# Pawarrant's 2nd ED Trip Report & Photos Sept. 2015



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

I'm going to create this thread for all of my photos and trip report from my second Ed which occurred September 17-19 2015. I will be posting a day by day report, as I am done editing the photos from each day. My thread for the planning of this trip, and for posts during the trip can be found here:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=849731

My itinerary was as follows:
Munich
Garmisch Partenkirchen
Schwangau
Lindau 
Bregenz
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Nuremberg
Heidelberg
Cologne
Amsterdam
Bruges

Enjoy!:bigpimp:


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

DAY 1 & 2

We departed Las Vegas for Munich early morning Thursday September 17, 2015 on American/US Airways. We connected in Philadelphia, and arrived in Munich around 0930 the following morning Friday September 18, 2015.

The flight from the West Coast is extremely long, as we lost an entire day traveling. It was an uncomfortable flight in coach, and if I had to do it again I would pay the extra money to fly business class or at least premium economy.

As soon as we cleared immigration in Munich, the SiXT driver was waiting for us at the baggage claim. He drove us to our hotel in a new 7 series. On my last ED I used Rolf, but chose to use the free SiXT service BMW provides this time. Both were equally as good. The SiXT driver was very informative about the area, and even recommended some restaurants near our hotel and told us about many of the traffic rules.

We stayed at the Hotel Blauer Bock, which is right next to the Viktualienmarkt. The hotel was in a great location, and was clean and nice. They also had a good free breakfast spread each morning.

We took a 2 hour nap, and met Racerstf and his mother at our hotel to do a walking tour of Munich. We went to the Viktualienmarkt, where we grabbed some "bio" bratwurst at Kleiner Ochs'nbrater. When you see "bio" on German food it means organic. This was the best brat we had on our whole trip! We then climbed the 306 stairs to the top of Peterskirche to burn off lunch. We then checked out the shops in the Pedestrian Zone and Maximilianstrase,before heading to Marienplatz and watching the Glockenspiel at 1700. We walked through the Hafbrauhaus to have a beer, but it was jammed packed full of pre-Oktberfest revelers and therefore could not get an open table. We then walked through the Hofgarten to the Englischer Garten where we checked out the surfers in the Eisbach. Finally, we got to sit down and enjoy dinner at the Augustiner Klosterwirt. It was a great traditional German food and beer. We planed to go out to the bars and clubs the rest of the evening, but the jet-lag finally caught up to us, and we decided to stay in and catch up on sleep the rest of the night.


----------



## briar08 (Oct 4, 2012)

Nice!


----------



## Eagle11 (Oct 6, 2013)

Excellent, bring back some great memories!


----------



## Jard (Oct 3, 2015)

I'm very interested in your review of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area. My wife and I are traveling to Munich in December for our ED and that is the only real driving we have planned. We plan to drive there early in the morning and stay overnight at Hotel Edelweiss.


----------



## marcpotash (Apr 6, 2003)

We were in Garmisch-Partenkirchen last month. Great hiking and very dramatic views. The town was crowded and not particularly appealing to us, (Berchtesgaden was much nicer). Our favorite meal was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at Le Pino, or it might have been La Pino, a new place on Enzianstrasse, just west of the river. It is too new for reviews but we loved it. If we went back we would stay in Grainau.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 3

On Saturday September 19, 2015, we woke up early and took the U3 from Marienplatz to the BMW Welt. It was an easy and short ride using the clean and reliable public transportation we found all over Europe. At 0800 we met up with Racerstf and his mother again, and we all checked in for our deliveries. We walked around the Welt and enjoyed the great breakfast in the Premium Lounge.

Delivery time was finally here! Both Racerstf and my deliveries were at the same time right next to each other. We spent about 30 minutes talking with my delivery specialist Sven, who happened to be my delivery specialist 3 years ago on my first ED. I don't know if BMW plans that or not. It was just as amazing as my first experience at the Welt 3 years ago.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 3 (continued)

We did the victory lap, and parked the cars at the Welt so we could take the U3 to Sendlinger Tor where we walked to Kreuzstrasse to watch the Oktoberfest parade. The parade was magnificent. The line of horses, carriages, beer carts, and marchers in traditional Bavarian costumes should not be missed if you are in Munich for Oktoberfest.


































































































































































After the parade, we ate lunch at Zum Spokmeier, where we had more traditional German cuisine. We walked back to our hotels to grab a nap before Oktoberfest.










At 1900, we again met Racerstf and his mother at Marienplatz. We took the U3 to Goetheplatz where we walked to the Oktoberfest grounds. Oktoberfest was crazy. Coming from someone that works on the Las Vegas strip, that is saying something. We did not have tickets to get into a tent, so we walked around the grounds. Some locals told us we might be able to get in a tent around 1900. Unfortunately, while we were stopped at a food stand eating a Bratwurst, it started to pour down rain. Everyone except a few drunks ran for cover. Every tent that wasn't full before was certainly full now. We were didn't have any luck, as all the tents were turning everyone away. We walked around the grounds, which were enormous until we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotels.


----------



## skier (Oct 19, 2004)

Great pictures!


----------



## brooski1 (Aug 24, 2015)

Thanks for those great pictures. Glad you liked the Hotel Blauer Bock. We're staying there 3 nights for our ED in November.
Bruce


----------



## Northcar (Sep 21, 2005)

Enjoyed the enchanting views and allowing us to get a taste of what it is like being in Munich for Octoberfest.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 4

On Sunday September 20, 2015, we took the U3 to the Welt again to retrieve the cars from the parking garage.


































We drove to the town of Eibsee in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We planned to ride the Zugspitze cable car to the top, but it was extremely overcast. The 52 Euro charge for the ride up and back wasn't worth it without being able to see anything.


















We then left for Hohenschwangau. Our first stop there was the "Official" castle photograph spot. We then parked at the ticket center, and took the horse carriage up to Neuschwanstein. We walked back down, as the downhill walk was not difficult and was only about 15 minutes to the parking lots.


















































































































This is where we said goodbye to Racersfx and his mother, and continued on our 2.5 hour journey to Lindau. in the Bodensee. We had a difficult time finding the hotel, as Lindau is a small island with many streets being for pedestrians only. Our NAV kept telling us to drive on the pedestrian zone roads. We ended up calling the hotel, and spoke to the owner Markeeta who was so helpful. She yold us to just drive down the pedestrian zone to her hotel. She said it would be fine to unload there before we went to the public parking are a few minutes away. She even offered to pay for any ticket we may have gotten parking in the pedestrian zone. The hotel was very nice. Markeeta delivered the friendliest and best service we received during our whole trip.

After we unloaded our car, we drove to the public parking lot for the island near the train station. Markeeta gave us a ticket for the parking lot so we did not have to pay. It was a huge lot, with plenty of room to park the new car. We walked around and decided to eat at a restaurant by the main pier in Lindau. We decided on the restaurant at the Hotel Reutemann. We had a good meal and had an even better view of the lake from our outdoor table.


