I need some travel in Germany tips, please

Ted_9

Steve made a good point. If your bringing and plugged in devise, like a charger, laptop or camera, you'll need the adapter Steve mentioned. Look at the charging cord. Most of the items I mentioned can handle voltages from 100 to 240volts 50/60 hertz. So You won't need a separate step down transformer. Just the two prong adapter is fine.


Massachusetts

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hr

We are heading to the ISH show next month

thanks to PHC News! We found a cute inexpensive room in Heidelberg and plan on taking the train to Frankfurt for the show.

Should we haul a laptop or do they have cyber cafes for getting online?

What about a cell phone? Rent an international style? Calling card for minutes?

Where, and how to exchange dollars to Euros?

Last but not least favorite spot to visit?

thanks

hot rod

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Ruthe Jubinville_2

ISH

We exchanged money ahead of time at the local bank. I think you need to get international phone. Definitely go to Castle in Heidleberg. Have a great time. We did!
Ruthe

CC.Rob_3

europe

Most cell providers (e.g., cingular) have a "see if we provide service" page you can query for service and phone compatibility. If you have a more recent GSM phone, it will likely work. Most plans offer a (somewhat high) by-the-minute rate.

Bank of America, among some others, does not charge a fee to make withdrawals at (network) foreign ATMs. That is sometimes one of the better exchange rates as well.

A handy, printable currency converter is at http://www.oanda.com/convert/cheatsheet

Have fun!

Paul Rohrs_5

Hotrod,

I spent a couple of years over there. Man would I like to go back and visit.

Heidelburg is a great college town but it is most know for its "Castle Illumination". From across the river, you will see the castle glow red. It really is something to see. Also, you are not to far away from the Black Forest.

Stuttgart is home for the Porsche factory and museum. Sindelfingen (sp?) is also not to far away. That is the home of the Mercedes factory. My parents came to visit me while stationed there and I took them thru it. Quite a tour, talk about an appreciation for German engineering!

Above all, meet the people.

Paul (Pipe) Rohrs

Ted_9

phones

If you have Verizon you use Vodafon in Germany. It's probably $1 per minute or more. I used T-mobile and it was $1.50 per minute. Cingular prob. the same.

As far as money, I like to at least has $50.00 Euro in my pocket.

Massachusetts

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Paul Pollets

tips

Heidelburg is a 70-75min train ride from the Frankfurt train station. The train station is 1/4 mi from Messe Frankfurt. Remember to get your press pass so you can photograph. They're very strict about taking pics without a pass...verboten! The pass documents are downloadable from their website.

Bring back some twin clips from Mupro.

You'll like the tool and fastener pavillion. Bring your bibb, in case you can't stop drooling.

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D107

cell phones can be rented at airports on your way in;

vodaphone as one poster mentioned is one of the main phones in europe. also check out http://www.skype.com for very low rate calls from your laptop. This is becoming very popular in Europe now and is available here too.

Unknown

Germany Travel Tips

Hey Hot Rod - glad you're coming over. I'll be working the WILO booth all week - stop by and we can make arrangements for dinner (or beers!).

Regarding travel tips I typically buy a few Euros at the departing airport mostly for cabs and small dinners. You can get Euros from banking machines (debit card) or cash advances on your credit card while you are there from the German ATM's. Bring a power adapter (it has two round ends and is called a "Type 2 Adapter").

Concerning cel phones, as the other folks suggested, check with your cel provider. And lastly, I recommend you bring your laptop although most of the better hotels have a business office.

Regarding the show - allow at least two full days to check stuff out and wear real comfortable shoes - it is HUGE!

Hope to see you there!

Weezbo

Wow! *~/:)

The land of the Big swoopy bender! hunt down the 1 1/2" bender.... have a great time ...bring back some sample mod cons:)

Jim Gibson (UK )

A very good restaurant ..

for quality authentic German food and wine, in Heidelburg is the Krokodil.

You would not find this by chance when walking around, because it's in a residential area not the city centre, but is just a short walk.

