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Thread: D'oh! Trip to Germany (Picture Intensive)

  1. #1
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    D'oh! Trip to Germany (Picture Intensive)

    I just realized that after all the help I got in this thread I never posted a new thread about the actual trip!

    So here we go:

    I finally finished going through my pictures from Germany, and thought I would post them along with kind of a narrative of what we did. This will be LONG (like…long-long) and have tons of pictures.

    So this trip was a graduation present from my parents, but since my dad and I are the car guys, only we would be going. I took German for 5 years prior to this, so it was also a cool way to use the language in daily life and see if I’d learned anything (more than I thought I had).
    We flew (first class, if you've never done it, you owe it to yourself, the food is great, a 5 course dinner created by Michael Cordua (a notable Houston chef/restaurateur) and you basically have your own flight attendant) into Frankfurt, and proceeded to try and rent a car. I say try because as you might imagine, a fine upstanding company like Hertz requires that you provide a driver's license to check out one of their automobiles. I had mine, however you have to be 25 years old to rent a car, leaving my dad, who decided he didn't need it (he didn't forget it, he just though a passport would be sufficient). While it was 11AM in Frankfurt, it was 4AM at home, so naturally my mom wasn't awake to fax a copy over. We had to wait until she was awake and then get her to go to a police station and have them fax it to us.

    On our way finally after about three hours. We got a brand new (71km on the odometer) BMW 320d wagon, surprisingly quick for a 2 litre diesel, and the navigation system was invaluable (actually it was 100 euro, but we got it for free since the car we'd reserved, a C350 was unavailable). We topped out at 241kmh and honestly I don't think it could have done any more, that was flat out down a hill on smooth tarmac.

    So we drove from Frankfurt to Neckarsulm, to see the factory that builds the Audi RS line and I believe the A4 also (a pilgrimage to see my dad’s RS6’s (RIP) birthplace). Unfortunately the actual factory was closed for St. Christopher’s day or something, so we ate at the restaurant there (awesome) looked around the shop and display cars and then drove to Stuttgart. The next day we visited the Porsche and Mercedes museums, both were amazing, absolutely burgeoning with historically important cars. The Porsche museum was obviously car focused, with nearly every variation of every car they’ve ever made exhibited along with its entire history, while the Mercedes museum was car centric, but with a long history of Karl Benz’s inventions and the general creation of Mercedes-Benz. Way too much stuff here to absorb in one day. The outsides and insides of both museums were incredible.

    In Stuttgart the first morning I had my first taste of what would become my daily obsession, breakfast. The breakfasts in Germany are amazing, typically I would eat two or three rolls, brie, different kinds of wursts, Swiss cheese, jams, Nutella, fruit salad and a cappuccino. That particular occasion I also had an apple streudel with vanilla cream. Fantastic. It was so much food we would generally just eat the breakfast and a late lunch, no dinner, but maybe a coffee break.

    I had to laugh at the Mercedes factory store that a base model E350 cost 89.500 euro, which is $125,000. In the US the E350 starts at $48,000 - or 250% of the cost for the same car. The same thing with the M3 at the BMW dealership, we asked the salesman why this was and he said it’s just that in the US they have to actually compete to sell cars, but German manufacturers basically have a monopoly in Germany, so they can charge whatever they want. I’m assuming there is a tax incentive to buy German, because nearly every car on the road was German. Mostly Audi A4 wagons, BMW 3-series wagons and Mercedes C-Klasse wagons.

    From there we went to Nürburg, the “bases” are located just a few hundred yards across the street from the track, Audi, Aston Martin, Ford, GM, Porsche, Maserati, Alfa Romeo, BMW, all have offices there on top of countless other brands. We wanted to drive our mighty 320d for a few laps around the track but it was only open the next evening to the public because the day we were there and the following morning there was a race, but we at least got to watch the race cars during practice on the Nordschleife.

