[pawarrant]

I'm going to create this thread for all of my photos and trip report from my second Ed which occurred September 17-19 2015. I will be posting a day by day report, as I am done editing the photos from each day. My thread for the planning of this trip, and for posts during the trip can be found here:

http://www.bimmerfest.com/forums/showthread.php?t=849731

My itinerary was as follows:
Munich
Garmisch Partenkirchen
Schwangau
Lindau
Bregenz
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Nuremberg
Heidelberg
Cologne
Amsterdam
Bruges

Enjoy!:bigpimp:

 

[pawarrant]

DAY 1 & 2

We departed Las Vegas for Munich early morning Thursday September 17, 2015 on American/US Airways. We connected in Philadelphia, and arrived in Munich around 0930 the following morning Friday September 18, 2015.

The flight from the West Coast is extremely long, as we lost an entire day traveling. It was an uncomfortable flight in coach, and if I had to do it again I would pay the extra money to fly business class or at least premium economy.

As soon as we cleared immigration in Munich, the SiXT driver was waiting for us at the baggage claim. He drove us to our hotel in a new 7 series. On my last ED I used Rolf, but chose to use the free SiXT service BMW provides this time. Both were equally as good. The SiXT driver was very informative about the area, and even recommended some restaurants near our hotel and told us about many of the traffic rules.

We stayed at the Hotel Blauer Bock, which is right next to the Viktualienmarkt. The hotel was in a great location, and was clean and nice. They also had a good free breakfast spread each morning.

We took a 2 hour nap, and met Racerstf and his mother at our hotel to do a walking tour of Munich. We went to the Viktualienmarkt, where we grabbed some "bio" bratwurst at Kleiner Ochs'nbrater. When you see "bio" on German food it means organic. This was the best brat we had on our whole trip! We then climbed the 306 stairs to the top of Peterskirche to burn off lunch. We then checked out the shops in the Pedestrian Zone and Maximilianstrase,before heading to Marienplatz and watching the Glockenspiel at 1700. We walked through the Hafbrauhaus to have a beer, but it was jammed packed full of pre-Oktberfest revelers and therefore could not get an open table. We then walked through the Hofgarten to the Englischer Garten where we checked out the surfers in the Eisbach. Finally, we got to sit down and enjoy dinner at the Augustiner Klosterwirt. It was a great traditional German food and beer. We planed to go out to the bars and clubs the rest of the evening, but the jet-lag finally caught up to us, and we decided to stay in and catch up on sleep the rest of the night.

 

[briar08]

Nice!

 

[Eagle11]

Excellent, bring back some great memories!

 

[Jard]

I'm very interested in your review of the Garmisch-Partenkirchen area. My wife and I are traveling to Munich in December for our ED and that is the only real driving we have planned. We plan to drive there early in the morning and stay overnight at Hotel Edelweiss.

 

[marcpotash]

We were in Garmisch-Partenkirchen last month. Great hiking and very dramatic views. The town was crowded and not particularly appealing to us, (Berchtesgaden was much nicer). Our favorite meal was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at Le Pino, or it might have been La Pino, a new place on Enzianstrasse, just west of the river. It is too new for reviews but we loved it. If we went back we would stay in Grainau.

 

[pawarrant]

Day 3

On Saturday September 19, 2015, we woke up early and took the U3 from Marienplatz to the BMW Welt. It was an easy and short ride using the clean and reliable public transportation we found all over Europe. At 0800 we met up with Racerstf and his mother again, and we all checked in for our deliveries. We walked around the Welt and enjoyed the great breakfast in the Premium Lounge.

Delivery time was finally here! Both Racerstf and my deliveries were at the same time right next to each other. We spent about 30 minutes talking with my delivery specialist Sven, who happened to be my delivery specialist 3 years ago on my first ED. I don't know if BMW plans that or not. It was just as amazing as my first experience at the Welt 3 years ago.

 

[pawarrant]

Day 3 (continued)

We did the victory lap, and parked the cars at the Welt so we could take the U3 to Sendlinger Tor where we walked to Kreuzstrasse to watch the Oktoberfest parade. The parade was magnificent. The line of horses, carriages, beer carts, and marchers in traditional Bavarian costumes should not be missed if you are in Munich for Oktoberfest.

After the parade, we ate lunch at Zum Spokmeier, where we had more traditional German cuisine. We walked back to our hotels to grab a nap before Oktoberfest.

At 1900, we again met Racerstf and his mother at Marienplatz. We took the U3 to Goetheplatz where we walked to the Oktoberfest grounds. Oktoberfest was crazy. Coming from someone that works on the Las Vegas strip, that is saying something. We did not have tickets to get into a tent, so we walked around the grounds. Some locals told us we might be able to get in a tent around 1900. Unfortunately, while we were stopped at a food stand eating a Bratwurst, it started to pour down rain. Everyone except a few drunks ran for cover. Every tent that wasn't full before was certainly full now. We were didn't have any luck, as all the tents were turning everyone away. We walked around the grounds, which were enormous until we decided to call it a night and head back to the hotels.

 

[skier]

Great pictures!

