Anything else that SHOULDN’T be done in Germany?? 😅

@derlaurenz

Жыл бұрын

Don't screw the Finanzamt

@christian_w.

Жыл бұрын

Don't make Nazi or Hitler jokes in Germany without knowing your audience. Could lead to awkward situations.

@th60of

Жыл бұрын

Feel free to speak English, but don't start shouting if people don't get it right away. Volume isn't the problem, usually. And in general, speak in a lower voice than you are used to in America if you want to avoid the ominous "German stare ".

@manub.3847

Жыл бұрын

@@th60of Especially on public transport and if you like to watch videos on your smartphone, listen to music or talk to someone on the phone--> be quiet, use headphones ;) There is (almost) nothing worse than being bothered by these "noises" on public transport. There are days when I want to carry a bunch of inexpensive headphones in my bag to hand out to those people.

@Kivas_Fajo

Жыл бұрын

Do not come here, rent a fast car and drive on the Autobahn with no clue about the rules!!!! You will either kill yourself or yourself and others...if you aren't used to driving past 100 mph...

One thing i recognised multiple times, when i went to the former Concentraotion Camp Buchenwald is that many tourists are very loud and making jokes with each other, loughing, etc. I get that you want to have fun on your trip, but this is one of our biggest memorials. Tens of thousands of people died there under gruesome circumstances. It is a place for modesty, a statement of what can happen if a society falls. Don't respecting that is equal to make a picknick on the tomb of the unknown soldier or burning model-twintowers. If you want to visit these memorials you are welcome. They represent a very important message. But please, treat them with the respect they deserve.

To No. 6: if you only speak English, please speak more slowly, it helps a lot to understand you!

@allansnape416

Жыл бұрын

If you have a Liverpool accent speak even slower🥴

@udorechner6846

Жыл бұрын

Another good advise, please speak without a chewing gum in your mouth and prevent us typ slang speech that nobody in Germany could understand..

@avoicetocount

Жыл бұрын

​@@udorechner6846 Native speakers may not consider their everyday language as slang. For them it's just English. How could they guess which kind of English Germans could potentially know or not know?

@Leofwine

Жыл бұрын

​@@allansnape416 I had *this exact scenario* a few years ago when visiting ROME. Fortunately, I had a lecture on the Scouse/Liverpool accent the day before I went to Rome, so I understood the speakers rather easily.

@Im_ThatX

6 ай бұрын

No, it sounds just weird

6:52: and trains that are canceled don't count as delayed at all - makes sense, if they don't run, they can't be late.

@martingerlach_1990

8 ай бұрын

Trains that are cancelled are good trains - according to the Big Data statistics of the Deutsche Bahn.

There is a German word for what has happened to Deutsche Bahn, it has been " kaputtgespart ", in English: economize on something to the point of ruin

@barbarafrings9231

Жыл бұрын

Thirty years ago, the Deutsche Bahn was much more reliable. Sad.

@steemlenn8797

Жыл бұрын

@@barbarafrings9231 Yeah, but that was when "everything must be privatized!" was the big thing. Funnily enough the results of privatization were so bad it was stopped before it actualyl happened. We are still feeling the aftermath. Oh, and of course Verkehrsminister who think that cars is all they have to care about is another reason.

@barbarafrings9231

Жыл бұрын

@@steemlenn8797 Kann ich nur zustimmen.... 👍🏼

@KaiHenningsen

Жыл бұрын

@@barbarafrings9231 Priorities seem to have finally changed, but there's still a long way to go, and it's going to get worse (because of a lot of construction and maintenance) before it gets better. Also, driver shortage.

@user-sm3xq5ob5d

Жыл бұрын

I did take he train on a 450km ride every other weekend for a considerable time (more than three handfull of years). Now that I am retired I feel so much more relaxed. Should I attribute it to not using trains for more than two times a year?

Newly designed Danish trash cans even have a special "shelf" or cupholders, where you can place cans and bottles with "pfand" 😊

@hansmeiser32

Жыл бұрын

That's a great idea. Hope we get them as well.

@betaich

Жыл бұрын

We have them in some cities for roughly 29 years, maybe a bit less, we introduced Pfand for nearly all bottle in 2003

@henningbartels6245

Жыл бұрын

I have seen those trash cans before ... so it can't be newly designed.

@ane-louisestampe7939

Жыл бұрын

@@henningbartels6245 Everything is relative! But you're right, they are decades old 😆

You know why some restaurants say that the card mashine is not working? The owner doesn't want to pay a fee to the credit card company

@tobyk.4911

Жыл бұрын

that's probably also the reason why some shops have a minimum payment amount for card payments... for EC-card payments, the fee is relatively higher for small payments and becomes (relative to the paid amount) "more tolerable" for higher amounts. I don't know how this situation is concerning credit cards.