----------



## RKA (Dec 1, 2002)

Loving your pictures! Thanks for sharing! I'm now regretting I was too lazy to drag the telephoto on our trip.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 5

On Monday September 21, 2015, we woke up and had a great free breakfast made by Markeeta at the Hotel Noris. We went to the pier and took a ferry to the town of Bregenz, Austria. We rode the Pfänderbahn to the top of the mountain. Not only were there amazing views from the top, but there was also a nice animal preserve you could walk through for free. We spent about an hour on the top of the mountain and rode the Pfänderbahn back down the mountain. We had lunch at a small Italian café near the pier.


















































































We took the ferry back to Lindau. We walked around to all of the shops on the island than retrieved our car to depart for Rothenburg ob der Tauber.










































































































We drove approximately 2.5 hours to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Once again, we had difficulty driving to the hotel, the Goldener Hirsch. Once we were in the gates of Rothenburg, we were stopped by construction and could not get to our hotel. I walked to the hotel around the construction, and the manager gave me directions to get around the construction to their parking lot. We paid 6 Euros a day to park in the hotel's private lot. The Goldener Hirsch was nice, and had a good breakfast, free wifi, and the largest room we had on the entire trip.

After we settled in, we headed to the market square for the night watchman's tour at 2000. This tour was highly recommended by others on this forum. Let me tell you that it did not disappoint. The watchman was very entertaining and informative. We enjoyed the tour a lot. After the tour, we ate dinner at Rattstube Restaurant in the Market Square then called it a night early.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 6

The next day Tuesday September 22, 2015, we walked the city wall and town in the early morning.


















































































































We then drove the Burgenstrasse to the Nuremberg train station where we parked the car. We took the #9 tram from in front of the station 15 minutes to the Doku-Zentrum stop. We toured the Nazi Documantation Center and did the hour walk around the Rally Grounds.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 6 continued

We then took the #9 tram back to the Nuremberg train station. From there we walked the Old Town to the Imperial Castle and back.


































































We drove back to our hotel in Rothenburg. We had diner reservations at Zur Holl. This was an amazing little restaurant in a building from the 900s. The food was excellent, and the small historical building made the atmosphere not to be beat. We would recommend Zur Holl to anyone that spends the night in Rothenburg.


----------



## friskygeek (Jan 5, 2015)

Love your delivery report!


----------



## Northcar (Sep 21, 2005)

Thanks. Brought back lots of memories from earlier this year of our the stay in Rothenburg.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Northcar said:


> Thanks. Brought back lots of memories from earlier this year of our the stay in Rothenburg.


What an amazing town. Everyone needs to add Rothenburg to their ED itinerary.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 7

On Wednesday September 23, 2015, we walked the town of Rothenburg and toured the medieval Crime & Punishment Museum. The museum was very interesting and worth taking a look at.










































































We then drove the Burgenstrasse approximately 3.5 hours to Heidelberg where we checked in at the City Partner Hotel Hollander Hof. The Hollander Hof was a very nice hotel, with a great view of the Neckar River and free breakfast and wifi.


















After checking in, we walked to dinner at Zur Herrenmuehle. This was the #2 restaurant in Heidelberg on Trip Advisor. The food was pretty good, but the service was not great. Certainly did not deserve a #2 ranking. There was no menu in English as well.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 8

When we woke up on Thursday September 24, 2015, we walked to the Heidelberg Castle. We paid the 4 Euro fee to enter the castle. There were some great views of the city from inside the castle. We also go to see the largest barrel of wine in the world in the castle. It holds 58,100 gallons of wine and was built in 1751. After touring the castle, we walked the Hauptstraße, which is the main shopping street in the Old Town.


































































































After shopping, we drove the 2.5 hours to Cologne. This drive actually took about 4.5 hours due to an unknown problem on the A67. We were stopped for two hours. Everyone was hanging out outside of their cars and talking. It was like a block party on the Autobahn. When traffic started moving, there were no signs of what caused the stoppage.


























We arrived at the Astor und Aparthotel. They had their own private parking, but you had to enter from a narrow garage door on the narrow street. It was a challenge getting an angle to get in the lot with cars parked on the road. The hotel was pretty decent and had great service, a free breakfast, and free wifi.










After getting settled in, we took the U to the Pastabar Caruso on Salierring. We had reservations for 1930, but since we were delayed on the A67, the lady working the front desk at our hotel was nice enough to have the reservation moved back 2 hours. This restaurant was a very small authentic Italian bistro. The food was amazing, the service was great, and the atmosphere was good too. This was the #5 restaurant in Cologne on Trip Advisor, and I would agree with that ranking.










After dinner, we went out to the bars. We had a real good time, as Cologne was more of a late night party city than any of the cities we have visited so far on this trip.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 9

The next morning on Friday September 25, 2015, we walked the Old Town to the Koln Cathedral. The Cathedral or Dom, is an impressive sight. We went inside during a service, which was beautiful. We chose not to climb the 509 steps for the view from the top of the Cathedral. Cologne had a lot of shopping, as it was more of a big city atmosphere so we spent a couple hours visiting the upscale shops.


























































































We then drove the approximately 3 hours, to Amsterdam. This drive was an adventure. We reached Amsterdam during Friday afternoon rush hour. There were thousands of cars and bicycles everywhere. It was very difficult to move with all of the bicycle traffic. Similar to America, the bicyclists there think they are the only person on the road. They have no qualms about riding in front of you or along side of your car so close the rub against it. The first thing that went wrong though was the route to our hotel was closed due to construction. The detour routed us around a different canal ring than our hotel was. We were at a red light, and noticed a police officer on a motorcycle was looking at us. He was facing the opposite direction. He drove over a curb on to some railroad tracks and somehow got ahead of us. When we got to the next red light he was in front of us and approached our car on foot. He asked us to follow him. He got on his bike, turned off the main road to a very narrow road, where we followed him about a half-mile to a small parking spot he found. Cars barely had enough room to get around us in the spot.

The officer asked for the car***8217;s documents, and explained we are not allowed to drive on German export plates unless we are heading out of Germany to our home destination. I explained the European Delivery process, and showed him Amsterdam was my drop off location. He let us go, but said it is illegal to drive the car around the city recreationally with those plates. We just nodded and said we wouldn***8217;t. Once we got back on to a main road, we saw a parking garage. We had no idea how far away our hotel was, but it was so crazy to drive there with the narrow streets and bicycles and pedestrians everywhere we didn***8217;t care. We didn***8217;t plan on driving anywhere in Amsterdam, but wanted to unload our luggage at our hotel before finding a parking garage. Once we parked in the garage, we figured out our hotel was still far away. We called for an Uber, and they came within a few minutes. We used Uber Black 3 times in Amsterdam. It worked great, and was reasonably priced. The parking rate was 50 Euros a day at the garage.