 

[brooski1]

Thanks for those great pictures. Glad you liked the Hotel Blauer Bock. We're staying there 3 nights for our ED in November.
Bruce

 

[Northcar]

Enjoyed the enchanting views and allowing us to get a taste of what it is like being in Munich for Octoberfest.

 

[pawarrant]

Day 4

On Sunday September 20, 2015, we took the U3 to the Welt again to retrieve the cars from the parking garage.

We drove to the town of Eibsee in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We planned to ride the Zugspitze cable car to the top, but it was extremely overcast. The 52 Euro charge for the ride up and back wasn't worth it without being able to see anything.

We then left for Hohenschwangau. Our first stop there was the "Official" castle photograph spot. We then parked at the ticket center, and took the horse carriage up to Neuschwanstein. We walked back down, as the downhill walk was not difficult and was only about 15 minutes to the parking lots.

This is where we said goodbye to Racersfx and his mother, and continued on our 2.5 hour journey to Lindau. in the Bodensee. We had a difficult time finding the hotel, as Lindau is a small island with many streets being for pedestrians only. Our NAV kept telling us to drive on the pedestrian zone roads. We ended up calling the hotel, and spoke to the owner Markeeta who was so helpful. She yold us to just drive down the pedestrian zone to her hotel. She said it would be fine to unload there before we went to the public parking are a few minutes away. She even offered to pay for any ticket we may have gotten parking in the pedestrian zone. The hotel was very nice. Markeeta delivered the friendliest and best service we received during our whole trip.

After we unloaded our car, we drove to the public parking lot for the island near the train station. Markeeta gave us a ticket for the parking lot so we did not have to pay. It was a huge lot, with plenty of room to park the new car. We walked around and decided to eat at a restaurant by the main pier in Lindau. We decided on the restaurant at the Hotel Reutemann. We had a good meal and had an even better view of the lake from our outdoor table.

 

[RKA]

Loving your pictures! Thanks for sharing! I'm now regretting I was too lazy to drag the telephoto on our trip.

 

[pawarrant]

Day 5

On Monday September 21, 2015, we woke up and had a great free breakfast made by Markeeta at the Hotel Noris. We went to the pier and took a ferry to the town of Bregenz, Austria. We rode the Pfänderbahn to the top of the mountain. Not only were there amazing views from the top, but there was also a nice animal preserve you could walk through for free. We spent about an hour on the top of the mountain and rode the Pfänderbahn back down the mountain. We had lunch at a small Italian café near the pier.

We took the ferry back to Lindau. We walked around to all of the shops on the island than retrieved our car to depart for Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

We drove approximately 2.5 hours to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Once again, we had difficulty driving to the hotel, the Goldener Hirsch. Once we were in the gates of Rothenburg, we were stopped by construction and could not get to our hotel. I walked to the hotel around the construction, and the manager gave me directions to get around the construction to their parking lot. We paid 6 Euros a day to park in the hotel's private lot. The Goldener Hirsch was nice, and had a good breakfast, free wifi, and the largest room we had on the entire trip.

After we settled in, we headed to the market square for the night watchman's tour at 2000. This tour was highly recommended by others on this forum. Let me tell you that it did not disappoint. The watchman was very entertaining and informative. We enjoyed the tour a lot. After the tour, we ate dinner at Rattstube Restaurant in the Market Square then called it a night early.

 

[pawarrant]

Day 6

The next day Tuesday September 22, 2015, we walked the city wall and town in the early morning.

We then drove the Burgenstrasse to the Nuremberg train station where we parked the car. We took the #9 tram from in front of the station 15 minutes to the Doku-Zentrum stop. We toured the Nazi Documantation Center and did the hour walk around the Rally Grounds.

 

[pawarrant]

Day 6 continued

We then took the #9 tram back to the Nuremberg train station. From there we walked the Old Town to the Imperial Castle and back.

We drove back to our hotel in Rothenburg. We had diner reservations at Zur Holl. This was an amazing little restaurant in a building from the 900s. The food was excellent, and the small historical building made the atmosphere not to be beat. We would recommend Zur Holl to anyone that spends the night in Rothenburg.

 

[friskygeek]

Love your delivery report!

 

[Northcar]

Thanks. Brought back lots of memories from earlier this year of our the stay in Rothenburg.

 

[pawarrant]

Thanks. Brought back lots of memories from earlier this year of our the stay in Rothenburg.

What an amazing town. Everyone needs to add Rothenburg to their ED itinerary.

 

[pawarrant]

Day 7

On Wednesday September 23, 2015, we walked the town of Rothenburg and toured the medieval Crime & Punishment Museum. The museum was very interesting and worth taking a look at.

We then drove the Burgenstrasse approximately 3.5 hours to Heidelberg where we checked in at the City Partner Hotel Hollander Hof. The Hollander Hof was a very nice hotel, with a great view of the Neckar River and free breakfast and wifi.

After checking in, we walked to dinner at Zur Herrenmuehle. This was the #2 restaurant in Heidelberg on Trip Advisor. The food was pretty good, but the service was not great. Certainly did not deserve a #2 ranking. There was no menu in English as well.