    We signed up to do a Formula 3 driving experience on the Sudschleife. This was AWESOME (there's no better adjective here...so forgive my repetitive use of "awesome"). We got to drive Renault Formula 3 cars around the track, receiving some basic instruction. Interesting to note, reading magazines on the flight home, I came across one of the instructors posing next to a Carrera GT3. Apparently, he’s one of the best drivers of the Nürburgring there is, and so Evo Magazine contracted him to help test the Carrera GT3 against the new GT-R Spec-V on the ring. So that was cool. The driving was a blast, the cars do 0-100kmh in under four seconds, which was a new experience for me, since even Der Beast did it in 4.8 when it was stock, and probably 4-4.2 tuned.

    After Nürburg we went to Hohenschwangau home to the Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. Both were just absolutely gorgeous. Hohenschwangau was King Ludwig’s son’s summer residence/hunting residence, and had a much more homely feel. Neuschwanstein was intended to be Ludwig II’s home, but when he mysteriously was found drowned in a lake (he was suspected of being gay, thus not likely to bare a son to continue the family, and removed) the castle was left unfinished. Something like 60% of the rooms are just shells and were never completed or furnished. The little town was great, and the waitresses in all of the restaurants there wore traditional Alpen outfits with low cut tops. I approved.

    From there we drove to Munich, home to BMW, the famous Höfbrauhäus München, and tons of great architecture. We ate at the Höfbrauhäus that night, you don’t go for the food. The beer hall seats something like 6,000 people, and as touristy as it is, is something you just have to see. We returned to our car to find a parking ticket, no big deal, only 20 euro, which is considerably cheaper than a parking ticket in the states. Then we went to the BMW museum, another awesome museum, technologically the coolest of the 3 car museums we went to. These tables were awesome, they had certain topics listed, and you touch the one you want and it pulls up a menu on that car. The next morning we went to the BMW factory for our scheduled tour. It was amazing to see how precise the factory was, and how efficient, they can turn out 900 3-series per day. We also went to Dachau, which was really overwhelming and somewhat sobering. There was a film and all kinds of information on the holocaust and Nazi party, simply horrific. That night I had a fantastic black truffle tagliatelli, that was a terrible transition from the holocaust, but I'm just going in chronological order here.

    We decided to try and find a book store in Munich since the drive to Dresden was several hours and I’d just finished The Da Vinci Code (pretty good read). We parked and walked around near where we had found one online, couldn’t find any good books, so we had lunch (pork loin burger + curry sauce = great) and went back to the car. We kept walking past where we thought it was, but we didn’t see it so we walked a few blocks each direction and still no car. Then I saw the silver car we parked in front of and a big empty spot where we parked. Then I noticed the garage door we had parked in front of. The garage doors there blend REALLY well into the store fronts that neighbor them.

    We locate our towed car at the police station a 25 euro taxi ride from where we ate, and them dealt with some seriously asshole cops. They didn’t accept credit cards (wtf?) so we had to walk 3km to find an ATM, and 3km back to get our car out of the impound. We noticed about 10 other 3-series wagons were towed, and right as I said “I wonder if anything besides BMWs get towed.” I spied an Audi R8 right next to our car. R8s are everywhere there (probably something with the tax incentive pricing again) akin to how you might see 5+ Bentley Continental GTs a day here in the states.

    So we finally left the Dick Polizei behind and got on our way to Dresden, and then the next morning drove to Berlin. We visited the DDR museum which was oddly ambiguous in whether it was anti or pro-socialism. We also saw the Brandenburg gate and the Reichstag building, which was a very neat fusing of modern and historical architecture.

    The next day we decided to do a Fat Tire Bike Co. tour. They have these in Berlin, Brussels, Paris and London, so if you ever visit one of those cities TAKE THE TOUR! It was an awesome way to see almost all of the city, and actually learn about what you were seeing. It was so cool. Our tour guide was friendly, funny, knew what he was talking about, and was an American who grew up half and half in the US and Germany, so he had insight into German life to share. The company is basically for Americans abroad, so it’s all native English speakers giving the tour, making it easy to understand. Definitely check these out if you’re going to one of those places. $20 for a 4 hour bike tour.

