# Took Delivery Yesterday - Here are the Pics



## mdsbuc (Mar 17, 2005)

Beautiful car! Great write up and pics! Do you have anymore pics of in-law's home and meals? It would be very interesting to see some more of the Polish culture. Thanks for that great write up! :beerchug:


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 11 - Saturday, December 31, 2005*

We started the day with a nice walk through town, picking up some spirits for our evening celebration. New Year's Eve is called Silvester in Poland, as well as some other countries in Europe as well. Some people go to big parties, but we stayed home and had a small party for ourselves. Everyone dressed up and Gabi's mom made lots of food. We had lots of drinks to choose from including beer, champagne, rum and vodka. We sat around talking and watching the main Polish television channel's Silvester show. It was basically a variety show like in the States with singers and comedians. At midnight the whole town lights up with fireworks. It is pretty amazing; there are fireworks that the city does, but many more that are done by people around town. Gabi's dad went out and fired his gun, which is also a tradition. As a matter of fact, for the past couple days you could hear people firing their guns to make sure all was ready for Silvester.


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 12 - New Years Day 2006*

Happy new year everyone!

Today we took a trip to a castle near Krosno. I had been here on my first visit, but didn't take any pictures. I figured it would be a great place to get pictures of the car. The whole family came along, so it was five of us in the car. Gabi sat in the middle back and said it was a little tight. The middle seat belt is not that long. The castle was not open, but I got some good pictures from the outside and from the road leading up to it. My father-in-law designed the small church in the one picture. All that is left for the day is to have supper and pack our luggage. We leave for Prague tomorrow at 6:00am.


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## mlahti (Nov 28, 2004)

Great write-up. Picked up our 545 last March and considered going to Warsaw to see my mom. But chickened out and met her in Geneva and traveled through Souther France with her and my 9 year old.

http://homepage.mac.com/mlahtinen/Menu17.html

Anyway, just wondering about security for the car. This was my concern, the last thing I needed is for the car to dissapear in to the void of Russia.


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## L Seca (Apr 22, 2005)

Thanks for the excellent narrative and pics. It really makes me want to spend Christmas in Europe! :thumbup:


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

mlahti said:


> Great write-up. Picked up our 545 last March and considered going to Warsaw to see my mom. But chickened out and met her in Geneva and traveled through Souther France with her and my 9 year old.
> 
> http://homepage.mac.com/mlahtinen/Menu17.html
> 
> Anyway, just wondering about security for the car. This was my concern, the last thing I needed is for the car to dissapear in to the void of Russia.


I was only slightly concerned about theft, but my in-law's house is on the outskirts of town in a nice neighborhood. Also, there were quite a few BMWs in Poland. I even saw another E90 at the grocery store.

I was warned about Prague as well, where I am now. I would not be worried about Prague at all. I am parked in a secure garage, but there are MB, BMW, Porsch cars everwhere. I have seen as many nice cars here as I saw in Munich.


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 13 - Monday, January 2, 2006*

We Got up early to drive to Prague and were on the road by 6:00am. We took a route through Slovakia and up into the Czech Republic. About two hours into the trip we hit rain and it stayed with us pretty much the whole way. Roads were OK in Slovakia. It was about 50/50 between 2 and 4 lane roads. The roads were even better in the Czech Republic, but the weather got worse. It was snowing quite a bit until we got within a 100km of Prague.

We arrived in Prague about 5:00pm and checked into the Renessance Prague. After settling in we went out for dinner at a place called Three Blue Balls. It was good, not great. Then we walked all over the town, seeing the sights at night. As you can see from the pictures, this city is beautiful.

Oh ya, the car is safely tucked away below the hotel. :thumbup:


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 14 - Tuesday, January 3, 2006*

We were off on foot to explore Prague. The first thing we wanted to do was grab a coffee and a bite to eat, but this was more difficult than expected. Unlike most other European countries I have been in, there were not many bakeries or coffee places. We did eventually find a place, but it was slightly overpriced and not that great.

Next we headed up to the Prague Castle. For about $10 you get access to seven areas in the castle. The cathedral is probably the best, but the whole thing is worth seeing. The place was mobbed with tourists. I would hate to see it in the middle of summer. After the castle we walked halfway across town to have lunch at a Samoobsluha place, which means self-service. It was great. Pork, saurkraut and dumpings for $2. Large beer for less than $1. After lunch we wandered aroung town and took pictures.

In the evening we went walking looking for a place to eat. We wanted to go to the same place we had lunch, but it was closed. It was pretty difficult to find a place that was not a tourist trap. We finially did and had a great meal. I can't remember the name of the place though. Then back to the hotel, we leave tomorrow.

My impressions of Prague are that it is a very nice, clean city with increadible arcitechture. There are many more tourists than I expected. There are also much nicer cars here than I expected. I would not worry about bringing a car here. There are BMWs, MBs, etc. parked on the street all over town. Everyone is not driving Skodas.


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 15 - Wednesday, January 4, 2006*

We left Prague early and drove to Dresden to meet my old boss who is working there. The drive out of Prague was nice and the roads were good until we got near the border. The road drops to two lane and winds up through the mountains. There was a lot of snow and the driving was very slow. At the border we had to pull over and open the trunk for the border guards. They checked the paperwork for about 10 minutes and let us go on our way.

We got to Dresden about an hour before we had the lunch set up, so we toured the Frauenkirche and walked around the town. It is a nice city with a lot of construction going on. We had lunch right across the street from the Frauenkirche in a nice café.

After lunch we drove to Rothenburg. This was the first time with the car on the autobahn after the breaking period. This is what makes European Delivery so great. The autobahn speed limit between Dresden and Rothenburg was unlimited almost the whole way. It was not raining, but the roads were wet, so I didn't open it up. The drive was nice though and the their way of driving is great.

