ED Report 3/22

Trip Summary:

Day 1-2: Munich
Day 3: Munich to Verona
Day 4: Verona
Day 5: Verona to Florence
Day 6 to 9: Florence with day trips to Siena, San Gimignano, Lucca and Pisa
Day 10: Florence to Fussen
Day 11: Fussen to Augsburg
Day 12: Augsburg to Colmburg with stops at Donauworth and Nordlingen
Day 13: Colmburg to Rothenburg
Day 14: Rothenburg to Munich
Day 15-16: Munich

Day 1 - 2 pics commentary:
Pic 1: Marienplatz
Pic 2: Dinner at mandatory Beer Garden
Pic 3: Taking the U bahn - Directons to delivery center turn right at path (trash can)
Pic 4: Walk to the end of the street
Pic 5: Turn left at Volckerstrasse
Pic 6: And you will see the BMW delivery center.....Hope that this is peace of mind for mind the directions that BMW provides

More to come....

Originally Posted by lukeeesteve

Trip Summary:

Day 1-2: Munich
Day 3: Munich to Verona
Day 4: Verona
Day 5: Verona to Florence
Day 6 to 9: Florence with day trips to Siena, San Gimignano, Lucca and Pisa
Day 10: Florence to Fussen
Day 11: Fussen to Augsburg
Day 12: Augsburg to Colmburg with stops at Donauworth and Nordlingen
Day 13: Colmburg to Rothenburg
Day 14: Rothenburg to Munich
Day 15-16: Munich

Day 1 - 2 pics commentary:
Pic 1: Marienplatz
Pic 2: Dinner at mandatory Beer Garden
Pic 3: Taking the U bahn - Directons to delivery center turn right at path (trash can)
Pic 4: Walk to the end of the street
Pic 5: Turn left at Volckerstrasse
Pic 6: And you will see the BMW delivery center.....Hope that this is peace of mind for mind the directions that BMW provides

More to come....

Keep them coming, but March is an ugly time to pick up a car. Late April early May had warm clear sky weather.

Originally Posted by Dave 330i

Keep them coming, but March is an ugly time to pick up a car. Late April early May had warm clear sky weather.

Ugly just for 1 day really...the day of car pickup. The snow was gone by late morning. Was a little worried since we had the sports package.

Day 2= Munich. Day 3= Munich to Verona
Pic 1: Day 2.....picking up the car
Pic 2: Day 2.....View from the main entrance of Schloss Nymphenberg (munich)
Pic 3: Day 3.....Drive over the alps towards Verona
Pic 4: Day 3.....view of Verona
Pic 5: Day 3.....Piazza Bra (The Coliseum during the day)
Pic 6: Day 3.....Piazza Erbe

Day 4 VERONA

Pic 1.....Old Fiat 500...no wait a modified 695!!
Pic 2.....View from the top of the Roman Theatre...Museum also housed here
Pic 3.....Shakespaerean 'Fake' Juliet tomb (and Museum)
Pic 4.....The Coliseum at night
Pic 5.....Castel Vecchio

Day 4 Florence pics

Pic 1...Duomo in Florence
Pic 2...Food...Yum
Pic 3... Hotel David (free parking and big rooms since since we were a family of 4)

Day 6 - Florence

Pic 1....For a second I felt like I was in France
Pic 2....Ponte Vecchio taken from the Uffizi
Pic 3....A gold shop on the Ponte Vecchio that is closed - looks like a jewellery box that is closed
Pic 4...Duomo from the Piazzale Michel Angelo
Pic 5...Ponte Vecchio
Pic 6...One of the many fake Davids

Love the pictures! Thanks for sharing.

Nice log, pls keep it comming, any recomendations on the hotel in verona?

Originally Posted by Bavaria330

Nice log, pls keep it comming, any recomendations on the hotel in verona?

San Pietro was the hotel we stayed in. It was one of the smaller hotels we stayed at (2 adults and a 2 and 5 year old). It was modern and by other hotel standards, maticuleously clean. Here is a link: http://www.verona-hotel.it/1/details/220222/name.html

I wouldn't say it was in the best part of town relative to tourist attraction. It was closer to the more light industrial/commercial part of town but at least parking was free and right in front of the reception area.

Day 10: Florence to Fussen (germany)

This was our wettest day. It rained from the time we left Florence till a few miles after we drove over Brenner Pass. 60 degrees ish temperatures and rain turned to Sleet and finally snow. Forutunately it was 32 degrees at the peak and the snow didn't stick.

Pic 1....wet..actually I think it was sleeting at this point
Pic 2....Dirty car with Schloss Neuschwanstein in the background
Pic 3....Clean clear lake water....never seen this in my life - need to travel more ; )
Pic 4....Pharmarcy in Fussen -It was late Sunday afternoon so most things were closed and the streets empty
Pic 5...Nice change of colors compared to Italy. CLEAN!!
Pic 6...German food. This was one of the 2 dishes recommended by the waitress.

Day 11. Fussen to Augsburg

Pic 1....All the hotels had breakfast - one of our requirements. This one was by far the best. The full deal + cakes from the bakery that's in the lobby!! - Hotel Kufcafe
Pic 2...Horse ride up to Neuschwanstein. Couldn't say no to the kids.
Pic 3...View of Marienbruck bridge from Schloss Neuschwanstein.
Pic 4...View of Schloss Hohenschwangau from Schloss Neuschwanstein.
Pic 5...Neuschwanstein from the bridge. There were only 6 of us in our tour group. 1 of the benefits of travelling during late spring. There was on one in line. I understand that the line gets to be thousands of people long during summer.
Pic 6...Always one in every country
Pic 7...Augsburg - Church - I forget the name...Sigh. I was somewhat churched out by now

Day 12: - Augsburg to Colmburg (with stopovers as donauworthand nordlingen)

Pic 1: Donauworth
Pic 2: Nepomuk
Pic 3: Nordlingen - 1/2 timbered buildings...Look at the warp in the timber
Pic 4: The outside wall
Pic 5: Walking the inside of the wall...those are homes butted right up against the wall
Pic 6: Our Hotel - Burg Colmbu(e?)rg. A castle that has been converted to a hotel. Half stone and hald 1/2 timbered construction
Pic 7: View of the castle from themain entrance. unfortunately, the castle tower that was not accessable. We explored the castle...somewhat dark and spooky in places and couldn't help but wonder if it was haunted.

