Thoughts on Germany and Germans, from an Australian bloke with a German name and a German wife.
The Roads
The Germans are much smarter than us about speed limits, which are slower in town and faster on the freeways.
Australians, myself included, get frustrated and angry in suburban 50km/h zones. But here everyone is totally cool about doing 30, and I have found that it encourages me to be relaxed about it as well.
Often in the middle of town the roads are made of old fashioned flagstones, which are indestructible but a wee bit bumpy and slippery. So you go very slowly indeed.
At this low speed, people just have more patience with local conditions. We rode around Celle in a horse and cart today, causing about forty cars to slow down and wait for 5 minutes on a particular one-way road. There was nary a beep. They all just waited until we were out of the way.
Everyone double-parks if they need to pick up a passenger or drop off a package, and no-one else cares. You just go around them.
Here's a neato idea.
When you park in a time-limit zone, you put this little cardboard thing on your dash with the current time on it - how many minutes past the hour it was when you arrived. Then the inspectors know when you got there. (And if you don't have one of these things displayed, they book you.)
There are lots of people on bikes. The kids are legally required to wear helmets but virtually nobody else bothers.
There are dedicated bike lanes everywhere, sometimes on the road and sometimes marked out on the footpath.