    That night we ate at the restaurant our tour guide had suggested, I had a grilled watermellon and scallop appetizer, grilled venison with a black cherry reduction, and an apricot dumpling. It was the best meal of the trip, and we had already had some very good meals. The next day we drove to Frankfurt, spent the night and then flew home. Everything went smoothly except for the baby across the aisle throwing up, that freaked me out big time.
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

  2. #2
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    Cliff's notes of the first post:
    -Went to Germant
    -Did car-related stuff and ate a lot of good food
    -Came home

    Overall it was an excellent trip, a huge amount of fun, I had some great quality time with my dad and it was definitely something I will remember for the rest of my life.

    Now on to the pictures! It will take several posts.

    I HAVE LARGER VERSIONS OF ALL OF THIS IF YOU WOULD LIKE ONE AS A WALLPAPER. PLEASE DO NOT REPOST THESE PICTURES ANYWHERE ELSE WITHOUT ASKING.


    1. A 356 and 917.
    2. The BMW HQ building.
    3. Cross-section of a BMW variable turbo.
    4. Another view of the same.
    5. A veiled Carrera GT at the Porsche forum in Zuffenhausen.
    6. A cathedral in Berlin.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by my porsche; 04-06-2010 at 09:49 AM.
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

  3. #3
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    1. The "German Dome".
    2. A passageway at Schloss Hohenschwangau.
    3. Another passageway at Schloss Hohenschwangau.
    4. An art exhibit at the BMW museum, the giant canvas at bottom was driven on by the Z4 in the picture with paint in its wheels.
    5. A postcard-style view of Neuschwanstein castle.
    6. The Reichstag building, a former Nazi government building, now with a large glass dome on top that you can walk up into and see the whole city from.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by my porsche; 04-06-2010 at 09:37 AM.
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

  4. #4
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    1. A sculpture made from either a 956 or a 962 at the Porsche museum.
    2. A 356 and a 917.
    3. 917.
    4. A chronological arrangement of BMW trunk badges.
    5. Inside BMW World.
    6. My dad and I in front of the Berlin Wall.
    7. Some classic race cars at the M-B museum.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by my porsche; 04-06-2010 at 09:43 AM.
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

  5. #5
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    1. The Euro-Mullet, this was THE haircut to have if you were a young Turk in Germany.
    2. The Renault Formula 3 cars we drove on the Sudschleife.
    3. BMW M1 Hommage (yes spelled that way).
    4. The Berlin Memorial to those lost to the cruelty of war.
    5. A 550 Pan Americana Mexico.
    6. Some classic race cars at the Mercedes-Benz museum.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

  6. #6
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    1. The "Pink Pig", a Porsche 917 labeled with the different cuts of meat.
    2. A bit of graffiti on the Nurburgring.
    3. This was an exhibit at the BMW museum, the metal spheres were hung from the ceiling by reels of string, which were computer controlled. Every few minutes the design would morph into a different vehicle.
    4. Stuttgart Kunstmuseum.
    5. The "touchscreen" tables at BMW, tap what you'd like to see, and voila.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

  7. #7
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    1. A picturesque small town just outside of Hohenschwangau. Unfortunately it was almost dark and the lighting was terrible, this was sadly the best I could do.
    2. Some "trumpet" intakes on a BMW engine.
    3. Another angle of the Z4 art exhibit.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

  8. #8
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    A Mercedes-Benz E350 CGI costs 52.480€ in Germany.

    Great trip. That area is really automotive heaven.
    Lack of charisma can be fatal.
    Visca Catalunya!

  9. #9
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    How lucky of you to go to Germany!!
    Buddy: 1998-2009
    Mah boi, UCP is what all true warriors strive for!
    PINGAS!!!!

  10. #10
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    GREAT trip, FANTASTIC pics .. mroe please

    A few "corrections" ?? ....
    Quote Originally Posted by my porsche View Post
    I had to laugh at the Mercedes factory store that a base model E350 cost 89.500 euro, which is $125,000. In the US the E350 starts at $48,000 - or 250% of the cost for the same car. The same thing with the M3 at the BMW dealership, we asked the salesman why this was and he said it’s just that in the US they have to actually compete to sell cars, but German manufacturers basically have a monopoly in Germany, so they can charge whatever they want. I’m assuming there is a tax incentive to buy German, because nearly every car on the road was German. Mostly Audi A4 wagons, BMW 3-series wagons and Mercedes C-Klasse wagons.
    Nationalism / local jobs support is prevalent in some areas, ie buy the car from the factory in your town.
    Dealers sell below the factory store prices.
    The car factory stores aren't like "Factory discount outlets" The opposite !!
    "base model" is often different for different countries, did you compare equal specs ?
    Pricing cars built in euro to prices in US depends on purcahse arrangements and exchange variations during the contract.
    BUT, yea 50% uplift is VERY common for the same car.
    We do tend to get better dealer support ( USED to anyway ) Germany probably still as good. Someone pays for that.
    We signed up to do a Formula 3 driving experience on the Sudschleife.
    Nurburgring GP circuit more likely ?
    THis is the SudSchleife now


