terry1956 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 My first trip to germany was 48 years ago with the army.one could always tale that it was germany due to how spotless the country was. Over the years I have gone back countless times.but last week when walking around that I took in what a massive downhill slide the country had taken. Graffiti all over the police, kids playing their car radios full blast and a general lack of the old guten tag. As anyone else noticed this.michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 Perhaps they've had a massive influx of young immigrants.........., From the UK. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mgnbuk Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 I don't know about "unhappy", but we noticed a decline in standards in the West that started a couple of years after unification. I noticed that road maintenance was being neglected first, then the grafitti & lack of verge trimming / public space upkeep in (mainly larger) towns. I put it down to the concerted effort to drag the former East up to late 20th Century standards after 50+ years of infrastructure neglect. I also though that there had recently (last couple of years or so) been an improvement in road standards in the West , so maybe the money is available there again - though talking to German acquaintances at a wedding this weekend, the Westeners are still paying a 5% (I think it was) tax levied after the fall of the Wall to cover rebuilding costs in the East. For all the extra spending in the East, there still seem to be higher levels of unemployment there, noticable in the very quiet town centres in the evenings, no trouble getting tables in restaurants etc. & generally lower prices, There are also lower traffic levels on the nice, smooth, rebuilt roads. So maybe still the former East may described as "unhappy" ? Still a generally cleaner & better maintained country than here, though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antony1969 Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 terry1956 - 2014-09-22 4:18 PM My first trip to germany was 48 years ago with the army.one could always tale that it was germany due to how spotless the country was. Over the years I have gone back countless times.but last week when walking around that I took in what a massive downhill slide the country had taken. Graffiti all over the police, kids playing their car radios full blast and a general lack of the old guten tag. As anyone else noticed this.michael Graffiti all over the police ???? Crikey its gone crazy since we went couple of years ago Still better than what our fuzz have chucked at em .... Petrol , pee , pleb name calling Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cliffy Posted September 22, 2014 Share Posted September 22, 2014 terry1956 - 2014-09-22 4:18 PM My first trip to germany was 48 years ago with the army.one could always tale that it was germany due to how spotless the country was. Over the years I have gone back countless times.but last week when walking around that I took in what a massive downhill slide the country had taken. Graffiti all over the police, kids playing their car radios full blast and a general lack of the old guten tag. As anyone else noticed this.michael My other half and I said the same when we were there earlier this year. It was not so much the graffiti and road surface quality as the general untidiness and dirtiness. We have been to a number of camp sites in Germany and found them to be the same so have decided that we will always use Stelplatz in future which have never failed to impress. I suppose Germany is going through comparative hard time the same as the rest of Europe. In there defence I don't think any other country in Europe could have coped the way West Germany have with unification with East Germany the state it was in and come out of it as well as they have. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted September 22, 2014 Author Share Posted September 22, 2014 Thanks for your input. Its interesting that some of you are having the same views. I know that France is having a very hard time. I have a house there and the government is for ever adding new taxes on for this and that. But France always was a bit of a dump due to their tax and employment laws. I do take your point re Germany paying for the eastern side. But I think this was more for the coal then anything else. I was talking to a waiter in ulm. she just said that the Germans have anger about the falling standards. A bit like me with the UK. pity really I always liked Germany, but will give it a miss for a time. michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 23, 2014 Share Posted September 23, 2014 Its all part of the EU equality master plan ;-).............. Higher taxes and lower standards for all *-)........... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted September 23, 2014 Author Share Posted September 23, 2014 I must say that I hate the EU with all my being. but germans don't have high taxes. income tax is set at 27% insurance at 13% and that includes teeth and eyes. german houses are very cheap and there are very low rates. when I looked at buying in Germany the rates worked out at 300 pounds. at the time I was paying 2400 pounds for my uk house. car tax was a bit more at 15 euros per 100cc. I think that like here in the UK the germans feel that they are paying for the whole world and that their country is going down hill. Its a great pity Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I'm astonished you say France is a bit of a dump, certainly not a description we would use, the UK could certainly learn some lessons of civic pride that is evident almost everywhere in France. The EU is a complete disaster on that we agree.......................except for the likes of the Kinnocks., Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Have to agree with 1foot ;-)....................Civic pride is still evident in towns and villages through out France, very little graffiti or litter...........naturally the cities are like any city or.......... Spain :D.............. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
