Some Thoughts on Driving Through Europe

Before I go any further in my story, I want to share some observations about what it is like to drive in Europe as the Family Hilbrecht.

Let me begin by saying that we are a minivan family.  Our kids are fast out-growing the need for a minivan, but I love the room and the versatility a minivan provides.  They are far from cool, but they are practical, and I love mine.

The only minivans we saw while driving through Germany, France, Austria, and Switzerland either belonged to a business as a delivery vehicle or, most probably, an American family stationed overseas.

Anything bigger than a Camry is impractical.  Gas is CRAZY expensive, like 1.64 euros a liter.  A liter.  You can't be driving a car that gets 20 miles to the gallon while living in Europe.  It was quite a challenge for the 3 kids to live peacefully in the backseat of the car we rented, but they did.  They just wouldn't want to do it for longer than a couple of days.

Leaving Mullheim for Switzerland

As far as riding in the car together, there is nothing that warms a parent's heart like hearing your 19, 16, and 13 year old children singing together in the backseat of the car while cruising through Germany.  They belted out songs from Newsies and Fiddler on the Roof, and songs from Girl Scout camp.  They sang along to the English tunes that came on the radio.  With no way to text their friends while we drove for 2-3 hours at a time, they took to amusing each other, and it was awesome.  They also napped, and the good thing about being so squished is that you hold each other up.

There really are a lot of English songs on European radio.  Kirk and I recalled that when we were kids, the only foreign language songs we ever heard played here were 99 Luftballons and Rock Me, Amedeus.  Seriously, about 1 out of every 3 songs we heard on the radio in every country we were in was in English.

Next, the people over there drive REALLY FAST.  And really, really close.  And if you are not driving really fast and really close, they get really mad and start blinking their high beams at you to get the hell out of the way.  It is very unnerving to those of us who are not aggressive drivers, especially when traversing mountain ranges with no guard rails.  These people must be experts at any one of the race car video games, because they do not slow down, even on the curves.

Driving on the sidewalk is totally cool if there is something blocking your way.  Just go around.  People will move.

Saarbruken from our hotel window

You can get your car into places way tinier than you ever imagined possible.  And if you are unfortunate enough to be driving a minivan, you are SOL.

Where you want to go may be further than you would normally walk if you were back home, but driving and parking is such a pain, that you would actually rather add 2 walking miles to your excursion than to try and drive and park in a different spot.

Walking down to Leysin from our hotel

You really need to know how to drive a stick-shift before you go to Europe if you plan to rent a car.

There are a lot of tunnels in central Europe.  A lot.  And they are really, really long.  I have never driven through as many tunnels in my entire life as I did on this one trip.  They can get kind of claustrophobic.

Round-abouts are tricky, but once you get the hang of them, they are pretty awesome.  We should have more of them here in the US.

Cars and streetcars can share the same road space, but it is VERY nerve-wracking when you look in your rearview mirror and see a street car right on your bumper.

Motorcyclists who drive between lanes while going 100 kph are a hazard.  And freaking scary!

We did not see a lot of teenage drivers there.  It seems most kids ride bikes or take public transportation.

For all of our traffic here, I'll take driving in the US any day.  Just sayin'.