🎶Purple hair.. purple hair🎵 - famous Prince song

About the Trains... you better come to Switzerland to see how Train Travel should work. 🙂

Pfand is a wonderful thing! I work as a groundskeeper at a Kaufland (a big german supermarket chain) and i allways put Pfandbottles at a certain spot so collectors can collect them =)

Everyone in my family actually has purple hair. But we all coloring them to all sorts of blonde, brunette or red. We hated all the jokes our neighbours with green hair made on us.

Long Distanc Trains don't have to be expensive, as long as you book a "Sparpreis" ticket. You need to buy it weeks before your journey and it is bound to a soecific train.

@tobyk.4911

Жыл бұрын

and it depends on the time / and probably the expected demand for that train. For example, you can travel in a direct ICE from Cologne to Hamburg for only 16,90 € - if you travel at night and buy a "Super Sparpreis Ticket" for the ICE train that leaves Cologne at 3:58 am.

Regarding the German Autobahn. Most parts of it has speed limits! Even there is no speed limit: Driving faster than 150 km/h requires constant 100% concentration and a forward-looking driving style. This has nothing to do with "relaxed driving" but is exhausting - especially if you have little experience with German autobahns. You should always keep an eye on the traffic in front of you and consider what other drivers (also in other lanes) might be doing in the next moment. It is also very important to keep a sufficiently large distance to vehicles in front Conclusion: Even if it's legal and the car is technically capable of going very fast, don't confuse the Autobahn with a racetrack - and not confuse yourself with a racer.

I'd like to add to the part of "Speaking English in Germany" that there is a secret door opener, when you are talking to a German. Whatever you'd like to say, start with "Entschuldigung" or "Entschuldigen Sie bitte." Usually you would use this when addressing a waiter/waitress or when asking someone to give the shortest way to the museum. But it does make a difference. Some people even judge it as being rude when you are not using these words.

Funny that americans start loathing "Deutsche Bahn" as well. I mean, it's completly justified and the ultimate sign for being integrated😂

@HalfEye79

Жыл бұрын

There was a time, where the term "Pünktlich wie die Bundesbahn" ("punctual like the german trains") was a compliment. But that was long ago.

@BjRo90

Жыл бұрын

@@HalfEye79 i know. Da konnte man die Uhr nach der Bundesbahn stellen.

@RaoulKunz1

Жыл бұрын

Well, that was when the Bahn was still property of the state... I mean *technically* all DB shares are still held by the state... but it's it's totally own totally market dominated private company! ...did you know that if there was a war... completely impossible of course in Europe... oh.. wait... anyway, we could not deploy forces to any frontline because the DB has no longer the means... Best regards Raoul G. Kunz

@robfriedrich2822

Жыл бұрын

​@@RaoulKunz1 They use trucks and planes, trains only to bring some equipment to the army.

@kenoverbay-baker4653

Жыл бұрын

​@Björn Rothe From 1978-1989 I lived in a house that was about 1.5km from the railway line between Frankfurt am Main and Kassel. I could look at my kitchen window and know what time it was by which train was passing by.

Do not only go to Neuschwanstein, there are plenty other castles you can visit and do not have to wait ages 😉

@lofthestars2088

Жыл бұрын

Also way more historically interesting because Neuschwanstein is comparatively young.

@PatrickManske

Жыл бұрын

Fun fact: Germany has more castles than the US have McDonalds restaurants.

@klaus2t703

Жыл бұрын

Also sad fact: A female tourist was killed at Neuschwanstein castle today. I was shocked, this should not happen. I feel sorry.

@talamon6832

11 ай бұрын

@@klaus2t703 in the newspaper is written: A 30-year-old US tourist is in custody. kzread.info/dash/bejne/qHporpN_kZvPo84.html

The Plankton „Halloohoo!“ was hilarious!

Don’t come to Germany expecting ice water or any water free of charge in restaurants. Don’t expect ice machines in hotels. Cappuccino: I love cappuccino and drink it any time I feel like it. And I’ve done that during vacation in Italy too.

