So we're back

A few observations from our brief stay in Germany:

• there are hardly any billboards along the Autobahn
• one rarely sees road kill
• not everyone speaks English, especially outside the big cities (Hungarian would have come in handy a couple times)
• there are speed limits on most of the Autobahn, but the default, 130 KM (about 81 MPH) isn't all that bad

(Val's) Mission accomplished

You are reading the words of a very happy woman who is still quite elated that she drove four pretty decent laps on the Nürburgring (Nordschleife) earlier this evening. I would have been able to do more except that just prior to the touristfahren beginning, a new McLaren that was being tested crashed, and the touristfahren was delayed for an hour for track cleanup. Barely saw the McLaren but it could be heard roaring down the straight near the entry point for the touristfahren. Or was that a jet? 

The trip to date

Highlights of the tour to date:

• Berlin. Didn’t step foot in a single museum but saw a lot, experienced a lot. Great fun being with Mary Jo and experiencing a double rainbow as we had cocktails at the Van Gogh piano bar on Schiffbauerdamm. Especially enjoyed the time in the grittier areas of the former East Berlin and unexpectedly coming up on the Brandenberg Gate the first night we were there. Biking around the city and in Potsdam. The Keen shoe guys.

The winter garden at the KaDeWe

It's been challenging finding free wireless connections, but on our excursion today we found the KaDeWe has it available (made schlepping my netbook worthwhile). However, my traveling companions are chomping at the bit to continue our adventures so this is a short report. I'm already planning a return trip to Berlin, maybe when my daughter decides to move here because this is her kind of city.

Berlin by bike

Had some trouble gtting into blogspot the last couple days, but will provide some more updates and pictures soon. We met up with Mary Jo last night, and today went on a bike tour of Berlin that was an absolute blast. More to come!

Diesel fumes or NOT

(this from Bob)
When I was Last in Germany as a child, Diesel fumes filled the air.  The telltale rattle of Low compression engines could be heard far in the distance.  Today, the sound of Diesel is still present though at a much more tolerable decibel.  Fumes?  Unless you are breathing directly out of the exhaust pipe are non existent.  Even the big trucks that crowd the streets are quiet and Clean.  The United States had better wake up to this technology soon.  When a Diesel Mini Van can burn rubber from a stop, what more can you ask for?
We rented a VW Polo instead of taking the train.  At first I admit a bit of disappointment in not being able to take a ride on the ICE train, However, learning how to drive on the AutoBahn in and under powered car does bring excitement in it's own right!  More on this later.
The Porsche Museum was Beautiful.  Today, off to BMW.

A night at Versailles

Lots to report but not much time this morning -- we need to get going so we can give the Beemer museum its due justice.

We ended up renting a car because yours truly forgot the Bahn pass, and since we had a car (a not so quick VW Polo but what can I say, the price was right), we decided to take a detour and visit Onkel Ernst, Bob's great-uncle, who lives with his daughter Gerlinda in Friedrischalfen by Lake Constance.

Arrived!

One of the fun things about traveling is the little glitches thrown in the path, like a malfunctioning overhead reading light on the plane over that refused to turn off, flight cancelations forcing us to spend six hours at the Copenhagen airport/shopping mall, overweight luggage, a forgotten Bahn pass, etc. But it all works out. We arrived last night and are staying at the home of Bob's mom's cousin and his wife, Herman and Lise, tucked on a hillside in Waldenbuch overlooking their lovely garden and a beautiful landscape of red roofed houses, woods, and fields. We're off to the Porsche museum later today, after Lise's granddaughter Stephanie comes by. Stephanie spent last year in Texas as an exchange student;w e'll find out if she speaks English with a Texas twang.

One week before lift off!

On Thursday we start following the Argonne National Laboratory anti-jet lag diet. Real, legitimate scientific studies have proven that it helps to eliminate or reduce jet lag, and I know from experience it works. Alternating "feasting" and "fasting" days and limiting caffeine intake to certain hours helps to reset the internal clock.

Earlier this evening I looked into renting a car at the 'ring (sent an inquiry about renting a VW GTI), and was bummed to see that the Touristenfahrten on the day we'll be there is no longer a half day. It's now just the evening (2-1/2 hours). The schedule changes for a number of reasons, and one is that manufacturers use it to test cars. So maybe we'll see some interesting cars there.

