn with no speed limit cover less and less miles than they used to due to the expense of maintaining them. Can anyone confirm that they are cutting back?

What makes maintaining German Autobahns so expensive is the fact that Germany is a transit country with lots of heavy trucks damaging the roads (e.g. Holland to Italy, Spain to Poland etc.). That's why all trucks are tracked via satellite and cameras and have to pay tolls for every kilometer driven.

There are a number of factors influencing speed limits: Because of the heavy use there's lots of construction going on, resulting in speed limits. States with a more conservative government usually have less speed limits. Many autobahns now use electronic signs with variable speed limits (e.g. 100 kph / 62 mph during heavy rain, 120 kph / 75 mph during rush hour, none at all the rest of the time).

Speed limits change but I wouldn't say that there's less unrestricted road in total than there was before.

[wolf78]

110 MPH and the thing rattles like you’d see in a cartoon. And the Beemers & Benzes pass you like they’re skating on a leisurely afternoon. Amazing.

110-120 mph is a very comfortable speed in a Gen5 VW Golf. Beemers and Benzes feel more at home in the 140-150 mph range. And no, I'm not kidding. Because in Germany you have to use the right lane unless you're overtaking someone, high speed is very safe indeed. Because the 60-75 mph crowd stays in the right lane you can just cruise by at 100 mph, which I would say is the normal speed for an unrestricted Autobahn.