A piece of advice from a very frequent train traveler with ~300 long distance travels per year: - You are free to express your anger and disappointment towards the personell on the train. But please remember that those are the people least responsible for it. Same applies for DB Information counters or DB Reisezentrum. Treating them with respect sometimes gives you an extra compensation. - Prefer direct connections whenever possible. Even if it takes a bit longer. - Check for construction works, which may affect your overall travel time. The DB Navigator app does NOT take delays into account until you are delayed. If the notification says "expect 45 minutes of delay", add another 15 minutes just to be on the safe(r) side. - Do NOT plan connections with less than 15 minutes to change trains. Frankfurt/Main (Hbf) and Cologne Hbf are the worst given my experience. It may happen that your connection is delayed as well, but don't count on it. For Frankfurt and Cologne I plan with 30 minutes minimum which often leads spending time in a Starbucks or something similar. Yes, takes significantly more time, but is way more relaxed. 😉 - If possible, check if your connecting train starts at the station where you want to get on. If yes, the train will most likely not wait as the track is needed for other traffic. Again, I take Frankfurt as an example as I have to change there from time to time. - When you are going on or returning from vacation, don't take it so seriously. Don't ruin your holiday with something out of your control. Yes, you can rage about it, spend all your energy feeding that anger - it changes nothing but ruining your mood - When on a business trip, like I am (~80%), use the "extra" time for something useful. Larger stations offer quiet or working areas (DB Lounge if you have access to it). Yes you may or will be late, make the best of it. I use an ICE connection to commute to Frankfurt/Main, that is why I have so many long distance travels per year. I have to use it for business trips as well due to the Bundesreisekosten-Gesetz. But I do not regret abandoning my personal car and getting a BahnCard 100 (personally paid, not company). I have it for more than three years now and I experience the "struggles" with DB on a more or less daily basis, learning and understanding the causes better and better over time and adapting to them. If I do need a car I use car sharing. AND YES THAT IS VERY INDIVIDUAL AND CANNOT BE APPLIED TO EVERYONE - I am very well aware of that. 🙂 PS: Bruxelles last week without any issues. Berlin next week is a direct connection, anything but a fire and evacuation won't really bother me... Edit: Some minor corrections.

@remizeeland3505

Жыл бұрын

Several people complain about a delay off 5 to 10 minutes on DB. But they do not complain about hitting a traffic jam and be delayed for over a half hour!!!!

@RustyITNerd

Жыл бұрын

@@remizeeland3505 Totally agree! Yes, you could argue that there is a schedule to stick to, but when the infrastructure just isn't there to support the schedule things will go wrong. I learned that the hard way at one point. 😅 Personally for me it is not as bad as last year with the 9€-Ticket, although statistics tell a different story. Or I am more relaxed, take your pick. 😉

@sailorcat

Жыл бұрын

And that's why I hate changing trains and I always try to get a direct connection. xD

The trains used to be on time and reliable but has not been for several years now.

The Deutschland - Ticket is not a bad thing, but it is primarily made for comuters who use public transport very often. Of course you can use it as a tourist as well, but have a close look at the terms & conditions or you might pay for two months even if you used it only for a few days.

Most Americans don't know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle. Rental cars with automatic transmission are available in GER, but they're really expensive. So, if tourists are on a budget, taking a driving lesson in a stickshift car beforehand is going to save a huge amount of money. Addressing traffic rules: the most important one in GER IME is the meaning of the Crosswalk sign which makes a stopp compulsory when a pedestrian is in the vicinity. Cappuccino: all day long, I'm not Italian!

@Andreas-pj6np

Ай бұрын

In italy Cappuccino is only drunken until 11 in the morning btw

Where exactly is Aubrey? Do we see her again?🥰 greetings from northern Germany

@PassportTwo

Жыл бұрын

She is at home taking care of our baby 😊 She has popped into videos here and there, just gotta keep an eye out for her random cameos these days 😊

@christian_w.

Жыл бұрын

​​@@PassportTwo Will she come back in front of the camera like she used to? I'd like to hear about her experience of giving birth and being a toddler's mom in Germany. And how it differs from her expectations. Greetings to Aubrey. 😊

Bike lanes: You nailed it, @PassportTwo, you don't walk on the street and complain about cars honking ... so walking on bike lanes ... (and, yes, in Berlin hearing this infamous "Halooo!" is meant as "good day" ;))

The language issue is no longer as strict as it used to be. For me, it goes without saying that when an American approaches me in Vienna, I immediately speak to him in English. I would never expect someone who has learned English to speak to me in another language. If I go to the Czech Republic, I'll be classified as helpless there in terms of language skills. I can only hope that I will meet someone there who speaks English, you're more likely to meet people there who can speak German. Only locals say ahoi and dobre den there, everyone else should be able to tell where they are from. In Alsace I once tried to use my meager knowledge of French, but of course that was completely unnecessary there. In Holland I once asked for directions in Dutch so perfectly that I got an answer in Dutch that I hardly understood at all. Still, I was proud of myself....

@nordveld

Жыл бұрын

That is not entirely true. In Alsace, between the 90s and 00s when I tried to talk German (since I do speak French but rarely use it so it is not good) I was told in a rude tone that "Ici c'est la France, on parle Francais!". I am talking young people, not old people. I was rather suprised when in Paris I tried to stumble around in French and was at once adressed in English. Also in the Netherland, since I do not speak Dutch, I usually spoke English which worked quite fine. German not so much. Most Dutch people speak at least a little German but do not like to do so.

@Kivas_Fajo

Жыл бұрын

@@nordveld Must have been non Alsacians! They hate the French and consider themselves Alsacians. So, if in Alsace someone is that rude to you, it was a French person, probably from Paris or Lyon, where rudeness seems to be normal.

I, living in Germany, have never been in any shop or restaurant, which did not take debit cards (except kiosks or the like). Granted, not credit cards, which are not really popular with Germans, but debit cards. So, tourists, just get a standard debit card. Also: all these (usually) Americans going on about Germany being a cash society never mention, that in the US cheques are used all the time and everywhere, being send by post or handed over personally to your landlord on a monthly basis [sic!], and so on … Cheques - can’t get more outdated than that! You won‘t find cheques in Europe.