We checked in to the Hotel The Exchange, which was in a great location on Damrak between Dam Square and the Amsterdam Central Station. When we booked this hotel moths ago, there were not many rooms available in the center city area. This was the second nicest hotel we could find with availability several months before our trip. The Waldorf Astoria had rooms at $900+ a night. The Exchange cost us about $500 a night as the 4 night stay was $1945. This hotel had a Certificate of Excellence from Trip Advisor and was very pricy so we figured it would be a very nice hotel. We definitely tried to stay at 4 or 5 star hotels when we could throughout our trip. Upon check in, the front desk receptionist said we had to pay for the stay up front. Every other hotel we stayed at on the trip, we paid at check out. All of our hotels were booked on Expedia.com or Booking.com. We wanted to pay cash and they would not let us. We had to use a credit card. I did not want to use the credit card, as there would be a 3% transaction fee charged by my bank. When I told them that I had cash, and did not want to use my card to avoid my bank***8217;s fees, they still said they would only take credit card. We paid using the card, and checked in to our room. This hotel was interesting to say the least. The door off the street took you to their registration booth, which was their entire ground floor. It was the size of a closet. There was no lobby. No breakfast room. Nothing like our other hotels had. We had to walk up a steep set of uncarpeted wooden steps to get to the first floor where the rooms started. Our room was on the 3rd floor, which there was a small elevator we took to get there. We got to our room, which was another surprise. The room had a bed, without a headboard. The only furniture in the room was a small wood desk, and two metal wire end ***8220;tables***8221;. There was no closet, no storage, no dresser or anything. There wasn***8217;t even a pen and paper. There were some cloth squares like something you would buy at IKEA for a college dorm hanging from the one wall. We guessed that was storage, but it wouldn***8217;t even hold the weight of socks. The bathroom consisted of a showerhead, a small pedestal sink and a toilet all on the same tile floor. When you took a shower, the entire bathroom floor flooded. We had to make a barrier out of towels to keep the water contained. There was no vanity or storage in the bathroom to hold our toiletry bags. There was no breakfast offered at the hotel, and there was only a vending machine available on the first floor. The hotel did have the best wifi service we had during our entire trip, which was very important, as the wifi up to this point was very poor at best where we stayed. We don***8217;t spend that much time in the hotel room, but for what we paid, we expected better. We do enjoy having nice rooms with a place to eat breakfast.

So far, our experience in Amsterdam was not that great. It soon changed when we went to dinner. We found an amazing place in one of the small alleys behind our hotel. It was called Il Pacioccone. We had amazing food this entire trip, but nothing beat this place. Not only did it have the best atmosphere by far, the staff was the most friendly, and the food was the best we had all trip! It was so good; we ate there 3 times during our 5 days in Amsterdam.


----------



## Eagle11 (Oct 6, 2013)

pawarrant said:


> The officer asked for the car's documents, and explained we are not allowed to drive on German export plates unless we are heading out of Germany to our home destination. I explained the European Delivery process, and showed him Amsterdam was my drop off location. He let us go, but said it is illegal to drive the car around the city recreationally with those plates. We just nodded and said we wouldn't.


This is not true, as long as you have the Green Sticker on your front windshield you are good to drive in the all major European cities.

Regarding CC, sounds like you need to get yourself a new CC, On our trip I was able to get roughly 25K points to be used on our next trip.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Eagle11 said:


> This is not true, as long as you have the Green Sticker on your front windshield you are good to drive in the all major European cities.
> 
> Regarding CC, sounds like you need to get yourself a new CC, On our trip I was able to get roughly 25K points to be used on our next trip.


Yea I know he was not correct. I was a cop for 20 years, so I know nothing good would have come out of arguing especially in a foreign country. We still drove everywhere we had planned on driving anyway, so I wasn't that concerned. It was a little unsettling getting stopped though. Especially with the craziness of Amsterdam during a Friday rush hour.


----------



## Brian R. (Sep 5, 2002)

Great pics! :thumbup:

#H2P


----------



## Eagle11 (Oct 6, 2013)

pawarrant said:


> Yea I know he was not correct. I was a cop for 20 years, so I know nothing good would have come out of arguing especially in a foreign country. We still drove everywhere we had planned on driving anyway, so I wasn't that concerned. It was a little unsettling getting stopped though. Especially with the craziness of Amsterdam during a Friday rush hour.


I got stopped in Italy, went the wrong way on a one way street. I had to pay a 32 euro fine on the spot. The sign was SOOOO small that we laughed about it. I mean, we were in the middle of the northern Italian country side and a cop happen to be coming the other way, whats the odds!!!


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Brian R. said:


> Great pics! :thumbup:
> 
> #H2P


Thanks #H2P...my alma mater!


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 10

The following day on Saturday September 26, 2015, we toured the city. We bought the I Amsterdam City card, which includes admission to most of the sights and unlimited public transportation for the duration you select. We went to the I Amsterdam sign & Van Gough Museum.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 10 (continued)

We then went to the Heineken Experience which was quite fun, and we got several free beers during the tour. We then walked back to our hotel and see the sights along the way.


























































































































































We then went to eat dinner at Vlaming Eten & Drinken and explore the Jordaan area. It was very similar to Il Pacioccone, but not as good atmosphere. The food was amazing though.


















After dinner, we stood in line for the Ann Frank House. The line was not that long since it was 2030. We waited about a half an hour to get in. Usually there is waits over an hour if you do not have pre-purchased tickets. They sell out early on their website (months before), and we had to wait in line. Going later in the evening is the way to beat the long lines. It was well worth it, and a must see in Amsterdam. Photography is not permitted inside though, so I don***8217;t have any pictures.










































We spent the rest of the night at various clubs and bars.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 11

On Sunday September 27, 2015, we decided to have a relaxing day and have no real itinerary. I took the tram to where the car was parked to check on it. I then went to Schiphol Airport to take some photos of airplanes, as it is one of the best airports in the world to do that. I then took the car to the nearest car park outside of the city and took the train back to our hotel. The park and ride outside of the city was a much better deal at 8 Euros a day to park, and only a 5 minute train ride to Amsterdam Central Station near our hotel.










We walked through the Red Light District and checked out some of the crazy shops there. We then took an hour canal boat cruise, which was free with the I Amsterdam City Card we purchased. The cruise was great. We did it at dusk so we got the sunset view as well as the night view from the boat. After the cruise, it was late on a Sunday night, so not many of the top restaurants were open. We decided to go back to our favorite place Il Pacioccone. They were completely full but the owner Gimmy gave us some wine and made some room for us to sit with a free appetizer until a table came available for us. Truly amazing service!

























































































































We got the frown many times in the Netherlands as they get very sad when you speed. Even our canal tour boat got the frown on the waterways.


----------



## Gluhwein (Aug 21, 2011)

Looks like a great trip. You hit most of my favorite places in Germany although I could pass on Heidelberg. I found it much more interesting back in the 1970s and 80s. Now that the US military is pretty much gone it just feels kind of blah to me. A little too touristy.

