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First things first - here's the link to the PHOTOS . No need to sign in to view.
I apologise in advance - we uploaded the albums in the reverse order so view all the albums and select the #1 first
Another disclaimer - there's lots
Day 1, Nov 17th - Ok, so we flew from Houston to Newark and then to Frankfurt. From there we took the ICE to Munich arriving about 2 PM. Checked into our hote (Marriott). A little snooze and then off to attempt to meet some other 'festers' at Aumeister. This didn't work out too well - it was cold and dark and getting there by u-bahn and foot when unfamiliar with the area was a challenge. It reminded us of the movie Werewolf in London - stick to roads - keep off the moors :rofl:
We made it though and the food was great. Unfortunately it wasn't to be - no-one else made it for various reasons. We were so tired - and I was determined I was taking it easy that night so we could be up early for the big occasion so off we went back to the Marriott about 8 PM. Asleep by 9:30 PM
Day 2, Nov 18th - Well - what a surprise! We woke up and the snow was coming down pretty decently. It looked great and we later found out that it was Munich's first snow for the season. It also cast a slight shadow of doubt over the route I was planning on taking later that day through the Austrian Alps. We made and executive decision and decided that the Alps were out - we would make a run of the day and head for the Northern Italian coast - around Genoa.
As a sidenote we only booked 2 nights on this whole trip - the first in Munich and the 3rd in Monte Carlo (they had a festival on there and rooms were scarce) so we were totally flexible.
We arrived at the ED Delivery Centre at 7:15 AM had breakfast and waited about 45 mins while they got my car in out of the snow and cleaned it up (I am guessing that's what they did). Met and chatted with Ed (Eddiethecub) for a bit before Christian - the young delivery guy - called us to do the signing. He is a really nice young guy - unfortunately, his product knowledge needs to be further developed. When demonstrating the Comfort Access he insisted that the boot (trunk) needed to be opened with the button on the fob and also insisted the idrive screen could not be split.
Anyway - the car is amazing!
We hightailed it down south and by the time we were an hour or so out of Munich, the snow was gone. We had lunch in Salzburg up on the mountain and hung around there for a couple of hours.
Even while sticking with the run in guidelines, it was very comfortable cruising all day on 100 mph down through Austria and Italy. That was the longest distance covered in 1 day on the trip - we did 500 + Miles!
On the way down the mountain into Genoa I had a great run following a Porsche and an Audi - it was dark and they obviously knew the road. That was my first taste of how this car loves the curves. It was exhilerating and the handling blew my wife away - she was astounded - and I had an absolute ball - great adrenalin rush. :thumbup:
We arrived in Genoa after dark - and found it very much like Rome - scooters everywhere - crazy traffic - every man for himself.
We got the hell out of there and headed up the coast and found a fantastic hotel (using idrive and its integration with the paired Bluetooth phone) on the beach in Arenzano, Italiano. Great hotel and great location. Can't say we are too wild about the Italian people in general - we found the same on our last trip too. A bit stand offish! Just our opinion - maybe we smelled
I apologise in advance - we uploaded the albums in the reverse order so view all the albums and select the #1 first
Another disclaimer - there's lots
Day 1, Nov 17th - Ok, so we flew from Houston to Newark and then to Frankfurt. From there we took the ICE to Munich arriving about 2 PM. Checked into our hote (Marriott). A little snooze and then off to attempt to meet some other 'festers' at Aumeister. This didn't work out too well - it was cold and dark and getting there by u-bahn and foot when unfamiliar with the area was a challenge. It reminded us of the movie Werewolf in London - stick to roads - keep off the moors :rofl:
We made it though and the food was great. Unfortunately it wasn't to be - no-one else made it for various reasons. We were so tired - and I was determined I was taking it easy that night so we could be up early for the big occasion so off we went back to the Marriott about 8 PM. Asleep by 9:30 PM
Day 2, Nov 18th - Well - what a surprise! We woke up and the snow was coming down pretty decently. It looked great and we later found out that it was Munich's first snow for the season. It also cast a slight shadow of doubt over the route I was planning on taking later that day through the Austrian Alps. We made and executive decision and decided that the Alps were out - we would make a run of the day and head for the Northern Italian coast - around Genoa.
As a sidenote we only booked 2 nights on this whole trip - the first in Munich and the 3rd in Monte Carlo (they had a festival on there and rooms were scarce) so we were totally flexible.
We arrived at the ED Delivery Centre at 7:15 AM had breakfast and waited about 45 mins while they got my car in out of the snow and cleaned it up (I am guessing that's what they did). Met and chatted with Ed (Eddiethecub) for a bit before Christian - the young delivery guy - called us to do the signing. He is a really nice young guy - unfortunately, his product knowledge needs to be further developed. When demonstrating the Comfort Access he insisted that the boot (trunk) needed to be opened with the button on the fob and also insisted the idrive screen could not be split.
Anyway - the car is amazing!
We hightailed it down south and by the time we were an hour or so out of Munich, the snow was gone. We had lunch in Salzburg up on the mountain and hung around there for a couple of hours.
Even while sticking with the run in guidelines, it was very comfortable cruising all day on 100 mph down through Austria and Italy. That was the longest distance covered in 1 day on the trip - we did 500 + Miles!
On the way down the mountain into Genoa I had a great run following a Porsche and an Audi - it was dark and they obviously knew the road. That was my first taste of how this car loves the curves. It was exhilerating and the handling blew my wife away - she was astounded - and I had an absolute ball - great adrenalin rush. :thumbup:
We arrived in Genoa after dark - and found it very much like Rome - scooters everywhere - crazy traffic - every man for himself.
We got the hell out of there and headed up the coast and found a fantastic hotel (using idrive and its integration with the paired Bluetooth phone) on the beach in Arenzano, Italiano. Great hotel and great location. Can't say we are too wild about the Italian people in general - we found the same on our last trip too. A bit stand offish! Just our opinion - maybe we smelled
