Anything else that SHOULDN’T be done in Germany?? 😅

One thing i recognised multiple times, when i went to the former Concentraotion Camp Buchenwald is that many tourists are very loud and making jokes with each other, loughing, etc. I get that you want to have fun on your trip, but this is one of our biggest memorials. Tens of thousands of people died there under gruesome circumstances. It is a place for modesty, a statement of what can happen if a society falls. Don't respecting that is equal to make a picknick on the tomb of the unknown soldier or burning model-twintowers. If you want to visit these memorials you are welcome. They represent a very important message. But please, treat them with the respect they deserve.

To No. 6: if you only speak English, please speak more slowly, it helps a lot to understand you!

6:52: and trains that are canceled don't count as delayed at all - makes sense, if they don't run, they can't be late.

There is a German word for what has happened to Deutsche Bahn, it has been " kaputtgespart ", in English: economize on something to the point of ruin

Newly designed Danish trash cans even have a special "shelf" or cupholders, where you can place cans and bottles with "pfand" 😊

You know why some restaurants say that the card mashine is not working? The owner doesn't want to pay a fee to the credit card company

🎶Purple hair.. purple hair🎵 - famous Prince song

About the Trains... you better come to Switzerland to see how Train Travel should work. 🙂

Pfand is a wonderful thing! I work as a groundskeeper at a Kaufland (a big german supermarket chain) and i allways put Pfandbottles at a certain spot so collectors can collect them =)

Everyone in my family actually has purple hair. But we all coloring them to all sorts of blonde, brunette or red. We hated all the jokes our neighbours with green hair made on us.

Long Distanc Trains don't have to be expensive, as long as you book a "Sparpreis" ticket. You need to buy it weeks before your journey and it is bound to a soecific train.

Regarding the German Autobahn. Most parts of it has speed limits! Even there is no speed limit: Driving faster than 150 km/h requires constant 100% concentration and a forward-looking driving style. This has nothing to do with "relaxed driving" but is exhausting - especially if you have little experience with German autobahns. You should always keep an eye on the traffic in front of you and consider what other drivers (also in other lanes) might be doing in the next moment. It is also very important to keep a sufficiently large distance to vehicles in front Conclusion: Even if it's legal and the car is technically capable of going very fast, don't confuse the Autobahn with a racetrack - and not confuse yourself with a racer.

I'd like to add to the part of "Speaking English in Germany" that there is a secret door opener, when you are talking to a German. Whatever you'd like to say, start with "Entschuldigung" or "Entschuldigen Sie bitte." Usually you would use this when addressing a waiter/waitress or when asking someone to give the shortest way to the museum. But it does make a difference. Some people even judge it as being rude when you are not using these words.

Funny that americans start loathing "Deutsche Bahn" as well. I mean, it's completly justified and the ultimate sign for being integrated😂

Do not only go to Neuschwanstein, there are plenty other castles you can visit and do not have to wait ages 😉

The Plankton „Halloohoo!“ was hilarious!

Don’t come to Germany expecting ice water or any water free of charge in restaurants. Don’t expect ice machines in hotels. Cappuccino: I love cappuccino and drink it any time I feel like it. And I’ve done that during vacation in Italy too.

A piece of advice from a very frequent train traveler with ~300 long distance travels per year: - You are free to express your anger and disappointment towards the personell on the train. But please remember that those are the people least responsible for it. Same applies for DB Information counters or DB Reisezentrum. Treating them with respect sometimes gives you an extra compensation. - Prefer direct connections whenever possible. Even if it takes a bit longer. - Check for construction works, which may affect your overall travel time. The DB Navigator app does NOT take delays into account until you are delayed. If the notification says "expect 45 minutes of delay", add another 15 minutes just to be on the safe(r) side. - Do NOT plan connections with less than 15 minutes to change trains. Frankfurt/Main (Hbf) and Cologne Hbf are the worst given my experience. It may happen that your connection is delayed as well, but don't count on it. For Frankfurt and Cologne I plan with 30 minutes minimum which often leads spending time in a Starbucks or something similar. Yes, takes significantly more time, but is way more relaxed. 😉 - If possible, check if your connecting train starts at the station where you want to get on. If yes, the train will most likely not wait as the track is needed for other traffic. Again, I take Frankfurt as an example as I have to change there from time to time. - When you are going on or returning from vacation, don't take it so seriously. Don't ruin your holiday with something out of your control. Yes, you can rage about it, spend all your energy feeding that anger - it changes nothing but ruining your mood - When on a business trip, like I am (~80%), use the "extra" time for something useful. Larger stations offer quiet or working areas (DB Lounge if you have access to it). Yes you may or will be late, make the best of it. I use an ICE connection to commute to Frankfurt/Main, that is why I have so many long distance travels per year. I have to use it for business trips as well due to the Bundesreisekosten-Gesetz. But I do not regret abandoning my personal car and getting a BahnCard 100 (personally paid, not company). I have it for more than three years now and I experience the "struggles" with DB on a more or less daily basis, learning and understanding the causes better and better over time and adapting to them. If I do need a car I use car sharing. AND YES THAT IS VERY INDIVIDUAL AND CANNOT BE APPLIED TO EVERYONE - I am very well aware of that. 🙂 PS: Bruxelles last week without any issues. Berlin next week is a direct connection, anything but a fire and evacuation won't really bother me... Edit: Some minor corrections.

