A visit to Germany

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

Originally Posted by Schroeder

"Motorist" and "understand" are two words which you can't put in one sentence when travelling on a German Autobahn.

BTW I wanted to say that overtaking someone on his right side will cost 100 Euros. No idea why the forum turned the Euro sign into that strange stuff....

Do you guys see a Euro sign or this strange stuff?:

Nope. Same problem is with many other signs. Annoying part is that sometimes you get what you want, sometime else you get puzzle for GT folks.

[Onkel Neal]

So, what's the weather like there, now, and the forecast? Nice and sunny? I know, I could check online but I like to hear from the people who live there and get their view.

[SquareSteelBar]

Mixed - sometimes sunny, sometimes cloudy but warm -> have a look here

Helmet duty and always headlight 'on' for MC drivers in Germany!

Training course

!!! One of the most important right-of-way rules when you're off the main roads where no signs are indicating the right-of-way:



Have a good trip!




.

[Onkel Neal]

Thanks for the traffic tip, I believe it is the same here in the US.

Of course, it's a 60% chance of rain while I'm there

[Penguin]

hey Neal,

Like Square already said: the weather's a mixed bag atm, temps are in the late 60s, cloudy and rainy. However the weather frogs claim a rise to 80 at the end of the week. So besides your fur Stetson you can also bring along the regular one

Here are some places to visit in case you want to skip Berlin:

Technikmuseum Speyer:
3 hours to the South, huge, probably worth a whole day trip, sub-related they sport a type 205, and some small boats like Biber, Neger and Seehund, scenic route (for an Autobahn)

Rheinmuseum Emmerich:
The closest submarine from here, a Biber, tiny museum about Rhine shipping but only 1h away

Wehrtechnische Studiensammlung, Koblenz
(link to the wiki page because the museum's website is too horrible - mosly focused on Bundeswehr weapon systems, they have a Seehund, 1.5h, beautiful city


Liberty Park (National War and Resistance Museum), Overloon, Netehrlands:
no subs here, but tons of stuff about the Allied efforts in WW2, also only 1h

Marinemuseum, Den Helder, Netherlands
The Tonijn (Potfis-class) lies here, 3.5 hours, located at the coast, many ships there, they call it Museumharbor

Deutsches Marinemuseum, Wilhelmshaven
3.5h to the North, about the history of the German Navy since the 19th century, A Seehund is there. Special exhibit about Schellboote (PT-boats) atm

Not far away, on the other side of the bay:
Deutsches Schiffahrtsmuseum, Bremerhaven
This is the one where the Wilhelm Bauer, the last Type XXI, is located, also 3.5h

Hürtgenwald Museum
about the Hürtgenwald Battle in 1944, small museum, 1.5 h, scenic route to ride, only open on Sundays (?)

If you are into industry culture, there are many places to visit in the Ruhrgebiet, which was built on coal and steel, half an hour North of here http://www.route-industriekultur.de/

For WW1 history, there are tons of places, mainly in Flanders (belgium), with Verdun about 4h away.

If you just want to take a bike tour to the countryside, I'd recommend either go to the Eifel region, or very pittoresque, take a ride along the Mosel river. The road goes just along the river, several hundred feet above it, with great views just at very corner

2 more driving tips: Be aware that we have an insane amount of trucks on the roads nowadays, many in shabby conditions (vehicles and drivers). Another nuisance any American driver notices are the billions of traffic signs - they grow here like kudzu in the Southern States

[Hawk66]

Originally Posted by Penguin

hey Neal,


Technikmuseum Speyer:
3 hours to the South, huge, probably worth a whole day trip, sub-related they sport a type 205, and some small boats like Biber, Neger and Seehund, scenic route (for an Autobahn)

->if you wanna visit this, just send a message, I do not live far away from it

[Onkel Neal]

Penguin, Hawk,

Technikmuseum Speyer:
yes, this may be a better destination than Berlin. I would love to make a 6 hour road trip to Berlin but with only 2 days to spend, plus being a foreigner, and a Texan at that, I don't wanna get in the situation where I could miss my flight, get lost, or end up in Russia. I will go over some options tonight and tomorrow and try to come up with an itenerary, where I will be Fri and Sat.

Hawk, if I add this to my Friday schedule, I would be very happy to meet with you. I will post the schedule tomorrow.

Penguin, Dan, if we set up a meeting in Dusseldorf for Sat evening, what would be a good place? Is there a good German restaurant you could recommend? Maybe we should set a place and time for Sat evening, say 19:00, that will help me plan. Plus maybe someone can post this in the other German subsim sites....

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Penguin, Dan, if we set up a meeting in Dusseldorf for Sat evening, what would be a good place? Is there a good German restaurant you could recommend? Maybe we should set a place and time for Sat evening, say 19:00, that will help me plan. Plus maybe someone can post this in the other German subsim sites....

I think you may have overlooked post 23

D'town lacks cheap rents, sane local politics or a traffic concept, however it has hundreds of dining facilities.
You can have any ethnic food you like, even authentic American - or fake American . Restaurant-wise you can go from rags to riches within walking distance, with everything in between. You can even have our favorite fast-food, the Currywurst (curry sausage) covered in leaf gold in some venues.

