Double Date at the Welt

Ahhh finally a hotel internet connection that works . . . Checked into the Royal Leonardo Munich after Rolf picked us up at MUC. As many others have said, we highly recommend him. Really takes the edge off arrival in a new city to be met by such a friendly and trustworthy fellow. Yes the Leonardo is a ways out but it's a nice comfortable large new hotel within easy walking distance to the Welt, U3 to downtown about 3 minutes walk, and great food and service.

Next morning was raining so our walk to the Welt plans changed to a quick taxi ride. Our deliveries had been scheduled with hours in between, but all I had to do was say how nice it would be to see our new 328i's side by side and a quick call later it was scheduled for right after the factory tour. I don't know exactly what they did to re-schedule us at the last minute but all doubts were removed that the folks at the Welt will do everything they can to make the delivery of your new BMW a great experience!

Next step - an essential bucket lister for me - celebratory beers at the Hofbrauhaus after a quick uBahn ride!

With the wagon already on it's way to it's new home, the next morning we stopped by the ADAC for vignettes and an iPOD cable at the BMW dealer across the street. Once again such nice helpful people.

The drive from Munich to Lauterbrunnen was easy except for one wrong turn which sent us into Lucerne rather than around it. We had planned to save Lucerne for another trip, but now we can say we've been there - for about a half hour. Just before Interlaken the sky opened up just to give the new wipers a workout - really a workout!!

With the exception of a down Internet connection in our room - sombody had taken the power supply from the fiber optic tranceiver probably thinking it was for their cell, the Silberhorn is truly gracious Berner Oberlander accomodations. That's where we are now sipping a nice Blauburgunder from our Jungfrau view balcony after a visit to the Schilthorn and a nice long walk along the valley floor from Stechlelburg. The coupe is nicely tucked in behind the hotel where I can see it out our side window - it's beautiful! Some pics attached - more to come we've just begun . . .

Thanks to Jon Shafer and great Bimmerfest advice for helping make it happen!

Congratulations; nice car, nice color, etc. But a shot of two half-empty beer steins BEFORE a picture of the happy new owners? C'mon...

congrats! I thought i was going to see two couples pickup their 2 cars at the same time!

So it's just you and your significant others buying two cars at the same time

I love the touring!! Awesome choice !!

Congrats. Enjoy like so many of us did and will again.
cheers
vern

jpt. congrats! What a great experience with two cars.
My wife and I will be partaking in our first ED next week, and headed to Lauterbrunnen from Munich.
So your advice is welcome.

My route takes me south of Zurich and just touching Austria.
-Did you use the factory navigation? How was it?
-How long did it take you to get to Lauterbrunnen?
-I was going to leave early am to miss the traffic, is there a good time to hit the road?
-How much of the autobahn was unrestricted? and what did you get her up to?
-Swiss/austrian vignettes how much did they run?
-Tolls?
-How is the parking at the Silberhorn? That's where we're staying too...
-Any other tips would be great, enjoy the trip and thanks in advance!!
PS....are you going to do the Jungfrau train?!

Following, as this is the first leg of our trip in Sept. too.

Originally Posted by gehmjc21

jpt. congrats! What a great experience with two cars.
My wife and I will be partaking in our first ED next week, and headed to Lauterbrunnen from Munich.
So your advice is welcome.

My route takes me south of Zurich and just touching Austria.
-Did you use the factory navigation? How was it?
-How long did it take you to get to Lauterbrunnen?
-I was going to leave early am to miss the traffic, is there a good time to hit the road?
-How much of the autobahn was unrestricted? and what did you get her up to?
-Swiss/austrian vignettes how much did they run?
-Tolls?
-How is the parking at the Silberhorn? That's where we're staying too...
-Any other tips would be great, enjoy the trip and thanks in advance!!
PS....are you going to do the Jungfrau train?!

Double congrats! So you're the couple that Jon has mentioned before

Beautiful pics!!!

In Salzburg now after a couple of days in Unterpinswang. A few answers to questions above:

-Did you use the factory navigation? How was it?

We used bewangs Nuvi rental. Worked well with the exception of some construction areas around Sargans. A quick turnound got us back on track

-How long did it take you to get to Lauterbrunnen?

Just a bit longer than the Google time (~5hrs) due to a short stretch of heavy rain

-I was going to leave early am to miss the traffic, is there a good time to hit the road?

It was mid morning by the time we got out of Munich Tuesday - traffic was light after we got out of the city.

-How much of the autobahn was unrestricted? and what did you get her up to?

