Autobahn 180K

Driving in Germany is always a different experience.  Their famous Autobahn’s are only partly deserving of their reputation because you can’t really go as fast as you want.  You can only go as fast as the car will let you :-).

Realistically, you can average between 130-150 kms/hr until you get within about 25 kms of a city.  By then, there is just too much traffic.  The countryside is a different situation and you can average 180 kms/hr as I did a few years ago driving from the Netherlands through southern Germany.

About the Drive:
I drove from Kaiserslautern to Frankfurt Airport, Terminal 1, Car Rental Return without a single hitch. That's what GPS will do for you! Of course, you have to pay attention and make decisions quickly - especially at the airport!. I had breakfast with business friend this morning who is from Canada.  When he heard I was driving around, especially at the Frankfurt terminal, he was surprised.  He has visited Germany often (last year about 8 times with one stay being 5 weeks) and he said he said he wouldn't drive it –just  too much trouble.  I think it's just the same as driving in Canada and the only difference is that there are very few local street signs and the signs that are there are in a language you can't understand.  So you really have no idea where you are or where you are going. But other than that, it’s just not that different – except for the Autobahn – that’s different. Things happen very fast on the Autobahn and there is always going to be a faster moving Mercedes, Porsche, BMW or Volvo coming from behind you – eventually.

About the car in the picture:
It’s a rental car of course but don’t let that Ford label fool you, it actually a Volvo branded as a Ford (Ford owns Volvo) and if you drove it, you would know (at least compared to a North American version).  The car was tight and very responsive (manual transmission).  Handling of the car was comfortable up to 160 kms/hr. Above that was OK too but not as nice as some other cars I’ve driven. My drive this morning of 125 kms distance did not take long.  Most of it was around the 130-140 kms/hr mark because I was in rush hour.

About the photo:
The photo is from the drive this morning. The car really can’t go as fast as shown for very long since it isn’t designed for that. Also, general traffic conditions were not accommodating.  This was taken on a brief stretch of straight road with little traffic. For those of you wondering about how I got the shot, I used a super-wide angle lens (10 mm) so the camera could see a lot of area close in. I hung the camera around my neck (so I wouldn’t need to actually hold the camera). When I wanted to take a picture, I reached over briefly and pushed the shutter release.  Later, I straightened and cropped the photo on my computer to just show the interesting part.  For safety, I was never looking through the viewfinder or at the back display - that would be insane at those speeds. Enjoying the drive and the opportunity to push some limits is one thing, being stupid about it is quite another.