FINAL THOUGHTS ON GERMANY
What surprised me was how many people young and old smoke. They all walk around with cigarettes and then drop their butts and grind them out on the ground. One guy was puffing madly before getting onto the tram, but then another guy got on at a stop and as he got into our car, blew his smoke into the air. Pee-u!
I remember how the women in Paris do not make eye contact or smile at strangers. In Germany, they don't either. Well, they do look at you, but they just look with a dour expression and don't smile. I tend to smile at people, so had to stop or I looked a little silly....or American.
In most countries, if you walk into a store or are in a restaurant and say hello, they immediately switch to English acknowledging you probably don't know their language. In Germany, they just stare at you or ask you something in German, to which you then must reply that you don't speak their language. Then you politely ask if they speak English and they always say, "A little."
More train station food.
We took this tram stop hoping to find the castle (or Mel Brooks) but after walking around awhile, saw neither, so gave up.
Went for an afternoon beer across from our hotel in Darmstadt, and I ordered a little nosh....which turned out to be this huge platter of meats and cheeses. Every bite reminded me of my dad who loved this kind of food. A fitting ending to our meals here since it turned out to be dinner!
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What surprised me was how many people young and old smoke. They all walk around with cigarettes and then drop their butts and grind them out on the ground. One guy was puffing madly before getting onto the tram, but then another guy got on at a stop and as he got into our car, blew his smoke into the air. Pee-u!
I remember how the women in Paris do not make eye contact or smile at strangers. In Germany, they don't either. Well, they do look at you, but they just look with a dour expression and don't smile. I tend to smile at people, so had to stop or I looked a little silly....or American.
In most countries, if you walk into a store or are in a restaurant and say hello, they immediately switch to English acknowledging you probably don't know their language. In Germany, they just stare at you or ask you something in German, to which you then must reply that you don't speak their language. Then you politely ask if they speak English and they always say, "A little."
We had breakfast in the train station both mornings--they had "fast food" that was pretty good!
Okay, one anecdote that was probably only funny to me. Every time we ate, even inside a restaurant, in Munich, Fussen, and Rothenberg, we had a fly buzzing us. I named him Walter after my father and told Matthew he was following us. Once we were in Darmstadt, I noticed we had no fly and Matthew said, "Well, your dad said he'd never step foot in Darmstadt again." Yeah, maybe you had to be there...More train station food.
Paul loved Germany when he lived there. Beer with every meal, and the wurst was the best! Your trip sounds like a lot of fun!
ReplyDeleteSandy