All Rental Cars are not Created Equal

One of the great debates among those traveling in Europe is the question of how you move around after your plane lands.  There are those who insist on flying from city to city, others are advocates of train travel and Rail Passes, while some go completely native and ride the local buses.  Each of these methods has pros and cons, but many find themselves renting and driving a car in a foreign country.  Having the freedom to be able to explore at will and not being tied to public transportation can make a vacation truly memorable and enjoyable.  During our latest visit, we combine train travel between Prague, Vienna, and Munich, with renting a car for the 10 days we spend in the Bavarian Alps.

Renting a car in Europe can be different from renting one in the US.  In the US, just walking up to a car rental counter with a credit card and a driver’s license is all that is usually needed.  In most European countries, a reservation is required and will make the process much easier, and if the rental process is conducted from the US in advance, there can be some significant savings.

Not this one!  A Trabant on the streets of Prague.

The vehicles involved can also be very different.  Fuel is more expensive, roads and towns were laid out for horse & foot traffic, and cars are generally much smaller than their US counterparts.  Automatic transmissions are not common and engender an extra charge, so chances are good you will end up driving a small car with a standard transmission.

Ford Focus in Italy

The last car we had rented overseas was a little Ford Focus which was classed as an intermediate size car.  Brand new with less than 500 km, turbo diesel and a 5-spd.  Great little car that was able to go as fast as I was willing to push it in the mountains in Italy.  With the turbo, there was no lack of power and, regardless of the gear, it would keep accelerating up the mountain as long as you kept your foot planted. 

VW at our Oberammergau Hotel

Our rental car for this trip is a new VW Golf Wagon, diesel, and a 5-spd manual.  It sounds very similar to our last rental, so I was expecting a similar driving experience.  The German manufactured Golf seems to be well put together and handles curves without breaking a sweat.  The engine, however, is the wimpiest thing I have found in a currently manufactured vehicle, reminding me of a rather anemic Simca from the early 1960s.  My first inkling I was in trouble was as I pulled out of the rental agency garage into downtown Munich traffic.  I spotted a hole in the midst of the BMWs, Mercedes and Audis and dove into it.  I started to wind it out in first gear…and discovered a rather obnoxious Rev-Limiter which shut down all forward motion until I could shift into second.  We finally escaped Munich and pulled onto the Autobahn where merging with the flow of traffic was decidedly not for the faint of heart.  I have gradually gotten used to this underpowered roller skate, but that doesn’t mean I really like it.  Driving the smaller back roads of Bavaria is strictly a 2nd & 3rd gear adventure.  Fifth is suitable only if you are on a long, fast stretch of autobahn.  With a larger engine, or maybe a turbo to help compensate for its lack of muscle, it might be a very nice car.

The moral to this tale is that driving a car in Europe is different from driving at home.  Cars are different, roads are generally much smaller, driving into the middle of a town is something to be avoided, and fuel will cost more.  But for those who like to have some control of when and where they travel, driving may be your best option.

Wertach

 Our whole purpose in taking a trip to Bavaria is to visit a small village named Wertach.  If you don’t remember hearing that name before, there is a good reason.  Wertach is located in the far southwestern reaches of Bavaria close to Switzerland and Lichtenstein.  As the cuckoo flies, Austria is only about 2 miles from our condo. 

The path to Wertach

This journey came to pass because of the generosity of several people; one German lady who donated a week in her family-owned apartment for a fund-raising auction in San Antonio, a travel Agency which donated airfare for two, and most importantly my sister-in-law who won the auction even though she knew she wouldn’t be able to take the trip.  Because of these, we are able to take a trip which might not have happened otherwise.

Wertach is situated in a region of Bavaria which is known as the Allgäu.  It is in the foothills of the Alps, and snow covered peaks are visible from our balcony in June.  It is in the center of a major destination for German tourists looking to escape the larger cities, although it is essentially unknown to Texans and other Americans.  In the winter skiing, snowboarding and other snow sports dominate.  In summer, mountain biking and hiking lead the list of possibilities.  There are rivers and streams in every little valley, some of which allow for white water rafting and kayaking.  Several large mountain lakes provide venues for boating and water sports, and campgrounds abound.  Hang gliding and para-sailing are popular and we’ve seen several of these daredevils on our drives.

