We'll step around the mystique of German cars and German autobahns and focus on what is important when you have arrived after 12 hours up in the air in a cigar shaped metal tube.
The question is: can you safely drive in this country after a night with hardly any sleep?
The answer is: you can.
You will have to get used to the feeling that you have a lot less space than in America. Though, after half a day in an economy class seat, even Germany will feel a little like Big Sky country.
In the old days of two Germanies, our standard description of the notion of "space" in Germany went like this: imagine the state of Alabama with 65 million people living in it.
Once you have found your rental car company, which is actually not that simple, you will pick up the car in one of the large underground parking structures.
Just so you know: Rental car rates in Frankfurt are crazy, not in a good way. An itty-bitty semblance of a car will set you back by as much as a nice eight passenger Toyota Highlander at a US airport.
If this is your first encounter with a German parking space, take a deep breath. Chances are, you will not find a single parking space in the entire country that is wide enough for you to open a car door wide enough by American standards of comfort. Unless you go to a US military base.
Before you drive out of Frankurt airport, take a few minutes to familiarize yourself with the car's GPS navigation system.
Oops, the cheap rental does not have one?
Go back inside the terminal and buy yourself a handheld one, or one of these antique paper thingies, a map. And while you are doing that, check in with one or two of the phone companies because your US phone may or may not work. Only the still fairly high-end GSM-enabled and SIM card capable US phones will work.
Now, head out.
Unless you manage to get seriously lost, you have a maximum of about five minutes before you hit a freeway. Use this time to clear your head and make peace with the Lord or whoever you believe in.
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