The trains used to be on time and reliable but has not been for several years now.

The Deutschland - Ticket is not a bad thing, but it is primarily made for comuters who use public transport very often. Of course you can use it as a tourist as well, but have a close look at the terms & conditions or you might pay for two months even if you used it only for a few days.

Most Americans don't know how to drive a manual transmission vehicle. Rental cars with automatic transmission are available in GER, but they're really expensive. So, if tourists are on a budget, taking a driving lesson in a stickshift car beforehand is going to save a huge amount of money. Addressing traffic rules: the most important one in GER IME is the meaning of the Crosswalk sign which makes a stopp compulsory when a pedestrian is in the vicinity. Cappuccino: all day long, I'm not Italian!

Where exactly is Aubrey? Do we see her again?🥰 greetings from northern Germany

Bike lanes: You nailed it, @PassportTwo, you don't walk on the street and complain about cars honking ... so walking on bike lanes ... (and, yes, in Berlin hearing this infamous "Halooo!" is meant as "good day" ;))

The language issue is no longer as strict as it used to be. For me, it goes without saying that when an American approaches me in Vienna, I immediately speak to him in English. I would never expect someone who has learned English to speak to me in another language. If I go to the Czech Republic, I'll be classified as helpless there in terms of language skills. I can only hope that I will meet someone there who speaks English, you're more likely to meet people there who can speak German. Only locals say ahoi and dobre den there, everyone else should be able to tell where they are from. In Alsace I once tried to use my meager knowledge of French, but of course that was completely unnecessary there. In Holland I once asked for directions in Dutch so perfectly that I got an answer in Dutch that I hardly understood at all. Still, I was proud of myself....

I, living in Germany, have never been in any shop or restaurant, which did not take debit cards (except kiosks or the like). Granted, not credit cards, which are not really popular with Germans, but debit cards. So, tourists, just get a standard debit card. Also: all these (usually) Americans going on about Germany being a cash society never mention, that in the US cheques are used all the time and everywhere, being send by post or handed over personally to your landlord on a monthly basis [sic!], and so on … Cheques - can’t get more outdated than that! You won‘t find cheques in Europe.

Great report and super cool glasses

The Italian answer is: No capucchino after noon! The German answer is: Nobody here cares.

Cappuccino? Wattzefack! In Germany you grind coffee-beans with your own teeth and swallow them with nearly boiling water! (Because boiling water makes the "Kaffee as sour as your life") All jokes aside: drink it as you like it, but don't ask me for marshmellow maple leaf vanilla corn syrup with unicorn sparcles while you're at my place, k? 😉

14:20 fixing the card reader is expensive, especially since its also often a rented mashine who costs a lot money for each transaction done, so of cause stores do not want to replace the mashine if they don't make enough money to make a good use of having it repaired

In Germany noone cares if you drink Cappuccino in the afternoon. In Italy on the other hand ...

What you said about the local language is so true! Knowing how to say "Excuse me?" "Where is ...?" "Thank you!" is better than any insurance or GPS. Bonus tip if you want to go swimming at a lake or the coast: Don't get flustered when you walk across a nude beach. They're still a part of German culture, especially in the North East.

haha the story with the ketchup was so relatable and also made me laugh so hart haha

Great video! Heading to Deutschland soon. Gig'em!

