Miscellaneous Notes
Cities I Visited
I visited Ulm, Neu-Ulm, München, Paris, Frankfurt, Gießen, Heidelberg, Köln,
Bruxelles, London, Stuttgart, Nürnberg, Augsburg, Füssen/Hohenschwangau, Roma,
Vatican City, Scavi di Pompei, Napoli, Venezia, Genève, Lyon, the Surdon
area, and Senden.
I do not count Günzberg because I just passed through to get to Legoland.
Ulm's Neuen Straßenbahnen
- Albrecht Berblinger (1770-1829), tailor and hang-glider pioneer.
- Agathe Streicher (1520-1581), doctor.
- Albert Einstein (1879-1955), physicist.
- Max Eyth (1836-1906), writer and engineer.
- Otl Aicher (1922-1991), designer of type and many pictograms including those used to mark male and female toilets.
- Johannes Kepler (1571-1630), astronomer.
- Jörg Syrlin (1425-1491), carver.
- Sophie Scholl (1921-1943), teacher and White Rose activist killed by Nazis.
Otl Aicher also had some association with the White Rose that I do not
completely know about.
US Things Germany Could Use
- More and better no-smoking areas, even in outdoor cafes.
- Bigger elevators.
- Measuring spoons.
- Food:
cheap full-size chocolate chips in packages of 150 grams or more,
good chocolates (pralines, cakes, cookies),
good bulk chocolate for baking,
cookies,
good pastry,
pizza with tomato sauce,
robust salads,
summer squash,
pizza, and
larger raisins that are not gritty.
- Breakfast foods: Waffles, pancakes, maple syrup, hash browns, and more ways to prepare eggs.
- Cold beverages, including restaurant soft drinks that are cheap, cold, and large.
- Ice cubes.
- Cold medicine.
- Showerheads and other US-style shower fixtures.
- Strong air conditioners.
- Pencils with integrated erasers.
- Blackboard erasers (instead of using sponges).
- Trash compactors.
- Door locks that lock and unlock from the inside without a key.
- Single queues for multiple resources (e.g., one line for five service counters instead of five lines).
- Laundromats.
- Travel agents that sell train tickets.
- Travel agents that can make simple bookings quickly.
- Cloth napkins.
- Fluffy pillows.
- Brownies.
US Things Germany Does Not Need
- Crowds and waiting lines.
- More cars, bigger cars, and SUVs.
- Spring-loaded towel and toilet paper holders where drop-in dowels work well.
German Things the US Could Use
- Cities designed for pedestrians and bicyclists.
- Better mass transit (more frequent, more coverage, faster, priority over other traffic).
- Bus drivers who make change.
- Lots of trains.
- 60-second traffic signal cycles.
- The metric system.
- 24-hour time instead of a.m. and p.m.
© Copyright 2003 by
Eric Postpischil.