By Laurie Hansen

It didn't start out with a Hallmark moment, but the beauty and heritage we found in Germany was worth it in the end. Having never traveled together alone, hindsight is 20/20. We should have prepared a lot more. I'm a kind of "wing it" traveler, while Mom is more of a "dot the I's and cross the t's planner." I've been to Mexico a few times, so I figured this would be a piece of cake....

So off to Germany for one week we went. Neither of us speaking the language, nor ever having been to Europe. We rented a car at the airport and raced onto the autobahn easy enough. Finding the first place to stay was not as easy as lead to believe by my college friends, but with very helpful and courteous guidance from a gas station attendant, we made our way. Finding a wonderful room above a café, we came down to dine and then set off by foot to catch a bit of night air before retiring.

Upon our way back toward the inn, we noticed a tow truck and police car. As we approached we recognized the silver flash of our car as it was being whisked away around the corner. Running toward the inn shouting for our car, the innkeeper steps out trying to calm us.

Come to find out we had parked in front of someone's alley entrance, which to the unknowing looked like a plain wall at street side. We didn't know the walls open to the parking areas behind the buildings, there are not back alley's like here in America. Much money later, due to long taxi rides and very expensive tickets to get the car back, we were once again on our way.

In less than 24 hours, one third of our "spending cash" was gone. We were somewhat deflated in our quest. Needless to say, the economy version of our trip was left to driving around much of the beautiful countryside venturing as far from city streets as possible to avoid wrongful parking! But we weren't disappointed with this, as the rich landscape and heritage was made for breathtaking picturesque adventuring. We probably found more unique sites this way too. Next time, a little more research and perhaps a guided tour group would do the trick!

Date Entered: 1/25/2000