Many of you, when traveling in Europe, must have been impressed by the many old buildings and beautiful streets that have retained their appearance from centuries ago. Like those in Japan, many German cities were reduced to heaps of rubble by air raids of the Allied forces, but the wishes of the people and their strong desire to reconstruct them as near as possible to their prewar appearance have resulted in the beautiful, restored street scenery that we can see today.
The will to preserve and maintain such scenery is manifested in every aspect of citizens' lives. Not only are the roofs and walls of the houses unified in color, but the drying of laundry in front of houses is strictly forbidden. If you neglect the maintenance of your garden, your neighbors will complain. The scenic aspects of the towns are protected by such efforts and affection; they make up the Germany that you can see today.

Smokers worldwide are finding their territory shrinking more and more, and Germany is no exception. The tobacco tax rises every year. The price of a pack of cigarettes, which was 2.5 euros (approx. 340) until recently, is now 3.6 euros (approx. 490).
Interestingly, the price of cigarettes per pack and the number of cigarettes in a pack vary. At present, a pack of 19 cigarettes is sold for 3.6 euros, while one of 21 is priced at 4 euros. This is because most vending machines in Germany aren't able to give back change, so German ingenuity has worked out this contrivance of adjusting the number of cigarettes per pack. Thus, one of the leading industrial nations has opted to change the number of cigarettes per pack instead of changing the vending machines. An admirable manifestation of German rationalism!?

Many Germans keep dogs or cats as pets. In Germany, dogs are considered partners of human life. They are well disciplined and accompany their owners wherever the humans go, not only in streetcars but everywhere else. As restaurants in town admit dogs accompanying their owners, you will often find them lying comfortably stretched out beside their owner's feet. Looking at Germans enjoying the time they spend with their pets, I feel tempted to keep a pet myself.

Germany is well known for its expressway system the Autobahn which has no speed limit. My first experience of driving there was a succession of astonishments. When driving at 150 kph, I was passed by other cars doing 200 kph or more. I was startled by the difference in the sense of speed. It is no wonder that Germany has produced many Formula 1 drivers, as well as Porsche, Mercedes and BMW cars.
However, with the establishment of the EU, sections with speed limits have increased in accordance with the rise in traffic volume. You now find there are fewer highways than there were before where you can drive at more than 200 kph. As speed-limit violations are often automatically monitored, speed maniacs are well advised to be very careful.