Lindau is a real gem. I love staying there. Your experience in trying to find parking was similar to ours. I guess the local cops are tolerant of tourists getting lost on the pedestrian streets attempting to find their hotel rooms. Never knew there was a ferry over to Bregenz and a cablecar up the mountain. We will have to do that next time. Thanks for the tip. Do you know if it's seasonal?

Georg, the Nightwatchman, never seems to get old. Maybe just a few more grey hairs in the beard but he still looks like he did back in the 90's. Sounds like he's still quite entertaining. I don't know how he can keep doing it after all these years. I'm jealous - I'd love to stay in Rothenberg for a couple of nights.

We were surprisingly pleased by Nurnburg on our most recent ED. So much history, great shopping, good food and a great city for doing some walking. Too bad you didn't have more time there. The underground and WWII bunker tours are very interesting and cheap.

We used to stay at the Victoria Hotel in Amsterdam back in my airline days. 50% discount back then. I think the place has seen better days. Amsterdam is tough for finding a nice, reasonably priced hotel room. We usually end up on the outskirts of town and take a tram or even train into town when we do our student trips in the summer. I hope you tried the Rijstaffel.


----------



## drw1926 (Jul 11, 2004)

pawarrant thanks for the write up and the phenomenal pics! I spent my first 3 years in the Army in Frankfurt (old Frankfurt MilCom with the V Corps "Chrysler" patch) and Wiesbaden AB in 84/85/86. Absolutely loved every minute of it and didn't want to leave. Looking at your pics and seeing your new ride, all I can say is I'm extremely jealous, LOL. I would LOVE to do this for my next Bimmer.

Is it safe to assume ED is the kind of trip that it's better to leave the kiddos at home? I don't think I've ever seen young children accompanying their parents in pics at Die Welt. I will be ordering soon (as soon as I can decide between 340i/328xi Sport Wagen/435i GC, that is). I've got a 3 and a 1-year old, safe to say they wouldn't handle the travel well. Or if bringing the kids isn't that big of a deal, would you have any sage advice to keep their (and their parents!) sanity?


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Gluhwein said:


> ...Lindau is a real gem. I love staying there. Your experience in trying to find parking was similar to ours. I guess the local cops are tolerant of tourists getting lost on the pedestrian streets attempting to find their hotel rooms. Never knew there was a ferry over to Bregenz and a cablecar up the mountain. We will have to do that next time. Thanks for the tip. Do you know if it's seasonal?...


Thank you for the comments! I do not believe it is seasonal, because there is skiing there in the winter.



drw1926 said:


> ...Is it safe to assume ED is the kind of trip that it's better to leave the kiddos at home? I don't think I've ever seen young children accompanying their parents in pics at Die Welt. I will be ordering soon (as soon as I can decide between 340i/328xi Sport Wagen/435i GC, that is). I've got a 3 and a 1-year old, safe to say they wouldn't handle the travel well. Or if bringing the kids isn't that big of a deal, would you have any sage advice to keep their (and their parents!) sanity?


Thank you! I do not have kids, so someone else would be better to answer this. I personally would leave kids behind, as there is so much to see and do and they would probably hold you back.


----------



## Eagle11 (Oct 6, 2013)

drw1926 said:


> Is it safe to assume ED is the kind of trip that it's better to leave the kiddos at home? I don't think I've ever seen young children accompanying their parents in pics at Die Welt. I will be ordering soon (as soon as I can decide between 340i/328xi Sport Wagen/435i GC, that is). I've got a 3 and a 1-year old, safe to say they wouldn't handle the travel well. Or if bringing the kids isn't that big of a deal, would you have any sage advice to keep their (and their parents!) sanity?


ED could be a vacation for the whole family, all depends on how the well the kids travel. I don't the traditional kids (mine are 4 legged) but if your kids do not travel well in cars, then it might be best to leave them at home.


----------



## AggieKnight (Dec 26, 2008)

Fantastic Report!

Thank you so much for sharing the amazing results of your second trip, sir. 

Looks like y'all had a great time.


----------



## RKA (Dec 1, 2002)

Eagle11 said:


> ED could be a vacation for the whole family, all depends on how the well the kids travel. I don't the traditional kids (mine are 4 legged) but if your kids do not travel well in cars, then it might be best to leave them at home.


Ditto. I've seen a few traveling with young ones. The premium lounge in the Welt has a play set and toys for small children. Other activities depend on your planning and how well your kids travel. I have a friend with a 20 month old. He's accustomed to long car rides, traveling, etc. He would do great on a trip like this. Others I can imagine might not.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 12

The next day Monday September 28, 2015, we took the train to get the car and drove the approximately 3 hours to Bruges Belgium. We parked at the Bruges train station garage, and followed the Rick Steves walking tour of the town. One of the more moving highlights was the Basilica of the Precious Blood, where you could go to the alter and view the blood Joseph of Arimathea preserved after he had washed the dead body of Christ. Of course, we sampled some Belgium chocolate and fries while we walked the entire town of shops and restaurants. The town reminded us of Rothenburg in a way. It was very nice & definitely worth a visit!









































































































































The Basilica of the Holy Blood

































































































We got our car, and drove back to our hotel in Amsterdam where we ate again at Il Pacioccone. After dinner, we walked through the Red Light District to see what the sights looked like at night. Even us two Vegas boys thought it was crazy!


----------



## brooski1 (Aug 24, 2015)

Bruges looks fantastic. Thanks for the pictures.


----------



## Northcar (Sep 21, 2005)

Thanks for the added pictures. Looks like you covered just about everything one can do in Amsterdam. Have been there twice and can attest that you did a nice job of sampling the variety available there. Interesting comment about the relic in the Church. I wonder if anyone has catalogued all the multiple relics that are claimed by churches across Europe. Few realize that the Shroud of Turin is just the tip of the iceberg.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Northcar said:


> Thanks for the added pictures. Looks like you covered just about everything one can do in Amsterdam. Have been there twice and can attest that you did a nice job of sampling the variety available there. Interesting comment about the relic in the Church. I wonder if anyone has catalogued all the multiple relics that are claimed by churches across Europe. Few realize that the Shroud of Turin is just the tip of the iceberg.


My last ED I saw the nail from Jesus' crucifixion in Vienna, this time the blood from the crucifixion in Bruges. Interesting stuff.


----------



## fabby (Feb 4, 2006)

Great trip, and I especially appreciate you taking the time to do the write up. Great pics and many memories. cheers


----------



## Vanhills (Oct 26, 2015)

Great posts and photos of your trip. You hit a number of places we plan to visit during our ED next April. Thanks for the suggestions re food and parking. Did you find it hard to find parking in some of the places you visited? How did you locate the parking?