@PassportTwo

Жыл бұрын

We’ve been to plenty of stores that don’t take any form of card in Germany. Many in our local area in fact! However, when you mention the stores taking debit cards, you also have to be careful to know the distinction between a debit card in general and an EC Karte. Most of the time when you go in a German store and they don’t accept CC but do accept “DC,” they HAVE to be a German EC Karte. So, no, giving a tourist the advice of “just getting a debit card” would not actually be helpful to a tourist. We have talked about checks in other videos, it just didn’t apply to the situation I was talking about here. Checks are used, like you mentioned, primarily to pay landlords. Other than that, you don’t use checks at all these days and are also considered outdated in the US. So, no tourist would ever consider bringing checks to Europe on vacation, making it unimportant to mention in this video.

@remizeeland3505

Жыл бұрын

A Debit Card with the Maestro logo on should be accepted thru all of Europe.

@Andreas_42

Жыл бұрын

My Swiss debit card was declined in multiple locations in Karlsruhe, like in the EDEKA. After the pandemic it is accepted more widely. Seems a few stores changed the setting in their payment systems.

@Cau_No

Жыл бұрын

@@remizeeland3505 The Maestro system is just in the process of being disbanded. From next month on they will not be issued anymore. So it is also not a good recommendation, please read the news about this.

@miracula2226

Жыл бұрын

There are some restaurants that are cash-only, so watch out for signs saying so.

Great report and super cool glasses

The Italian answer is: No capucchino after noon! The German answer is: Nobody here cares.

Cappuccino? Wattzefack! In Germany you grind coffee-beans with your own teeth and swallow them with nearly boiling water! (Because boiling water makes the "Kaffee as sour as your life") All jokes aside: drink it as you like it, but don't ask me for marshmellow maple leaf vanilla corn syrup with unicorn sparcles while you're at my place, k? 😉

14:20 fixing the card reader is expensive, especially since its also often a rented mashine who costs a lot money for each transaction done, so of cause stores do not want to replace the mashine if they don't make enough money to make a good use of having it repaired

In Germany noone cares if you drink Cappuccino in the afternoon. In Italy on the other hand ...

What you said about the local language is so true! Knowing how to say "Excuse me?" "Where is ...?" "Thank you!" is better than any insurance or GPS. Bonus tip if you want to go swimming at a lake or the coast: Don't get flustered when you walk across a nude beach. They're still a part of German culture, especially in the North East.

@Alias_Anybody

Жыл бұрын

"Help!" is also always a good idea.

@Kivas_Fajo

Жыл бұрын

That is also valid in inner city parks. You will eventually stumble upon a very nude person laying in the sun sleeping, reading a book or drinking alcohol. All that is fine. Do not be a Karen here, because then you will be considered the pervert, that's for sure! Nobody cared until you showed up! Well...why do you look at other people's genitals so intensely that you get offended? How about not doing that in the first place? 🙂

haha the story with the ketchup was so relatable and also made me laugh so hart haha

Great video! Heading to Deutschland soon. Gig'em!

Relatives of mine came from the USA, landed at Frankfurt Airport and rented a car there. After about 50 kilometers they drove to an SOS post on the right and asked for help. They didn‘t want to drive another kilometer on a German highway. The speed at which others were traveling really scared them. 😮😅😂

I do it like the Italians, Cappucino in the morning and past 10:00 am I switch to Espresso😅

@PassportTwo

Жыл бұрын

Haha, although I was still served one, I was once laughed at by all the waiters in a restaurant in Italy when I ordered a cappuccino after dinner one evening 😅 Maybe I should switch to your method!

Tea, always tea 🫖

To #5: Absolutly yes! We Germans love rules. If there is something without a rule .. we hate it 😄. Even if the rule tells you: Here is the rule to feel free what you like to do 😁

Random answer: I try to avoid cappuccino after 11.00 AM, but am not always successful. Sometimes it is just too tempting, and a Latte has too much milk in it for me. To the cash question: For a two-week tour, I would bring € 500 in smaller bills (50 and under) and arrange for easy access to that amount, when it's been spent. Cash makes life easier here, and even if it's easier to steal than credit cards, you probably won't want to be caught without it, if you want to do some exploring. The nice thing about cash is there is no record of exactly what I buy, and that is what I like. I don't want to add to my cyber consumer profile every time I buy toilet paper.

@uliwehner

Жыл бұрын

that cyber consumer profile might help later with dating, though :) uses toilet paper!

To the topic of booking a train ride with DB to Paris and the price: you know wenn your friends are coming over. Just plan it out with them and book in advance. You get a much better price like this. About Italian Coffee ? I drink a latte macchiato for breakfast and in the afternoon. There's mo rule for it in Germany.