Focusing

Planning this trip has made us realize that there's no way we can see or do everything we would like in just two weeks, so this journey will need to be the first of several. Refocusing on the purpose of the trip, which is to visit the car museums and drive the Nordschleife, has helped to shape the itinerary. We don't want to get too rigid with our plans, but two things, meeting Mary Jo in Berlin and the trip to the 'ring, are set. After some serious contemplation, I decided against trying to meet up with some distant relatives who live near Hanover, and the trip to Dresden was sidelined. 

Two weeks just isn't enough time

This morning we met for breakfast and sketched out an itinerary. While we both favor more impromptu traveling, we realized that we need to have some idea of when we'll be where in order to fit in what we have set out to do, and also so Bob's relatives know what we'll be up to. As it stands now:

Day 1 (Monday) - arrive in Stuttgart/Waldenbuch

Day 2 (Tuesday) - Waldenbuch; perhaps tour the Ritter museum and/or Porsche or Mercedes

Day 3 and 4 (Wednesday and Thursday) - Munich (tour BMW one of those days)

Day 5 - (Friday) Ingolstadt (Audi); travel to Berlin

Day 6 and 7 - (Saturday and Sunday) Berlin

Day 8 - (Monday) travel to Wolfsburg; tour Autostadt

Day 9 - (Tuesday) Wolfsburg; tour VW Museum; travel to Waldenbuch

Day 10 - (Wednesday) Waldenbuch

Day 11 - (Thursday) travel to area near Nürburg

Day 12 - (Friday) Nürburgring (Nordschleife); travel part way back to Waldenbuch

Day 13 and 14 - (Saturday and Sunday) - Waldenbuch/Stuttgart

Nordschleife, here I come

I've narrowed down the dates I'm going to drive the Nordschleife--either May 16 or May 20. There is Touristenfahrten in the afternoon and evening on those days. Touristenfahrten, literally tourist drives, are when virtually anyone can drive on the Nordschleife. Tour busses, motorcycles, station wagons, and motorhomes join the likes of Porsches, Lotuses, Ferraris, and Audis on this challenging road. Maybe if I get lucky I'll see this one-of-a-kind car:

Wie ghet es Ihnen?

My high school German is long gone, so I've been listening to German language CDs while driving (I figured listening to these in a German car should help). My work commute is about 13 minutes so I haven't covered a lot, but I can ask for something to eat or drink and inquire about the location of a street or square. 
I'm also going to study through the Mango Languages resource offered by my public library. It seems it has my number, as the introduction to the German section asks "Ever see yourself behind the wheel of a high performance German sports car on the Autobahn?" Hmm, how did they know?

Logistics

Germany is known for its excellent passenger rail system. It's also known for its wonderful roads. We'll probably do some travel by rail, some by car. While it would be great to meander without much of an itinerary, reserving a car might be best done stateside before leaving, so we'll need to know when and where we want to drive. We're also planning to meet up with my friend Mary Jo at some point. Mary Jo's husband, Jim, is on a Fulbright in Austria,. Both of them may join us in Berlin, which would be a blast as Jim is familiar with Berlin and they're both really good company.

Really, Audi ...

This is a bit of a beef so I'll get it out of the way early. In Germany, Audi, like Porsche, Mercedes, and BMW, has a European delivery program (VW does not at this time). They all work pretty much the same: the buyer negotiates with their stateside dealer, the car is made to their specifications and they pick it up in Germany. It's a pretty big deal. Audi whisks its ED purchasers from the Franz Josef Strauss airport in Munich to Ingolstadt, puts them up in a nice hotel, then treats them to special tours, meals, etc. the day the car is delivered (all normal deliveries, no breech or caesarians!). Audi throws in 15 days' car insurance when the car is delivered, so one can break in their new ride in the land of its conception, if not birth (TTs and A3s cabriolets are actually made in Györ, Hungary). When it's time to go home, the car is left at a predetermined location and is shipped to the dealership from where it was ordered, usually arriving anywhere from three to eight weeks after it was dropped off.

When it all began: New Year's Eve 2009

A piece in the New York Times on December 31 2009 planted the seeds for this journey. The article, Touring the Temples of German Automaking, was writer Stephen William's account of visiting four of the five German auto manufacturers' museums. I forwarded the article to my pal Bob, who shares my passion for German cars. This was my dream trip. If only! Most of my travel funds go towards plane fare to visit my kids who live on the west coast, and what's left certainly would not finance a trip overseas. Plus Bob was one of the many in Michigan who was laid off from his job, and unemployment definitely is not generous enough to underwrite a trip.