Written whilst in Germany, October 5th 2005

Being overseas is definitely cool, but you still take your oddities with you. For example, Sharon, enjoying her expensive high-res Canon Digital, suddenly found a fondness for taking pictures of German windows.


Like this one. There are many more, but you get the idea.

Agreed these windows are rather special. But it seemed like a quirky thing to do whilst enjoying an overseas adventure. So I had to find a quirk of my own.

And I did. At the Melbourne Motor Show in 2003 I think, I first laid eyes on the then-latest motoring fad, the Smart.

This little urban and inner-city assault vehicle is not so much a car as a single roller skate with an engine and a roof. It has barely enough room for a driver let alone a passenger and a small amount of shopping. Upon seeing this contraption I vowed I would never be near one again.

Yet these little auto vermin have infested European cities starved of decent fuel prices and parking spaces. Here in Germany there are so many you have to be careful not to tread on them and get them stuck in your shoe.

Aaahh! Run away!!

Those of you unfortunate enough to be subjected to my 7 hours (and counting) of video footage when I return, will note the ongoing theme of Smart cars appearing in almost every scene. I guess since I fancy myself as a movie maker, I may as well have an Alfred Hitchcock- style signature.



This nasty little Noddy Car even managed to push this other, slightly larger car out of it's parking space. Perhaps they suffer from "Little Car syndrome"

Our good friend Claudia was kind enough to arrange a car for us to drive for three days whilst in the beautiful city of Dresden. It was a brank spanking new piece of sheer driving pleasure- BMW 5-series.

Our dear Claudia was able to swing this because her sister's boyfriend Uwe is the sales manager at Dresden's BMW head office.

I am eternally thankful that Uwe does not work at Dresden's Smart dealer.

So there you have it. Here we are in Germany, the world renowned home of the quality car and driver, the autobahn, the epitome of automotive sophistication. Yet the most dominant vehicle is a squeaky little mouse car for vertically challenged people and their ordinary shopping.