How to Get Around Germany
Where we end up having class is very dependent on the location. Sometimes we meet at a hotel conference room 5 minutes away, and sometimes we need to take a 20 minute train ride. The trains in Germany are much more clean and fast than the T in Boston. I’ll definitely miss them once I’m back home! Additionally, workers don’t regularly check your ticket. Instead they impose a fine on you if you are found without one. This keeps stations much more efficient because people don’t have to swipe or scan in with their tickets.
Transportation in general is very different here. Much less people drive, instead you will see a plethora of bikes and vespas in the streets. Biking here is a lot scarier. The bike lanes are more common and integrated right into the street. Because of this, bikers have a lot more rules imposed upon them which means that we aren’t allowed to rent bikes (as much as I would love to).
To get between cities, there are high speed trains that are surprisingly comfortable. Sitting on a train is not such a bad way to relax for a few hours I’ve found. At our most recent stop, we have our own bus which is a new one. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet! Apparently we will be doing a lot more short (1 or 2 hour) trips so it will be useful for that.
The final mode of transportation, which is my favorite, is gondola! The other day we took a day trip to Tubingen where we were able to ride a gondola down the river. It was super beautiful and a great way to spend a hot day. Our supervisor, Justin, even sang us some songs in German! Generally cities are very small and walkable in Germany, but I hope this was a helpful overview of the transportation system.
