Probably the best thing about living here in Germany is the fact that a person can drive a minimum of two hours and end up in another country. It’s like a dream come true. Strasbourg, France is a couple hours away, so is Austria and Switzerland. Poland and Czech Republic are not too far to drive to either.
I did the bulk of my traveling within the first year of my arrival here since I wasn’t working yet. I went to Rome with a couple of girlfriends who were my age and married with deployed husbands as well. We flew instead of driving on this trip because it was so cheap and worth not driving the 7 hours or so it would take. I think at the time the flight was 35 Euro round trip. You’d pay more for gas. There are several European airlines that offer some really awesome deals. They’re no frills and some have baggage restrictions, like lower weights allowances or you pay extra. We drove about an hour and a half to this little airport in Baden Baden (a town in Germany well known for its spas and casinos) and only spent 10 Euro to park for 4 days which is very cheap. This airline no longer flies out of this airport unfortunately.
We drove to Basel, Switzerland to take part in the Fasching festivities there. What a memorable experience. One friend drove, the other navigated. I was along for the ride. The friend that navigated got directions from the internet. She didn’t realize that the route she chose was straight through the mountains. It was snowing at the time. I was terrified. Even though I was born and bred in Connecticut, I hate driving in the snow. So, here we are, three girls driving along narrow, snowy mountain roads in the middle of the night. In Basel, the Fasching kick-off parade starts at 4:00 am. I don’t know why.
At one point, we had to pull over to try and put chains on the tires. We were not prepared and didn’t practice this seemingly impossible feat before this trip. It was freezing and snowing and my two friends were outside, sometimes lying on the road trying to figure out how to put these things on. I stood outside watching for awhile and then figured since I wasn’t actually doing anything but watch, I sat back in the car. A few cars passed us that didn’t have chains on and my friends didn’t have any luck getting them on our car, so we just gave up and continue on our way, driving very slowly. It was a long, stressful trip. Worth it, I guess, but I wouldn’t want to do it again.
My mother, stepfather and stepdaughter came to visit last summer. We reserved a mini van for our travels but for some reason my husband came home with a huge Mercedes. I was skeptical, but this thing was plenty big, comfortable and quite fancy. We were on the road for practically two weeks. We drove to several places in Germany, and to Salzburg, Austria, and the mountains of Italy. We all saw places we’ve never seen, but all that driving takes its toll. It was exhausting and GPS’s don’t always work the way you want them too. We were happy to get back to our apartment and just relax and see a few local sights. It was a wonderful opportunity for them to experience another culture and I’m so happy they were able to live in our world for a little while. They were here during the World Cup, so they were caught up in the spirit of that too.
I highly recommend getting away and checking out something new, even if it’s not that far for you. Broaden your horizens. Traveling here in Europe has made me realize how little traveling I’ve done in the USA. I don’t know why that is. Maybe it just takes a little taste of travel to make you realize how big the world really is and how much of it you haven’t seen.
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