This is what I had been able to glean from the Internet before arriving in Wertach, and my Lovely Bride and I were wondering exactly what we were going to be doing during our week.  We are getting along in years a bit, and we are not what you would call athletic.  Wimpy...maybe even fluffy, but not athletic.  Soon after arriving, I made the discovery there were about as many tractors driving the streets as cars.  This part of Germany is heavy in farming and cattle production.  No row crops to speak of, but every little meadow in the valleys and on the mountain sides is being cut, raked and baled right now.  It rains a lot here and it shows in the quality of the fodder being put up.  Sunrise comes early here and the farmers have been hauling hay as soon as the dew is off until after 8:00 in the evening.  Driving in the surrounding mountains has revealed this to be the case not just here, but in all the alpine villages.  My wife has used the phrase, “Making hay while the sun shines”  more than once as we have been driving, and not as a joke!  Tractors join right in on all the narrow mountain roads, frequently slowing everyone down to 40 kph for miles.

Hungry Fräuleins

I headed out one morning early for a walk along one of the many trails which crisscross the hills around Wertach.  After an hour or so, I started hearing a ringing noise.  I have whacked myself on the head often enough over the years that this is not an unknown issue, but I was gratified to discover it wasn’t my ears ringing, but rather the bells on a small herd of heifers I happened upon.  They acted very interested in my presence, but I said my hellos and moved on up the trail.  I hadn’t made it more than a few yards(okay…meters) when I heard a tractor pulling up.  It was their farmer bringing them a bucket of cubes for breakfast.

 The Wertach Bergkäsesennerei(Cheese Co-op) makes a variety of cheeses native to the area using locally produced milk, and sells them in the cheese shop located behind the Rathaus.  A tour and explanation of the history of Wertach cheese making stretching back to King Ludwig is presented every Wednesday afternoon.



It is hard to characterize Wertach simply.  Yes, it is a tourist destination with all that entails.  There are Gasthaus, restaurants, hotels and condos to accommodate the seasonal influx.  But there is a core group of year-round residents who vigorously work the land producing the bounty which is in turn enjoyed by all.  Quiet and peaceful, but with lots of outdoor activities to fill your time if you want.

Sunset - Our view every evening

Finally Arrived!

Our long awaited trip to Prague, Vienna and Southern Bavaria finally happened after a multitude of delays.  Most were my own fault for being a clumsy child as my Mother frequently reminds me.  She is still in hopes I will someday grow up and settle down, even though I am now well past 60, and have retired from the Army and also from a second career which followed my time with Uncle Sam.

Since returning home to the thriving metropolis of Naruna, Texas, life has seemed determined to distract me from getting serious writing of our adventures.  I am trying to stay at home for awhile and get my notes converted into at least semi-logical thoughts which I can post.  Some of the ideas I actually worked on while on our trip occurred toward the end while we were staying in the small village of Wertach with few of the big city distractions we encountered in Vienna and Prague, so if stories seem to be out of sequence, they probably are.  

On to Prague

Much as my late father-in-law, a B-17 navigator, did 70 years ago, at
approximately 1027 ZULU we made landfall on the continent of Europe in the
vicinity of Cherbourg.  Actually being over land makes us feel we are
finally making some progress on our journey.  Of course, it would be even
better if we were where we were supposed to be, which is on the ground in
Prague.  Bad weather delayed our plane before it ever got to JFK,
resulting in us taking off 4 hours late.  A small but helpful tailwind
allowed us to make up some time, but we will still be about 3 hours late
arriving in the Czech Republic.  I sure am glad we didn't have anything
much planned for our first day aside from getting settled in our
apartment.  And glad our temporary landlord knows to check the airline's
website before driving to the airport.

Delayed gratification.

On a 737 bound for JFK from SA on the first leg of a trip which should
have happened 9 months ago.  Got word while visiting the grand kids over
the Fourth of July that our reservations were finalized for a vacation
that would include Prague, Vienna and Wertach, a small town in the
Bavarian Alps.  But as often happens, one little slip is all it takes to wreck our plans.

My "slip" came on the trip homeward from Omaha as I walked across a rocky
ledge in the mountains of NW Arkansas.   Fortunately, I broke my fall
with my face, which resulted in visiting ERs in both Arkansas and Oklahoma,
as well as another helicopter ride.  Several surgeries, and many months later, we are trying again.

This morning found us passing through the ever entertaining adventure of
airport security in San Antonio, Texas.  For most of us, this is a fairly
standard exercise which involves taking off shoes, emptying pockets and
taking your computer out of its case.  My Lovely Bride, however, always
finds some way of garnering a little extra attention.  Today, in addition
to the usual electronic scanning, she ended up with three TSA agents
swabbing her hands and forearms.  This is not the first time this has
happened to her, but we've never been able to figure out exactly what they
are trying to detect.  Anyone have an idea?

