European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - December 13, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Germany driving is slower do k driving in the former Gorman democratic Republic is a mixed bag. In a country where the Standard waiting time for a new car was 15 years the change on the roads has been nearly As stunning As the transformations in the political Arena. The trabant and wart burgs which formerly had the roads pretty much to themselves now Are being displaced by of pcs Fords Volkswagen bows Quot and Mercedes. A. Cd \ a a add \ a used car lots have sprouted up All Over the Countryside like mushrooms during a Rainy autumn. Every Little town seems to have two or three they Are set up in vacant lots on front lawns in roped off Corners of farm Fields. Sometimes they have Only six or seven cars. Usually there is a Banner flying from a pole sometimes a Little. A office shed. V a the roads Are in the same general condition As the rest of the country mediocre to disastrous. The autobahn Are straight out of the 1940s and/50s a poured Concrete with two lanes in each direction separated Only by a narrow median strip with no Barrier. Unlike the Western portion of the country there is a peed limit of 100 Kilometres an hour 60 Mph on the autobahn. The Speed instead of restaurants kiosks Dot the highways in Eastern Germany. Limit makes fora much More leisurely Highway environment though there Are still a few mostly we sties who ignore it. After the craziness of flashing lights and 140 Mph porsche in the West there is something quaint and relaxing about cruising along at 60 listening to the rhythmic thunk thunk of car wheels passing Over the expansion gaps Between the Concrete slabs. One outdated aspect of the h Highway system that is not so quaint is the Public toilets or Lack of them. Facilities Are primitive generally outhouses and chemical toilets. Most people seem to prefer the comparative cleanliness and Comfort of the Woods. The very few service station rest areas Are hot. Up to Western standards. The restrooms Are old and filthy and the toilet paper of the cardboard variety a d a a a a / a a a a a. A in addition to the Speed limit another Factor that keeps speeds Down on the Eastern German autobahn is that Many sections Are undergoing repairs. On the Berlin Nurnberg autobahn there is a 30-Nriile stretch that is being redone. Traffic is channelled from one Side of the Highway to the other and in Many places there is Only one Lane in each direction. Average Speed is about 35-45 Mph. In general the traffic density on the East German autobahn is less than in the West. However this is not the Case on German Holiday weekends when visitors from the West bring their world class traffic jams with them. In contrast tie ups Are an Ever present possibility on the secondary roads. Especially on routes Between cities that Are not linked by autobahn Auto travel can be very slow indeed. Remember this when you Are planning your route. What looks like a two hour trip on the map can be double that depending on local traffic and Road. Conditions. Trucks farm tractors and Road construction sometimes slow traffic to a crawly or Stop it altogether. Fuel prices Are the equivalent to those in the West but do not expect to use your cafes coupons. In five Days of driving we did not see one Esso or by station. Nor Lead is available virtually everywhere. Sometimes it May hot be indicated on the overhead signs but even the tiniest stations usually have one no Lead . Regular leaded costs about 1.25 Marks per liter about $3.27 a Gallo super no Lead is afo Uhd 1.30 Marks a liter $3,40 a gallon and diesel is about 1,20 a liter $3,14 a gallon. Can find a the View from a room in the hotel Goldener Adler in Wittenberg is not exactly Scenic it was Only a Little after 4 p.m., but already getting dark when we began our quest. We had arrived in tub Benau in the spree Wald area a a Southeast of Berlin less than 15 minutes before. But it was our third night in Eastern Germany and by now it was dear to us that our first priority in any new town a was finding a place to  night. A. D we had already asked and found out there was no local tourist office so we started our search in the next most logical place the town s biggest hotel. The Schloss hotel has 45 rooms and some 90 Beds. We thought that 10stripes Magazine december 13,1990