Jim ( UK, but sometimes visits the area )

jp_2

learn to count!

i found its real handy to know how to count, easy to learn too.

also its handy to know some food names, potatoes,beans, pork,etc....i could stumble through a menu.

learn to ask, "wheres the bathroom"!!!!

Constantin

Some ideas...

... I'd bring a laptop for e-mail, downloading pictures, etc. It allows you to take lots of pictures and then erase the memory card for the next day.

... I'd look into Skype, then see if the hotel offers Wifi. If Wifi is available, then sign up for Skypeand then use the laptop to make calls to the US for a fraction of the cost. Just be sure that the system works before you leave the US... you need a mike and an earbud, and you can call regular phone lines (via Skype-Out).

As far as a cell phone is concerned, GSM phones generally work in the EU, but I would call your provider to ensure that you can "roam" in the EU with your phone. Then, let every call go into voice-mail that you don't need to answer (you still get to see who calls you), and use Skype to check your voice mail.

Money-wise, if your ATM card is attached to the major networks (Cirrus, NYCE, etc.) then they'll work abroad. Typically, it's the best way (exchange-rate-wise) to get cash.

Frankfurt has little to offer in terms of Architecture, it was pretty much bombed into ruin. However, Heidelberg is beautiful. If you have the time, consider renting a car and heading south into the Alsace region and visit Colmar or go even further south into the Freiburg region, for example.

A trip down the Rhine via the left-bank train or a boat is beautiful also. Go no further than Cologne... visit a couple of cathedrals there.

I'd definitely visit the castle, there is a 20' high stove/oven, completely clad in tile in one room, IIRC.

JimH

tipping

It is not customary to tip in restaurants, but taxi drivers
are tipped about %15.

Any foreign exchange done in the US is much more expensive
than anyplace over there. Also, since exchange rates are
clearly posted, but fees are not, it's important to hold
up the bill you want to change and say, slowly and clearly,
"I give you this, how many Euros do you give me?"

-JimH

[Deleted User]

brush up on your German...

While 75% of the people over there CAN speak reasonable english, if you make an effort to speak in their language first, you will get along with them much better :-)

THey are very helpful in general.

Wish I could come along...Enjoy, and make it the trip of a life time.

BTW, the whole show is misspelled. It should be WISH, cus you ain't gonna see most of that stuff on this side of the pond:-)

ME

ME

Alan R. Mercurio_3

Press Pass

Paul, could you post the link for that or e-mail it to me. I'd appreciate it. Thanks

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Paul Pollets

Press Center

http://ish.messefrankfurt.com/frankfurt/en/presse-center_akkreditierung.html



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Brad White

Doggy Bags and Decent Shoes

A friend of mine with extensive business consulting experience in Germany and Europe in general said it is considered trashy to ask for a doggy bag when leaving a restaurant. Even a pizza with one slice gone would rather go to waste than to have it packed to go... Rule- eat up!

Germans may make judgement upon you based on how decent your shoes are, something I never considered. Sneakers, paint spatters, old boots...will give you the hairy eyeball I was told.

I hear they make excellent comfortable shoes, maybe you can pick up a pair for yourself.

Oh- don't pick fights or hit a policeman.

carol_3

The most useful thing I had in Germany was a GPS, with a voice in English, that came with the rental car. Wow, did "she" ever save my butt. No need to change money--just use the ATMs.

Paul Pollets

Dress code

Good point. I noticed that everyone was dressed up for the occaision. Blue jeans and casual wear are not to be found. Except from the N. Anerican visitors.

Dress "High Casual" to reduce the "hairy eyeball" effect.

The Heidelberg castle offers a special tour to see the King's quarters. In the King's chambers is the most amazing tile stove, made by Buderus 400 years ago. The stove has a seat built in so the Queen could literally "warm her buns". In the basement is the world's largest wine barrel, that has a dance floor on top. Buy a bottle of the special Schnapps, made in the castle.



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[Deleted User]

Personal items.

Take a wash cloth for you & the Mrs. And a roll of your favorite toilet paper. Enjoy Heidelberg. Imagine what it was like before graffiti.

