You see, I was a keen student of German during my 4 years in college. My enthusiasm was mostly thanks to the enthusiasm of my teacher, Professor Robert Kramer, who simply loved his subject and teaching.
Well, finally, 20+ years too late I spent a couple of days in Germany last week.
Last week we spent our two days along the Rhine. I enjoyed it, but I was frustrated that I couldn't really communicate in German at all. The closest I came was answering a few simple questions from a ferry operator - one of the few people I met who couldn't speak English. I found it easier reading German than speaking it, which was handy trying to interpret road-signs and menus.
Here are a few observations:
- No bridges - I couldn't get over the fact that there were no bridges over the Rhine where we were. In fact, from what I can make out there are no bridges between Wiesbaden and Koblenz, which is about 45 miles or so. There are many car ferries, which cost us €6 per trip.
- We stopped at a number of castles. The castles have spectacular views of the Rhine, but I don't think they're as interesting as the castles we visited in Scotland (and I'm not talking about Edinburgh or Stirling) I was also surprised at how many of the castles were privately owned.
- Some things were a lot cheaper in Germany. Our one big meal in a restaurant was significantly cheaper than it would have been here. Probably €30 less than we'd have paid here. Gas was about 20% more there, however.
- I was thrilled to see Pretzels (Brezeln) for 60c. Still, I'm not sure they were as good as what I can find on the streets of New York.