Very nice....thanks for sharing....

wow... great trip! Verona was on my list but I wasn't able to work out the Italy swing. Now I know what i missed.

I'll be the drive through the alps was incredible with the fresh snow!

okay... I'm going to skip my final few days in Munich...But here are some stuff with wheels!
Pic 1: IMO - Best looking car in the BMW museum
Pic 2: Cool name..ICE
Pic 3: A different SMART car...saw only one
Pic 4: My dirty car..corner lot, wheels as close top the line as possible
Pic 5: What's even smaller that the SMART car
Pic 6: Everyone at work asked...***** a BMW police car? They must be rich. I always counter with a "wait till I show you a pic of the Taxis."
Pic 7: Luigi...with a tan
Pic 8: You know that space is a premium when
Pic 9: Parking slot well utilized
Pic 10: Saw only 2 'super' cars on the trip
Pic 11: Trip summary: 40:06 hours of total driving time, 1455 miles travelled (1 mile at delivery), 38.5 miles avg speed in spite of hitting 150 mph 3-5 times on the last 150 miles on the auobahn, 23.2 mpg....

Misc comments about the trip:

1) Navigation is great (A must IMO). 2 minor mistakes on the software, but we never got lost and got to explore roads that I would have otherwise not dreamed about tackling in a foreign country. Came in handy when we neared our destinations. It helped up locate parking lots and definitely gave us the peace of mind I needed since we were travelling with 2 young kids. I didn't stress at complicated intersections, not worried about relying on road signs for directions.

2) Travelling in late March worked very well for us. The weather held up and we didn't have to drive on snow (sports package). I loved it that I could wear my thick rain jacket and not worry about perspiring. The 4 passports were always on my indside left brest pocket, my car keys in another velcroed pocket, and wallet in another zipped pocket. I was stressing about being pick-pocketed before the trip since I saw myself as a potential picpocket target ((distractions when dealing with 2 kids). To me it seemed that the pickpockets (Gypsies?) turned to begging in the quiet season and to pickpocketing when it really gets busy and crowded.

3) I travelled with too many clothes. I lived on Cool-Max type shirts and jeans. The hotels had radiators that were obviously working since it was cool at night and the shirts literally took an hour to dry. We did laundry at the halfway point in Florence. Spent 2 hours 1 evening doing laundry at a DIY place...The kids watched a cartoon on the laptop.

4) Laptop...travelled with one, had to have it. To keep the kids out of our hair when we had to prep for stuff. Loaded 20+ hours of movies onto the hard-drive...BTW no movies while in the car (1 of our rules). Also, since I was taking about 1 Gig of photos a day, I needed an easy way to download, review and purge photos.

5) Comfort Access....a luxury that became a necessity. I left the key in a secure place in my jacket pocket, reached for the car and it unlocked locke etc etc. No fumbling into my pockets to locate the key. It was always easy in, easy out, 1 less thing to worry about.

6) Crowds......Mostly low to non existant (moderate in Munich and Florence) Lines wer short except the Uffizi and Accademia (when we got reservations...a must), lines were very short or even not there.

7) Hotels and air tickets were cheaper compared to travelling during the tourist peak season.

Pic: BTW, don't order this if you see it....unless you like curry powder sprinkeled on top of your wurst.

Great report and some of the pictures are fabulous! Well done

Thank you thank you thank you...a wonderful presentation. First time I've ever seen a Touring police car. And the 2 Smartcars in one space: fabulous. Great pix.

Originally Posted by ProRail

Thank you thank you thank you...a wonderful presentation. First time I've ever seen a Touring police car. And the 2 Smartcars in one space: fabulous. Great pix.

Welcome and Thanks.....interesting name...PRORAIL ??

I'm thinking of a 335xi coupe for ED, but the best time to go would be January, meaning I'd have to order really soon. I am thinking of Munich (p/u) and cities includiing Venice, Prague and Budapest (in some rational order), along with the bleak sites such as the 'camps'.

We live in Seattle which will be soggy then. Any thoughts about going that early in the year?

Having lived in Seattle for 16 of my 37 years...
My thought is that the weather won't likely be any worse than Seattle. Enjoy your trip!

Only concern I would have is snow when crossing the mountain ranges. Be prepared to put on chains if necessary and make sure that your tires are at least M+S. I would probably have buffers to plan around weather.

The spousal unit nixed January. (Okay, I did read the postings and frankly March is probably a much better time to go). I am working on getting to Europe around March 9th or 10th. Life will be simpler that way and I probably have most of November during which to order.

There seem to be lot of options for ordering, e.g. through various dealers. If I buy from someone out of Seattle, a dealer in central or eastern Washington or elsewhere, will it have an influence on a loaner car or general service availability from the local dealers when I finally get the car back to Seattle?

What are the financing issues on an ED purchase?


Any comments on Nav/I-drive? I was not initially going to consider that, but then concluded it was probably a far more elegant solution that sticking a Garmin Nuvi to the windshield.

Thanks fellow Bimmerfesters.