Driving in Germany

I confess that I have lived in great dread of driving in Europe. There are very many and subtle rules of the road that you tend to not think about that had me somewhat in dread. That said, even though Magoo, Christie and Gina had their international drivers licenses and could drive stick shift I did not want to trouble

anyone else to drive.

The amazing and dreaded Autobahn is everything people think it is. In many places the speed limit is 130 kph, but in large stretches there is NO speed limit and the German drivers take full advantage of it! A nice thing is that there are well enforced laws about only driving in the passing lane if you’re passing; if you are driving slow in the far left lane for long you will get a fine. My wife, Richelle, lives in fear of my driving in the US: this trip would have given her a heart attack. Where there was construction the width of the lanes reduced to about 9 feet; I was sure I was going to lose mirrors on several occasions! The fastest I ever got up to was 150 kph (93 mph);not the slowest but by very far not the fastest.

I was very pleased to have had Darin Keeter drive in places and lead us in others in Germany. I am equally grateful to Bert Hobo for guiding us around Holland. (“D.Y.B.H.!”)

Driving in Europe was quite an experience – one that I’m proud to have under my belt.