Mike Strachan’s e-mail journal — Entry #37, from Germany

Received 30 May 2008

Travels for May 28/08 — Leeuwarden, Netherlands to Papenburg, Germany

After breakfast with Mrs. Rietsma I make the trek to the station and I'm there by 9:15.

While at the Hertz office yesterday I noticed a sign which stated that rental cars in Germany have a windshield sticker which signifies that the car meets environmental standards. Since Dutch rental cars do not have the sticker, anyone driving a Dutch rental car in Germany is liable to a fine of €40. So rather than going to Groningen and renting a car, today I'm going to Papenburg in Germany. I'll rent a car there which I can drive in Germany and Holland with no fines.

The train leaves Leeuwarden at 9:33 AM, and it's a Stoptrein operated by Arriva in northern Holland. There are seven stops on the way, and it's obvious that the Fresian written language is different than Dutch. This is a three-legged trip. From Groeningen I take a train to Leer in Germany, then one from Leer to Papenburg. There's a one-hour layover in Groningen and a 12-minute one in Leer. I won't get to Papenburg until almost 1 PM.

The announcements on the train to Leer are now in Dutch and German, and there are nine stops on this leg before we get to Leer. All signs and announcements are now in German only. The train to Papenburg is very fast — 10 minutes. The station agent directs me to the tourist information office where a very efficient woman arranges a hotel room (out in the country), a rental car, and a taxi to the rental car office. Since the rental car is coming from Rhede, the car agent drives me to the hotel to check in, then drives me back to the rental car office to wait for the car. The benefit for me is that I see the route to drive to the hotel and back.

When I get the car I go straight to the town centre to explore and have dinner. One discovery was several landlocked sailing ships, created as tourist attractions (see photo at left). Fortunately I discover the supermarket with the internet cafe upstairs, and I catch up on e-mails. Then it's fun finding my hotel, with a couple of wrong turns included, just to create a challenge. Then it's time to update my journal and read myself to sleep.

Cheers,

Mike