Thursday, June 17, 2010

120 on the Autobahn...

…Kilometers that is. Still it's pretty cool.

Ok, lets get one thing out of the way early. If you want to see how big (pun intended) America's obesity problem is just come to Europe. I haven't seen a fat German since we arrived. I take that back, the old lady who served our lunch today was the model of a fat old German lady but that is to be expected right? Otherwise all the Germans I have seen and met are thin and healthy. Lot's of people exercising on purpose or getting exercise by riding a bike to work or the store. The only fat people I have seen are other Americans at dinner last night and on the tour today. Point made. I won't speak of it again.


Today was fantastic!!! Unfortunately we had a spot of rain before lunch which gave us a good soaking, but after lunch it was only cloudy. We began the day with a visit to the Heidelberg Castle. You can Wikipedia it for more info, but suffice it to say it was very cool. Walls that were 16 feet thick and a very interesting connection with the French (Louie the 14th) and the British (Mary Queen of Scots & Shakespeare). Stephan (Our guide and host) is incredibly knowledgeable about the area and provided lots of good information peppered with a great sense of humor.



After the castle we went on a great ride that first took us thru many towns in a sort of suburban setting, and then out into the countryside up and over some hills. The roads were wonderful but with the rain we took it pretty slow. We stopped for lunch at a very quaint mountainside restaurant. We were the only patrons and the woman who served us did not speak any English. I did my best to communicate, but I think she really got a kick when I pulled out my iPhone and used my translator app to tell her how much I enjoyed the goulash and brat. She gave a very good laugh at that. Stephan told us the road we came down which was very curvy was not open to motorcycles on the weekends. Too many accidents. He compared it to the Tale of the Dragon in the Smokies and said the German Govt. said if people are going to continue to act like morons and race around the hills then they will just close the roads.


It dried up after lunch and we road through more countryside till we came to the city of Neckarsulm where we went to the NSU Motorcycle museum. Lots of vintage bikes and again Stephan's knowledge was a great addition. His girlfriend Ira was with us and although she didn't speak much English she couldn't have been nicer.


On the way home we got on the Autobahn for about 40 kilometers. It really isn't that bad except that it is true that people do fly past you. The way to stop people driving slow in the left hand lane in the States is to get rid of speed limits. If you drove slow in Germany you'd be killed. You have to check your mirrors two or three times before you change lanes because someone who looks far away upon first glance may be next to you in 2 or 3 seconds. It's not scary but it does require your full attention. On that note, American drivers could learn a lot from Europeans. They really have got it together over here. They may drive fast but they are also very courteous. For example we were on a two lane road behind a large truck. The truck quickly pulled off halfway into the breakdown lane for us to pass even though there was oncoming traffic. We had plenty of room on motorcycles. I can't imagine any truck or car for that matter letting you by in the US. We were also flashed to take left turns from cars when they clearly had the right to proceed before us. You come to a 4 way stop in the USA and it's a game of who's gonna go first cause everyone else deserves to wait.

It's just cool being and riding in Europe. It feels very foreign. Big surprise there, I know. Maybe it's the different signage, or the fact that everyone drives small cars or that the buildings are a mix of the modern with the past, but there is just a different vibe and I like it.

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