The Pfand-Symbol is only for single-use bottles.. Multiple use bottles like glass or hard plastic you're kinda expected to know which you return and which go in the container.

about the english thing , we start to learn english in elementary school , some of us like i'am in Kindergarten. So most people below 60 pretty fluent . We are getting grades in English it is a Main subject in school. Dont expecting Air Condtioners in every House , it very comon not to have one. I dont care when you drink your Capuchino , feel free to procedd as you wish Cash is also a main thing when you visit Flea Markets, they a big culture in germany.

2:36 Only Plastic bottles and aluminium cans have this return logo on them. Glas bottles you can return have the word Pfandflasche written on them somewhere. You get 8 Cents back for them. For example, if you bought milk in a glas bottle, it likely is a Pfandflasche; I see so many people throwing away such Glas bottles rather than returning them. Beer glas bottles are generally Pfandflaschen.

@jacquestricatel7055

Жыл бұрын

There are glass bottles with the Einwegpfand-Symbol as well 🍺

I drink espresso,Cappuccino,etc,anytime I like and I feel everyone should do the same.

I am German and living in France over 20 years. When going back to see my sister I invited her.... and she had to pay as the restaurant took no credit card. Here in France you can even pay your baguette (0,35 €) with the card. OK, exceptionnally, if you know the baker 😁. But over 1 € it is common.

Great video as always. Love your perspective! And yes, I am German and have purple hair 🎉

The Deutsche Bahn says that the train comes "on time", when the train comes late with a delay of maximum of 5 minutes. When the train is 6 minutes late at least, then the train is "late".

Our store registers at the checkout show the Pfand after the beverage has been scanned, if it has Pfand on it. You gotta look for the logo. How is Aubrey doing at the moment? Will she return in future videos? 4:39 Funny that you used Dieter Bohlen there. BTW, you can find pretty much any haircolor in our country since they have changed the view of colored hair for many workplaces. "Germans are excellent drivers": *DDG, Der Fahrlehrer and Sascha Fahrnünftig want to have a word with you*

@peterdonecker6924

Жыл бұрын

😂😂 He should watch RLP dashcam - lot of "excellent" drivers there😂

@LexusLFA554

Жыл бұрын

@@peterdonecker6924 I knew there was another. But I couldn't remember the name without leaving the video.

@PassportTwo

Жыл бұрын

Aubrey is great! Loving being a mom and staying home with our boy 😊 She pops in videos here and there, just gotta keep a sharp eye out for her 😅

U can drink cappu all the time, its just coffee with foam. And like the brits having their teatime we have our Coffee and Cake ( Kaffe und Kuchen ) time what is normally at 15 til 16 o'clock, and u can drink all kinds of hot coffees

Even stores that accept credit cards do not accept all of them. Visa and Mastercard are always o.k., American Express mostly too, but not always, the others are mostly not accepted in Germany.

@jhdix6731

Жыл бұрын

It mostly depends on how they process the cards. Most card reader here are Chipcard readers only. Some US cards still have all information on the magnetic strip, and no EMV-chip, so these readers wouldn't work.

Well, decaf only for me in the afternoon (unless I plan to stay awake way past midnight).

11:35 exactely. That's the least most Germans expect. Most foreigners in my vicinity don't even attempt to learn even though they're living here, which comlpicates things a lot. I find this very important and I'm glad you've mentioned it. Great content as always. Greetings.

Cappuccino: in Italy: only in the morning; in Germany: egal; in Austria: never, you should drink a Melange instead. 😉

RQOTW: In Italy, it depends on your gender and age. It's okay for older women (up from around 50) to drink cappuccino in the afternoon.

@PassportTwo

Жыл бұрын

Whoops...I drink coffee like an old woman by those standards 😅😂

@conniebruckner8190

Жыл бұрын

whew, OK, then I qualify!

@twinmama42

Жыл бұрын

@@bernhardschwarz6792 The Italian wife of a German business partner once told me that in Italy it is frowned upon drinking cappuccino after noon. But it is tolerated for elder women. I'm just the messenger here and please, don't shoot the messenger.

@Hagarius2000

Жыл бұрын

​@twinmama42 why only women? 😮

@twinmama42

Жыл бұрын

@@Hagarius2000 Ask the Italians.

I have never understood the concept that coffee is “only for breakfast”, LOL! So, yeah, go ahead and have it any time you want.

Many train delays in Germany are due to measures to extend the system and make it more reliable in future. There are several schemes running e.g. to exchange turnouts which tell the railway track maintainance personel when to look after them before it fails. They increase the number of turnouts with electric heating systems to avoid failures on cold days in the winter. Of course an interuption of service is inevitable while the new turnouts are inserted into the track network. Meanwhile they found out that ca. 500.000 sleepers have to be replaced because the concrete they are consisting of got bad ingredients. It is not clear so far if fraud or negligence lead to this problem. The lack of rolling stock has been successfully remedied as far as long distance passenger trains are concerned. Billions of Euros had been invested to order new ICEs and double deck ICs from the industry, it delivers them almost in time now. The lack of qualified staff is still rampant, train drivers (Triebfahrzeugführer) are missing as well as the staff for signal boxes (Fahrdienstleiter, Disponenten) making the ways for the trains. A train operator in the north west of Germany hired 50 men to become new train drivers, but 25 failed their train driver exam. They ended up limiting train services though.

