Road Trip Requirement: A Car

(posted by Ange)

Yes, we are still eons away from the big road trip, but being the planner/organizer and just generally over-excited gal that I am, I believe we MUST start looking into our options for a vehicle immediately. What can we afford? Where will we buy it? How will we buy it? What about insurance? Is this even viable or will we be relegated to planes, trains and buses? You get the picture. Our first thought is to get on the internet and see what's out there. We need to know if this is even realistic (please be realistic!!!). Of course, going online to find a car in Europe poses one slight problem...neither of us speak anything but English. We have the idea of flying to Frankfurt (flights to Frankfurt are cheap and we figure the Germans build a good car) and buying a car there before heading to the Czech Republic. So we need a German translator....

Enter Petra, my fabulous friend who happens to be German and speaks/reads fluently. As Petra is currently bored out of her mind at work, I suggest a project for her...scan the used car ads in Frankfurt and give us an idea of what is out there. I ask Petra on a Tuesday night to incorporate this little project into one of her work days. By the next morning she has compiled a list with links for us to view a number of cars. Those Germans are so efficient, giving us more faith that buying in Frankfurt is the way to go!!! This is all preliminary of course, and we'll be begging her German speaking skills closer to the time of our departure. I'm sure bribing her with bottles of wine and perhaps some grappa will seal the deal!

What we have learned are our first few German words...

"Erstzulassung" tells you how old the car is
"Handschaltung" means it is a standard
"HU-Pruefung" tells you when they have to go to their next test (safety inspection).

$10 to any non-German who can pronounce these words correctly on the first try!!!! :)

What we have not learned are a whole bunch of other German words describing the car.

From what I can tell, a nice little compact (and pretty cute) used car is definitely in our budget (anyone know how the Euro translates into U.S. or CAD dollars?!!!). This also means I can pack a suitcase and not a backpack!!! Maybe there will be room for more than one pair of shoes!

So I believe we have confirmed that our idea of a real road trip is the way we are going. YAY! Now, chuckle to yourself as you picture 2 Canadians with only a map, a few phrase books (where is the bathroom?) and no European language skills tooling around the European countryside in a small second hand car. Also picture 2 people who both believe their navigational skills far exceed the other's. A recipe for a lot of laughter, if not disaster (ha ha ha). Stay tuned for "on the road" stories next year.