Imanuel and Brenda's Travel Blog

I am writing from a very fancy rest stop by the A7 in Germany on the way to Hamburg. This place is incredible! Showers, clean state of the art restrooms, full service cafeteria, Internet hot spot, etc.… There is .50 euro charge for the rest room but you get a voucher for .50 euro that you can redeem for food or products, as the idyllic-sounding voice in the restroom reminds visitors in both English and in German. The place is somewhat expensive but the facilities merit a stopover here. BTW: I have stopped attempting to put accent marks on the Spanish posts since, from now on, we will have to write the posts beforehand and port them as text into computers at the Internet cafes and the special characters don’t translate well into plain text.

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Estoy escribiendo desde un area de descanso en la carretera A7 en Alemania en ruta a Hamburgo. Este lugar es increible! Duchas, servicios sanitarios modernos, cafeteria, Internet hot spot, etc…. Hay un cargo de .50 euro para usar los servicios sanitarios pero te dan un cupon .50 euro que puedes redimir con la compra de productos o comida, como te recuerda una voz electronica en el bano en ingles y aleman. El sitio es algo caro pero las facilidades ameritan una parada aqui. BTW: He dejado de tratar de ponerle acentos a las palabras en espanol ya que de ahora en adelante tendremos que escribir los reportes y pasarlos a las computadoras en los Internet cafes como texto y los simbolos no se traducen bien cuando uno hace eso.

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Today has been a very eventful day. As you may be able to tell, we have hit the road a day early (and we are awake in the middle of the night). Our original plan was to stay at a campsite near Frankfurt to get use to the van before heading Northeast to Wolfsburg and the Volkswagen plant; however, a kindly couple at the camper rental place told us that we did not have to stay at a campsite in Germany but that we could pull into any rest stop and spend the night. Armed with this knowledge we set about to save time and drive as far as we could tonight before turning in for the night. With any luck we will be in Wolfsburg by the time we post this. We are about halfway between Frankfurt and Wolfsburg. We arrived here around 9:00 pm local time after stopping at a few other rest stops that looked run down and isolated. We went to bed but only managed a few hours of sleep before we were wide-awake. Perhaps we are still jet-lagged or may all the excitement just got to us. Let me back us a minute and tell you about it…

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Hoy ha sido un dia lleno de actividad. Como podran ver, hemos iniciado la jornada un dia antes de lo que planificamos (y estamos despiertos en medio de la noche). Originalment nos ibamos a quedar esta noche en un campamento cerca de Frankfurt antes de partir hacia de noreste para Wolfsburg y la planta de Volkswagen, pero una amable pareja en la agencia de renta de campers nos dijo que en Alemania uno podia estacionarse en cualquier area de descanso y pasar la noche, por lo que decidimos llegar tan lejos como pudiesemos antes de dormir. Estamos como a la mitad del camino entre Frankfurt y Wolfsburg. Llegamos como a las 9:00 pm hora local y dormimos por unas horas pero pronto nos encontramos bien despiertos. Quizas todavia nos estamos acoplando al cambio de hora o quizas la exitacion del dia fue demaciado para nosotros. Dejenme contarles…

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We woke up late, around 9:00 am, and we needed to pick up the van at 10:00. We hurried to pack our tons of stuff and went down for breakfast. We took a cab for Offenbach, where McRent is located, at around 11:00 am. We happened to catch the cab of a Venezuelan o French descent named Felipe and had a nice chat in Spanish during the ride. When we told him about our plan of traveling around Europe for a month in camper, Felipe exclaimed: “That’s why you have so much baggage!” We had our doubts at one point that Felipe knew where he was going but he found the address printed on the van rental receipt I gave him easily. Finding the rental depot, however, proved more challenging. The place was hidden behind other businesses and the McRent sign was only visible from the opposite direction we were traveling in. After a few seconds of confusion, Brenda spotted the sign and we arrived at our destination.

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Nos levantamos tarde como a las 9:00 am cuando debiamos recoger el camper como a las 10:00. Nos apresuramos a empacar nuestras toneladas de equipaje y bajamos al desayuno. Para las 11:00 am tomamos un Taxi rumbo a Offenbach, donde McRent esta localizado. Da la casualidad de que abordamos el Taxi de un venezolano de decendencia francesa llamado Felipe y tuvimos una charla muy amena en el camino. Cuando le contamos a Felipe de nuestro plan de viajar por Europa durante un mes en un camper, el exclamo: “Por eso es que tienen tanto equipaje!”. Teniamos dudas de que Felipe sabia para donde iba pero pronto encontro la direccion que estaba impresa en el recibo de renta que yo le di. Encontrar la oficina de McRent fue algo mas complicado. El lugar estaba escondido detras de otros negocios y el letrero no se veia de la dirreccion en la que viajabamos. Depues de unos segundos de confusion, Brenda vio el letrero y llegamos a nuestro destino.

