ZOOM ZOOM

While living in Germany a few years ago, I never got a chance to drive on the famed Autobahn. This time, I got my chance. My colleagues and I rented a BMW 3 series automatic diesel station wagon to go from Munich to a town just outside of Coburg, about 2.5 hours North of Munich. We were there to visit a vendor. There are speed limits on most of the autobahn. Usually the fastest marked speed limit is 120 km/hr. And people obey them all the time. However, when the sign says that the speed limit no longer applies, it means that you can go at any speed that you seem fit.

We drove the four lane A9. The far right lane was for the slow people. Slow is relative here. Slow was those going less than 140 km/hr (70 mph). The 2nd to the left lane was known as the "fast" lane. Fast here is going more than (200 km/hr). I drove back from the vendor to Munich. I think I averaged about 180 km/hr. Anytime you want to pass someone, you have to pass on the left. That is what the far left lane is reserved for. And you're not allowed to underpass, which is passing on the right. So I spent most of the time in the 2 left lanes. The surprising thing was that despite going "fast" there were still people flying past me. I knew I was going fast, but I think the locals like to drive faster.



I liked driving on the Autobahn. When I got home though, I realized that my little RSX speedometer "only" goes up to 220 km/hr. It made me realize that the only time I'd ever be able to drive that fast again would be on the autobahn. Sigh... =)

p.s. I drove an automatic in Germany, which is virtually unheard of. Where was this automatic when I had to drive from Herzo to Sheinfeld while I was working with adidas???? Oh well, that is a whole other story for another blog.
I also got to drive by Erlangen, my old town of residence. Didn't get to stop by my old apartment though. That's ok, I wouldn't have known how to get to it anyway from the freeway since I never drove =)