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Vanhills said:


> Great posts and photos of your trip. You hit a number of places we plan to visit during our ED next April. Thanks for the suggestions re food and parking. Did you find it hard to find parking in some of the places you visited? How did you locate the parking?


Before the trip, I contacted each hotel I booked to see about the parking situation. Many made me reserve a spot. Some charged a daily parking fee and others were free, but still required you to reserve a spot. I had no problems finding parking in any of the cities I visited except Amsterdam. It is very difficult for American drivers to drive there with the millions of bicyclists, narrow streets, and very limited and expensive parking. If you plan to visit Amsterdam, it is advisable to park at one of the many park and rides right outside of the city, and take public transportation to your hotel. If you stay in the city (or any European city for that matter), you should not need your car as the public transportation is clean, safe, and reliable unlike in the US. The only reason I didn't drop my car off at drop off when I arrived in Amsterdam is because I planned a road trip to Bruges from there so I needed it. In some of the other cities such as Nuremberg and Heidelberg I had to park in public parking garages, but they were fine. They were crowded and small, but no different than downtown in a major city in the Northeast US. In all the other places I visited, the hotels reserved me a spot.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Day 13

The next morning Tuesday September 29, 2015, was one we were not looking forward to. This was our last day in Europe, and our drop off day. We took Uber to the park and ride at the Olympic Stadium where our car was. We used Uber rather than the tram because we had so much luggage we didn***8217;t want to try to use crowded public transportation. It was about 26 Euros to get there on Uber Black, which came in a few minutes.

Next to the park and ride was a car wash we used to wash the car. We then drove about 15 minutes to the drop off location. The NAV system does not get you to the drop off location, which we knew as there are several threads on this forum about that. We were able to find it with Google maps on our phone and the printed directions from the drop off facility relatively easy. The drop off process took less than a half an hour. We said good bye to the car, took a few photos, and requested Uber to pick us up for the 15 minute ride to the airport.

So after traveling 4 countries, the total mileage we put on the car this trip was 1260 miles. What an amazing 1260 miles! The car left Bremerhaven on October 8th on the "Atlas Leader". It is now due in San Diego November 2nd.


























































Schiphol Airport is massive. It was literally a 20 minute walk to our gate after we cleared security and passport control. Give yourself ample time if you are departing from here.

We flew British Airways through London Heathrow then direct to Las Vegas. Our plane was late getting in to Heathrow, so we had to run to our connection. Because of this, we did not get to do our VAT tax credit. Heathrow is also massive, and we had to go through security again once we landed before going to our connecting flight, which made us even more in a hurry. Anyway, 10 hours later we were back home in Las Vegas already looking forward to the next ED in 3 years! Now comes the long wait for the car to be re-delivered on the West Coast. I want to thank everyone who posted on these forums. I got everyone of my ideas of places to go and things to do from here. We were able to stay on our itinerary 100% and see and do every single thing we planed. I could not have done it without all of your input. Thank you! I hope this report can help others the same way.


















Here are some random observations, tips, or questions we had from our trip in no particular order:

1.	We noticed a lot more people smoke in Europe. It seems to be a lot more accepted than in the US.
2.	There are no convenience stores or 24 hour drug stores like we have in the US. There was no where to buy snacks or toiletries in the middle of the night. We tried to find ***8220;Tums***8221; at midnight in Munich with no luck. There is no Walgreens or 7-11s where we went.
3.	As a law enforcement officer, I noticed there was no visible police presence at Oktoberfest. If that massive event was in the US, there would have been hundreds of officers assigned there. For that matter, we never saw once police officer on any of the highways in any country we visited. The only time we saw a police officer was when one pulled us over in Amsterdam., and two came on the subway we were on in Munich to remove someone passed out. Europe seems much less of a police state than the US.
4.	Most BMWs and Mercedes are de-badged in Europe.
5.	Munich and Bavaria was very clean. As we went further North, we saw more and more graffiti and the cities were dirtier.
6.	What are the small speed limit stickers on the backs of trucks for?
7.	Tractor trailers mostly are covered by tarps rather than having a hard metal cover like our trailers in the US have.
8.	WiFi was poor in Germany. All of our hotels had free WiFi, but it was intermittent and weak at best. Only Amsterdam had free good WiFi everywhere.
9.	BMW Welt supplied us with two safety vests and BMW water free of charge. The vests are given to you at the store, along with the free keychain and 10 Euro store credit. I also got a free Harman Kardon wireless speaker with my car, since I ordered the optional HK stereo system.
10. What is up with the water situation? Tap water at restaurants is non-existent. Water is served room temperature in glass bottles and is mostly sparkling water (water with gas). For ***8220;normal***8221; water we are used to, you must ask for ***8220;still***8221; water or water with ***8220;no gas***8221;. Some places do not have ***8220;still***8221; water. Drinks are never served with ice, and are usually room temperature. Everything is served in glass bottles. There is no plastic, which is good. 
11.	At an intersection do not pull up as far as we do in the US. You will not be able to see the traffic light. The lights are posted on your side of the intersection a few feet back.
12.	There is no turn on red in Europe unless you get a green arrow.
13.	Escalators that appear to be not working automatically turn on as you approach. I guess they have auto start stop motors just like the cars!
14.	The public transportation uses the honor system. You buy the ticket for the ride, but nobody checks the tickets. This would be an epic fail in the US.
15.	Many places are cash only. Make sure you ask before you purchase if you only have cards. Even some of our hotels were cash only.
16.	The windows in the hotel rooms open at the top and pull out to the side. One window has multiple ways of opening. I like that feature.
17.	You must pay to use most toilets in Europe. It is usually .50 Euro to get into a restroom (WC, or toilet).
18.	There were free urinals on the street in Amsterdam. No privacy, just whip it out and do your business. Kind of weird.
19.	City and country names are spelled differently in English. Cologne is Koln. Vienna is Wein. Why is that? Las Vegas is Las Vegas in any language. Why do we change European proper nouns to totally different spelling and pronunciations?
20. People are so tall in the Netherlands. I think the average height of guys must be 6***8217;2***8221;.
21. There was an ambulance driving on the highway in Belgium with his lights on for several miles without anyone moving over to the right lane to let it pass. Are there no laws about that there?
22. Uber worked great in Amsterdam.
23. Parking and driving in Amsterdam was awful and expensive. Park outside of the city in a park and ride and Uber or train in if you can!
24. Eurpoeans use 24 hour or ***8220;military***8221; time.
25. You should download ***8220;WhatApp***8221; on your phone, so you can text people including international numbers when you are on wifi.

My car has not even gotten back here yet, and I am already thinking about my next ED in 3 years. There is no other way to buy a car! Thanks again to everyone on this forum who's input made this trip such an amazing experience! The trip went smoothly thanks to great planning using information solely obtained from this great forum.