There were some pretty long streches of no limit but break in and the speed sensor sitting next to me kept things down to not much more than 100mph

-Swiss/austrian vignettes how much did they run?

I don't have the exact cost in front of me but I feel it was well worth the peace of mind to buy them at ADAC before we left Munich. There was an inspector standing in the roadway taking a really close look just before we entered the long tunnel near Bregenz.

-Tolls?

There were no additional tolls

-How is the parking at the Silberhorn? That's where we're staying too...

Parking is behind the hotel outside but very secure Pic attached

-Any other tips would be great, enjoy the trip and thanks in advance!!

Plan well - then do whatever you feel like when you get there. The great thing about an ED car is the flexibility to go where you want even last minute.

PS....are you going to do the Jungfrau train?!

We went up the Schilthorn instead after the short drive to Stechleberg and had a beer and a snack while the mountains moved around us - very cool!


Also attached a special pic for boothguy;-)

More to come . . .

awesome stuff!!! we're gettting excited to go. enjoy the rest of the trip, thanks for the responses.

It was great to meet you and your wife at the Vienna drop off location. I look forward to reading about your continued travels. Have a safe trip home!

Ron

I love this photo!:


My first thought (with musical accompaniment) was:

"The hills are alive,
with the sound of music!"

Enjoy the new rides and your trip!

Originally Posted by mdsbuc

i love this photo!:

+1

Originally Posted by mdsbuc

I love this photo!:


My first thought (with musical accompaniment) was:

"The hills are alive,
with the sound of music!"

Enjoy the new rides and your trip!

Me too!



The proud new owner is displaying the prototypical expression of BMW Silly-Ass Grin.

Originally Posted by Jon Shafer

The proud new owner is displaying the prototypical expression of BMW Silly-Ass Grin.

And I'm hoping to get my back next April with an ED on a new F30. When it happens, "just beemin'," located under my handle, will revert back to the original "beemin' in my bimmer!"

Originally Posted by mdsbuc

And I'm hoping to get my back next April with an ED on a new F30. When it happens, "just beemin'," located under my handle, will revert back to the original "beemin' in my bimmer!"

Welcome home!

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Bimmer App

Originally Posted by Me530

Welcome home!

Sent from my Kindle Fire using Bimmer App

Thanks Me....!

So we've been home a week now and my wife says "I feel a little sad it's over", so I set up a quick slide show for her and she said, "Wow I feel like we're there again." So I thought I'd share a bit more to Bimmerfest too.

Here's where we went:



Day 1: Sat June 23 Fly L.A. to Munich
Sun June 24 Check in. Eat Sleep
Leonardo Royal Munich Hotel

Day 2: Mon. June 25 Delivery, tour Welt and Factory

Day 3: Tues.June 26 Pick up vignettes - Drive to Lauterbrunnen
Silberhorn Hotel

Day 4: Wed June 27 Cable car from Stechelberg to Schilthorn

Day 5: Thurs June 28 Cable car and train to Murren, walk down to Gimmelwald, cable car down to Stechelberg, walk valley floor to Lauterbrunnen.

Day 6: Fri.June 29 Drive to Fussen/Unterpinswang.
Gutshof zum Schluxen Hotel

Day 7: Sat. June 30 Linderhof, Oberammergau, Wieskirche, Neuschwanstein
Evening walk to Germany along the wonderful path to the castles overlooking the valley.

Day 8: Sun. July 1 Drive to Salzburg
Bloberger Hof Hotel

Day 9: Mon. July 2 Tour Salzburg. Evening mini Sound of Music drive.

Day 10 Tues July 3 Tour Berchtesgaden, Koenigsee

Day 11: Wed. July 4 Drive to Vienna
Altstadt Hotel

Day 12: Thurs. July 5 Drop off car, tour Vienna museums.

Day 13: Fri July 6 Tram and walking tour Vienna ring. Evening walk through Spittelberg

Day 14: Sat- July 7 Fly Vienna, Frankfurt, LAX

This itinerary worked really well - giving us enough time to enjoy the view from our hotels while sipping a local beverage, exploring alpine and city paths, and of course high speed autobahn and country road driving in a great new car. The only thing we would change would be to spend more time in each place we visited but our work schedules limited our time.

Delivery

What can I say - so much fun . . .

1. Proud new owner (my wife didn't want hers posted - imagine Space Grey Wagon, big grin)
2. .3 miles from Regensburg to the Welt?
3. Umbilical still attached to the newborn
4. Postpartem snack in the Premium Lounge
5. Mind if I drive it around over there for a photo?
6. Leonardo Hotel angels
7. I found a spot in front so I parked there - for free.
8. "Unser Buch" - everything we planned for the trip was in here, flight schedule, itinerary, Rolf email, hotel details and confirmations, google maps, things to see and do, etc.

