About a month ago we spent two weeks in Southern Germany, Switzerland and France. I loved it. My husband wants to move to France now, into the foothills of the Alps not far from Lake Geneva. We have good friends there with young children, besides it was so beautiful. Our friends though warned us that it is an expensive area since lots of people like to live close to mountains and lake and work in Geneva, earning a Swiss salary. Oh well, we aren't so full of illusions that we don't realize that there will be obstacles too and we will not strike it rich overnight but if we moved to Europe, still I think we'd be happier.
Being back in Europe reminded me that life is possible without a car. Of course we had a rental car but in Switzerland and Munich I wished we had not but traveled by train instead. It's easier. In Munich we actually paid parking for the car and did not drive it in town, other than when we arrived to the B&B. The public transit was efficient and overwhelmingly busy for us who are now used to half empty buses even at rush hour. I don't know how many times I reminded my husband not to walk on the bicycle lane since cyclists hate pedestrians in their way. Sure, Germans are somewhat rude and the cyclists can't tell we are tourists from Canada but generally blocked cycle lanes are annoying. Anyhow, wherever we were we could walk to do the shopping we needed, to get a meal, or to sightsee. We'd even walk right into the store without having to cross a massive parking lot.
Or imagine pedestrian zones. Kitchener had an art market twice on its main street King Street recently. They closed two blocks of the street for that purpose. I am sure drivers were annoyed although it's generally not a pleasant drive down King Street. Personally I think they should close the street for traffic forever. Uptown Waterloo has in summer an Open Street event once a month from 1-4 PM on a Sunday! I read an opinion piece on what a waste of money this event is since it does not actually draw more people into the uptown because, so the explanation, people are used to drive along King Street and pull up right in front of the store they want to shop at. Bah! What an attitude. It's time to get people used to walking again.
I sometimes think I am going insane over the fact that in Canada wherever we live I am stuck, unable to go anywhere without a car. My husband takes the car to work even though he does not like the drive but it's faster than the bus and he otherwise would not get to see his daughter during the day. We both do absolutely not want a second car so I get around by bike and foot. I have the feeling I have been to every corner of KW now and sick and tired of the same parks and playgrounds. But trying to get out into the countryside by bus or train is not worth the effort since it simply won't work.
When you tell people you don't want to depend on a car, in Canada they tell you to move into a big city like Toronto or Vancouver. Makes me choke. I'm a countryside person and moving into a huge, noisy city is the last thing I want to do again.
Anyway, once our family expands in a few weeks things will get even worse. No more cycling - just doesn't work with an infant. My husband thinks about finding a job closer to home so he can leave the car in which case we should almost get rid of it since it's too expensive. Unfortunately that would kill a considerable part of our social life and that is not extensive to start with. I hate this car-dependent culture.
I also dislike the throw-away culture. We walked the English Garden in Munich, a huge park with at least two beer gardens. They serve the beer in glass mugs! No, the park was not full of broken glass, in fact there was not a piece of broken glass anywhere. Upon returning to Canada I instantly noticed the paper cups and fast food containers lying around in streets, along strip malls, in parks, on playgrounds, sometimes just a couple of steps away from a garbage bin. It's so careless!
In KW we walked on a beautiful but not too hot Sunday afternoon through a wooded park that borders with back yards. We did not meet anybody. I said to my hubby that in Germany on such a day people read books on the porch, have coffee and tea in their garden, stroll the neighbourhood ... what do Canadians do since we can't see any? He hesitated and answered, they enjoy the air conditioning in their house while watching football. Very disappointing!
We stayed at my sister's apartment, saw the holiday apartments of my parents and aunt & uncle, saw the apartment of our friends in France, stayed at a B&B in an apartment in Munich - they all had nice sealing windows although they were not brand new or posh, just ordinary apartments. Even more disappointed!!
Do you think I wanted to come back to KW and our sauna of an apartment? Thought about taking my daughter camping for a few days
but erased that idea from my mind. Ever noticed how expensive camping
has gotten? - $35 per night minimum. Yikes! Camping is not what it used
to be. Not to talk about the entrance fees one has to shell out when going to a lake since every lake that is not on private property or too polluted for swimming has been declared a conservation area or is part of a provincial park or such. We probably did most of our swimming this year while on holidays in Europe where one can swim for free in almost every lake there is. Oh what a joy!
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