Since Germany is about the size of Montana and has 82 million residents, you can imagine that space is at a premium there.
Add that to the fact that the cities and buildings were designed centuries ago in many cases, and it turns driving around the town into a game of chicken between Hal's minivan and the oncoming BMW. For example, the picture on the right is the elevator at our first hotel which was on the 5th floor (meaning our hotel was the fifth floor, I don't know what else was going on in the building). For those of you who know my claustrophobia tendencies, you can imagine the joy each ride presented for Paul.
But along with those tight squeezes comes the charm of a narrow cobblestone street just wide enough for one car. Almost all the little towns we walked around were like this and we loved it! Lots of times the streets were completely closed off to cars and we could just stroll down them looking in the shops and enjoying the local bakeries. :) As a city planner, Paul was loving all the history and influences of the city squares as well as the pedestrian-friendly transportation systems. We miss you Germany!
Add that to the fact that the cities and buildings were designed centuries ago in many cases, and it turns driving around the town into a game of chicken between Hal's minivan and the oncoming BMW. For example, the picture on the right is the elevator at our first hotel which was on the 5th floor (meaning our hotel was the fifth floor, I don't know what else was going on in the building). For those of you who know my claustrophobia tendencies, you can imagine the joy each ride presented for Paul. 
But along with those tight squeezes comes the charm of a narrow cobblestone street just wide enough for one car. Almost all the little towns we walked around were like this and we loved it! Lots of times the streets were completely closed off to cars and we could just stroll down them looking in the shops and enjoying the local bakeries. :) As a city planner, Paul was loving all the history and influences of the city squares as well as the pedestrian-friendly transportation systems. We miss you Germany!
2 comments:
I love that you said that YOUR fear of small spaces presents a problem for PAUL, not you!
I didn't do much to help the situation either. The physical and mental manifestations of Esther's freakiness (claustrophobia) tends to just make me laugh; which, of course, only exacerbates the situation, makes Esther ever more belligerent and diminishes any quality of life scraps that Paul has left to cling to. Sorry.
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