From: Doesn't Frequently Mop on
Make credence recognised that on Mon, 01 Oct 2007 12:47:03 -0400,
Cathy L <lederer123(a)optonline.net> has scripted:

>Why do you people have to be so nasty?? Can't a person express their
>opinion without being called names? It's so childish.

Damn, you know how to get a reaction!

The art of trolling aint dead.
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DFM - http://www.deepfriedmars.com
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From: Cathy L on
On Mon, 01 Oct 2007 13:51:14 -0400, Dave Smith
<adavidsmith(a)sympatico.ca> wrote:

>Fishkill Bill wrote:
>>
>>
>> We would have to say the cities are quite unimpressive. A lot of 50's
>> style plain looking buildings. The little towns are the cleanest we
>> have ever seen. Most look the same though. Down near the Alps is
>> probably the best area.
>>
>> Driving is a dream in Germany. Not a pothole in the entire country.
>> Not the most friendly people though, (not like Ireland).
>
>I found Germans friendly enough everywhere I went. As I have posted here
>previously, the friendliest, most sincere hospitality I ever experience
>while travelling was in Bavaria.
>
>I agree about the roads. While we did most of our travel on the Autobahn,
>we did get onto some secondary roads and found them to be in excellent
>condition. The only potholes I encountered where in a construction zone,
>and that road was being rebuilt, not just a new coat of asphalt or a few
>patches, but stripped down to the gravel base and re-paved.
>
>The small towns we stayed in were very clean. There was no litter, no road
>sand on the side walks. In one town in which we spent a few days the
>children were sent out on Saturday mornings to sweep the sidewalks and the
>roads in front of their houses.

Boy, we must have traveled the same roads as you did. The only bumpy
road was a small section they were resurfacing.

The people we met are Germany were not "unfriendly" to us in any way.
We just get a kick out of when my husband would smile and say good
morning to someone we encountered while walking down a street, they
were rarely respond in any way. Not like in Ireland, where you would
get a large friendly response.

I loved to see people sweeping or vacuuming the steps of their homes.
No one even throws cigarette butts on the ground.

Cathy
From: Dave Smith on
Martin wrote:

>
> If that happened to you in Bavaria too, it must be a personal problem . Maybe
> you were mistaken for pickpockets? Maybe the people weren't German.
> Of course if you smile and say good morning to everybody in a busy shopping
> street you might be mistaken for idiots or a candid camera crew.

People need to realize that when you are a tourist and in a tourist area
there is a good chance that the people you run into are also tourists. I
am reminded of complaints about litter in European cities. I have noted
that areas with lots of litter
are usually those with lots of tourists, but when you get out of the high
tourism areas there is a lot less. That leads me to the conclusion that it
is the tourists who are throwing the litter around.

I can think of one incident where I was treated somewhat rudely. I was in
Baden Baden and asked an elderly woman, in my fractured German, where the
baths were. While she ignored me, an elderly gentleman overheard me and
beckoned me to follow him and we went a considerable distance out of his
way to show us the way.


> When you sat
> down at a table with strangers in a restaurant or a bar, did they speak to you
> or ignore you?

While travelling by train in Germany we shared a compartment with a German
businessman who was polite enough but did not engage us in conversation at
first. My wife was working on a music theory exercise and asked me for
help, but when I could not help her he offered assistance.
From: Cathy L on
On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 17:02:35 +0200, Martin <me(a)address.invalid> wrote:

>On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 10:28:23 -0400, Dave Smith <adavidsmith(a)sympatico.ca> wrote:
>

>
>In general I've always encountered nothing but friendliness and helpfulness in
>south Germany.

We must have stopped people at least a dozen times to ask directions.
They were overly helpful, feeling bad that they couldn't speak
English.

I am talking about walking down a street, in a non-tourist area, and
encountering a person walking alone toward us. When my husband would
smile and say good morning, or whatever, rarely would he get a
response. No big deal, just an observation. We noticed a big
difference when we moved up state from Queens. People are not as
openly friendly. German seems to be that way.

People in Ireland seem to be more openly friendly.

I'm sure we are the only poeple on the planet that have made this
observation.

Cathy
From: Cathy L on
On Tue, 02 Oct 2007 15:59:28 +0200, Martin <me(a)address.invalid> wrote:



>Are you going to show us your holiday photos?

Why do you want to see our vacation photos? Have you run out of people
to make fun of?

Cathy