@karlwiklund2108

Жыл бұрын

Completely true. The current mess with Stuttgart and connecting lines all represent necessary upgrades. It's just an enormous pain in the ass though.

@KaiHenningsen

Жыл бұрын

The local city services are desperately looking for bus drivers. Bus services are reduced for the foreseeable future. The driver shortage at pretty much all levels is very real.

@user-sm3xq5ob5d

Жыл бұрын

I say it is 100% accountable to incompetent management. But to really blame are politicians. They wanted the DB to be a private, profit oriented business. So they put in managers who accomplished that to a degree. What they did was to slim down the system by taking out any redundancy (which accomplished reducing maintenance expenses) AND not investing enough to keep it in a working order (which resulted in even more savings). All with the intent to sell it to the Russians. No joke! Russian Railroads was interested in buying it. So they had to get the price down for the intended IPO. Because if it has to work at 95% capacity (taking out redundancies) it has to be 100% reliable (not investing enough in maintenance). So any defect of external influence wreaks havoc on the system. This even got so far that Deutsche Bahn has shut down rail traffic completely when some inclement weather hammered it. This has happened two times in the last years. Any manager with some honor in him would have committed seppuku.

German right-of-way rules are difficult for U.S. residents. Basically, it is not "first come, first served" but "right before left" with many exceptions. Most learner drivers fail because of right-of-way rules, and most accidents happen because of them.

@michaelmedlinger6399

Жыл бұрын

I would say that is one of the most important, perhaps THE most important rule for Americans to learn. It can seem very counter-intuitive. I have been driving in Germany for more than 20 years (originally from USA) and I still repeat to myself over and over when driving in residential areas: "Right before left, right before left!" It still seems crazy to me that if you are driving on the straight road at a T-intersection, you have to stop if someone is coming from the right.

Thing 4 & Thing 5 are very important, ideed!

Fun video! Cappuccino anytime imo, however after reading others’ comments, apparently that isn’t acceptable in Italy, lol!

American on the Autobahn: "120 mph! I'm the king of the .... WTF, where did that Porsche come from????"

@Naanhanyrazzu

Жыл бұрын

Exchange Porsche with a station wagon, then it fits.

Cappuccinos are great. You can enjoy there profound appealing flavor in the morning. You can feel your well being with them in a moment of calm and self care at a beautiful starry night and also in every other joyful situation or challenging moment in between. Cappuccinos are great.

I did have purple hair for years, but not anymore 😁 For traditional clothes from different regions in Germany and other countries come to Gotha in July and visit the Europeade. As a German, I don't think it's rude when you don't speak german as a tourist. That only turns when you stay for some month / years / forever.

4:43 yes haha

Bundesbahn ran pretty well until 1994. Then, thanks to the politicians and hello Deutsche Bahn, the railroad was privatized. Fillet pieces were formed and so on. You know the process. The privatization wanted to be pushed forward. Maximize revenues and cut expenses at the same time. Good. Or not so good. Today, 30 years later, you see the result more and more. So, the moral of the German story: don't believe the privatization wave. Some basic things simply belong in the hands of the state. 🤐

For example here in italy the agenzia delle entrate has requiered to anyone who owns a shop to accept cards and have receipts (so that they don’t evade taxes)

As to the Pfandflaschen, I imagine many Americans have problems with the concept since they are used to the fact that the price at the cash desk is not the same as displayed on the wares. So they do not notice that they paid a fee on their bottles.

As german i'm only here to answer one question. I'm a Moccahino guy. any place, any time . But not after 7pm.😂 I like chocolate Coffee. 😋

@barefoot2470

Жыл бұрын

Was trinken denn die meisten Italiener nach Mittag? Espresso? Ich mag aber kein Kaffee ohne Milch (trinke den schon ohne Zucker und mag den nicht ohne Milch).

@Ozzymandyas

Жыл бұрын

@@barefoot2470 ...Rotwein? Oder Grappa?

Das war sehr gut. Toll der Tip ein bisschen Deutsch zu lernen, Thumbs Up . Cappuccino can you definitely drink the whole day. Only in the evening, I'm not sure if Italians would do this.

I just want to emphasize the part about driving. The rest might be rude or smth. but not that bad. But driving in general is to dangerous to not know what you are doing. So it is really important to at least know how to behave in general while driving and to know the standard rules in Cities and on the Autobahn.