In Rothenburg we stayed and the Prinz Hotel thanks to jeremyclark's recommendation. We went to a nice restaurant for dinner and walked around the town. I expected it to be crawling with tourists, but we were the only people on the street at 9:00pm.

Picture 1 - The border area between Prague and Dresden
Picture 2 - Th old center of Dresden
Picture 3 - Frauenkirche 
Picture 4 - Rothenburg at night
Picture 5 - Rothenburg at night


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 16 - Thursday, January 5, 2006*

In the morning we got up early and walked around the town. Again it was not busy at all, so we had the streets to ourselves. After about an hour we left for France. This was the day I got the car up to the top speed of 135mph. The autobahn was clear and the driving was good. I got so used to it, it was a shock when we hit the French border and had to drop down to 130kph.

The French roads were good and almost completely empty until we were within a few miles of Paris. We drove around the inner ring and out to Versailles. We got a bit lost, but eventually found signs and made it. I had been to Versailles a couple years ago, so once I was in town I knew where to go.

We stayed at Hotel Cheval Rouge. It is a nice little place right by the market and a five-minute walk to the palace. It has parking in a locked courtyard and our room was right above the car. We went to eat at a little place down the street called Café XXL. They had a special on mussels, which was great.

Picture 1 - Prinz Hotel
Picture 2 - Rothenburg
Picture 3 - Leaving Rothenburg
Picture 4 - Hit top speed...


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 17 - Friday, January 6, 2006*

We got up fairly early so we could see the Versailles market and get to the Palace of Versailles before the crowds hit. The market was a good experience. Everyone was buying their food for the day at different stands and it all looked so good. What variety they have!

After that we checked out of the hotel and went to the palace. I had been before, but just around the outside. This time we got a guided tour, which I highly recommend. It not only included the guided tour of rooms you could only see that way, but also included the self-guided tour. The rooms are really something to see. After the tours of the inside we went for about a two-hour walk through the gardens. They are huge and impressive.

After Versailles we drove to our hotel in La Defense, just outside Paris. It is a business area, so it is very quiet on the weekend. I got a good rate at the renaissance because of this. After we checked in, we walked around La Defense and found a supermarket. We were getting a little sick of eating out, so we thought some local food would be good. In the mall we found a WalMart type store that was crazy with shoppers. There was a huge variety of food. We got some baguettes, cheese, sausage and wine. After dinner we went into town to take some night photographs. We saw the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.

Picture 1 - The gardens at Versailles
Picture 2 - Arc de Triomphe
Picture 3 - Eiffel Tower


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 18 - Saturday, January 7, 2006*

Woke up a little late, probably due to the bottle of wine the night before. We bought a two-day subway pass and headed into town. First, we went to Musée d'Orsay. Everyone we had talked to loved this museum, and we were no different. We spent about three hours wandering around taking things in. That was about enough art for the day, so we had lunch and went to Notre Dame. We walked around inside and spent the two euros on the treasurer's room.

After Notre Dame we went to Sainte Chapelle, which is a short walk away. The stained glass is amazing, and we just sat there and looked at it for about ½ hour. Next we went over to the left bank across Pont Neuf, walked around and found a café to sit at. We had great coffee and crepes. We found another supermarket in the area and picked up food for dinner. We were in before 8:00pm.

Picture 1 - Musée d'Orsay
Picture 2 - Notre Dame
Picture 3 - Sainte Chapelle


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## arnolds (Dec 21, 2001)

Thanks for the updates!


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 19 - Sunday, January 8, 2006*

We slept in late again today. By now, we are both ready to be home. We decide to quickly hit the Louvre, Père Lachaise Cemetary, Sacre coeur, Pompidou Center and Champs-Elysees. We spent about 3 hours at the Louvre, but only briefly hit each of the other sights. We did see both Frédéric Chopin's and Jim Morrison's graves. Even in the rain, there were lots of people at both graves. When we got back to the hotel I cleaned out the car and took out the first aid kit and triangle.

Picture 1 - Louvre
Picture 2 - Jim Morrison's grave
Picture 3 - Frédéric Chopin's grave
Picture 4 - Sacre coeur
Picture 5 - Pompidou Center


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Day 20 - Monday, January 9, 2006*

The flight was at 12:55, so we decided to get up early to make sure drop-off and everything was not rushed. Traffic was very light at 7:00am in Paris and we made it from La Defense to CDG in 40 minutes. I found the Total station with the car wash, no problem. I got a card for five Euros and went through. Only on the second pass the brushes stopped at the back of the car and just kept spinning on the trunk. I just drove out of the thing with it still running. It was rinsed fine, so all was OK.

We got to TT Car Transport a half hour before they opened, so we had lots of time to pull the front plate off and check out the car. They flew through the paperwork and got us off to the terminal.

OK, now the fun part. Charles de Gaulle is probably the worst airport in Europe I have been through. It is crowded and dirty. We were flying business class and had lounge passes, so they told us they would let us know when to go to the gate. About 1 hour before the flight they told us to go. When we got there the line for security was very long and was backing up quickly. After being move from line to line we barely made it on the flight, which ended up being ½ hour late. Note: when flying CDG, get to the gate early! The flight to Philadelphia was fine, but it arrived about an hour late. Tack on immigrations and customs, and we missed our flight to Albany. We got rebooked to a later flight and made it home safe. It was fun, but we are glad to be back. Now the wait&#8230;


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## Ryan2006 (Sep 19, 2005)

*Final Report*

Here is the combined final report...


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## X550-ED (Aug 27, 2005)

That was an amazing trip. Thanks for sharing :thumbup:


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