terry1956 Posted September 24, 2014 Author Share Posted September 24, 2014 Hi.you visit france, I lived there.spending a few years in a country allows you the time to see things as they are. The red tape in france is a nightmare, ok if you are in hoilday mode, but not good if you want the job done.the run down housing was due to the inheritance taxes, so people just let their homes fall apart.the last government did change this for the better, but the present one just adds more taxes. unemployment is very high and youths have started to break windows of empty shops etc.drugs dealers can be seen doing deals in caen near the castle. Yes there is a lot of good in the country, and the slide downhill may be slower but its taking place.last year our house was broken into 3 times.as we our selling there was next to nothing there, but damage was done to the gates and front door.the police and the marie both stated that it was our eastern block friends doing the rounds, something the insurance company also stated. But one thing really good for motorhomers in france is lower insurance, no road tax, and two year mots, or cross channel ferries.Michael Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest pelmetman Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 We're off in a little while to visit our friends new house that they've just bought down here in Dordogneshire, then a nice slow lunch......... They moved to our village from France 4 years ago, and have now moved back...............and not because of me >:-)...... for the life style B-).............must confess we're tempted since I discovered being a toyboy, I wont have to pay health insurance :D, plus detached houses with swimming pools cost less than a terrace back home B-)............and everybody speaks English (lol)............ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 I've just returned from a five-day trip to Cologne. Normally I fly, but my daughter who is part of my firm's management team, has a phobia about flying. I agreed to drive her in the motorhome and dropped her off at her hotel at 1900 local time after setting off from Lancashire at 0600. An easy drive via the Chunnel but a long one. I've been visiting Cologne for forty years to go to Photokina, a large biennial trade fair at the Messe. I only tend to see the suburbs on the trip from the airport but this year I also drove to a large Hymer dealer in south Cologne to view models I may be interested in buying later this year. Every night we'd have dinner with some manufacturer or other, always in the town centre or the old town, and I can't really say that I saw anything unpleasant or tatty. Cologne is a very laid-back city and is famous for its tolerance of gays for example and all in all it's a very pleasant city to visit. My biggest mistake was staying on a stellplatz just north of the city. I chose it because it seemed more convenient for the U-Bahn than the campsite and, having booked and paid, was reluctant to move. It was a typical aire. Vans four or five feet on either side and crammed into ever available bit of the plot. It was like being in prison. The worst thing was getting water. On a campsite I can just top up my tank daily using a watering can from taps that are seldom more than twenty yards away. On this one I had to go to a borne outside the site. Fortunately I managed with one refill but I had to wait nearly thirty minutes while two enormous motorhomes filled up, emptied and dumped their cassettes. A couple of what I'm sure where hired motorhomes (both absolutely identical) rolled up and just gave up and went back to the stellplatz, presumably to try their luck later? This isn't the first time that I've had to queue for ages at aire bornes but it's something that the pro-aires brigade conveniently gloss over! If I do it again I'll be using the site. The air was ten euros a night, water extra and no wi-fi. Second class camping if ever there was! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Joe90 Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 There's a simple solution, don't use Aires, especially if you find it so irksome to wait to do the very thing you want to do, or ask them to move out of your way saying you are in a hurry, I'm sure that request would result in a positive response, I sometimes use the same tactic in a supermarket checkout queue ! As for it being ten euros a night there should have been ample information to the charges, seems a tad odd to complain after the event, the most we've paid this trip was 5 euros, but I always check any signage first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Had Enough Posted September 24, 2014 Share Posted September 24, 2014 Joe90 - 2014-09-24 12:11 PM There's a simple solution, don't use Aires, especially if you find it so irksome to wait to do the very thing you want to do, or ask them to move out of your way saying you are in a hurry, I'm sure that request would result in a positive response, I sometimes use the same tactic in a supermarket checkout queue ! As for it being ten euros a night there should have been ample information to the charges, seems a tad odd to complain after the event, the most we've paid this trip was 5 euros, but I always check any signage first. Where did I complain about the price? I knew what it was in advance. I was simply pointing out what an unpleasant experience it was and that it wasn't good value for money. I have used some aires that were fine but there are many that are awful and it simply proves to me that some people will stay on anything to save a few bob. And as for the queue at the borne I can just imagine the reaction when I ask someone who's already been waiting fifteen minutes if I can slip in before them, not to mention the very awkward manoeuvring needed to swap places. This forum is about information and if my post helps others going to Cologne it will have done its job. It will also tell others about a very negative side of aires, which is queuing for the borne, something that can take a very long time on a busy aire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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