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Checking out the van was complicated by the fact that Monday is reunification day here in Germany and many people are on Holiday for the long weekend including, of course, the secretary at McRent’s Offenbach depot. A pudgy young man named Leiman was practically the only one left. His English was very good and he made every effort to serve us to the best of his abilities; however, we was not at all familiar with the paperwork needed to check out a van. The first issue was that the secretary had left a credit card slip for me to sign for a 1,000 euro charge that was to be held a security deposit. I was not expecting them to actually charge my credit card but just to verify that I had the credit or something and necessarily charge the card and hold the funds. After interminable minutes of looking nervously at the paper and then at the computer, Leiman determined that the computer system was on holiday too and that there was nothing he could do. I asked if there was anyone else there that could help and he retrieved an older man, whom I assumed was his supervisor. (This was the same man that later with his wife would give us the tip about the rest stops.) The man said everything was okay and that we were paid in full and left, but later Leiman insisted that again that I sign the credit card slip. We brought the older man back into the office and he said that the credit card must be charged in order to release the vehicle. I yielded thinking that was probably the normal process even though I never heard about it before and nobody seemed really sure how everything worked.

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Finalizar la renta del camper se complico porque el lunes es el dia de la reunificacion en Alemania y mucha gente esta de vacaciones durnate el find de semana largo incluyendo, por supuesto, la secretaria del despacho de McRent en Offenbach. Un amable gordito de nombre Leiman era practicamente el unico que quedaba alli. Su ingles era muy bueno y el hizo todo lo possible por ayudarnos, pero no estaba familiarizado con el papeleo de entregrar el camper. El primer problema fue que la secretaria habia dejado una factura a mi tarjeta de credito por 1,000 euros como deposito de seguridad para que yo la firmara. Yo no estaba experando una factura ya que todo estaba pago de antemano y pensaba que solo podian verificar mi credito o algo asi en vez de cargar a la tarjeta y retener los fondos. Luego de minutos interminables de mirar el papel y la computadura nerviosamente, Leiman determino que el sistema de computadora estaba de vacaciones tambien y no habia nada que se pudiese hacer. Yo pregunte que si habia algien mas alli que pudiera ayudar y el fue y busco un homber mayor quien asumi que era el supervisor. (Este seria el mismo que junto a su esposa nos aconsejaria luego acerca de las areas de descanso.) El senor dijo que todo estaba bien y se fue, pero luego Leiman insistio que firmara la factura. Volvimos a buscar al senor y el dijo que habia que retener los fondos para poder sacar el vehiculo. Yo cedi viendo que probablemente ese era el proceso normal aunque era la primera vez que escuchaba de eso y nadie parecia estar seguro de como funcionaba todo.

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Next Leiman gave me a very thorough demonstration of the van and showed me how everything worked. The van is in pretty decent shape even though it does have a few dents and scratches and the interior rattles quite a bit. I was very impressed with the design of the interior and how all the systems work. The interior layout is very well thought out and offers plenty of storage and everything seems very efficient. Since it was raining, we asked if we could stay in the garage for a while until we had a chance to unpack and store everything. Brenda set about to sanitize everything while I unpacked the gear and set it on the bed for her to organize and store. It took almost an hour for us to be ready to leave.

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Proximamente Leiman me dio una exaustiva demostracion del vehiculo y me mostro como todo funcionaba. El camper esta en muy buenas condiciones aunque si tiene unos cuantos choques y rayazos. Yo quede muy impresionado con el diseno. El interior esta arreglado de tal forma que ofrece mucho espacio de almacenaje y todo parecia funcionar my eficientemente. Como estaba lloviendo, preguntamos si nos podiamos quedar en el garaje para desempacar y acomodar todo. Brenda procedio a desinfectar todo mientras yo sacaba el equip y lo ponia en la cama para que ella lo organizara y guardara. Nos tomo casi una hora antes de que estuvieramos listos para partir.

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After trying unsuccessfully to find a place where Leiman said we could find a new shower curtain, we hit the grocery store. This was our first experience outside the tourist areas and, as is to be expected, most people did not speak English. The supermarket, which is called Hit, was huge and packed with people as most grocery stores back home on a Saturday. There was a deli near the entrance and we decided to have lunch before going shopping. The lady at the counter did not speak English but gladly gave us samples and explained through signs what everything was. There was another man behind the counter making what looked like gyros so we pointed to him and motioned that we wanted two of whatever they were. I still don’t know the name but, whatever it was, tasted absolutely delicious. The lamb (cooked just like gyro meat) was shaved paper-thin so that every piece was crunchy. The bread was some a round pocket bread toasted to perfection and it was stuffed with vegetables and a garlic sauce. We sat at a tall table nearby where a lady was eating the same thing. She scooted over to make space and when we thanked her, she replied in perfect English. We began chatting and she told use about her travels and how she loved Offenbach because it was so diverse and how she would come every Saturday from her job to that grocery store just for that sandwich. Despite the hassles that we would later experience, that lunch perfectly embodied the spirit of this trip, to go outside our comfort zone in order to experience serendipitous encounters with other cultures.