Neighbors

One of the consequences of living in  the country is that neighbors are spread pretty thin.  Human neighbors especially.  Any kind of gathering is turned into a social occasion, whether it be a funeral, elections held in the fellowship hall of the local church, or a work day at church to do some cleaning and maintenance.  My mother-in-law once complained about the narrow county roads in the area, asking, “What do you do if you should meet someone while driving?”  The reply was you slow down, wave, and if you are acquainted, stop and visit in the middle of the road.  No opportunity to enjoy human contact is lightly passed up.

Even taking advantage of those times, humans are not to be seen often.  I found when I was driving back and forth to work on a daily basis, there were other chances to make acquaintances.  Taking the same path, at about the same time each day, started to reveal some patterns.

These two lived about 2 miles from our house, hanging out with a large herd of goats and the occasional cow & calf.  Most afternoons, they would be grazing along the fence which faced the narrow road, and I came to miss them if they weren’t.  Then my Lovely Bride discovered them on her travels to & from town, and made a point of looking for them.  Once they realized she was infatuated with donkeys, and routinely carried plain granola bars in her car just in case she happened to meet a hungry donkey along the way, they started looking for her!  She would slow as she approached their pasture, and then stop at the same place each day.  If they weren’t already waiting, they would usually come at a trot when they heard her car.  Ears would be scratched, noses rubbed, and granola bars consumed.  Fingers might be nibbled if someone wasn’t careful.  

 Donkeys were lightly spoiled, workplace stresses forgotten, and the last bit of the homeward drive was a time to reflect on how lucky we are to live where we can enjoy God’s creation and his creatures.

Retirement

At the age of 13 I went to work at my first "real" job, pumping gas in a station in the small Texas town where I grew up.  By real, I mean the first job where I was actually paid, as opposed to the free "child labor" on our small & struggling family farm.  Growing up in the country provided me with a multitude of advantages, none of which I recognized until many years later.  I fed cows, pigs and chickens; picked up eggs, washed and candled them using the rudimentary machinery available; pulled weeds from the garden; mowed grass; and hauled hay in the summertime as well as anything else that needed doing.  Only having to pump gas, clean windshields, air up tires, and check oil levels for an 8 hour stretch seemed like a vacation by comparison.  And I got paid $5.00 a day! 

Fast forward 47 years, and the attraction of full time employment was beginning to wane.  Forty one of those years were spent in the Operating Room in one role or another, 37 as a Registered Nurse, and the last 27 in administrative roles.  Many exciting changes occurred during that time, and it was always thrilling to be an active participant in many of those almost miraculous advances.

Many other changes, not nearly as uplifting, were being forced upon the entire healthcare field by more stringent government regulations and changes in reimbursement by the government as well as insurance companies.  In an effort to successfully cope with these changes, hospital administrations began austerity campaigns, stressing the more efficient provision of care with decreasing staff resources.  Anything that might affect the corporate bottom line was(and is) scrutinized to see if it can be done cheaper by fewer people.  Entire departments have been eliminated, with their functions being outsourced, transferred to other departments, or eliminated entirely.  Last year's productivity study could result in this year's firings, without regard to current workload and staff requirements.

This unsettled environment, with the physical stress of trying to do more work with fewer trained bodies, along with the mental and emotional stress of never knowing what might happen next, led me to decide that it was time for me to seriously consider retirement.  There were many unknowns.  Would I be able to adjust to not going to a job after a lifetime of working full time?  Would I habitually awake early each morning as I had done for decades?  Would I be able to financially afford retirement?  Would my Lovely Bride grow tired of me being under foot all the time, and try to suffocate me in my sleep? 

As I thought of retirement, I considered other factors.  I have known many people over the years who worked diligently, saving and preparing for their retirement so they would be able to enjoy their "golden years".  Sadly, many times those dreams of traveling, fishing or maybe just enjoying their grand children were disrupted when they or their spouse became ill or suffered some physical calamity.  One or the other became unable to do those things they had hoped for and worked toward for so many years.  Rather than working as long as physically possible, would we be better served by consciously choosing to retire earlier, planning to exist on a smaller income, but able to spend more time together  doing those things we had dreamed of?

After pondering these questions for several months, I decided I needed to break away from work.  On February 1st, I embarked upon a new stage in my life as a retiree.  Whether or not it will actually "take", remains to be seen. 

So far, I haven't missed working at all.  I discovered I have no problem sleeping until after the sun comes up.  Unfortunately, I still don't know for sure if I can afford to be retired, but I'm sure trying to make it work.  Oh yeah, and my Lovely Bride may sometimes wish I would find something to do outside of the house, but she seems to feel my being underfoot is a fair price to pay for the alteration in my stress level and my mellower attitude.