Relatives of mine came from the USA, landed at Frankfurt Airport and rented a car there. After about 50 kilometers they drove to an SOS post on the right and asked for help. They didn‘t want to drive another kilometer on a German highway. The speed at which others were traveling really scared them. 😮😅😂

I do it like the Italians, Cappucino in the morning and past 10:00 am I switch to Espresso😅

Tea, always tea 🫖

To #5: Absolutly yes! We Germans love rules. If there is something without a rule .. we hate it 😄. Even if the rule tells you: Here is the rule to feel free what you like to do 😁

Random answer: I try to avoid cappuccino after 11.00 AM, but am not always successful. Sometimes it is just too tempting, and a Latte has too much milk in it for me. To the cash question: For a two-week tour, I would bring € 500 in smaller bills (50 and under) and arrange for easy access to that amount, when it's been spent. Cash makes life easier here, and even if it's easier to steal than credit cards, you probably won't want to be caught without it, if you want to do some exploring. The nice thing about cash is there is no record of exactly what I buy, and that is what I like. I don't want to add to my cyber consumer profile every time I buy toilet paper.

To the topic of booking a train ride with DB to Paris and the price: you know wenn your friends are coming over. Just plan it out with them and book in advance. You get a much better price like this. About Italian Coffee ? I drink a latte macchiato for breakfast and in the afternoon. There's mo rule for it in Germany.

The Pfand-Symbol is only for single-use bottles.. Multiple use bottles like glass or hard plastic you're kinda expected to know which you return and which go in the container.

2:36 Only Plastic bottles and aluminium cans have this return logo on them. Glas bottles you can return have the word Pfandflasche written on them somewhere. You get 8 Cents back for them. For example, if you bought milk in a glas bottle, it likely is a Pfandflasche; I see so many people throwing away such Glas bottles rather than returning them. Beer glas bottles are generally Pfandflaschen.

about the english thing , we start to learn english in elementary school , some of us like i'am in Kindergarten. So most people below 60 pretty fluent . We are getting grades in English it is a Main subject in school. Dont expecting Air Condtioners in every House , it very comon not to have one. I dont care when you drink your Capuchino , feel free to procedd as you wish Cash is also a main thing when you visit Flea Markets, they a big culture in germany.

I drink espresso,Cappuccino,etc,anytime I like and I feel everyone should do the same.

I am German and living in France over 20 years. When going back to see my sister I invited her.... and she had to pay as the restaurant took no credit card. Here in France you can even pay your baguette (0,35 €) with the card. OK, exceptionnally, if you know the baker 😁. But over 1 € it is common.

Great video as always. Love your perspective! And yes, I am German and have purple hair 🎉

The Deutsche Bahn says that the train comes "on time", when the train comes late with a delay of maximum of 5 minutes. When the train is 6 minutes late at least, then the train is "late".

Our store registers at the checkout show the Pfand after the beverage has been scanned, if it has Pfand on it. You gotta look for the logo. How is Aubrey doing at the moment? Will she return in future videos? 4:39 Funny that you used Dieter Bohlen there. BTW, you can find pretty much any haircolor in our country since they have changed the view of colored hair for many workplaces. "Germans are excellent drivers": *DDG, Der Fahrlehrer and Sascha Fahrnünftig want to have a word with you*

U can drink cappu all the time, its just coffee with foam. And like the brits having their teatime we have our Coffee and Cake ( Kaffe und Kuchen ) time what is normally at 15 til 16 o'clock, and u can drink all kinds of hot coffees

Even stores that accept credit cards do not accept all of them. Visa and Mastercard are always o.k., American Express mostly too, but not always, the others are mostly not accepted in Germany.

11:35 exactely. That's the least most Germans expect. Most foreigners in my vicinity don't even attempt to learn even though they're living here, which comlpicates things a lot. I find this very important and I'm glad you've mentioned it. Great content as always. Greetings.

Well, decaf only for me in the afternoon (unless I plan to stay awake way past midnight).

Cappuccino: in Italy: only in the morning; in Germany: egal; in Austria: never, you should drink a Melange instead. 😉

RQOTW: In Italy, it depends on your gender and age. It's okay for older women (up from around 50) to drink cappuccino in the afternoon.

I have never understood the concept that coffee is “only for breakfast”, LOL! So, yeah, go ahead and have it any time you want.

Many train delays in Germany are due to measures to extend the system and make it more reliable in future. There are several schemes running e.g. to exchange turnouts which tell the railway track maintainance personel when to look after them before it fails. They increase the number of turnouts with electric heating systems to avoid failures on cold days in the winter. Of course an interuption of service is inevitable while the new turnouts are inserted into the track network. Meanwhile they found out that ca. 500.000 sleepers have to be replaced because the concrete they are consisting of got bad ingredients. It is not clear so far if fraud or negligence lead to this problem. The lack of rolling stock has been successfully remedied as far as long distance passenger trains are concerned. Billions of Euros had been invested to order new ICEs and double deck ICs from the industry, it delivers them almost in time now. The lack of qualified staff is still rampant, train drivers (Triebfahrzeugführer) are missing as well as the staff for signal boxes (Fahrdienstleiter, Disponenten) making the ways for the trains. A train operator in the north west of Germany hired 50 men to become new train drivers, but 25 failed their train driver exam. They ended up limiting train services though.