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Despues de tratar sin exito de buscar un lugar donde Leiman dijo que podriamos hayar una cortina de bano, llegamos al supermercado. Esta seria nuestra primera experiencia fuera del area turistica y, como es de esperar, pocas personas hablaban ingles. El supermercado, llamado Hit, era enorme y estaba repleto de gente al igual que los supermercados en casa cada sabado. Habia un deli cerca de la entrada y decidimos almorzar antes de empezar nuestras compras. La senora del mostrador no sabia ingles pero alegremente nos dio a probar de las cosas que tenia y por senas a mostrarnos lo que cada cosa contenia. Vimos a otro hombre haciendo lo que parecia como un gyro y senalamos que queriamos dos de esos. Todavia no se como se llamaba pero, sea lo que sea, era delicioso. La carne era como de gyro pero cortada muy fina de forma tal que quedaba tostada y crugiente. El pam que era un pan redondo de “bolsillo” estaba tostado a perfeccion y lleno de vegetales y una salsa de ajo muy rica. Nos sentamos en una mesa alta junto a una dama que comia lo mismo y ella se echo para un lado para que cupieramos. Cuando le dimos las gracias, ella respondio en ingles perfecto. Empezamos a charlar sobre sus viajes, nuestros planes y lo mucho que le gustaba Offenback porque era tan diverso. Ella nos dijo que venia cada sabado desde su trabajo para comer ese sandwich. A pesar de las complicaciones de la manana y las que sufririamos luego, ese almuerzo encarno perfectamente el espiritu de este viaje: salirnos de nuestra zona de comodidad para experimentar encuentros expontaneos con otras culturas.

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Grocery shopping proved more difficult than we thought. Deciphering the German labels of even household products was a daunting task, even after we consulted our handy “German for Travelers” phrasebook. Hit offered just too much variety and it was difficult to know what to choose. For example, the German word for salt is simply salz; however, there were ten different kinds of salts for different purposes. We managed to find all of what we needed but it took a lot longer and was far more tiring than we ever thought possible. Once we were done, I simply assumed that they would take credit cards as they do at home. Wrong! After the cashier had scanned all my stuff I had to run to the ATM to get cash while the long queue of Saturday shoppers waited for me. Brenda thought that the cashier and the lady behind me in line were upset that we couldn’t speak German and were holding up the line but when I came back to the line I excused myself to the lady in German (which was one of the expressions I had just learned prior) and she smiled and I heard her say “no problem”. Up to now we have found Germans to be very friendly and extremely patient with our ineptitude about how things work around here. I prefer to think that Brenda just misunderstood what they were talking about.

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Las compras probaron ser mas complicadas de lo que criamos. Decifrar los nombres de aun los productos mas basicos fue muy dificil. Hit tenia demaciada seleccion. Por ejemplo, la palabra en aleman para sal es simplemente salz pero habian diez tipos de sal differentes y era dificil saber cual era la sal de mesa. Pudimos encontrar todo lo que buscabamos pero tomo mucho mas tiempo y energia de lo que ambos pensabamos. Cuando terminamos, yo asumi que acceptarian tarjetas de credito como lo hacen en casa. No! Tuve que salir corriendo para el cajero automatico mientras la fila de clientes esperaba por mi. Brenda penso que la cajera y la senora que estaban detras de mi se enojaron de no podiamos hablar aleman y de que deteniamos la file pero cuando you regrese me disculpe en aleman (una de las pocas frases que se) y la senora sonrio y la oi decir que no habia problema. Hasta ahora los alemas han sido muy amigable y pacientes ante nuestra ineptitud al no saber como funcionan las cosas. Yo prefiero pensar que Brenda malinterpreto a la senora y que ellas estaban hablando de otra cosa.

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After grocery shopping, we visited a nearby internet cafe to check email and let relatives know that we were okay and soon would be on the road. The place was very cheap (1 hour for 1 euro) compared to the 24 hrs of wireless service available at the hotel. The only downside was that the place reeked of cigarettes, a common problem over here. We were eager to get on the road; however, we encountered a problem. The fancy electronic equipment that we were counting on to guide us around wasn’t working. The data from the electronic maps had been loaded into the GPS unit; however, the routing capability did not work. The electronic voice, which we affectionately named Viki, was silent. No only that, but the routes were not being displayed on the GPS unit at all. This meant that Brenda would have to read off the directions to me from the computer. But first, we had to get onto the highway which was harder that it sounds given that we were not at the place where the directions started from. It took only a couple of U-turns to get us on our way but our confidence was shattered after realizing that the pride we took in being well prepared for the trip was just an illusion. I had relied too much on the fancy electronics and had not studied the routes well at all.

