Duffer Update from Germany - Car Free
Just an update...
I have been living in Germany for most of the last year. I live in the Northern Lowlands about 25 Klicks from Belgium or Holland in two different directions. Life here without a car is entirely doable... My first car is a TREK bike with front basket, two panniers and 27 gears. My second car is a brand new Mercedes City Bus that takes me where ever I want or need to go... then of course, the Zügen hier are the best too... I do all our shopping with a front basket and two paniers made of heavy cloth, lined I might add with cardboard fruit crates to keep the cloth from entangling my rear wheels. Girlfriend is so thrifty she will not allow me to buy REAL ONES, but I am getting into living like a pauper too. A skill that may soon be quite necessary. There are no real hills here, so even loaded like a donkey I can circumnavigate the town in 2.5 hours hitting two or three or more shops for bargain items, and get home without being completely worn out. Forests surround the edge of all these cities here... In 25 minutes I can be in dense forest that was fought over by the Romans, Gauls, Saxons, Germans, Dutch and allied forces in WW1 and 2. All these forests have servicable bike and foot trails that one can spend hours, days or weeks wandering around in. History here does not date merely to the American celebration of the exinction of the American Indian. It goes back 250,000 years to the beginnings of the Neanderthal man. And the relics from all these times... including more castles in this area than anywhere else in the world, old Water and Wind Mills, Roman artifact museums, Art museums and more... make this a fascinating place to live. I am doing my best to learn the language... I don't drink alcohol. So the great beer hier ist not of interest. The German brown bread, Bratwurst and fresh fruits from Italy, Greece, Spain, Israel and South Africa, as well as the cheap high quality meat and poultry make meals around here fun and sustainable. But to be clear, and stay on topic. It can all be done by Bike, everyday of the week all year long. I am even gearing up for the Winter, and my Mountain Bike style setup will allow quick trips out to the market between storms too. For Recumbent Bike Fans... they have many of those here too... older people mostly ride them that I have seen. They are called LiegerRäder Lying back bicycles... And most of the LiegerRad are lower to the ground and shorter than the US counterparts, most, with only 16 inch wheels with thin width tires. And you can get them on a Bus too, in the Center section for a couple of extra bucks... With luck and proper planning I get to spend the rest of my life here with a woman I love dearly who also likes to get out and see the world via bus, train and foot (and once in a while on a bike although sadly she is not well suited to more than 5 kilometers...) At some point the money is going to run out but we have a house here that is paid for, with a bus line right out side the door. And even Junker bikes are available around here at a cheap price if it ever comes to that... It damn near killed me to think this far outside the box... and dangers abound that could crush me like a bug... but for one of the first times in my life I am starting to enjoy life in a way I imagine most people do everyday... Ned Goudy, 58 Maas-Rheinland, Deutschland |
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