German right-of-way rules are difficult for U.S. residents. Basically, it is not "first come, first served" but "right before left" with many exceptions. Most learner drivers fail because of right-of-way rules, and most accidents happen because of them.

Fun video! Cappuccino anytime imo, however after reading others’ comments, apparently that isn’t acceptable in Italy, lol!

Thing 4 & Thing 5 are very important, ideed!

American on the Autobahn: "120 mph! I'm the king of the .... WTF, where did that Porsche come from????"

Cappuccinos are great. You can enjoy there profound appealing flavor in the morning. You can feel your well being with them in a moment of calm and self care at a beautiful starry night and also in every other joyful situation or challenging moment in between. Cappuccinos are great.

I did have purple hair for years, but not anymore 😁 For traditional clothes from different regions in Germany and other countries come to Gotha in July and visit the Europeade. As a German, I don't think it's rude when you don't speak german as a tourist. That only turns when you stay for some month / years / forever.

4:43 yes haha

Bundesbahn ran pretty well until 1994. Then, thanks to the politicians and hello Deutsche Bahn, the railroad was privatized. Fillet pieces were formed and so on. You know the process. The privatization wanted to be pushed forward. Maximize revenues and cut expenses at the same time. Good. Or not so good. Today, 30 years later, you see the result more and more. So, the moral of the German story: don't believe the privatization wave. Some basic things simply belong in the hands of the state. 🤐

For example here in italy the agenzia delle entrate has requiered to anyone who owns a shop to accept cards and have receipts (so that they don’t evade taxes)

As to the Pfandflaschen, I imagine many Americans have problems with the concept since they are used to the fact that the price at the cash desk is not the same as displayed on the wares. So they do not notice that they paid a fee on their bottles.

As german i'm only here to answer one question. I'm a Moccahino guy. any place, any time . But not after 7pm.😂 I like chocolate Coffee. 😋

Das war sehr gut. Toll der Tip ein bisschen Deutsch zu lernen, Thumbs Up . Cappuccino can you definitely drink the whole day. Only in the evening, I'm not sure if Italians would do this.

I just want to emphasize the part about driving. The rest might be rude or smth. but not that bad. But driving in general is to dangerous to not know what you are doing. So it is really important to at least know how to behave in general while driving and to know the standard rules in Cities and on the Autobahn.

and btw. Cappuccino in the afternoon is totally fine and very much appreciated by me when going out for dinner hahaha

There is a German word for what has happened to Deutsche Bahn, it has been " kaputtgespart ", in English: Saved to the bone

- don't come to Germany and start a small talk with Nazi stuff. The topic is serious and not the weather. - don't come to Germany and think we're behind the world just because we solve things differently than in the states. Yes, our apartments all have electricity, even without an overhead cable. (I actually had this discussion with a US Air Force soldier...) - don't come to Germany and think only American law would apply to you. We have our own laws and will apply them. - don't come to Germany and expect everyone to adore you. You're just a tourist, not a superstar or the pope or anything. - don't come to Germany and tell us how great it is that there are so many us cars driving around here, like BMW, AUDI, VW, PORSCHE ... (also experienced it myself ...)

Afternoon and morning

Now I want to ride my bicycle, and yell "Hallooohooo!" 😮😁

I personally would not expect to speak any german from a tourist. It is another thing if someone comes to germany to life there and does not attempt to learn any german.

The "Put the bottle not in the trash, but next to it easily pickable on the ground" thing is an example of how we care about...well...everyone. Why would you force poor people looking for bottles to earn some money to grab through disgusting and hazardous trash, when you could make their life easier, without you being bothered at all? Be nice! It pays back!

If you drink cappuccinos in the afternoon is totally up to you and should only depend on a) your type of cappuccino (real coffee cappu vs. instant-sugar-stuff) and b) if it's actual coffee, your reaction to caffeine. You don't want to lie awake at night.

Lot of small roads with no street signs have right before left, which means coming from the right side has right of way. I dont like this rule, because every couple of meters you have to look if someone is coming from the right side and step on the break.

