1st ED Itinerary - BMW 335i M sport Estoril Blue

I did some research based on what you guys suggested here. I am dropping Monaco and time in Milan for additional time in Florence and Sienna. I have to admit I did not know anything about Florence, and I love what I am reading about it. Thinking of Florence as a base for 3 nights. We probably have a full day there - Accademia, Uffizzi, duomo; and a day trip to Sienna on SR222 through the Chianti.

As far as Venice goes, we just want to get in, park the car, take the Water taxi to Venice, stroll around St. Mark's square, basilica, do the gondola. Anything else is a bonus. So, we don't want to spend more than a day there.

Thanks for helping me "find" Florence. I can now see why there are passionate recommendations about Florence.

Ok, its getting closer, here is my latest version of my itinerary. Need to finalize it soon, as I like to book my hotels in advance. Thanks for the input you all, as always!!

8/30/2012 Plane Drive to Stl; 11:25 AM Flight out of Stl
8/31/2012 Munich Land in Munich 10:05 AM; 11:30 BMW Factory English tour; 2:20 PM check in time; Pick up car at Welt; BMW museum; Vignettes from ADAC
9/1/2012 Munich Munich Local sight seeing, Dachau, Marienplatz
9/2/2012 Cortina d Ampezzo Drive to Grossglockner; Dolomites, Cortina d Ampezzo
9/3/2012 Venice Drive to Venice sightseeing
9/4/2012 Florence Maranello, Ferrari and Lamborghini factories, Drive to Florence (Imola? maybe)
9/5/2012 Florence Florence sightseeing: Uffizi Galeria, Galeria Academia, Giotto's Campanile, Brunelleschi's dome, Basilica di Santa Croce, Ponte Vecchio, Pitti Palace, Medicee Cappelle(Don't plan on seeing them all, but put a list together)
9/6/2012 Florence Florence, Drive to Sienna via 222, Sienna sightseeing, san Gimignano, and back to Florence
9/7/2012 Monza Drive from Florence to Monza via Pisa (& Cinque Terre maybe)
9/8/2012 Bormio Drive from Monza to Bormio via Como & San Bernardino pass
9/9/2012 Munich Drive to Munich via Stelvio Pass
9/10/2012 Home Drop off car at Munich Airport and Travel back to Stl; Take off 3:55 PM; Land at 11 PM

Anyone done the Ferrari factory bus tour recently? The factory is generally off limits to Ferrari non-owners, correct?

http://museo.ferrari.com/factory-and...no-track-tour/

Sitting at airport, about to board flight to Munchen...

12 hr compliance posting pics. Picked up the car last evening. The whole welt experience is top shelf. Getting used to the car an Munich city traffic took some time. Slammed the brakes pretty hard couple of times, I could smell them when I got to the hotel. The weather is not great now- rainy the whole time, adds to the driving challenge. Met Johnofcross at welt. His delivery was 10 mins after mine. Enjoy the pics. Heading to Grossglockner tomorrow..,

Great pics! Love that Estoril Blue (especially in the rain... great color brother!), Enjoy the trip! V/r, Tim.

Forgot to post note from Das buch earlier..

Great pics! And excellent color too!

Thanks for the compliments!!

More pics from today..Driving the Deutsche Alpenstrasse & Grossglockner was lot of fun. So, was the drive thru the Dolomites, where we are now. Headed to Venice bright & early tomorrow!!

Just found out that my car is on the Topeka which has set sail from Bremerhaven. Expected to dock in NY on 10/3.

Car is on TOPEKA, went to Gothenburg, Sweden and is currently docked in Zeebrugge, Belgium...

Originally Posted by MB330

Florence, Pisa --> Pisa is THE Biggest tourist trap in Italy - plan spend no more than 1 hr there. For Florence 1 day is nothing - but if you decided go anyway - I strongly recommended to buy tickets to Ufficy Gallery museum on-line. Then you don't need to stay in 3hrs+ line. If you can - substitute Pisa for Siena - I will skip Pisa for Siena any day.
Walks Inside Florence's three-hour introductory tour costs €50 per person
Florence had one of the best gelaterias in Italy.

