Notes from the Road An American Abroad

date: Landeck, Austria 3/24/01

Europe 2001

Touring in Europe has always been a rewarding, if disorienting experience. Some things that make life interesting:

CONVERSIONS
As it turns out, even the Europeans don't understand the metric system. Ask directions and everyone says "Ah, it's only 50 meters," by which they mean anything from a quarter to half a mile. If they say it's only a couple of kilometers, make sure you have a full tank. Changing currencies also takes some getting used to, as the much touted Euro doesn't exist yet. So I've created my own unit - the CD. One CD=25 Swiss Francs, 30 German Marks, and 250 Austrian Schillings. That's good enough to gauge meals, gas, and chocolate.

COMPUTERS
If you bring a laptop to stay in touch with your world, beware of incompatibilities on a major scale. Northern and Southern Europe use two different AC plugs, which are 220V vs. the US standard 110V. So you'll need a transformer and two adaptors. Remember that you'll need a special stepdown transformer for your electronics devices, not the lighter ones that some specialty stores sell for appliances. Also, Switzerland, Germany, Austria and Belgium (the four countries on my tour) have different phone connectors. It's next to impossible to find a neighborhood computer store this side of the Atlantic, so get 'em before you leave. And, while it turns out that some of the phones here do use the US modular plugs, many residences and hotels are still wired for pulse dialing, not tones, so your modem still won't work. Finally, get the access numbers for each city/country you'll be traveling to before you leave, and find out whether there are additional costs to use them. Good luck staying connected.

PHONE
On the other hand, reaching the US by phone from here can be incredibly easy with the right credit card and calling program. For $4/mo. you can now get special low international rates from ATT and all you have to do is call them to get your calling card account set up (you don't even have to wait for the card - they'll give you a number and a pin by phone). Before you leave, find out the access codes from each of the countries you'll be traveling. I'm paying something like 85 cents to get connected and 30 cents a minute.

DRIVING
Driving can also be a frustrating experience. Signs almost never give you cardinal directions (North, East, South, and West), only the names of destination cities. Also, the names given can change seemingly at the whim of the sign painter. So, you may be following signs for Ulm, but the next major interchange may not mention Ulm. It might say, for instance, Würtzburg, and then you have to look at your map to see which direction that is. Worse, the signs on a major north-south highway might suddenly mention a city far to the east or west, like Munich; then you have to find which major route goes off to Munich and whether the junction is north or south of where you are. Sometimes, there are major junctions both north and south of where you are.... Also, many highways here simply peter out and turn into two-lane county roads for several kilometers. Or worse, major highways empty out into the middle of a major city like Zürich and you must follow signs to the continuation of the highway through congested city streets. And many of these cities are medieval (literally), with narrow labyrinthine roads and beehive-like residential areas. Make sure you have good maps with route numbers.

Hugh Blumenfeld, Editor
hugh@balladtree.com