(my helmet's in the basket - I never ride without it)
I've been getting to ride my bike a lot here (well, the bike that belongs to the student whose room I'm living in). I thought I would follow my friend Trisha's example and blog a little bit about bikes here in Göttingen.
Bikes are pretty common in Germany, especially for students. A few pictures from the campus should illustrate. The "Before" pictures were taken on a Sunday morning, the others on a Monday or Tuesday about midday - but are pretty standard for the whole week.
These are at the ZHG - Zentral Hörsaalgebäude - the building with the biggest lecture halls and connected to the central cafeteria.
Before:
After:
Before:
After:
In this second pair you can see how when all the bike racks are full, any free space becomes a bike parking lot. It was windy that day, so if you see some of the bikes have fallen over, that's why.
One last one - in front of I think the theology building:
I wanted to take more pictures of the many things that make biking in Göttingen/Germany easier, but the weather hasn't been cooperating, so I don't have a full catalog of the signs limiting streets to bikes - bikes that are allowed to ride the wrong way on a one way street, and where bikes can ride in the pedestrian zone. But here is a shot of one of the busier, or at least broader intersections in Göttingen:
Bike lane (one in each direction) with its own traffic light. At this intersection there's even a bike lane in the left turn lane... again with traffic light, but I'm not sure how to get over in that lane! So I wait at the corner with everyone else.
I have really gotten to liking riding my bike around, and if Nashville were flatter, with better informed drivers, and more helpful bike racks and bike lanes, I would definitely keep it up at home. Well and the fact it hasn't really gotten over 75 degrees here yet and it's June probably helps too - biking in the summer feels a lot different here than in Nashville. Who knows, maybe I'll feel differently about it when I get there.
Snazzy bike, Jess! I'd love to see some more bike lane pictures if the weather cooperates. Will be posting a link on my blog.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures! I hope you keep cycling in Nashville - I'm sure Trisha will check up with you on that subject :)
ReplyDeleteHi, I came to your blog from Trisha and Dottie's! Great post about biking in Germany! I especially like all the before and after shots :)
ReplyDeleteI'm going for a research year abroad to Munich this fall and one of the things I look most forward to is getting a bike there and enjoying the bike friendly culture for a year. Are you a grad student in German? I hope you're having a great time in Göttingen! Schöne Grüße aus der USA! S.
www.academichic.com
Trisha and Dottie, Thanks for the compliments and encouragement. Maybe there is room for a lot more biking in my future..
ReplyDeleteS. have a great time in Munich! Yep, I am a grad student in German, and am only here for four months - way too short. And I got to your blog via Trisha and Dottie - and LOVE it. There is no need for rampant frumpiness in academia. Thanks for the comment!