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.


But a girl can dream. I fantasized about a two week trip to Germany, with stops Stuttgart (Porsche and Mercedes), Munich (BMW), Ingolstadt (Audi) and Wolfsburg (Volkswagen's Autostadt). There would be time to spend a few days in  Berlin, and the trip would be culminated by driving the legendary Nürburgring. And to be able to drive on the Autobahn with its virtually nonexistent speed limits--ahhh. I love to drive fast (and unfortunately, I have the speeding tickets to prove it). 

Bob brought his own ideas to the fantasy. He has relatives who own a hotel in Waldenbuch, near Stuttgart, where we could stay for part of the trip. One of his cousins is an engineer in Mercedes' Smart car division, and another is an AIDS researcher in Berlin with whom we might be able to stay. Planning a trip that would likely never happen was a nice diversion for me during the first half of 2010 while making weekly trips to southeast Michigan to attend to my dear elderly mother who was living out her last months. I often thought how much more enjoyable (and quicker) those journeys would have been had I-96 been like the Autobahn.


Fast forward to January 2011. A lot happened during 2010. Bob's working again, my mother peacefully made the transition, and the funds to underwrite a trip like this materialized. I took a deep breath and said, let's do it. So on January 3, the airplane tickets for the trip were purchased. The dream trip is going to happen! Now we're fleshing out the details and trying to learn German. Drückt uns die Daumen!