@susanneostermann6956

Жыл бұрын

AND important to add: dont expect the german cars to be automatics.... most of them are manual. 🙂

@jhdix6731

Жыл бұрын

@@susanneostermann6956 I guess that's changed a bit. Two month a go, my car broke down and I had to get a rental (from one of the major rent-a-car companies) for a few days. When I brought that car back to the station (in Munich), I overheard a conversation with a customer (from somewhere in eastern Europe) that specifically requested a manual because he had never driven anything else. I was very surprised to hear them say that the vast majority of their cars was automatic now... So it seems tourists shouldn't have any issues finding a automatic rental car in Germany.

@uliwehner

Жыл бұрын

many rental cars are automatic now. have been for years. Americans typically can't drive anything else.

There is a German word for what has happened to Deutsche Bahn, it has been " kaputtgespart ", in English: Saved to the bone

@ulladoctrina7152

Жыл бұрын

Nein, kaputtgespart wurde die Deutsche Bahn nicht, sondern als Resterampe aussortierter Politiker zweckentfremdet. Bei der Deutschen Bahn wird vieles gemacht, aber definitiv nicht gespart. Die weisen fast jedes Jahr einen satten Gewinn in ihrer Bilanz aus, nehmen aber umgekehrt durch Subventionen durch den Bund, dem die Deutsche Bahn AG wiederum zu 100 Prozent gehört, ein Vielfaches dessen ein, sodass der Bund jedes Jahr einen hohen Verlust dadurch erwirtschaftet. Geld steht also mehr als ausreichend zur Verfügung, man wirft es eben nur durch Missmanagement regelrecht aus dem Fenster, weil man kein Interesse hat, sich mal um ein auch nur im geringsten kompetentes Management zu kümmern und es lieber durch Expolitiker besetzt.

and btw. Cappuccino in the afternoon is totally fine and very much appreciated by me when going out for dinner hahaha

- don't come to Germany and start a small talk with Nazi stuff. The topic is serious and not the weather. - don't come to Germany and think we're behind the world just because we solve things differently than in the states. Yes, our apartments all have electricity, even without an overhead cable. (I actually had this discussion with a US Air Force soldier...) - don't come to Germany and think only American law would apply to you. We have our own laws and will apply them. - don't come to Germany and expect everyone to adore you. You're just a tourist, not a superstar or the pope or anything. - don't come to Germany and tell us how great it is that there are so many us cars driving around here, like BMW, AUDI, VW, PORSCHE ... (also experienced it myself ...)

Afternoon and morning

Now I want to ride my bicycle, and yell "Hallooohooo!" 😮😁

I personally would not expect to speak any german from a tourist. It is another thing if someone comes to germany to life there and does not attempt to learn any german.

The "Put the bottle not in the trash, but next to it easily pickable on the ground" thing is an example of how we care about...well...everyone. Why would you force poor people looking for bottles to earn some money to grab through disgusting and hazardous trash, when you could make their life easier, without you being bothered at all? Be nice! It pays back!

@Zekander

Жыл бұрын

yeah wonderful, especially if someone drunk kicks the glass bottle all over and shatters it, so carefully thought, huh? put the damn bottle in the trash bin where it belongs.

@Kivas_Fajo

Жыл бұрын

@@Zekander You aren't from Germany. It works perfectly here and shattered glass is a rare sight. You do not understand we have deposits on almost everything, do you? Throwing bottles and especially cans in the trash is just throwing away money. A can has a 25 Cent deposit on it, a plastic water bottle as well. You go ahead and throw away money, we won't!

@Zekander

Жыл бұрын

@@Kivas_Fajo I live in Berlin and it´s a mess. There is regularly shattered glass all over the ways, because of this. It´s dangerous for little kids, dogs, bikers and you give me a sermon how good people in germany are, because they would care so much for the homeless... geez a glass beer bottle has a value of 8 cent, so it´s inefficent for people to collect tons of heavy glass instead only lighter plastic or cans with more value. Erklär´ mir also nicht das deutsche Müllsystem, ich weiss wie das funktioniert, im Gegensatz zu einem Großteil unserer zugezogenen Mitbürger.

@Kivas_Fajo

Жыл бұрын

@@Zekander Ja Alter, Berlin ist eine Müllhalde. Berlin ist aber nicht Deutschland, Du Vollhorst.

If you drink cappuccinos in the afternoon is totally up to you and should only depend on a) your type of cappuccino (real coffee cappu vs. instant-sugar-stuff) and b) if it's actual coffee, your reaction to caffeine. You don't want to lie awake at night.

Lot of small roads with no street signs have right before left, which means coming from the right side has right of way. I dont like this rule, because every couple of meters you have to look if someone is coming from the right side and step on the break.

I m happy to meet English speaking people here, without speaking any German. So i can use my English with nativspeaker

@MsAmber1307

Жыл бұрын

Same here :)

RQothW: Perhaps not done in Italy, but I drink my capuccino after lunch, and a few times have done this in Italy too. Don't invite people over if you don't mean it. As in "let's get together", Do come over and visit us sometime". Don't ask people how they are if you don't want an honest ( sometimes long-winded) answer. Don't ask them how much they earn. If you have learned a bit of German, don't use the DU with adults you do not know. Don't come empty-handed if you are invited to dinner at their homes. At least some flowers, or wine or chocolates.

