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09-26-2008, 02:00 PM | #1 |
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AchtungE30 European Delivery, day-by-day report with pics!
Well just got back from our 10 day long to Europe. I think right now the consensus is that we are glad to be home, not that we did not enjoy our stay in EU but we've grown a new appreciation for the simplicities and conveniences of American living. We both got a mild cold from the change in weather from New Jersey to Paris/Munich and trying to get American cold remedies is simply impossible over there. The closest we could come up with was an apothecary in Munich that had Halls and Ricola...
Well anyway here goes the story... Day 1 - Leaving EWR, stopping over at Dulles then off to Paris, France 9/15-9/16 time zone change Bags are packed Me looking like your average 80's BMW snob owner! Our Embraer ER4 plane with stopover from EWR to Dulles. Wife and I on the really cramped plane, 45min flight to Dulles. Wife and I now onboard our Boeing 777 from Dulles to Paris CDG Wifey trying to fall asleep with full Brookstone gear that we bought, but it couldn't defeat the annoyance of the toddler sitting behind her kicking the seat and screaming for 7 hours. After the red-eye flight and a 2 hour powernap + 100 euro lunch at the fancy hotel restaurant, we took to the streets. We had a reservation for the red Paris hop-on hop-off bus but as we didn't really have our bearings, we had to find the bus stops. So we finally catch up to the red bus and got up to the top deck, big mistake it was to not bring our sweaters, man was it cold!!! Where we had dinner, Parisian Cafe style It was really cool how we didn't really know how to hail a Parisian Cab at night, so a local stopped in front of us on his bicycle and very nicely and politely explained to us that Parisian cabs have the TAXI light off when off duty or have passengers and the light it on when they're vacant and ready for pick-ups...unlike the clear on/off duty of NYC cabs. The hotel we stayed at which was pretty nice.
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09-26-2008, 02:03 PM | #2 |
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Day 2 - Paris, France, Musee de Louvre, CDG to MUC, arrival at Munich Marriott - 9/17
After a nice long restful sleep, we wake up to this view from our window... And the yummy treats served at breakfast at the hotel. Me extra paranoid at the Montparnasse train station on our way to the Louvre. Near corridor underground. At our stop Wifey is a big Madonna fan and apparently performed on the 17th here. Ready for Germany!! OOOHHHHH YEAH! Waited 6mo to take this pic, you'd think i'd be smiling! Our first meal in Germany, sadly at the hotel restaurant but it was quite good, and reminded me of home. The night before delivery, naturally I couldn't sleep. So we decided to explore and find our nearest u-bahn station. Many have mentioned that its a quick walk from the hotel. Well it really is a 2 block walk, just FYI for those who are doing ED in the winter, dress warmly and prepare to walk a couple of blocks.
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09-26-2008, 02:06 PM | #3 |
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Day 3 - Delivery Day! BMW Museum and drive to Bolzano, Italy.
[u2b]VXm7TWc4cu8&hl[/u2b] [u2b]tS6fyfl35R4&hl[/u2b] Then we headed over to the BMW museum... And the one badge that matters!! So we left around 10pm from our Hotel to make it to Bolzano, hopefully before 3am... Well I had to fill up once before getting there so I filled up in Germany. [u2b]AOs6Y1YpfOU&hl[/u2b] Me rockin' my new BMW Sauber F1 jacket/sweater thing. Finally making it into Bolzano by 2:30am.
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09-26-2008, 02:07 PM | #4 |
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GREAT PHOTOS!!! I miss Europe! For the next BMW I am going to do Euro delivery!
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09-26-2008, 02:10 PM | #5 |
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great pics bud..... love all the museum shots, everyone else who does ED never shows the good stuff!
Glad to have you back now all the white 1's can hang out in nj!
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09-26-2008, 02:55 PM | #6 |
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Trip looks awesome!!! Did you go inside the lourve? I miss France... Lived there for 3 weeks.
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09-26-2008, 03:26 PM | #7 |
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frank that is a totally cool ED write up with awesome pics. Hope you liked Paris!
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09-26-2008, 04:12 PM | #8 |
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And we're not finished yet!!!
Day 4 - Bolzano Italy to Stelvio Pass to Florence, Italy Good morning in Bolzano, Italy Yeah we just woke up - a bit groggy! And leaving the hotel... At the very top of Stelvio One of the reasons I didn't try to drive Stelvio to fast...this bus trying to drive up while I was going down. I had to stop and back up for him to pass me. [u2b]5U8Dvoz6Iws&hl[/u2b] After 7 hours of driving, we made it into Florence, where I met the most aggressive drivers of my life. The first thing we noticed when we got off the Autostrada were prostitutes, followed by crazed Italians in little hatchbacks and scooters. The navigation here failed us as we could not locate the exact address of the hotel, nor the street even close to what it was. We ended up in a very narrow driveway, where I had to pull the most creative k-turn to get out of it. No pics of this, I was too tired, I just crashed in bed. Coming up, day 5 Florence.
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09-26-2008, 04:45 PM | #9 |
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awesome....
did you like Parkhotel Laurin? Nice wasn't it?
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09-26-2008, 07:18 PM | #10 |
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I rate it like this, and I plan to post the same on Skoosh.
It was a nice Italian 4 star hotel in a convenient location. The room was nice and big, the bathroom was well appointed, but the beds were akin to cots with comforters on them. I also thought the switches on the night stand were kinda weird.
