Have Car – Won’t Travel
Posted in European Travel, Romantic Locations, Travel | By Shelley Gillespie | Tags: Germany, Travel
Traveling in the Black Forest, we had a great BMW – automatic – that we had rented from a private rental company.
Driving along, watching the scenery, suddenly, the car just s t o p p e d. Despite our best efforts, it refused to go and we had no idea what was wrong. We had gas, so that wasn’t it.
Since we weren’t near a town, we stood at the roadside, hoping someone would give us a lift. I lifted my thumb in the universal hitchhiker’s sign – and waited.My husband was with me, but he, not being cute or female, stayed in the background.
Finally, a car with two musicians pulled up (their car was filled with musical instruments, that’s how I knew). I yelled, “Hilfe” (help).
They took pity on me and indicated I could have a ride. When I beckoned to my husband to get in, my rescuers looked most disconcerted. I believe they thought I was escaping from my husband.
They took us to the nearest town, where we used the phone to call the rental car company. It was a Sunday, so they were not there, but we left a message.
My message, “Ihre auto is kaput.” (Your auto is kaput – done for.) Short, not so sweet, but certainly to the point.
They later called back, panicked. In English, they tried to understand what was wrong. It was apparent that they thought we had totaled the car. We explained that it had just stopped working. We told them the location where it had died and they set off to retrieve it.
Meanwhile, with every pfennig (worth a fraction of a cent) we had, we had engaged a taxi to take us to the apartment in which we were living, miles away. We sat anxiously watching the taxi meter amount rise. Just as we reached our driveway, the number showing was exactly equal to what we had in our pockets.
On Monday, the rental company called to let us know that the car’s transmission had needed fixing. They were extremely relieved that the car was still intact. I think we scared them.