----------



## Eagle11 (Oct 6, 2013)

pawarrant said:


>


When we picked up our BMW at The Welt it was set up in KM's for the mileage, did you change that?



pawarrant said:


> Here are some random observations, tips, or questions we had from our trip in no particular order:
> 
> 1.	We noticed a lot more people smoke in Europe. It seems to be a lot more accepted than in the US.


I didn't notice many people smoking in Germany or Austria, France is a different story.



pawarrant said:


> 4.	Most BMWs and Mercedes are de-badged in Europe.


Yes, this is an option in Europe which you can get your car de-badged, which cost them to do that.


pawarrant said:


> 8.	WiFi was poor in Germany. All of our hotels had free WiFi, but it was intermittent and weak at best. Only Amsterdam had free good WiFi everywhere.


We never had a problem finding good free wifi, the worse experience we had was in London at our hotel.



pawarrant said:


> 10. What is up with the water situation? Tap water at restaurants is non-existent. Water is served room temperature in glass bottles and is mostly sparkling water (water with gas). For "normal" water we are used to, you must ask for "still" water or water with "no gas". Some places do not have "still" water. Drinks are never served with ice, and are usually room temperature. Everything is served in glass bottles. There is no plastic, which is good.


LOL, the no ice comment, my husband wasn't happy with the no ice either, but we ended up enjoying the Sparkling water so much that is all we drink now..



pawarrant said:


> 11.	At an intersection do not pull up as far as we do in the US. You will not be able to see the traffic light. The lights are posted on your side of the intersection a few feet back.





pawarrant said:


> 17.	You must pay to use most toilets in Europe. It is usually .50 Euro to get into a restroom (WC, or toilet).


We saw this at a Mikey D's in which they charged .50 to use the WC, but you got that .50 back when you purchased something.

We used a app called Viber which allowed us to make called over the wifi network, was free...

BTW regarding traffic lights, in France, they have lights which are lower so you can see when the lights change...


----------



## RKA (Dec 1, 2002)

Fantastic trip summary! Thanks so much for sharing!


----------



## Ninong (May 20, 2014)

pawarrant said:


> We noticed a lot more people smoke in Europe. It seems to be a lot more accepted than in the US.


Yes, but a lot depends on which US state you are comparing them against. If you're coming from California it's even more shocking. Thanks to a history of anti-tobacco campaigns, California now has the second lowest rate of tobacco smoking in the country. Utah has the lowest because of Mormons. In California and Utah it's less than 12% of the adult population. In Nevada it's approximately 21%. In some states it's as high as 26%.

In Germany and France the rates are approximately the same: 37% of adult males and 27% of adult females. It's much worse than that in Greece. In some countries (e.g., China) the percentage of adult males who smoke is close to 60%.

I have never smoked but believe me when I was a teenager in the 1950's well over half the adult population smoked, especially in the Deep South where I grew up. In the last 50 years the percentage of adult smokers in US has dropped from over 42% to only 21%. In some states with strong anti-smoking laws (e.g., California) the percentage of all adults who smoke is less than 12%.



> Munich and Bavaria was very clean. As we went further North, we saw more and more graffiti and the cities were dirtier.


Switzerland is also very clean compared to American cities. The last time I was over there, London, Paris and anywhere in Switzerland were extremely clean compared to US cities and their public parks were immaculate. Rome, on the other hand, not so much. You're right about fewer police, except for Rome. They were everywhere the last time I was in Rome. Maybe that has changed? Or maybe it was because it was the Via Veneto with all the expensive shops?



> What is up with the water situation? Tap water at restaurants is non-existent.


It was available at most of the restaurants I visited in London, Paris and various cities in Switzerland and I think it must have been available in Rome (where they even had lots of public drinking fountains) because I foolishly drank the local tap water with no ill effects until my second day in Rome when it definitely hit me and I couldn't leave my hotel room for the next 24 hours! After that I only drank bottled water and even used it to brush my teeth.



> Drinks are never served with ice, and are usually room temperature.


They immediately know you're an American when you ask for ice. And then it's usually only a couple of cubes so you have to tell them you want extra ice.



> You must pay to use most toilets in Europe. It is usually .50 Euro to get into a restroom (WC, or toilet).


Right, and in some older buildings in Rome you have to pay to use the elevator -- coin operated. It's even worse in some Asian countries where they sell you toiler paper when you enter the men's room.



> There were free urinals on the street in Amsterdam. No privacy, just whip it out and do your business. Kind of weird.


Haha! I used a pissoir in Paris just once to see what it felt like. Very weird.



> Why do we change European proper nouns to totally different spelling and pronunciations?


We can thank the British for that. They anglicized everything. The cities in Italy all have names in Italian that are sometimes quite different from their English names (e.g., Venice and Florence are good examples). And the British refuse to pronounce French words in French even though we pronounce them in French here in the US.



> People are so tall in the Netherlands. I think the average height of guys must be 6'2".


It just seems that way. Their average height for males is just 5'11' and females 5'7'. But that's just the average, which includes immigrants from other areas. So if you're only looking at the tall blue-eyed blonds, then their average height may be over 6'. In the US it's 5'9-1/2" males and only 5'4" females but we have more immigrants from Asia and Mexico than previously and that lowers our rate. In other words, Northern Europeans tend to be taller than people who developed closer to the equator and Europeans, in general, are taller than Asians and Central and South Americans. Descendants of certain African tribes are an exception.



> The trip went smoothly thanks to great planning using information solely obtained from this great forum.


Great!


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Eagle11 said:


> When we picked up our BMW at The Welt it was set up in KM's for the mileage, did you change that?...


It was in KM for the trip, but I switched it to miles to take that photo just so I knew how many miles I put on the car, and what the odometer should read upon return.

Thanks for your responses to some of the funny stuff we took note of. I can't believe you guys switched to "water with gas". I could never get used to drinking that. lol



Ninong said:


> ...


Haha great info and stats!



RKA said:


> Fantastic trip summary! Thanks so much for sharing!


Your welcome!


----------



## woobiee (Mar 20, 2015)

This is fantastic! You guys did so much more than us. Thanks for sharing!


----------



## rome5982 (Feb 19, 2007)

Thank you so much for sharing. I love the pictures and your descriptions. Brings back some great memories from our 1st ED 3 weeks ago. I agree with all of your comments, especially the deal abut the "still" water. We kept having to check the complimentary hotel bottled water to see if it was carbonated or not. We learned the hard way to always check before opening.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

woobiee said:


> This is fantastic! You guys did so much more than us. Thanks for sharing!


Thanks! Looking forward to seeing some more of your photos. You can see a few of yours made my report!



rome5982 said:


> Thank you so much for sharing. I love the pictures and your descriptions. Brings back some great memories from our 1st ED 3 weeks ago. I agree with all of your comments, especially the deal abut the "still" water. We kept having to check the complimentary hotel bottled water to see if it was carbonated or not. We learned the hard way to always check before opening.


Right. We left many a bottle of gas water behind in our rooms opened but not drank.