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Despues de el supermercado fuimos a un Internet cafe cercano a leer nuestro email y a dejarle saber a nuestros familiares que estabamos bien y que pronto estarimos en la carretera. El lugar era muy barato (1 hora por 1 euro) comparado for el “wireless” que habiamos tendio en el hotel pero apestaba a cigarillos que lamentablemente es un problema comun en Europa. Estabamos deseosos de emprender el viajepero encotramos un problema. El equip electronico tan avanzado que queiramos usar para guarnos no funcionaba. La data de los mapas electronicos habia sido tranferida al GPS pero la capacidad de trazar rutas no funcionaba. La voz electronica, la cual habiamos nombrado Viki de carino, no decia nada. Peor aun, las rutas no aparecian en el GPS del todo. Brenda tendria que leerme las direcciones de la computadora, pero primero teniamos que llegar a la autopista. Esto fue mas dificil de lo que parece ya que las direcciones empezaban en un lugar differente al que estabas. Solo tomo un par de vueltas en U para orientarnos pero nuestra confianza estaba danada al ver que nuestor orgullo de ser viajeros bien preparados era solo una ilusion. Habia dependido demasiado del equipe electronico y no habia estudiado las rutas lo suficiente.

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Once in the highway things started looking up. Driving here didn’t feel much different than back home. The highways are excellent and the signs are very informative. Rest stops abound, though we found that some seemed isolated and the facilities were run down and covered with graffiti. It is best to stop at the ones that have the food sign since these are manned 24 hours a day and have clean bathrooms with showers. Even though our rig has a bathroom, we have decided to try not to use it since dump stations for the waste are not as common as they are back home. The main difference driving over here is the speeds at which people drive. Back home on I-95, for example, people routinely drive 5 to 10 mph over the speed limit. In fact, if you drive right at 65, you are liable to get run over by a semi. Over here, on the other hand, you cannot even be on the middle lane if you drive below 120 kph (around 70 mph) or people will start honking their horns at you and flashing their lights. I normally tried to keep my speed between 110 and 120 kph. This is the speed I normally drive at home with my truck and camper to keep fuel consumption down. Also with this tall bus-like rig I thought it would be safer to keep it under 70 mph. Every few seconds an Audi, Mercedes, Volkswagen or BMW would blow by like I was standing still. They were going so fast that our van (which is twice the size of the cars) would shake from side to side in their wake. They must have been going over 100 mph! We’ve all heard the stories about how there is no speed limit on the Autobahn; however, there was a posted speed limit in most places and the speeds people were driving were still insane. We never saw a traffic cop in a full day of driving in the Autobahn.

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Una vez el la carretera las cosas se veian mejor. Conducir aca no es differente a conducir en casa. Las autopistas son excelentes y estan muy bien rotuladas. Las areas de descanso abundan aunque algunas son mas apartadas y estan en mal estado y llenas de graffiti. Lo mejor es parar solo en las que tienen restaurante ya que en ellas has gente a todas horas y los banos son muy limpios y hay duchas. Aunque nuestro vehiculo tiene bano tratamos de no usarlo ya que las estaciones para vaciar el tanque so pocas. La diferencia principal es la velocidad a la que la gente conduce. En Virginia en la carretera inter-estatal la gente normalment guia a 5 o 10 mph mas que el limite. De hecho si vas a 65 te arriesgas a que un camion te pase por encima. En Alemania no puedes ir a menos de 120 kph (alrededor de 70 mph) aun en el carril del medio o la gente empieza a tocar bocina y a dar cambio de luces. Yo trato de mantenerme entre 110 y 120 kph. Esta es la velocidad que normalmente conduzco en casa con mi pickup y camper para ahorrar gasolina. Ademas pense que como el vehiculo es tan alto seria mas seguro conducir a menos de 70 mph, pero a cada rato un Audi, Mercedes, Volkswagen o BMW me pasaba por el lado como si estuviera parado. Los carros pasan tan rapido que el camper se mueve de lado a lado con viento de su estela. Deben ir a 100 mph por lo menos! Todos hemos oido historias sobre como en el Autobahn no hay limite de velocidad pero habia limite en muchos lugares de 120 kph pero aun asi la gente iba volando. Nunca vimos un polocia mientras estuvimos en al Autobahn.

-Imanuel