wait, is this automatic?

Well, well, well. The car was booked well ahead of time through Europcar. I find these guys have pretty good rates and, frankly, there aren't many choices in Tuebingen. Upon picking it up and signing for it, I realize one small detail that completely escaped me: i booked a car with manual transmission. I don;t know how many times already I'd wished I hadn't been ignorant and learned how to drive a stickshift, as these make up about 90% of all European cars and the other 10% are at least twice more expensive. So I had to suck it up and feel like a complete idiot going back to the agent with “Umm, do you have any automatic cars in the lot?” he gave me a funny look, then said that indeed I was in luck and could upgrade to a BMW 120 for only 150 euros more. It's not like i had a choice. If you're doing a Eurotrip, might as well do it in style. Hello, built-in navigation and satellite radio! The car is a dream.

After spending much too long at the car rental, we were off to find a tent. The nearest outdoor equipment store was nearby and we decided to check it out. They do not seem to understand the idea of a “end of season sale”, as all the tents were 200 euros and up. This didn't suit my budget all too well, since we are only planning to spend up to five nights in a tent and for the other two I booked a great little cabin in south France. Next on the list to try was Metzingen, the greatest outlet shopping centre in south Germany, which happens to be only half hour drive from Tuebingen. Of course, we got there 5 minutes too late and shops were already closed! 8 pm on a Friday night. Germany will take a while to get used to. Imagine my roommates' surprise when I walked back into our dorm a few hours later, saying oh well, better off to start fresh next morning!