The self-drive tour starts today. I went to the car rental place yesterday on my way back from Marienplatz, so I knew my way around today.
The car rental place is located near the Munich train station square, which is particularly busy because of its proximity to the station. On Sundays, when all European countries are closed, only the businesses near the train station are open, especially the catering industry, so the traffic is the heaviest. The car rental industry is located two floors up from the train station and there are several car rental companies, such as HERTZ and SIX, working in the same room.
My wife booked a HERTZ online and we were greeted by a blonde woman who spoke good English and had no difficulty communicating. We were given the keys without any problems, but picking up the car was in a different place. I don’t know if my wife understood it, but I did. It’s not far north of the station square, Hirtenstrasse 4, on a small road, which is probably a garage.
We both followed the map and found the garage without any problems. We took the lift to the fourth basement level and found the car we had hired, a Ford Mondeo, according to its number! Wife was a bit dumbfounded to see the car, it was so big? I’ve never driven a car like this before! I’ve never driven a car like this before, and I’ve never driven a C5. How do you park? How to stop? How to turn around corners is not the same as before, so I started to wonder. I was lucky enough to have a diesel car, but the highways in Europe are toll-free, but the cost of fuel is much higher than at home, but diesel is definitely cheaper than petrol. How to refuel also seemed to be a problem.
But what could we do, we got in the car! The problem was that it wouldn’t start! I’ve never driven a smart car like this before. It was only after asking my friends on WeChat that I found out how to start it, which was hilarious!
The garage in Germany is so compact and the Ford is so big that getting from the fourth floor down to the ground level is almost a daunting task! I was so nervous in the passenger seat that I didn’t know where to put my hands! After a short break, I took a break from my luggage and set my mind on the direction of Nuremberg.
After a few junctions, we drove to the German highway, the A9. When I came to Germany, I knew that there was no speed limit on the German highway, but I didn’t know exactly how.
The outermost lane of the German motorway is the overtaking lane, the innermost lane is usually the lorry lane, and the middle lane is a mixed lane. There are cars and lorries on them. The speed limit on German city roads is generally 50-60 km/h, and interstate roads are generally class B roads with a speed limit of generally 70 km/h. On motorways, however, the speed limit is generally 120 km/h. On A-roads, the speed limit is 120 km/h. The speed limit signs are erected on the side or on electronic screens. When there are several vertical lines diagonally across the speed limit sign, it means that the speed limit is lifted. As long as your car is capable, you can go as fast as you like and nobody cares. There are also not that many cameras on the German motorways and the navigation is quiet all the way, especially with Google Navigation, which doesn’t say much. The navigation is very quiet, especially the Google navigation, which doesn’t say much. It only reminds you of key corners. Sometimes it’s hard to get used to the fact that if you’re slow to react, you’ll already be driving past the junction you’re turning into.
From the passenger seat, I reminded my wife when to turn, when the speed limit changed and so on.
For my wife, who was driving in Germany for the first time, it was probably very exciting. Plus the car was good and drank diesel with great force. I always like to drive in the overtaking lane and the speedometer is always around 160 km/h. Only when I saw the speed limit of 120 km/h did I slow down a little to 130 km/h. Sitting in the passenger seat, my heart was hanging in the air and I was a bit scared. From time to time you can see motorbikes whizzing past you on the highway, and they are in a queue. The scenery on both sides of the highway is beautiful, with pastures, mountains and more endless cornfields, and a big road through this landscape is not a pleasure for driving.
The 170 km journey took less than 2 hours to reach Nuremberg. According to the itinerary, you should look for free parking near the Church of Our Lord. However, as soon as we entered the city, we could see many P signs on the roadside, indicating that there were still plenty of parking spaces or garages in Nuremberg. I found a garage close by, took my parking slip at the crossbar when I entered and then found a good spot to park. The biggest hassle in Europe is finding the toilets, many of which charge a fee, usually 1 euro a time. It feels like you’re making money to go to the toilet for free. In this garage, you can use the toilet for free with your parking ticket number, although parking is more expensive, usually 2 euros per hour. But since you can go to the toilet for free, it doesn’t feel too expensive.
When you arrive in Nuremberg, it is also customary to use Baidu or Google Maps to find the local attractions and walk there on foot. The big difference between the streets of Germany and those of China is that there are fewer people, and even when you get to the sights, they are not as crowded as those in China.
When you arrive in Nuremberg, you have to visit the main church in the city centre, and while looking at the main church, the beautiful spring is a must-see. At first, I thought that the beautiful spring was a spring, but I didn’t expect it to be such a gorgeous building. There are several long poles sticking out from the fence, and if you press them down gently, the water will flow out. Visitors usually try to press the poles at the same time, usually in couples or pairs, and leave a beautiful picture. On the west side of the spring is a brass ring that has been touched by visitors and is said to bring you luck when you touch it and turn it clockwise for a week. Visitors come and go, hoping that the spring will bring them good luck.
Opposite the spring is the church, and in many parts of Europe there are squares and markets right next to the church, and Nuremberg is no exception. Nuremberg is no exception. There is a large square on the church square, similar to a marketplace in China, where you can buy all kinds of fruit and vegetables and food. Next to the beautiful spring is Nuremberg’s famous red train.
A short walk west from the square is the Nuremberg Toy Museum. It’s not a free museum, but at the entrance where you can buy souvenirs is also the ticket office, which costs 6 euros a head. It has all kinds of toys on display, from rag dolls for girls to model cars for boys. When we arrived in Nuremberg, we realised that this was the home of teddy bears! The teddy bears are sold not far from the museum, but when you look at the prices, they are really expensive, nearly 100 euros a piece. It was a bit expensive, nearly 100 euros.
After driving around Nuremberg for nearly 3 hours, I managed to find a parking garage, took out my parking ticket and inserted it in front of the payment machine, which showed you the amount of money you had to pay. After inserting the coin, you will be given a voucher to pay. (A tip here is to make sure you have coins, or notes of up to 20 euros, when you go to Germany, otherwise it can be a bit tricky). When you leave the garage, insert the payment coupon at the machine in front of the bar, the bar lifts up and you are ready to leave.
The distance from Nuremberg to Bayreuth is not too far, about 90 km, but there was a situation when you got off the highway and got off early on the right turn, only to have to go around again on the highway to find the real right turn. Once off the highway, I found a petrol station and filled up for the first time in Germany.
Because it is diesel, it is the cheapest of all the gas prices in Germany, usually at 1.3 Euros per litre, but this price changes daily and usually does not exceed 1.3 Euros. Pick up the petrol gun at the pump, fill it up and note that you remember the number of your pump. Then go to the cashier at the supermarket next to you and ask the cashier at high speed for your petrol pump number, preferably in German. So it’s a good idea to learn the numbers 1 to 6 in German, then pay the money and leave.
In the evening around 5pm we arrived at the hotel we had booked in Bayreuth, Apart-Hotel First Boarding, which comes with its own garage and parking for check-in.
This hotel is a flat hotel with a kitchen in the room so residents can cook their own food! There is a Lidl supermarket not far from the hotel, which is very convenient. After many days in Germany, I could cook my own dinner today!