For real Düsseldorfian food the brewpubs are the best choice. Our traditional cuisine is not fancy, but tasty and filling. For some examples you can take a look at the English menu of the Füchschen here: http://www.fuechschen.de/flashblocks...enkarte_GB.pdf My recommendations would be to either try the Düsseldorfer Senfbraten (mustard roast) or the Sauerbraten (marinated 'sour' roast) - the latter tradinionally made of horse meat, however today most restaurants use beef.

[Onkel Neal]

Aye, I saw post 23, I am going to let you call the shots, boss. Where would you like to meet. I'm happy to follow But no gold leaf stuff

Düsseldorfian food the brewpubs are the best choice

Sounds like a winner, find us a place where we can get a table for 10, in case we get a few guys to show up.

Neal

[Onkel Neal]

Reading the German rules of the road




Question: Whose position is incorrect for the left turn?

Vehicle 1
Vehicle 2
Vehicles 1 and 3



Question: In what order may the vehicles proceed?

2-1-3
3-2-1
3-1-2
Gulp!





Question: In what order must the vehicles proceed?


2-3-1
2-1-3
3-2-1
Lol, I'll just wave at the tractor and wheelie down the sidewalk!

[SquareSteelBar]

1c

2c

3c

[Wreford-Brown]

This looks a bit like a Canadian '4-way Stop'. Whoever has the biggest vehicle goes first!

[Penguin]

Well in pic 1 and 3 we have trams, weighing several dozen tons, so they have the right of passage - unless you're Darth Vader:



Traffic info for Neal: The pic was made in Düsseldorf btw, and it shows one of the nuisances when riding a bike here. The tram tracks often run on the road and can be quite slippery when wet, especially when they run across cobblestones.

[Penguin]

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Aye, I saw post 23, I am going to let you call the shots, boss. Where would you like to meet. I'm happy to follow But no gold leaf stuff

Boss, no, I am just a little guy, paid by the city to lead unsuspicious visitors into tourist traps I know it all here, so it's your call what you want to see.

Originally Posted by Neal Stevens

Sounds like a winner, find us a place where we can get a table for 10, in case we get a few guys to show up.

Neal

Alright, so then I suggest the Füchschen. Traditional food, good beer, and they follow the German concept of 'Gemütlichkeit'. I can call them, and book a table there for Saturday.
So at what time do we want to meet?

For a meeting point, the Schlossturm at the Burgplatz would be a nice spot for subsimmers, we have a nice view of the mighty Rhine from there and can guess the angel on bow and the tonnage of the passing vessels. You can see in the next pic, that the tower is as close to the water as Bud Light:



There is a webcam, so we can also wave to the subsim community: http://www.duesseldorf.de/cam/index2a.shtml
And for any historical interested, the tower is from the time D'town was founded in 1288 – the little bump on the lower left of the 'a' in that pic:


So for anyone intered in checking out the museum inside the Schlossturm , we can meet there at 17, if the weather is good, one could also consider go up the Rheinturm TV tower, the tallest building here and watch the view from there. It is 5 minutes by tram, or 15 minutes by foot from there, which would lead us through the marina.
The Füchschen is about 6 minutes by foot from the Schlossturm.

Here is a map:



When coming by train, take the subway from the Central station to Heinrich-Heine-Allee (all subway lines go there). In the station, take the exit Bolkerstrasse. Just walk straight up on Bolker till you come to a statue with a guy on a horse (at the Rathaus/townhall). Head right and you see the tower.

For people who come by car, I suggest to use the garage at the Grabbeplatz, it's close and reasonable priced (for this town). Do not park illegal there, Düsseldorf loves to tow away vehicles on a Saturday night. Walk straight up the Mühlenstrasse towards the Rhine: voilá!

[Skybird]

Neal, racing to Berlin one day, and back on the next sounds like horror to me: stress pure. I would skip that or would not plan a big program there. If museums are your interest, then pick one, or two at best. I personally have no interest in tourist "attractions" at all, and certainly not in mueeums, instead I would check for the "centre of gravity" in a city, of which there can be several in a big city, and then simply stroll around there, inhale some of the ambience, look for a restaurant that seems to invite me, and observe the flow of life, and how the locals are moving, maybe following the unexpected sidestreet suddenly opening to my eyes... Many historic places have been mentioned in earlier posts, but believe me - they look for the most very ugly, and not really interesting. The Brandenburg gate for example is tiny and boring and hopelessly overestimated, so is the Alexanderplatz, and the Fernsehturm really only is interesting if you visit the restaurant and enjoy the view from up there - but do not be mistaken, from up there you see a huge panorama of small details that will not give you a real impression of how Berlin looks like when you walk its streets. Checkpoint Charlie and remains of the wall are okay if you think you owe that to your tourist diary, but a great experience they are not. Monuments and museums - don't you have that in Houston? You cannot get the atmosphere of a foreign place by walking around in monuments and museums.

Honestly, I would not recommend Berlin at all. It is beyond me why foreigners always want to go there. There are more beautiful places in Germany. Also, places that are not as dirty as Berlin.

Relax. Keep it easy, don't pack too many dates into your organiser. Do you want to enjoy a travel, or do you want to set records for marking checkpoints on a list? If you realise that you have to hurry to keep up with your plans and time checkpoints, then you have planned something wrong, I would say. I mean you do this for private enjoyment, not professionally, yes? So: no hectic!