More to come . . .

Lauterbrunnen and the Silberhorn were perfect for us. We had a nice large room with balcony in the building above the garden. I was concerned the cable car and train station being so close might be noisy but both were nearly silent, unobtrusive and really convenient.

1. First evening walk after arriving in the rain
2. Cable car ride to the Schilthorn
3. On the Schilthorn edge
4,5. Walk from Murren to Gimmelwald
6,7. Stechelberg
8,9. It's a long long way down!
10. Trail from Stechelberg to Lauterbrunnen
11. First tracks
12. Silberhorn Hotel

More to come . . .

The Gutshof zum Schluxen hotel choice came right out of a Rick Steve's show we saw. We both thoroughly enjoyed the country setting and the food at the adjacent biergarten was outstanding - especially the truffle risotto. Driving this area was a highlight of the trip, especially when a certain motorcycle kept trying to catch me in the twisties - the manual 328i coupe really shined here - admittedly with lots more rubber on the road than the cycle.

1. Refreshment on our Schluxen balcony
2. 328i eyeing the footpath to Neuschwanstein Castle
3. The footpath right next to the hotel
4. Nice digs for a crazy guy
5. Oberammergau bluebird having second thoughts.
6. Wieskirche parking
7. I wonder where this is?
8. From the footpath walking off a nice Reisling.
9. Parting Schluxen shot - we'll be back . . .

More to come . . .

Originally Posted by jpt

2. Cable car ride to the Schilthorn
3. On the Schilthorn edge
4,5. Walk from Murren to Gimmelwald
6,7. Stechelberg
8,9. It's a long long way down!

That's one heck of a long and steep cable car ride. I'm putting that one on our list for the next ED! Thanks for sharing the photos!

That picture says it all

I am so glad they had them staged side by side...

How aware were they at The Welt that it was a double date (if at all)??

Your story is so compelling that it should be submitted to BMW Magazine...

We chose to drive south from Reute through the Fern pass on our way to Salzburg. It was a Sunday so all the local folks were driving in the Alps and so were we - but I will remember the OMG vistas forever. The Bloberger Hof doesn't serve dinner on Sundays but the Reiterhof Moos across street rivals the Bloburger for great food and adds a bit of local Austrian atmosphere.

1. Homemade ice cream at the Reiterhof Moos - yum!
2. The Bloberger Hof
3. A perfect snack with a great view ;-) on the Fortress Hohensalzburg
4. There's a nice tree lined path and benches just across the river when you get tired of the crowds
5. I love Koenigsee!
6. It has many moods . . .
7. It sprinkled a bit so we went inside for a snack.
8. Mmmm, beer, apple pie and cheesecake.
9. Lots of parking behind the Bloberger and a free skywash. Good thing I brought the microfiber.
10. The Bloberger restaurant - yes she's shy.
11. Sometimes you've just gotta have a another great brat.
12. Superb Bloberger Salmon

The drive to Vienna went by the Chiemsee where we stopped to watch the sailboats and eat sandwiches we picked up at the Rosenberger rest stop. Reaching Vienna, we discovered right away that we had to listen more carefully to beewang's Ms. Garmin to make sure we took the right strasse er gasse to the Altstadt Hotel. The Altstadt is in the arty Spittelberg area where the window shopping in the evening after all the stores close is excellent - my favorite kind of shopping. We dropped the coupe off at Autoservice Wien the next morning, a sad parting after 1050 miles of adventure. It's easy to miss the turn into the Vienna drop off so I've included some pics. Coincidentally, fester Neutron145 arrived while we were there to drop off his beatiful new 335 so we shared a cab back to town.

1. Still shy at the Maria Theresien Platz
2. Warning triangle antics in our room
3. My drop off gas was a little more than I estimated - oh well
4. You can't see the Autoservice Wien office from the road
5. Vienna drop off turn in here
6. And follow the trucks through this gate
7. Thinking about when she'll be home
8. Cool Spittleberg walking streets
9. Great lunch stop between museums
10. Really good Italian restaurant just down the street from the Altstadt
11. Goodbye to the Altstadt and Vienna and a wonderful ED experience!
12. The end till next time

Thanks again to Jon Shafer (Jon, we requested the side by side delivery last minute when we arrived at the Welt and they said "Of course we can do that") and all at Bimmerfest who helped with sage advice.