Running with the Bulls

Emily warned me but I was still unprepared for our day on the autobahn in Germany. We left the ferry in Kiel and found the autoban with no problem thanks to the GPS we fondly refer to as Greta. She has been a lifesaver already.

We began cruising thru the idyllic German countryside, enjoying the green fields and rolling hills...then zoom--cars in the left lane blew past us. Before long we found ourselves cruising with the flow of traffic at 80 mph in the slow lane and the cars on the left were like hornets, on us before we even saw them coming. It was truly breathtaking, never seen anything like it. The raw surge of power in performance cars--bmws, mercedes is not wasted. We decided the Germans are just wired for speed.

We noted the surge in energy even when we stopped for gas and bathroom breaks. It was so instructive of the culture as men and women--well, shoved is too strong a word, but we felt slow none the less--just to get to the recently installed Sanifair--pay toilet system. From our limited sample, it appears that Germans seem torn between two twin values: clean or free? Truly A Solomonic decision. Ah but the tipping point leaned toward clean as you can redeem the fee toward a purchase at the store. We saw two old ladies take 4 tickets and buy ice cream cones...so there was some consolation.

Back on the autobahn, we ran into construction several times, extending or travel time just like at home. We finally made it to Switzerland about 9 pm, tired but well. Greta was a godsend as the main route to Winterthur was closed. She guided us steadily through little towns and got us exactly where we needed to go.