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All roads lead to Wiesbaden! Our intra-Germany move, part two…

On Tuesday, we went back to the house and watched the movers get all our stuff on their truck.  I ran into our neighbor again as I was loading more stuff into my car.  He asked again if we were moving.  I confirmed that we were moving to Wiesbaden for Bill’s new job.  He wished us luck and said “Auf Wiedersehen”… and again, smiled pretty!  I guess I can’t blame him for that.  For his sake, I hope the next tenants don’t have a huge American style truck.

We were finished loading up by noon, so Bill and I started our northern trek to Hesse.  I don’t do a lot of driving anymore, not because I can’t, but because I hate traffic.  Frankly, I don’t socialize very much with other people, either.  I was a little worried about driving on the Autobahn for so long, knowing that we’d no doubt hit traffic jams.  I’m proud to report that despite rainy weather and a few Staus, Bill and I both made it through our journey unscathed.  In fact, Bill even paid me a high compliment by saying that I would have made a fine “tanker”.  Before Bill became an exercise planner, he was a tanker… so I guess he knows what would make a fine one.

Time for a break!  This photo inspired a number of comments from my Facebook friends.  We didn’t visit the well advertised erotic store, but I was advised that there’s a good selection there for those who are still Christmas shopping.

Apparently, I have a good sense of how to be in a convoy.  More than once, I made it possible for Bill to change lanes and kept up a good “march distance”.  What can I say?  My dad was a navigator in the Air Force and endowed me with an excellent sense of direction.  Unfortunately, he didn’t endow me with his adrenaline junkie tendencies or love of fitness.  Oh well…

We spent our first night in Wiesbaden at the Hotel zum Wiesengrund, a very reasonably priced hotel near our new home.  I had originally booked a different place, but changed my mind when I read about Hotel zum Wiesengrund’s well regarded restaurant.  I wanted to go somewhere we’d be able to have a good meal after two days of hard work and driving.  I’m not proud of it, but we resorted to a couple of McDonalds’ meals during our moving out process.  It had been awhile since the last time I ate in a McDonald’s.  It was kind of a shocking experience.  I knew they have kiosks now, but I’ve never actually used one.

Bill was showing me how one orders at McDonald’s nowadays…  this actually makes me kind of sad. 

We arrived at our new house at about 5:00pm on November 27th.  Our new landlord gave us the keys after we paid him the Kaution and first month’s rent.  Our new house is larger, more modern, and much more expensive than the one in Unterjettingen is.  What’s more, our new landlord lives next door to us.  However, he has only rung our doorbell once.  So far, we’re getting along fine.

The view from the balcony on the front of our new house.

The view from the balcony on the back of the house.  Our yard has a nice tall fence and is plenty secure for Zane and Arran, which is a really nice convenience.  Apparently, the people who lived in our house before us were Americans with a dog.  They hooked us up!

 

We laid down the rugs we bought from the Turkish rug guys at Panzer Barracks in Boeblingen.  I’m glad we bought rugs before we left, since it doesn’t appear that Wiesbaden has a similar shop.  I bought rugs from the Turkish guys a couple of years ago, but they weren’t nearly as nice as the ones we just got.  I actually wish we’d bought a couple more rugs, since our new house has brand new parquet floors that I want to protect as much as possible.

After we laid down the rugs, we went to the hotel and checked in.  The Hotel zum Wiesengrund is located on a busy road, but it has a large parking lot with free parking for guests.  We checked in and were assigned a very basic, but clean, room.

A tiny, basic room at Hotel zum Wiesengrund.  Fine for a night.

A tiny shower, but very clean and good water pressure.

 

After we dropped off our bags at the hotel, we decided to have dinner.  Although I had wanted a nice meal, I wasn’t that hungry after all the traveling and stop at Mickey D’s.  I did really want a beer, though.

Bill decides what he wants.  He wasn’t hungry, either.

Ahhh…  This hit the spot.  Wiesbaden is really more wine country than beer country.

I went with fried fish…  It wasn’t the healthiest choice, but it tasted good.  I liked the remoulade that came with it.  Kind of like really fancy tartar sauce.

Bill had smoked salmon.

 

I think Hotel zum Wiesengrund is better known for its restaurant than its lodging.  Bill says some of his co-workers have been to the restaurant, and we noticed it was popular with locals.  There was a large party of Germans near us and they were enjoying Christmas goose and Schnapps.  I had “apple most” for dessert.  Basically, it was non-alcoholic, home pressed apple juice… very tasty!  I expect to become acquainted with apple wine now, since that’s supposedly a local speciality.