I m happy to meet English speaking people here, without speaking any German. So i can use my English with nativspeaker

RQothW: Perhaps not done in Italy, but I drink my capuccino after lunch, and a few times have done this in Italy too. Don't invite people over if you don't mean it. As in "let's get together", Do come over and visit us sometime". Don't ask people how they are if you don't want an honest ( sometimes long-winded) answer. Don't ask them how much they earn. If you have learned a bit of German, don't use the DU with adults you do not know. Don't come empty-handed if you are invited to dinner at their homes. At least some flowers, or wine or chocolates.

I really dont know any germans under the age of 70 (western part) or the age of 40 (eastern part) that doesnt speak englissh at least to a lvl to answer simple questions or help you out with things like directions. If they dont do so its mostly because they dont want to speak englisch(a few) or they dont feel comfortable (a lot of the older people). Englisch will be spoken by most/all (younger) (western) europeans, so dont bother to learn some phrases in german or the other languages because if youre not at least b1 it adds nothing to the experience of visiting europe.

having our Bahn beeing half privatized was one of the biggest mistakes in the 90s. Train travel was much better before that

12:29 "Sprechen Sie Ketchup?" 😊

but i am the lederhosn wearing beer drinking weißwurst eating German, and regarding trains, except Switzerland and Japan they're still pretty good compared to the rest of the world, also i'm pretty sure with cappucino you mean latte macchiato which is a morning drink, cappucino goes all day.

If a place only accepts debit cards then they accept European cards not German cards. The banking system for most of Europe was beginning to unify in the 90s (before the euro) and is the same for all euro countries. so you can pay with a French card but not with an American.

You can have cappuccino any time of the day you like. Even on an evening out with friends. 😊

I'll drink cappuccino any time of the day, espresso is for the morning and the afternoon, though.

Cappuccino is an all-day drink ö.ö And as a tourist please do not feed pidgeos or ducks in cities

One important thing about the unrestricted parts of our Autobahn: If you drive faster than 130 km/h (80,78 freedoms/h) and you get into an accident, you will get partial fault even if it was not your fault at all. You could TRY to give a very good and plausable reason on WHY you had to drive faster than 130 km/h but its unlikely you get away with it. Also a word of caution: Only drive as fast as the conditions allow it at that time. If the traffic is very high or it pours, I would not drive like a lunatic.

1:15 Plastic bottles : Should have delayed the video or just change the info that everything with the logo shown has a deposit on it and you should return it to the store. Every other container goes to recycling be it glass, paper, plastic metal etc. Starting 2024 not only bottles and cans will have that logo, but tetra packs etc. will have the logo too, meaning you have to pay a deposit.

Oh, God, my last trip through Stuttgart. I thought half an hour to transfer would be enough. It wasn't. I got where I was going eventually, but two hours later than I'd planned.

I'm not living in a city, but in a rural area, so bike-only lanes are not a thing here. But sharing pedestrian side walks and bike lanes are a thin instead...

Concerning the cash thing, I recently saw a video someone using the public bus in a town in the USA. And guess what? Only cash accepted.

The first few times I visited Germany, my program manager had to physically pull me out of the bike lanes. I LOVE driving in Germany. It took me a few trips (with others driving) before I was comfortable with it, but once I got used to the rules (and standards on the road), I love it. I hate parking in Germany. (I also am a weirdo, I don't drink coffee, so have no opinion on espresso drinking.)

I'd like to add: Don't pretend to be more proficient in German than you actually are. While I worked at a supermarket checkout I was happy to speak English to customers when they spoke English and happy to be accommodating to customers speaking broken German. But every once in a while someone came in, dropped some phrases in perfect accent-free German and then they struggled without letting me know. Turns out, they arrived in Germany a few days earlier and don't know any German apart from a handful of phases they practiced to perfection. One example was a customers who bought his first drink in Germany and was confused I wanted 25 cent more. It took me ages to figure out not only that he wasn't familiar with the Pfandsystem but that I can explain it in English.

It doesn't matter which time you want to drink cappuccino. When you like to drink a cappuccino then let's go.. it's not a kind of bad manner. So don't let stop you to drink your cappuccino no matter what time it is.

Moment: The Deutsche Bahn is punctual. At least by their standards.

Cappuccino any time of the day. If you can still fall asleep after drinking it in the evening, you can have one in the evening as well. :)

I had purple hair some decades ago. I don't like coffee, so no cappuccino for me.

#7 No, don't bring cash to Germany. I switched to credit card during Covid and have next to no use for cash anymore. But my point is: Bring your cc and head for some ATM in Germany (or elsewhere) to get Euro asap if you think you need it. Buying a foreign currency abroad is absurdly expensive. The fee(s) at some bank or even the airport (to a lesser extent) in the destination country are way lower.