----------



## woobiee (Mar 20, 2015)

pawarrant said:


> Thanks! Looking forward to seeing some more of your photos. You can see a few of yours made my report!
> 
> Thanks. It's been a month and I'm still finishing them up while writing/making my lookbook!


----------



## Mark K (Jun 5, 2010)

pawarrant said:


> 6.	What are the small speed limit stickers on the backs of trucks for?


Those are the limits for that type of truck on city streets, open out-of-city-limits roads and on controlled access roads (Interstates). They have to respect those REGARDLESS of publicly posted speed limit.

We still haven't understood that trucks cannot and should not drive the same speeds as cars.



> 21. There was an ambulance driving on the highway in Belgium with his lights on for several miles without anyone moving over to the right lane to let it pass. Are there no laws about that there?


Clarification needed, not sure of the situation.

If nobody is blocking it (by driving slower than the ambulance), why should they move over to the right? As long as you are faster than the ambulance, keep going.

While we are at it, be very careful to come to a stop when an emergency vehicle is approaching you from the opposite direction like we do here - you might get rear-ended because nobody is expecting you to stop. Again, you are not impeding the movement of the said vehicle, there is no reason to take any actions.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Mark K said:


> Those are the limits for that type of truck on city streets, open out-of-city-limits roads and on controlled access roads (Interstates). They have to respect those REGARDLESS of publicly posted speed limit.
> 
> We still haven't understood that trucks cannot and should not drive the same speeds as cars.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the info. The Europeans and Germans in particular understand traffic flow and safety much more than we do in the US. Their laws make much more sense. Probably the most dangerous part of my job as a cop was driving in traffic with lights and sirens. No one knows what to do. So many people are so frantic they just stop anywhere including the left lane and middle of the road. It is odd how the Germans have so much better driving habits than we do here. I wonder why driving skill and driving etiquette and traffic flow and movement are so much worse here?


----------



## woobiee (Mar 20, 2015)

One thing that I noticed in Germany that blew my mind:

You know in the US in some road works project and people would man those STOP/SLOW signs on either ends of the construction zones? The two would communicate to each other when to flip both signs.

In Germany, most if not all of them are replaced by mobile traffic lights -- traffic lights on a vertical pole, on a battery box, placed on either side of the zone and I presume they communicate wirelessly and automatically!


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

woobiee said:


> One thing that I noticed in Germany that blew my mind:
> 
> You know in the US in some road works project and people would man those STOP/SLOW signs on either ends of the construction zones? The two would communicate to each other when to flip both signs.
> 
> In Germany, most if not all of them are replaced by mobile traffic lights -- traffic lights on a vertical pole, on a battery box, placed on either side of the zone and I presume they communicate wirelessly and automatically!


Hey now, some politician's nephew in the union can do the same job here for a mere $70 an hour. Why would we need automation?:dunno:


----------



## Mark K (Jun 5, 2010)

pawarrant said:


> Thanks for the info. The Europeans and Germans in particular understand traffic flow and safety much more than we do in the US. Their laws make much more sense. Probably the most dangerous part of my job as a cop was driving in traffic with lights and sirens. No one knows what to do. So many people are so frantic they just stop anywhere including the left lane and middle of the road. It is odd how the Germans have so much better driving habits than we do here. I wonder why driving skill and driving etiquette and traffic flow and movement are so much worse here?


Now, that would require 300 pages long sociological treatise ... 

Seriously, what I believe makes the most difference are two things:

1. Americans are brought up and educated to believe that, as long as they follow the letter of the law, they cannot do anything wrong. That is an AWESOME trait for the population to have. Too bad they also lost smell detection of plain bad or stupid laws. Or, in some cases, were brainwashed out of it. And when traffic comes into play here, there is an infinity of instances for them (bad and stupid laws).

2. Europeans are not smarter or better drivers by DNA - not by a long shot. It is the environment that makes them so superior to the Americans. You experienced the awfulness of navigating old Europe streets in Amsterdam. Now imagine that you never saw anything different from 16 to 25 years old and you drove there every day. After that, driving in Manhattan in rush hour would be exercise in "Why are these people slowing down?!? LET'S MOVE IT, PEOPLE!!!"

2a. Well, there is also that thing where everything in Europe is tiny, so you learn to share all available space with others LONG before you ever get to sit behind the steering wheel. Just watch the behavior of the people on foot around U.S. and it will be immediately clear why they are so incapable of sharing roads with other people.

All that, of course, just in my opinion.


----------



## RKA (Dec 1, 2002)

pawarrant said:


> Hey now, some politician's nephew in the union can do the same job here for a mere $70 an hour. Why would we need automation?:dunno:


In my backyard, we pay the police to do that. And it's a lot more than $70/hr...that's overtime! But usually they will be babysitting the construction site anyway (another practice I didn't see over there). So in a sense you're only paying an incremental charge for officer #2 to manage traffic.


----------



## pbjjj (Aug 2, 2015)

pawarrant THANK YOU for sharing your trip with great highlights and the pictures are just wonderful! Your last posting with observations and pointers is very valuable! Look like you guys had a great time! I am doing my first ED next week, and it will be my first time to travel in Bavaria. Reading your travel in that area is extremely helpful. I am only planning to drive from MUC to Fussen then to Garmisch before heading back to drop off in MUC... I wish I had more time, but my obligation at my 2-month old job doesn't allow me to take much time off... Yeah.. We Americans are working too much! 

I have to say you guys are so brave to attempt to drive in Amsterdam! Amsterdam is definitely one of my favorite cities that I have visited in Europe. I have been there numerous times and can safely say one of the reasons I like it so much is probably that I never attempted to drive there! Haha! I find the streets are not even big enough for all the bicycles and humans to walk... I can't imagine trying to drive a 435i even close to the city... I find Amsterdam a very walkable and bike-friendly city, which is probably the #1 recommended transportation there.

Bruge is absolutely wonderful. It is such a beautiful town. I look forward to going back there again. At first when I saw the rainbow flags at Bruge marketplace, I thought it was Belgium Pride. haha! But I then realized they are peace flags. Belgium Pride is in May if I remember correctly.

I always carry Euro coins in my pocket for the sole purpose of using the restroom. I believe even some airport restrooms require 50cent Euro. Don't remember which airport anymore...

The iced water complaint is hilarious! All my European and Asian friends who come to the US to visit always ask for water with NO ice.  On a very hot day they would ask for "little" ice. haha! I can safely say American probably are the only people who really enjoy ice in water.

Thank you again for such wonderful trip report!


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

pbjjj said:


> Bruge is absolutely wonderful...
> ...Thank you again for such wonderful trip report!


Bruge is wonderful. I would recommend it to anyone traveling to Belgium or the Netherlands. Your welcome! Enjoy your trip. Bavaria is amazing!