Eric Johnson

duty free

If you want to shop duty free, do it before you get on the plane in the States or as you're returning home. Once you get into the EU, as I recall there's no duty-free between member countries.

Ted_5

ATM

Worked great for me. I live in a small town and use a local bank, but the ATM card I have is a PULES. That worked great with very little fees. When I exchange money hear they charge me 3%.
You will have a blast! Make sur you leave at leased 3 days for the show. It is huge.
I hope to see you there, I will be in the Baunach booth# L71 in Hall 8.

Ted

Ericjeeper

Act as if you do not know who Bush is.

> Worked great for me. I live in a small town and

> use a local bank, but the ATM card I have is a

> PULES. That worked great with very little fees.

> When I exchange money hear they charge me 3%.

> You will have a blast! Make sur you leave at

> leased 3 days for the show. It is huge. I

> hope to see you there, I will be in the Baunach

> booth# L71 in Hall 8.

>

> Ted



if you buy anything while there, before checking your luggage to return home have the items and the receipts in hand. So you can get your sales tax. Their sales tax is like 19%, and you can get a refund. Do not take travelers checks to cash in. They charge a huge fee.(found that out the hard way)Buy as much as you can on your visa or mastercard for the best exchange rates.If you or the wife get to craving English conversation.Fins a teenager or college kid,as they are the ones most likely to be willing to give their English a whirl.And never mention GWB, or AH. Those topics never get off to a good start or better ending. LOL
Southern Germany is a beautiful part of the world.Black Forest is a beautiful place,as well as the Zutspige. (SP)Highest mountain peak in Germany.
I have a lot of family just south of Stutgart, in the town of Neuffen.My folks will be visiting them this fall.Have a great trip.

hr

Thanks everyone

I attended ISH fourteen years ago! I remember it being very dressy and I felt "standout-ish" in casuals and jeans.

I'm training for the "big walk" also

I'm hooked up with press passes and I'll do my best to report in here. I have a list of wallies to meet and greet over there.

Counting the days, Thanks again PHC news and friends on the wall.

hot rod

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[Deleted User]

Toilet paper, GOOD POINT...

I think they use 80 grit sand paper for TP over there...

I'm thinking if you smuggle some Charmin into the country, you could probably pay for your air fare in black market TP sales....

WHEW, was I GLAD to get home to soft paper. Now I know why all the Germans walk around with frowns on thier faces all day long...:=)

ME

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)_1

a word of caution

Never ever go shopping with Holohan and Boltz!

Supply House Rick

Constantin

You shouldn't mention ovens. My advise, always carry your papers and try not to make eye contact. If you get into trouble declare you're French and immediately surrender! Oh and the German language, man they have a word for everything.

Viva Le Resistance'

Alan(OnVacationInOregon)Forbes

ISH

> I attended ISH fourteen years ago! I remember it

> being very dressy and I felt "standout-ish" in

> casuals and jeans.

>

> I'm training for the "big

> walk" also

>

> I'm hooked up with press passes

> and I'll do my best to report in here. I have a

> list of wallies to meet and greet over

> there.

>

> Counting the days, Thanks again PHC

> news and friends on the wall.

>

> hot rod

>

> _A

> HREF="http://www.heatinghelp.com/getListed.cfm?id=

> 144&Step=30"_To Learn More About This

> Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in

> "Find A Professional"_/A_



I speak fluent German..........take me with you!

I was in Europe last Aug.-Sept. and didn't have a problem using my ATM (Bank of America); also, left my cell phone at home; couldn't be bothered.

Have fun!

Alan(OnVacationInOregon)Forbes

ISH

I speak fluent German..........take me with you!

I was in Europe last Aug.-Sept. and didn't have a problem using my ATM (Bank of America); also, left my cell phone at home; couldn't be bothered.

Have fun!

[Deleted User]

Dave.

What you mean is don't let them ask the sales lady what sizes YOU wear.

Unknown

CINGULAR

Hey Hot Rod,

Cingulars new phones work well all over Germany. I STRONGLY SUGGEST you call ATT/Cingular and have them give you a monthly plan for a month... IT IS MUCH CHEAPER then paying "by the minute."

