I've started to notice an odd trend in Germany that I wasn't truly expecting; a lack of driving. This is not to say people don't have cars, because that is far from the truth. Many Germans drive to and from work every day, there are usually cars on the road, and plenty of car dealerships along the highway. However, most often Germans turn to other sources of transportation for their everyday life, and it goes much further than Tübingen.
Where I live, and in most other University towns, bikes are the main method of transportation. Bike graveyards, as I like to call them, are grand hubs all throughout town where spoke after spoke, locked wheel after wheel are piled on top of one another to stay until their next use. When bikes aren't in use, buses are constantly running to ensure everyone gets to class or work on time, and for the further travellers, trains are always punctual and ready to roll out of the Hauptbahnhof (Central train station).
It's pretty neat! Bike lanes are more common in some places than walking paths and it's a very safe and fast way to travel all over the place. Riding with the German train is also quite fun, since the seats are large and comfortable while the rails make it an incredibly smooth ride.
