Random Thought Thursday...

I have had several inquiries about my driving experiences in Germany. First,
because I think it is a general thing to wonder about when an American moves to Germany with it's wonderful autobahns and secondly, because I have had a bit of a phobia to driving in new places at times.

Question #1: Do I drive on the autobahn? Before I answer this, I want to clarify something here, there is no such thing as one autobahn. There are different autobahns. The word autobahn is like our word for freeway. And, I drive on the A3 and the A66 regularly, in my weekly driving. I was driving on the A5 this past weekend.

Question #2: How fast do I usually go? I average between 80 and 90 mph on the autobahns, even when the speed limits are "unlimited". I have been up to 100 mph, but since I always have my kids, I don't really feel very safe going that fast for much more than to pass a car and get back over in one of the slower lanes. We are definitely glad that last April, when we bought our Kia Rondo, that we went with the V6 engine rather than the 4-cylinder option. Our car has plenty of get up and go and we still haven't pushed it as fast as it can go (James has driven it at 110 with still more behind the pedal).

Speaking of accelerated speeds, I quickly became accustomed to 80-90 mph and now, when I have to get in the far right lane, to exit off of the autobahn and end up behind the trucks (who are supposed to only travel in the far right lane) I feel like I am barely c-r-a-w-l-i-n-g, only to look down and realize that I'm still going 65 mph!

In general, driving in Germany hasn't been all that bad. I don't like driving on the narrow roads that you will sometimes find in some of the towns and parking can be tricky, especially because there is a lot of parallel parking and I've never been all that great at parallel parking!

James bought us a GPS (our British-accent-lady-voiced GPS) almost immediately, so I have that, for the most part, with me always. I particularly love the "Take Me Home" button, where, when all else fails, you simply press that button and it will take you home no matter how far off the beaten path you are! We kind of refer to the GPS as a real person and yell and call "her" names when she doesn't give us quick enough directions! But, it comforts me that as long as I remember to throw the GPS in my bag, I can never truly be lost!(except when it's like the other day when the reception wasn't strong enough and I had to go by my instincts--luckily, I still made it!).

Until later,

Emily