Have fun,

wheels

Josh M.

Top 3 beers to try while in Germany: Ayinger Celebrator Doppelbock, Schneider Aventinus, Andechser Doppelbock Dunkel

J.C.A._3

H.R.

If you're going to be staying in Heidelburg, see if you can find the Viega guys while they are there. They usually have a great crew, and are located right next to the train station.

Dave Gallow will direct you to MY favorite German spirit...Schumacher!!!

Enjoy your time at the show. I went a couple years back, for 2 days...and managed to see 2 and 1/2 buildings. The heat pavillion and the tool building were the finest, but I did get a chance to check out a couple of the plumbing FLOORS! and was blown away.

As suggested, use the credit card for ATM or bank transactions. You'll be charged what the GOING rate is for their day of trading, but DO keep a stash of cash in Euros for the occasional vendor that won't take a card.

Walk the 1000 stairs to the Castle in Heidleburg...It will make the BIG wine barrell even more attractive.

Most of all, enjoy. I wish I was going back...but I think I'll wait till 2009. Chris

Dave Yates (GrandPAH)_2

no doubt

it was a translation thing!

HR - Bindig beer rocks. Wine, beer, chapagne in the booths. Wish I was going too, but I'll be resting under swaying palm trees sipping tropical drinks poolside.

Christian Egli_2

Yes, the green sauce is safe to ingest

The best part of German hospitality is the Frühstück in the morning consisting of most of all the tasty bread and exotic Mortadella and other excellent delicatessen. Yoghurts are quite a trip all on their own. Only the eggs, for which Germans seem to have an eco-organic passion, end up being served in mismatched sizes - a turn off for sure. I am told the deep dark orange color in the yolk comes from the pure grass the chickens are on. You'll never get bored, the fastidious Kaffee Kanchen provide all the pretend entertainment a little girl might dream of; pay close attention to the savor of the chicory laden Ersatz coffee.

If it's near enough to Easter, look for street stands and bakeries selling the ever cutest bunny shaped doughnuts, same taste, new look. The pastry-diet-only is one that is easy to fall into, specially when considering one of the famed local dish is served with the Hessian Grüne Soße, a green mayonnaise of sorts, if you dare... with time and money, German restaurants are just fine. The danger is always dying of thirst: the free refill is taboo, the bottomless cup will floor the waitress, Starbucks' Tall, Vente, Grande all fall on deaf ears and finally, if ever you want to treat yourself to a Cola, wait until you're back Stateside, you'll choke on what you pay for the 2 dl and it's not because it's served too cold... And wouldn't you know? Germany has beer.

Beer and wine that can be gotten at some of the McDonalds, turns out beer and burgers go good together - again, who knew? One neat fast food type of non-US origin is the Nordsee fish places, there's one at the main railway station, they serve the filet-o-fish, yes, but, it is meant to be eaten with the Neptune like fish fork and the mysterious fish knife which, aside from operating as any plainly ordinary table knife can be treated a bit like a hybrid spoon, you can politely bring it to the mouth, a much smarter invention than the bleak plastic spork.

It's not all about food, if not all the time,

Try visiting a museum, if you can find any open at convenient times, better yet, try getting kicked out of one. You'll know what they mean by: raus. Oh well, we've probably all been booted out of better places.

Two in Frankfurt captured my mind, first the Central Bank Museum which realistically recreates a sterile bank setting except, access is free. This place is a hands on lecture on what is meant by backing currency with gold or whatever else. Recent Germans wrote the book on both hyperinflation and currency shortages, they should know. I thoroughly enjoy intelligent explanations.

Next, Frankfurt used to play a very central role in the leadership succession of the Holy Roman Empire, this was the place they held their caucuses. The building is downtown, it contains portraits of all the emperors starting with Charlemagne crowned in year 800. This system worked for more than a thousand years and produced some of the finest things we know today: beer and doughnuts, there is a link. I find this kind of historicity quite deep - I hope you can figure out when the Römer is open for business.