I really dont know any germans under the age of 70 (western part) or the age of 40 (eastern part) that doesnt speak englissh at least to a lvl to answer simple questions or help you out with things like directions. If they dont do so its mostly because they dont want to speak englisch(a few) or they dont feel comfortable (a lot of the older people). Englisch will be spoken by most/all (younger) (western) europeans, so dont bother to learn some phrases in german or the other languages because if youre not at least b1 it adds nothing to the experience of visiting europe.

having our Bahn beeing half privatized was one of the biggest mistakes in the 90s. Train travel was much better before that

12:29 "Sprechen Sie Ketchup?" 😊

but i am the lederhosn wearing beer drinking weißwurst eating German, and regarding trains, except Switzerland and Japan they're still pretty good compared to the rest of the world, also i'm pretty sure with cappucino you mean latte macchiato which is a morning drink, cappucino goes all day.

@uliwehner

Жыл бұрын

yep, japan is definitely an experience. In Tokyo when the schedule says bus at 3:32, that means no bus at 3:30, no bus at 3:31, bus at 3:32, no bus at 3:34. everybody forms a line, no pushing, no shoving. however, subway, is CRAMMED in during commuter times. WAY tighter than i would like.

If a place only accepts debit cards then they accept European cards not German cards. The banking system for most of Europe was beginning to unify in the 90s (before the euro) and is the same for all euro countries. so you can pay with a French card but not with an American.

You can have cappuccino any time of the day you like. Even on an evening out with friends. 😊

I'll drink cappuccino any time of the day, espresso is for the morning and the afternoon, though.

Cappuccino is an all-day drink ö.ö And as a tourist please do not feed pidgeos or ducks in cities

One important thing about the unrestricted parts of our Autobahn: If you drive faster than 130 km/h (80,78 freedoms/h) and you get into an accident, you will get partial fault even if it was not your fault at all. You could TRY to give a very good and plausable reason on WHY you had to drive faster than 130 km/h but its unlikely you get away with it. Also a word of caution: Only drive as fast as the conditions allow it at that time. If the traffic is very high or it pours, I would not drive like a lunatic.

1:15 Plastic bottles : Should have delayed the video or just change the info that everything with the logo shown has a deposit on it and you should return it to the store. Every other container goes to recycling be it glass, paper, plastic metal etc. Starting 2024 not only bottles and cans will have that logo, but tetra packs etc. will have the logo too, meaning you have to pay a deposit.

Oh, God, my last trip through Stuttgart. I thought half an hour to transfer would be enough. It wasn't. I got where I was going eventually, but two hours later than I'd planned.

@StellaFiver

Жыл бұрын

I'm so sorry, our main station is an absolute nightmare at the moment!

@karlwiklund2108

Жыл бұрын

@@StellaFiver oh, I know. I live about an hour south of Stuttgart.

I'm not living in a city, but in a rural area, so bike-only lanes are not a thing here. But sharing pedestrian side walks and bike lanes are a thin instead...

Concerning the cash thing, I recently saw a video someone using the public bus in a town in the USA. And guess what? Only cash accepted.

The first few times I visited Germany, my program manager had to physically pull me out of the bike lanes. I LOVE driving in Germany. It took me a few trips (with others driving) before I was comfortable with it, but once I got used to the rules (and standards on the road), I love it. I hate parking in Germany. (I also am a weirdo, I don't drink coffee, so have no opinion on espresso drinking.)

I'd like to add: Don't pretend to be more proficient in German than you actually are. While I worked at a supermarket checkout I was happy to speak English to customers when they spoke English and happy to be accommodating to customers speaking broken German. But every once in a while someone came in, dropped some phrases in perfect accent-free German and then they struggled without letting me know. Turns out, they arrived in Germany a few days earlier and don't know any German apart from a handful of phases they practiced to perfection. One example was a customers who bought his first drink in Germany and was confused I wanted 25 cent more. It took me ages to figure out not only that he wasn't familiar with the Pfandsystem but that I can explain it in English.

It doesn't matter which time you want to drink cappuccino. When you like to drink a cappuccino then let's go.. it's not a kind of bad manner. So don't let stop you to drink your cappuccino no matter what time it is.

Moment: The Deutsche Bahn is punctual. At least by their standards.

I had purple hair some decades ago. I don't like coffee, so no cappuccino for me.

#7 No, don't bring cash to Germany. I switched to credit card during Covid and have next to no use for cash anymore. But my point is: Bring your cc and head for some ATM in Germany (or elsewhere) to get Euro asap if you think you need it. Buying a foreign currency abroad is absurdly expensive. The fee(s) at some bank or even the airport (to a lesser extent) in the destination country are way lower.

Cappuccino any time of the day. If you can still fall asleep after drinking it in the evening, you can have one in the evening as well. :)