We spent two nights in Florence during our ED and it was not enough days. It was my wife's favorite stop on the trip. We're going to book a flight here and stay for a week without a car.

We booked the morning and afternoon tours so that we could see Florence and the Academia in the morning and then the Uffizy Gallery and the David in the afternoon. We also stopped in Lucca for an ATM withdrawal and it looked like a nice place to stay for a night as well. On our car-less trip, we'll probably do a day tour to Sienna with Florence being our home base along with some Tuscan wine touring.

My wife loves Chocolate and ordered a scoop of Chocolate and a scoop of Almond. Next time, she would get two scoops of Almond instead. Ask for a taste if your not sure first.

Originally Posted by aharding

We spent two nights in Florence during our ED and it was not enough days. It was my wife's favorite stop on the trip. We're going to book a flight here and stay for a week without a car.

We booked the morning and afternoon tours so that we could see Florence and the Academia in the morning and then the Uffizy Gallery and the David in the afternoon. We also stopped in Lucca for an ATM withdrawal and it looked like a nice place to stay for a night as well. On our car-less trip, we'll probably do a day tour to Sienna with Florence being our home base along with some Tuscan wine touring.

My wife loves Chocolate and ordered a scoop of Chocolate and a scoop of Almond. Next time, she would get two scoops of Almond instead. Ask for a taste if your not sure first.

aharding,
Agree with you, Florence was my favorite city on the entire trip too. Hope to post a trip report shortly.

The TOPEKA is docked in Southampton, England. Last stop before crossing the Atlantic!!

Topeka is docked at the port of New York!! Customs and VDC next..

Originally Posted by mjadala

Topeka is docked at the port of New York!! Customs and VDC next..

Lucky! I got 4 more days 'til Brunswick.

It will be there in there in no time, john!! Hang in there..

I know the quantity does not say 1 yet, but there are 2 different timestamps for Customs release and liner release.

Anyone know what this means. Thanks!

Originally Posted by mjadala

I know the quantity does not say 1 yet, but there are 2 different timestamps for Customs release and liner release.

Anyone know what this means. Thanks!

3 days for an ED customs release? I wish my car gets the same treatment.

Thanks for the update!

Not sure yet, John. Will see..I read a post previously that it means something only if quantity is listed as 1. Good luck with yours..

Just got a call from CA that my car is on a truck and could be delivered at the dealer as early as tomorrow. Will know for sure by Monday.

Originally Posted by mjadala

I know the quantity does not say 1 yet, but there are 2 different timestamps for Customs release and liner release.

Anyone know what this means. Thanks!

I got excited too a few months ago on my BMW ED redelivery when I saw that same info. Unfortunately, it only means the car is off the boat and released to customs. They aren't back to work until Monday and they only work one 8 hour shift. Maybe, by next weekend the cars will also make it through the VDC. This is the most exasperating part of the process. It seems to take them forever. You hear nothing, then suddenly your dealership calls to tell you the car is ready.

Originally Posted by Gluhwein

I got excited too a few months ago on my BMW ED redelivery when I saw that same info. Unfortunately, it only means the car is off the boat and released to customs. They aren't back to work until Monday and they only work one 8 hour shift. Maybe, by next weekend the cars will also make it through the VDC. This is the most exasperating part of the process. It seems to take them forever. You hear nothing, then suddenly your dealership calls to tell you the car is ready.

I think you're correct. The customs release line is probably them printing out the the customs form that came from NJ HQ. Basically when it says delivered, it means it's out of WWL's hands. The customs and liners releases are just there to indicated if customs has the car. From this point until your dealer contacts you is basically one giant black hole. If you've done ED, I think you can call the ED Dept to get updates. You can probably also bug your dealer.

I'm also in this hole as well, seems like I haven't made it through customs one week later. Grrr...

Called the ED dept. 10/17: According to them, mine cleared customs on 10/9 ad handed to truck on 10/10, with ETA in Chicago on 10/19.

Update: My dealer called to say car is at the dealership. Will be picking up this Sat 10/20.

Picked up the car yesterday 10/20/12

Will be posting a trip report shortly!!