Whether because of the "old country" other "mother country" syndrome or whatever, many North Americans hold Europe almost in awe. For many over here a vacation trip to Europe is the ambition of a lifetime and the opportunity to actually work there the fulfilment of a dream. My aim was to simply point out to nikolai that there are some disadvantages to going there, that these should be weighed against the advantages and that the project should be approached with open eyes.
Now to some specific points.
Autobahns. There's nothing that can quite compare to overtaking someone at 160 kph only to have a Merc appear out of nowhere and station itself 1 metre from your rear bumper with headlights flashing. As far as I know Germany is the only country in the world that has no speed limits on some freeways. This is reflected in its accident rates, insurance costs etc. This is something to be aware of.
Security. Germany is reasonably OK. Cops are everywhere, well trained and fair. However, my comments were on Europe in general. Things are not quite as rosy particularly in Spain and Portugal. In a 4 week trip recently we saw six examples of b & e on vehicles (including ours). Any cop will tell you that east European gangs are mainly responsible for this. Again, just something to be aware of.
Smoking. Sorry guys, I'm not bending an inch on this one. I'm originally from and have lived in or travelled extensively to Europe for 35 years and, in all this time, have noted not one iota of improvement with the sole exception of the UK. If dealing with second hand smoke is an issue for you, prepare for some severe testing of your fortitude everywhere in Europe except the UK. Yes, there are no-smoking signs everywhere. People simply ignore them. Asking for a no-smoking area in a restaurant in France, say, will just produce gales of laughter. As friend of mine once so accurately remarked: second hand smoke doesn't cause cancer; if it did Germany would be dead by now!
Coffee. Tiny point but I stick to my guns re German coffee. This is just a personal taste thing of course. Might even be worth starting a separate thread on "the worst coffee in the world". Which, Gangolf will be grateful to hear, is not in Germany.
Crowds. At least we can all agree on this. It's nothing to do with popularity, as one contributor suggested, and everything to do with the sheer density of the population. Although it does help to go in January/February when tourists are mainly at home.
I think that'll do for now. Get out your slings and arrows!
Lolli - I'm Canadian. There's a difference. It's about the same as me referring to you as Norwegian. Don't lose any sleep over it though
) and avoid the bad things. But as a climber you already get up hella early and stuff.
