Planes, trains and now automobiles!
After four months of flights and trains and subways - and yes, a few blissful days of car rentals, we are going all-in on a 5-week minivan rental and driving across Western and Southern Europe. A large clockwise circle from Northern Germany down and back-up to Amsterdam.
We picked the Mercedes Vito up in Frankfurt where Maddy had a frankfurter and I some schnitzel and Weizen beer, and then started our road trip south to Munich. Off we went on the real Autobahn where there is no speed limit except between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM. We were going about 140 kph (85 mph) in the middle-lane while car after car flew past us one-after-another, easily going at least 110+ mph. Wow.
The good news was the Vito was available at Hertz and the same price as the Ford or Nissan, so now we are honorary Germans. On the road, I would estimate that Mercedes and BMW make-up well over 50%+ of all cars on the road here, with VW and Audi being the next brands. Then Skoda from Czech and German Opal rounding out the more affordable classes. Surprisingly, we only saw 3-4 Porsche the entire time we were in Germany?!?
The picture above was taken in the old tourist-town of Munich with the tiny cobblestone streets. Driving that giant van through those streets was tough, but we did find a street-parking space big enough, and I paralleled it back-in on one try.
Wunderbar!
P.S. But as true American's, our first road-trip stop was sadly...McDonalds. ;(
P.S.S. Just north or Nuremberg, we did pass the twin HQ's of adidas and Puma, founded by estranged and competing brothers, Adolf and Rudolph Dassler.
After four months of flights and trains and subways - and yes, a few blissful days of car rentals, we are going all-in on a 5-week minivan rental and driving across Western and Southern Europe. A large clockwise circle from Northern Germany down and back-up to Amsterdam.
We picked the Mercedes Vito up in Frankfurt where Maddy had a frankfurter and I some schnitzel and Weizen beer, and then started our road trip south to Munich. Off we went on the real Autobahn where there is no speed limit except between the hours of 10 PM and 6 AM. We were going about 140 kph (85 mph) in the middle-lane while car after car flew past us one-after-another, easily going at least 110+ mph. Wow.
The good news was the Vito was available at Hertz and the same price as the Ford or Nissan, so now we are honorary Germans. On the road, I would estimate that Mercedes and BMW make-up well over 50%+ of all cars on the road here, with VW and Audi being the next brands. Then Skoda from Czech and German Opal rounding out the more affordable classes. Surprisingly, we only saw 3-4 Porsche the entire time we were in Germany?!?
The picture above was taken in the old tourist-town of Munich with the tiny cobblestone streets. Driving that giant van through those streets was tough, but we did find a street-parking space big enough, and I paralleled it back-in on one try.
Wunderbar!
P.S. But as true American's, our first road-trip stop was sadly...McDonalds. ;(
P.S.S. Just north or Nuremberg, we did pass the twin HQ's of adidas and Puma, founded by estranged and competing brothers, Adolf and Rudolph Dassler.
RSS Feed
