Not a bike trip, but a European business trip

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Here I am in Sindelfingen Germany on a Sunday trying out blogging with a mini tablet.
Sundays in Germany are fantastic because they have no shops open and people are spending time with their families.
I am sitting in a park, using the awesome technologies available to us to communicate with my family and friends via whatsapp. This is however not a straight forward thing if you want to avoid high roaming costs.
I have set my South African phone to sms roaming only, then bought a cheap sim card and loaded voice and data on it. This sim card was put in a mini tablet which I use as a phone and gps navigation with Navmii, a very good free navigation app and I also made it a hot spot for my South African phone. Whallaaa I can search the net, navigate, phone and whatsapp for very little money.

Let me explain to those who are as technologically challenged as I am.
In Europe you can buy a sim card for your phone without a problem from most filling stations. This you have to set up via the Internet. You do however not always have access to the Internet and therefore the better option is to buy the sim at a phone shop. These sim cards are specially sold to enable travelers to be able to call their home country at very affordable rates. Their are different companies and at the moment I am using Lebara. The people at the phone shops are normally very helpful and will give you the best option if you tell them where you want to phone to.

My colleagues and I started our work in Rastatt, working intensely from 08h00 in the mornings until 16h00 in the afternoon. Then it was time for exploring, getting to know a bit about the food,architecture and culture. Unfortunately this was only scratching on the surface, but none the less, we tried our best.

The first evening was a real German restaurant / brewery. Fantastic beer, food and service. Some interesting things regarding restaurants (not the fancy ones, just the lekker places) are that you can share a table with another group, you can ask them to split the bill when you pay and the waiters will do their best to translate the menu.

Please do not try to eat what you normally have at home. Why are you spending a lot of money to experience what you already know? 99% of the local dishes in Europe will be enjoyable and if you are unfortunate with one, you have a story to tell to your friends.

The second evening was set aside for Strassburg, a city with a German name, but just across the border in France. Although this is only a few kilometres from Germany the differences are very evident. The most obvious are that I cannot read the language, then I do not understand what the people say, the breads sold are long instead of round and so the list keep on growing. The biggest challenge in foreign countries are the language. It makes it difficult to find your way and can cause you to feel very alone or alienated, but luckily you can mostly get along with English if you go to the touristy places. I recall a meal in a real Italian restaurant where truckers go and I apparently ordered half a meal. The waitress tried her best to explain, but I was lost and we both just laughed about it.

The third evening we decided to experience a vast contrast to the beautiful old city in France and went on a drive through small towns in the German black forest. Some of us thought that nothing could beat the previous evening, but nature is a strangely fantastic thing. You can never compare the two experiences. They are both fantastic and touch our souls in their different ways which I cannot explain in words.

In summary I think the following is appropriate.

When in Rome, do as Rome does. Look around you to see how the locals behave. How do they eat, shop, walk in the street, talk etc. This way you will learn a lot about their culture and also ensure that you do not offend them. Go and experience the unknown and put yourself at risk by going to places you have never heard about. The experience and stories you have to tell afterwards are so much better.

For the rest of this I will only add some pictures. As the saying goes, a picture speak a thousand words.

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