Breakfast at Hotel zum Wiesengrund is included in the price of the room, which was about 90 euros.  It’s served buffet style and offers the usual cheeses, cold cuts, breads, and jams.  Unlike the Hotel Adler, the Hotel zum Wiesengrund also has hard boiled eggs, which was a nice touch.

After we checked out of the hotel, we headed for our new house and the dreaded chore of moving in. The same foreman was going to be there, along with several more guys coming in from Heidelberg, which is in Baden-Wuertemberg, like Stuttgart is, yet is located closer to Wiesbaden.

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anecdotes

The high price of giving someone the finger in Germany…

Some months ago, I wrote a blog post about how it’s illegal to flip someone off while driving in Germany.  That post wasn’t all that informative because I didn’t know much about the German laws regarding fines for insulting officials.  Apparently, it’s a very big deal here.  I had heard that shooting someone the bird could result in a big fine, but I didn’t know the fine could run into the thousands!

One of the German members of our local Facebook group posted a price list of fines one can expect to pay for obscene finger gestures and cussing at cops.  Behold…

As you can see, calling an official a “dumb cow” is a relative bargain at just 300 euros.  If you call them an old pig (or sow), the price jumps up to 2500 euros.  Given that pigs are very intelligent if not a bit smelly, it seems like that would be a lesser insult than calling someone a slut (schlampe).  But if you do go there, you could end up with a 1900 euro fine.  Curiously, calling an official a “stupid pig” (or really, bloody bastard) results in a much lower fine (475 euros) than calling them an old pig.  And calling someone an idiot can result in a 1500 euro fine.

According to the accompanying guide, the reason for these fines is that driving requires mutual respect and constant care.  If you give in to swearing and making obscene gestures in a stressful traffic situation, you run the risk of escalating a situation that may already be tense.  So it is forbidden to blow off steam by going off on other drivers or the police.  By doing so, you may upset them and cause them to go off and things could snowball into an obscene gesture and swearing brawl on the autobahn!  In all seriousness, I think the Germans make a good point.  On the other hand, I have seen some behavior on the autobahn that would certainly try the patience of the average motorist.  Indeed, my husband Bill is one of the most mild mannered people I know… except when he’s driving!

Now, I have not yet been in a position to insult anyone, let alone a cop or a judge.  Still, I have to admit that I’m fascinated by this list of words you can’t say to cops without risking a fine.  I was so interested that I found the Web site where this stuff is listed, opening it in Google Chrome of course.  My German skills still aren’t so great.  There, I found out that getting caught driving drunk (BAC over .05) the first time results in a 500 euro fine, two points on the driver’s license, and a one month suspension of one’s driver’s license.  That, to me, seems like a more serious crime than flipping someone off, which can result in a fine of up to 4000 euros (the guide says the fine is more likely to be around 600 euros– still a lot of cash for a non verbal insult).

The guide suggests that those who feel inclined to insult on the road “take a deep breath” or take a short break.  Consider whether or not you’d prefer to spend 600 euros on a fine or on a vacation.  Or, if things are really serious, consider anger management therapy.  Surely some time and cash spent learning how to deal with your emotions is worth the investment.

I get a kick out of the fact that the middle finger gesture is referred to as the “Stinkefinger”.  I also think it’s funny that Google Chrome’s translation of these insults is so hilarious.  In reading this list on Chrome, I learned that “Du Wichser!” means “You wanker!”  So now, thanks to the German catalog of fines for insults, I now know how to call someone a wanker.  I just won’t do it while driving, especially if they’re wearing a polizei uniform.  I also like how the price list page pictures an angry man sitting in his car, baring his teeth!

I see the catalog also helpfully provides fine information in Austria, France, and Italy.  That makes sense, since Germans drive to those countries somewhat routinely.  I don’t see Switzerland listed, though lots of Germans drive there.  Maybe it’s because it’s not in the EU?  Who knows?

If this article has piqued your interest, I recommend having a look at the comments posted…  They are quite funny to this American.  On the other hand, perhaps we Americans can take a lesson in civility from our German friends…

Edited to add in 2019…  I still haven’t shot the bird at anyone in Germany, nor have I ever sworn at them in German, although I must admit the temptation has been there a few times.  I generally don’t insult people unless they insult or harass me first (and I have proof).

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