    and what it used to be ...
    [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KGG8AT9bR3o]YouTube - Nürburgring Südschleife[/ame]

    Did you go in to the Grüne Hölle and ring°werk ? thoughts ?

    What date/time were you out in the F3 ? Might have the track webcam image
    Attached Images Attached Images
    "A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'

  11. #11
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    That's really cool.

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by my porsche View Post
    1. A picturesque small town just outside of Hohenschwangau. Unfortunately it was almost dark and the lighting was terrible, this was sadly the best I could do.
    Hmm, a wee bit further than "just outside" possibly , but looks like Nesselwang ? THough down that part of Germany most villages look the same
    You'd know if you'd driven near Nesselwang for the road signs to the village of WANK. Yes ... seriously
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by Matra et Alpine; 04-06-2010 at 01:54 PM.
    "A woman without curves is like a road without bends, you might get to your destination quicker but the ride is boring as hell'

  13. #13
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    Quote Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine View Post
    GREAT trip, FANTASTIC pics .. mroe please

    A few "corrections" ?? ....



    Nurburgring GP circuit more likely ?


    Did you go in to the Grüne Hölle and ring°werk ? thoughts ?

    What date/time were you out in the F3 ? Might have the track webcam image
    Hmm, I guess it was the GP circuit, sorry, see below for foggy memory explanation.

    Man you're asking a lot for the date and time...let's try June 12th, 2009 around 9:30 should be about when we were actually on the track.

    What are the Grüne Hölle and ring°werk? There were several things around there named The Green Hell as you can imagine.

    Quote Originally Posted by Matra et Alpine View Post
    Hmm, a wee bit further than "just outside" possibly , but looks like Nesselwang ? THough down that part of Germany most villages look the same
    You'd know if you'd driven near Nesselwang for the road signs to the village of WANK. Yes ... seriously
    That's it, I remember the sign.

    Sorry, my memory's not so good and writing this up a year after, things blend together. After mostly a full day's driving, 25km is close enough to call "just outside".

    Quote Originally Posted by Ferrer View Post
    A Mercedes-Benz E350 CGI costs 52.480€ in Germany.

    Great trip. That area is really automotive heaven.
    I was just going by the sticker at the Mercedes-Benz Factory.

    These pictures were taken by the driving school's photographer.

    1. My dad and I just about to go on the first round of driving.
    2. Game face: on.
    3. This is what I guess is the GP circuit.
    4. I'm dead center here in the orange shirt, the bloke in the white suit was a really nice kid from London whose father was racing his GT3 Cup in the aforementioned races, so he joined us in the driving event. He spoke much better German than I do, so he was translating for all of the English, Australian and American drivers there.
    5. Me setting some hot lap times.
    6. Ditto for this picture.
    Attached Images Attached Images
    Last edited by my porsche; 04-06-2010 at 04:33 PM.
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

  14. #14
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    By the way, what camera were you using?

    Nice photos. Germany has some pleasant looking towns.

  15. #15
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    Nikon D50 with Sigma 17-70. I was pretty disappointed from a purely photographic perspective, but that was an extremely trivial concern with this trip. This was a once in a lifetime thing for my dad and I.

    I really hope to have enough money one day to be able to take him and his best friend (like a second father to me) on a worldwide car tour. Goodwood, the 'Ring, factories, that road in Romania that TopGear went to this season. All of it.
    He came dancing across the water
    With his galleons and guns
    Looking for the new world
    In that palace in the sun
    On the shore lay Montezuma
    With his cocoa leaves and pearls

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