Autoahn Impressions - Skoda, Scirocco, Mercedes Drivers

I've formed a few new impressions about German Autos and their drivers.

• A few months ago, I started to notice Skoda autos more and more. They are so conservatively styled that I they are actually pretty cool. The Octavia reminds me of BMWs from 10 years ago (without the kidney-shaped front grills). The Fabia is a practical looking hatchback, without resorting to the cube-on-wheels-look that has become so omnipresent.
  
  Later, I learned that Skoda was owned by VW and make in the Czech Republic. I also found there are a lot of Germans that swear by them. In fact, the magazine for the German version of AAA recently rated the automakers selling cars in Germany and Skoda came in forth, just ahead of the parent company VW. BMW was first, narrowly beating out Audi. Mercedes was third.
  
  
• VW reintroduced the Scirocco in 2008. The original was produced between 1974-1981. The second edition between 1982 and 1992 is what I remember. It was a low-profile, sleek, athletic version of the Rabbit. People that had one loved it.
  
  For me, the new Scirocco looks more like a muscle car. It retains the low-profile, but it bulges out at on the sides. It just doesn't have the appeal that the previous version had.
  
  
  
• There are a couple of unwritten rules about driving in Germany. One of these is
  
  
  
  

  "Mercedes drivers have different rules than the rest of us."

  
  I cannot tell you the number of times that we have been behind a Mercedes driver that was doing something stupid. Last Monday while riding the bus, the bus suddenly came to a stop. Fortunately no one was hurt, but people did have trouble keeping their feet. The reason for the abrupt stop, a Mercedes driver had backed out from a side street onto one of Koblenz's major streets without looking. Not only that, this same driver did exactly the same thing on the other side of the street less than 5 minutes later.
  
  Another time, we were following an A-Klasse at 130 km/hour when the driver suddenly put on the brakes and slowed to 70. This was .5 km before the beginning of her and out exit. Once she reached the exit, 70 was too fast for her, so she slowed down to 30. Speed limit was 60, it was still daylight and there was no rain or snow.
  
  I have wondered why this is. One possibility I came up with is the the current Mercedes are mostly about the safety of their cars. Malcolm Gladwell wrote in one of his essays, “Human beings have a seemingly fundamental tendency to compensate for lower risks in one area by taking greater risks in another.” We have certainly seen this in a number of recent events.
  
  
• The corollary to the above, now-written rule is another previously unwritten rule
  
  
  
  

  People driving a Mercedes cannot be passed by people driving cars from other makers.

  It doesn't matter what class of Mercedes we pass in our 2002 Mazda 323, within 5 minutes, that Mercedes will pass us again. To be honest, Mercedes drivers are not the only ones that this corollary applies to. BMW and big Audi (A6 and above) also do not like the idea of a Mazda passing them.

Rheinsteig - Koblenz to Braubach

Last week, Frannie and I used one day for a 20 km hike on the Rheinsteig. The short story goes something like the following:

First 18 km mostly through woods with 2 good climbs and one steep downhill. Felt good to be out, Frannie seemed to enjoy it as well. But I didn't need that hill between 18 and 19 km. Still after getting to the top, the reward was some great views of the Rhein and the castle Marksburg.

The longer story is a bit more involved. The previous week while looking at the map of Rheinsteig, I noticed that the trail passed Koblenz directly on the opposite bank of the Rhine. So is seemed like a good idea for my second hike on Rheinsteig to walk across the bridge and follow the trail up river.

So one morning last week found Frannie and I crossing the bridge over the Rhine. When we dropped down from the bridge on the other side, we were on Rheinsteig. The trail follows the river for less than a kilometer, then turns up through the villiage of Pfaffendorf. pass the church and into a valley as it climbs 300 metes over the next 5-6 km. At the top is Lichter Kopf, a tower build in WWII to allow German troops to watch over this part of the Rhine. That was until the heavy winds at the end of February that blew the tower down. Now all that is left is the twisted remains of the base of the tower.

The next 4.5 km offered views of the Lahn river that flows into the Rhine. At this point the trail begins a 145 meter drop in a 1/2 km called Ruperts Klamm. In Ruperts Klamm, there are places where the trial disappears. You just follow the flow of the water and scramble over any rocks in you way. It really looks more dangerous as it actually is. And there are covered steel cables that can be used in some of the tougher spot. Of course, those didn't help Frannie. There were a couple of spots that were difficult for her, but she managed to get through the Klamm without incident.

The trail continues down to and across the Lahm, then climbs the other side, passing by a hotel. Then we head down to that 18 km mark. At this point, I was feeling OK. but I was out of water, so the climb between 18 and 19 km was a bit harder than I would have liked. Frannie and I took a rest at the top, not knowing that if we had walked another 80 meters, we would had had a wonderful view of Braubach, the Rhine and Marksburg setting on the hill over the town.

Marksburg castle is one of the best preserved castles in Germany. It is certainly in the top 5 of castles to visit. Unlike the glamor castles built to satisfy 17th and 18th century egos, Marksburg is a true medieval fortress castle that claims to have never been over-run by invading armies. Well worth a tour.

The last kilometer was all downhill, depositing us in the middle of Braubach. Frannie and I found the train station and took the bus back to Koblenz. This was Frannie's first bus trip. But I don't think she noticed much. All she wanted to to was find a place to lie down and sleep.