Thread: Homebound German adventure.

"Approximate distance in miles from Deutz Germany to Koln Germany in a straight line is 1 miles or1.61 Kilometers"

(ala Max Smart) "Missed by that much ..."


"Approximate distance as the crow flies in miles from Koln Germany to Frankfurt Germany is 118miles or 189.86 Kilometers"

200kmh ... I guess you were in the taxi for about an hour ... so my question is ...

WHERE ARE THE PICTURES, BOB? It's not like you were doing anything for an hour.



All the best,
Paul

IMG_1743.JPG

Picture for the memories if you didn't have time to appreciate it )

(Koln Cathedral reflected in the Hauptbahnhoff facade).

A good story, been through similar myself which resulted in a taxi ride Dubai to Abu Dhabi!. Maybe a story for the future.

Regards
SWK

Great story Bob, thanks for sharing, glad you arrived intact!

Here's a photoI took on that train last time I took it from Cologne to Frankfurt.
The maximum speed indicated a bit later was 301km/h....
Cheers,
Joe

Originally Posted by pmcgee

. . . . WHERE ARE THE PICTURES, BOB? It's not like you were doing anything for an hour.

Yes I was, I was hanging on awaiting a grim death.

On reflection the driver seemed to know the road very well.
Some of the corners and some downhill sections had 130 kph speed limits but he didn't slow down much for these.
He knew where all the police cameras were and he did slow down for these.
In some places where there was no traffic he used all 3 lanes to take some wide corners.

Not a missed flight story (actually starts off with an unexpectedly caught flight) but more a tale of speed and learning on the German Autobahn. Speed limits, pfft...

After a gliding competition we were packing up to go and Benno, who had his glider at Klix (a place in Germany even Germans haven't heard of! It's south of Berlin near Bautzen which is nearish Dresden) for the last few days offered to take me along (to where ever he was going) to help with trailers and stuff. Sounds like an adventure to me so in I get. Everyone else was to finish up and meet us tonight where we land. So off we went, leaving the ground at about 14:00. After a flight of 3:44 and 430 km we come to a stop and both of us climb out. Benno's home airfield Fliegerheim Ummern looks a bit deserted. Benno rings Helge (Helge is a bloke's name. Not to be confused with Helga!). Benno finds out that they haven't even left Klix yet due to Sabine being stung by a wasp and needing to go to the hospital. So, we decide to go and get Benno’s trailer, car and caravan without the others. The equipment is at Lusse, near and to the west of Berlin. That's about 160km as the crow flies, back where we came from. There doesn't appear to be anyone at the clubhouse so Benno wanders off to the other end of the airfield to see who he can find while I wait by the glider.

The world is a small place. While I wait a younger lady with two small children pulls up. Me being the consummate communicator, point to my tee shirt (which has kangaroos on it) and proudly announce “ich bin Australianer” a phrase I have only just learnt. To which she replies, “hello, my name’s Molly and I’m from Perth”. Very deflating. It turns out she is married to an Italian friend of Bennos who is down at the other end of the field. We go to their caravan where Benno gets some coffee or similar. I tend not to drink hot drinks so I don’t have any. Eventually Benno manages to borrow his friend’s car and we head off back to Lusse. It is an Audi Quattro and we manage to get to 250 (!!) kph on the autobahn. At Lusse we have to clean up Benno’s camp site and rearrange the trailer and caravan loading. Benno gets the Audi and the glider trailer, I get Benno’s Volkswagen and his caravan. After taking our farewells we head off the airfield, me following Benno, but before we have gone a few km, Benno pulls over to a pension he knows where we get tea. I don’t argue as it’s been a long day and I haven’t had anything substantial yet. As we sit in the courtyard and have a pleasant three course meal the sun goes down. 22:00 and another 160km to get back to Ummern.

Before we head off Benno comments about us towing the trailers so we will use less fuel. The statement seems illogical to an Australian driver. When you tow something the fuel consumption always goes up, however, Benno is right from his German perspective. With trailers on we can’t exceed 100 kph which means we use less fuel as we are forced to go slow. This is just as well as the Volksy is a bit low on petrol and the fuel light comes on while I am out on the Autobahn. Eventually after a missed stop I get to a convenient fuel station and we are able to top it up. A new and crazy experience driving alone, late at night through Germany, no real idea where I am and my only clue is Benno’s trailer. Sometimes in front in the little country roads, sometimes behind on the Autobahn. Benno only has one tape in his car, which is a badly done copy of country and western style gliding songs (can you believe such a thing exists!). Humourous the first time but after listening to it three times over I have had enough. Trying to get radio stations to listen to on the radio I am amazed at just how like they are to Australian stations, even to the same promo slogans in English. Long, long past midnight we get back to Ummern. No crew here either, so no luggage and no camping gear. I find an old ragged blanket, kick my shoes off and curl up on a mattress in my clothes.

A long day that one.

Originally Posted by BobL

Yes I was, I was hanging on awaiting a grim death.

On reflection the driver seemed to know the road very well.
Some of the corners and some downhill sections had 130 kph speed limits but he didn't slow down much for these.
He knew where all the police cameras were and he did slow down for these.
In some places where there was no traffic he used all 3 lanes to take some wide corners.

I am somewhat biased but I think Germany is the best country in the world to travel quickly by car.

I once drove from Wiesloch (just outside Heidelberg) to Neufahn (SIC?) just outside Munich in 2 hours and 10 minutes. Google says thats about 360 ks over the A6/A8.

The quickest trip was being picked up at Frankfurt International Airport (Terminal B) and driven to my (then) home in Wiesloch in 27 minutes. It was very early on a Sunday morning, little or no traffic. The driver asked me at one point how fast I thought we were travelling and I said 160 to 180, he suggested I look at the speedo - it was 260 kph.

Not so sure I would be so relaxed about it today.

Regards

Peter

Originally Posted by The Hun

I am somewhat biased but I think Germany is the best country in the world to travel quickly by car.

In general I agree, but I have several times been stuck for many hours in large traffic jams around Dusseldorf - perhaps if I had more local knowledge it would not have been as bad. At times in Winter it can also get tricky.

Originally Posted by BobL

In general I agree, but I have several times been stuck for many hours in large traffic jams around Dusseldorf - perhaps if I had more local knowledge it would not have been as bad. At times in Winter it can also get tricky.

It certainly can get tricky - school holidays seemed the worse. We lived in Dusseldorf for a couple of years (Golzheim) and regard it as one of the most liveable cities in the world notwithstanding. The traffic can be a challenge - to put it in context, the state of Nordrhein Westfalen (of which Dusseldorf is the Capital) it is one seventh the size of Victoria (or half of Tasmania) and has around 17 million people. The Trade shows (Messe) could also make the traffic very difficult.

Regards

Peter