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09-27-2008, 08:56 AM | #13 |
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Day 5 Florence
So after the crazy night before getting to Florence, Italy, we got some good restful sleep in time to meet up with an old friend living in Pesaro to meet us at our hotel Villa Fiesole. Quick pic with the cars - his car is a '99 Golf TDI sportline with the American treatments (US tails, yellow US troops ribbon) And then some breakfast at the hotel. And then we set off in his car for a drive down to Florence (Firenze) Italian Phone Booth Day 5 continued Then grabbed some lunch at the local "Cafeteria" - where the food was pretty good. These live statues would stand perfectly still for several minutes, then move! And yes another shot of Michaelangelo's David! Our hotel Villa Fiesole. Main courtyard near our room. View from the courtyard View of Firenze from Fiesole
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09-27-2008, 08:57 AM | #14 |
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Day 6 - Firenze to Venezia by Trenitalia
So today we say goodbye to our friend and resourceful personal tour guide Jacob and he shows us how to use the high speed train to Venezia. He drops us off at the Santa Anna Novella train station in the center of Florence and walks us to our train. Man am I glad I sprung for first class seats here. Lots of leg room, pushcart drink service (only once) and optional lunch. The train was clean and very modern and also very fast. From the seat-o-pants meter, it felt like we were doing 120mph quite a few times, if not faster. And to kill some time, I took shots of the local grafitti...but i'll only post my faves... Then I thought this shot came out great, pic of my wife caught staring out the window. So we arrive in Venezia and here are a few shots of us in front of the train Then as we get outside the train station, we look for the canal ferry or water bus. Theres a local stops and an express ferry. For the sake of sightseeing and picture taking, we took the local stop one. [img]http://lh4.ggpht.com/fmalgapo/SNz7bUueDbI/AAAAAAAACug/jVQn2SFT4Wo/s800/_MG_1163.jpg Day 6 Continued It is simply amazing how well many of these buildings held up, standing in water for several hundred years... Us on the Gondole ride.
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09-27-2008, 08:58 AM | #15 |
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Day 7-8 - Roadtrip from Firenze to Bra Cuneo via Genova and visit company HQ
We debated several times the night before exactly what time should we get up to avoid the nutty Florence scooters and hatchback drivers and safely get out of the city and hit the Autostrada before rush hour. I set my alarm for 04:30 and sure enough, I hit snooze and we both slept in till 11:00.:rofl: So in a big frenzy, we left Florence and swiftly but carefully made our way out of the city center (we did get lost in a few roundabouts) but somehow made it out from Fiesole, through Florence, and to the Autostrada in 35min. We finally had our 2nd daylight roadtrip which allowed us some pics! Our first rainfall in the new car. The Euro version of my wife's car, which she thought looked cute. Drinking soda while pumping gas, lol. One of the many long straights on the way to Bra. Raced this Cayman till 130mph Slowing down after hitting some crazy crosswinds at 110mph. Hotel/Restaurant where we had dinner. La Cantine Specialty appetizer, 2 slices of juicy pork with a little Tuna Patee. Our luxurious hotel room, all expenses paid by my company so next to the Munich Marriott, this was the best hotel room we've stayed in so far. And the obligatory shot of my car at the company HQ in Bra...funny to think my car visited the main HQ in Italy and will be driven to work in NJ at our branch.
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09-27-2008, 08:59 AM | #16 |
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Day 9-10 - Driving back to Munich, touring the Marienplatz, Hofbrauhaus and Oktoberfesh with fellow 1addict member Pheller!
This was by far the longest and most exhausting drive. So exhausting, that I was forced to cancel my trip to the Nurburgring. Believe me I really wanted to go, but we had left Bra Cuneo at 4pm and did not arrive in Munich till 2:30AM. So at last minute, I was able to priceline the Renaissance in Munich for $150 for 1 night, just to get in a nice bed, then transfer the following morning to our final hotel, the Prinzeregent. Hitting the 1000 mile mark! Touring the Marienplatz. Beer for breakfast!!! Me and Pheller These signs were funny to read after those beers! Dinner at the hotel was amazing. I highly recommend staying at the Prinzeregent as an altenative to the Marriotts. So the next morning was rush-rush. Got up early to have hotel breakfast, drove about 18mi to the Wiki recommended self-car wash, picked up my wife then dropped off at Harms. Sadly, I read just the night before that Thomas passed away. I did not even know the man, but I felt bad as he was admired by many festers on here. I also forgot to call and confirm an appt for the Harms drop-off by the people there were nice enough to allow a 2hr advance notice appt. We got there a few minutes late due to traffic, dropped off the car, signed the paperwork and headed to the airport. Dropped off the car at 1366 mi on the odometer. Over that time I also averaged about 22.6mpg with many 90-120 runs. I'm quite impressed with my car and funny enough, can't wait to get it back on USA roads with nice normal wide lanes and no blind corners. Ironically my Welt delivery representative was also named Rolf. So if you think about it, a Rolf gave me my car, and a Rolf took me away from my car :rofl: He went above and beyond, I was surprised how much he helped us. From drop-off at Harms, to walking us to the check-in counter at MUC, and getting us a push-cart for our heavy luggage, Rolf was there for us. Thank you again! Our last meal in Germany/Europe, again at Hofbrauhaus in Terminal 2. The End. Coming up, youtube links to some vids we took.
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09-27-2008, 10:41 AM | #19 | |
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Quote:
As short as the visit was...considering my wife and I both have colds, a hot shower and comfortable bed couldn't come any sooner. Thanks again for the brief tour.:smile:
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09-27-2008, 11:02 AM | #20 |
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Added some videos on their appropriate day postngs.
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09-28-2008, 02:51 PM | #22 |
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Did you drive the car to Florence? I was there last year (Sienna too so your pictures look real familiar). If you did, look out. A lot of Italian cities have access and parking restrictions that require clairvoyance to figure out. The best part is they rarely ticket you in person for a violation. Instead they have cameras posted and in about 6 months from now you will get a letter from them telling you you owe them a couple hundred bucks. It's quite a revenue racket.
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