----------



## Gluhwein (Aug 21, 2011)

Getting a driver's licence in an European country is waaaaaaay more difficult than in the States. Not every 16 year old is "entitled" to one shortly after their birthday. In Germany I believe the minimum age is 17. The applicant MUST pass a driving school's series of tests. His parents don't take him out to practice either. This takes months as opposed to weeks here in the U.S. When he passes he is required to have an adult licensed adult driver with him whenever he does drive. At age 18 he can apply for full driving rights. The cost of getting a licence is upwards of $2000. You will see an "L" placard on the back windows of cars with student or restricted rights drivers. We should also adopt this law.

http://www.cnet.com/videos/top-5-differences-between-us-and-german-licenses/

Also in Germany commercial truck and bus drivers are very strictly regulated by the government. In Europe the weigh stations actually operate. Long haul drivers are required to take a minimum half hour break every few hours. An onboard computer records their speeds and driving times. They are banned from driving in the far left lane on the Autobahn. They must cease driving and pull off the road after 6 pm on Saturday night and must wait until Sunday night to resume driving. Oddly enough the worst Staus we encountered over the past few years occurred on Sundays when trucks were banned from the highways. It seemed everybody in Europe decides to take advantage of that fact and go out for a Sunday drive.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

I wonder if the elderly drive in Germany like they do here? At least once a day here I see an elderly person causing havoc on our roads oblivious to the fact there are any other cars around them.


----------



## drw1926 (Jul 11, 2004)

14.	The public transportation uses the honor system. You buy the ticket for the ride, but nobody checks the tickets. This would be an epic fail in the US.

When I was stationed in Frankfurt I/we would ride the U-bahn and S-bahn extensively. While tickets weren't checked every trip, from time to time "checkers" would board the train dressed in plain clothes. They would wait until the doors closed and the train started moving (i.e., until it was too late to get off lol) and then they would walk the aisles saying "fahrscheine, bitte" (ticket please)." If you didn't have a ticket you had to pay on the spot, along with a small fine as well as the embarrassment of being outed in front of the other passengers. If you couldn't pay on the spot you received a kind of written civil infraction that you had to pay at the courthouse or post office. So, you could take a flyer if you were feeling lucky, but there was some risk of getting caught. I haven't been back since '86, I don't know if that is still the way it's done.

19.	City and country names are spelled differently in English. Cologne is Koln. Vienna is Wein. Why is that? Las Vegas is Las Vegas in any language. Why do we change European proper nouns to totally different spelling and pronunciations?

Ya know, I've always wondered that myself...isn't this a case of, it is what it is? So why change it? :dunno:


----------



## waljeaben (Mar 6, 2009)

*Atlas Leader*

Atlas Leader docked at, Hueneme this morning about 8 AM. FYI


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

waljeaben said:


> Atlas Leader docked at, Hueneme this morning about 8 AM. FYI


I know! Is yours on there too?


----------



## waljeaben (Mar 6, 2009)

Yes. We left Munich on the 18th and went to Normandy for 10 days. Shipped out of Paris. Who did you purchase from?


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

waljeaben said:


> Yes. We left Munich on the 18th and went to Normandy for 10 days. Shipped out of Paris. Who did you purchase from?


Bobby Rahal BWM in Pittsburgh. BMW of Henderson is doing a courtesy re-delivery here. I have purchased all of my BMW's from them as that is where I used to live. I inquired about ED at BMW of Henderson. They did not know anything about it, and told me the cars are already discounted so they would just charge me MSRP. I even tried to give them a chance to earn my business on installing the M-performance accessories on re-delivery. They wanted to charge MSRP, and outrageous estimates on labor time for the install. I really don't think they care. I heard Desert BMW of Las Vegas is the same since they are both owned by the same company.


----------



## waljeaben (Mar 6, 2009)

You are right about the dealership here. That is why I go to California to get mine. I did two with Shelly in Buena Park. I got the same story from Henderson and Vegas 6 years ago


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Yesterday I received my $500 customer loyalty check from BMW for belonging to the BMWCCA. Once again, the check beat the car here. Thanks to BMWNA and the BMWCCA for such a great program and benefit!


----------



## SpeedsterBek (Jul 25, 2009)

Thanks for sharing your ED. Looks like you had a great time. 

Anyway, here my observations from my recent first trip in Europe:
1. You fill up first, then pay at the gas station
2. Driving estimates on googlemaps should be multiplied by 2. Although the distances between countries are small, it actually takes more time to travel long distances, compared to USA. 
3. Construction zone on Autobahn can go on for dozens of kilometers. Not to mention how much narrower the road becomes and barely 80KPH or even 60KPH in some cases.
4. Everybody walks, and people are more fit. Besides, I saw a lot more attractive people in the cities compared to here. 
5. Pedestrians always wait for the traffic light to turn green, even when there are no cars and it's the middle of the night. I "accidentally" crossed the road on red since there were no cars in Munchen downtown, but somebody caught up to me and told me gently that I shouldn't be doing that.
6. Mineral water is popular
7 Swiss seem to overestimate their currency value. EUR to CHF was about 1.1 during my trip, but a lot of places wanted same amount of euros as swiss franks (food, hotel, stores, etc). So I refused to use the euros I had in hand and just paid with my credit card in CHF. 
8. Switzerland is not as expensive as you might think, especially if you avoid tourist traps and cook your own food. 
9. Nurburgring is great


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

SpeedsterBek said:


> Thanks for sharing your ED. Looks like you had a great time.
> 
> Anyway, here my observations from my recent first trip in Europe:
> 1. You fill up first, then pay at the gas station
> ...


Agree with all except for 7 & 8 since I was not in Switzerland. #4 is so true. The only overweight young people I saw were American tourists I think.


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

I finally picked my car up last night! Dropped off September 29, on a ship October 8, in port November 5, re-delivered December 2.


----------



## pbjjj (Aug 2, 2015)

pawarrant said:


> I finally picked my car up last night! Dropped off September 29, on a ship October 8, in port November 5, re-delivered December 2.


Yay!!


----------



## pawarrant (Jun 15, 2006)

Sad it takes less time to get from Germany to LA than it does to get through customs in LA to Vegas.


----------



## woobiee (Mar 20, 2015)

Yay! At least you can still drive it mostly in the winter season. My weeks are numbered before I have to garage it (no winter tires this season).


----------



## friskygeek (Jan 5, 2015)

Picked up mine at the dealer yesterday. Enjoying the moderate winter in the East coast until it starts snowing. Not getting winters as well.

f.


----------



## pbjjj (Aug 2, 2015)

friskygeek said:


> Picked up mine at the dealer yesterday. Enjoying the moderate winter in the East coast until it starts snowing. Not getting winters as well.
> 
> f.


Your car is such a beauty! I would not drive it in the east coast winter, either.


----------



## Eagle11 (Oct 6, 2013)

pawarrant said:


> Sad it takes less time to get from Germany to LA than it does to get through customs in LA to Vegas.


Ours sat at the VPC for 2 weeks before being shipped, it took the full 10 weeks to get redelivered...


----------