Time being of the essence, the Frankfurt Messe has also been operating for more than a thousand years. They really know the convention business and I wish you the most pleasant time, including watching what shoes people walk in.

Telephones? Me? Clueless. Credit cards in Europe? near useless in stores. Don't go cashless.

For fun, pay attention to how we believe Germans are methodical, practical and very organized - it's not true - they're only in love with grand schemes that fall short of useless. My point:

You're a tourist, traveling by train in the general area in Frankfurt, at least we hope you know you're in the Frankfurt general area, you've gotten there after all. Now, you're looking at stepping off at the main central station, shouldn't that be easy enough? just look for a sign that says central something or whatever the local wording might be, usually these signs are big anyways... Riiiight... Just not quite big enough...

At the most main super central station in Frankfurt, there are the billboard sized signs that tell you you're there. Big letters spell out Frankfurt - well, gee that I knew, but there is the Frankfurt-this and the Frankfurt-that stations, which one is it? Read on, there are more words on the sign. This is Frankfurt-am-Main, you know, the Frankfurt that sits on the river Main, lest you be a confused tourist mixed up with Frankfurt-on-the-Oder river which is hundreds and hundreds of miles away, you might even be confused with Frankfort in Kentucky, yep, Paris, London, it's all there, blue grass everywhere.

So, we know we're somewhere near the Main river... but which station? Disastrously, the painter ran out of space on the giant billboard, now it's time to abbreviate. Hauptbahnhof is all a smart tourist should need to look for but there isn't enough space for all that: B - F will suitably shorten the word for station, we hope you know you're on a train... and an H will do for haupt, meaning main (for a hospital, go to a Krankenhaus, so, no risk of confusion here).

Thus the giant sign reads: Frankfurt-am-Main Hbf, the key operand being the letter H. Therein lies all the critical info needed for a safe arrival, all the rest is grandiose fluff that only clutters the mind and gets you off at the wrong station.

Am I off on a ramble or what? Is there more space here on the Wall for a few extra words? Yes?

The same odd shortfall occurs along the interstates. We hope you know you're cruising down the Autobahn, nonetheless, you'll be reminded endlessly of the pending upcoming of an Autobahn interchange. What else could come up? I don't know.

Miles ahead of the exit, you'll be forewarned that the next intersection is not just any dirt road crossing, it's an Autobahn interchange. Wow, beep the horn, you're on the Autobahn, thanks for the reminder. All that knowledge would already make you smart any day, but the giant blue signs go on to give you glimpses of what's to come: it might be a cross shaped intersection, or a three pointed one. Oh the excitement, mind you, we still haven't been told a thing about which directions the big exit leads to, not a peep, not yet - they know how to build the suspense until the very last.

Big signs, filled with letters, Autobahndreieck, Autobahnkreuz blah blah blah, and... oh dear, where's the space left for the spelling out what the exit is for? Frankfurt-on-the-Main you say? Oh no, no, there isn't enough space for all that, a single F is all we can paint - they'll know, what else can it stand for anyways? At 180 km/h, F stands for speed reading.

And that's when you slam on the ABS brakes to make the **** exit and you thank brilliant German autoengineering for their invention of the Antiblockiersystem. Rüsselsheim, right by the FFM airport is the euro GM town - if you like the detour.

Keep your eyes open. I wish I had pictures of my signs.

Have a great time, my personal experiences always are.

Mad Dog!!!!!!!!

Bring lots of Deutschemarks

for da BIER.

Unknown

it takes so long to get perfectly poured

order this way...

zwie bier bitta

clammy

snops

Hey hot rod while in germany remenber to bring home some of there excellent snaps ,you can't get the really good stuff here and as for beirs check out paulander salavodor top stuff also while there check out there obi stores (germany home depo ) they had a grat selection of high quality hand tools rems s pliyers and loads of 1000v electrical tools kripenex,suki at quite cheap prices but that was before the euro also they had boiler set up right in the store also see if you can check out the local engerny conservation assicotion ,i did and was amazed at all the latest stuff which i have yet to see in the US and that was 10 years ago .Hope you have a great time and return saftly .peace and good luck clammy