DAY 1- Arrival in Munich
A few people have asked me to comment about my ED experience... so I thought I would oblige. If you haven't seen my postings in the Allocations thread... perhaps you may know be as one of the original 12 that were selected to attend the 1 series M coupe pre-drive... ever since I returned from my trip last year, the 1M filled my thoughts... After many months of plans to turn my E30 M3 into a monster by dropping in an S54, suddenly the idea of doing a motor swap in my track car seemed more difficult than climbing a mountain. With overtime in abundance at my job, as well as triple digit heat in Texas this summer, along with the realization that after the last decade of maintaining a track car, that working on cars just isn't fun... I decided to sell my E30 M3 and go " all in" on a 1M.
To date... I am the only one of the original 12 that has opted for the car, a fact that is a bit disappointing, but not surprising, given the fact that the pre-drive 12 are all normal people, and to be honest, although we all LOVED the 1M when we drove it, none of us are independently wealthy, and while we all instantly wanted to own a 1M... we all also realized that there may be challenges in selling our current cars and making such a big investment.
Since I wasn't smart enough to listen to my own advice and plunk money down on a deposit right away... I entered the fray to purchase a 1M in May... and through assistance from Papethova (who is currently on his own ED experience) I secured an allocation, although not without a lot of heartache and concern. Finally my allocation came through in July and my ED date was determined as 09/01/11 and I set about making plans for the trip. The original plan was as follows: Munich.Innsbruck.Stelvio,Venice, Salzburg, Munich, covering approximately 780 miles
http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?authu...0096455b21bdc6
if you are planning an ED trip.. you owe it to yourself to surf over to Bimmerfest and check out the ED threads, post your itinerary, and get some feedback on your route.. Our flight to Munich was long and torturous. A compressed time frame due to the Texas education system only allowing for parents to remove children from school for 3 days maximum meant that we would not have a lot of time, so I built the trip around Labor day for additional time. So.. after being up all day, we left Tuesday 8/30 at 5:30 pm and arrived in Munich at 3:30pm the next day. Having already been familiar with the Munich subway system, I had opted to forego having a driver like Rolf (see bimmerfest) pick us up at the airport. After being up for the better part of 20-30 plus hours ,this suddenly seemed like a terrible decision, however, I was able to get good directions from a U-bahn expert at the airport, and with a 19.80 Euro 24 hour Family pass in hand, we took the train to the Leonardo Hotel. Now then..this was not the Leonardo ROYAL hotel... I had actually seen an excellent review of that hotel here
http://www.1addicts.com/forums/showt...leonardo+hotel, and intended to book there, but when I realized my error, I went and looked at the rates for the Royal Hotel... which for my dates were nearly DOUBLE that of the Leonardo Hotel & Residenz München Munich - location - Heimgartenstraße 14 (subway stop : Silberhornstraße) ... I decided not to cancel my reservation.
I was able to get a room for three .. and the hotel had a Tiefgarage (garage with underground parking)
This particular hotel does NOT have air conditioning... so it is not recommended for the summertime. With our late summer/early fall arrival.. we were comfortable with the window vented. The clerk at the desk gave us a reference for a local eatery which was a short walk
All the food was excellent!
I had beef with onions..
and ended up sharing my daughter's grilled meat plate, which was better than my meal, and my wife had tortellini, which was also very good. Dinner Price.. € 56.40.
A recommendation for others: you can likely pick any of dozens of hotels in Munich and get a good place. After finding a hotel that fits your budget, some of the biggest criteria you may want to include in your hotel search is proximity to an Sbahn or Ubahn stop, availability of a (tief) garage and also internet access. Most hotels typically charge €10-11 per day PER DEVICE for WIFI, so showing up with a family holding smartphones... we found this rather discouraging. Fortunately there were two computers in the lobby with FREE internet, which helped a bit. Typically, hotels charge about €10-15 for parking, and breakfast buffet can be €15-25 per person. Finally, note that beds are much narrower than in the US. If you are travelling as a family.. this can be a concern. You typically can't order a room with two double beds, more likely you might need two hotel rooms.
Simply put.... pricing for items in Munich seem to parallel US cities like New York... Food and parking are pricey!
Americans should also understand that Europe is a CASH based economy. Discover Card is not accepted anywhere, and your Master Card and Visa are typically only accepted at hotels, gas stations and a few stores. For the most part, plan on pulling cash out of an ATM.... It's generally easier to let your bank make the conversion for money, and typically it is done with no charge , so check with your bank about ATM fees abroad... generally using an ATM for cash is much better than taking US dollars and exchanging them anywhere else.