Tag Archives: BMW

HAPPY CAR DAY TO ME!!!!!!

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Finally, the day I’ve been waiting for 3 years in the making. Back in 2011, I went to Munich over Thanksgiving to visit the Christmas Markets (another post for another day). I had always wanted to visit the BMW factory and figures while I was at it would visit the Porsche factory. Who knew that trip would change my life.

I visited the BMW factory on Day 1. It was interesting. Nothing really great, but definitely worth checking out. Day 2, I took the train to Stuttgart for the Porsche Factory Tour and Mercedes Museum. I had pre-arranged the Porsche Tour, I figured I would check out the Mercedes Museum afterward (did not happen).  So I arrived at Porsche and toured the Museum first. Porsche has an interesting history and they have a lot of different cars on displayed. One in particular stood out to me, the Carrera GT, which according to the audio guide, was a little something designed to go the grocery store. At 450,000 Euro, your not going to the grocery store in that car.

There was also a quote by Ferdinand Porsche, that just stuck with me.

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And then I went on the factory tour. They really should make you sign a waiver, that you assume the risk and understand by taking that tour, you will purchase a Porsche. It may not happen immediately, but you will dream of owning one, so much so, that one day you will just give in.

I can recall the exact moment that made me a believer, it was the leather room. Something unique about Porsche, is that their cars are completely customized. So much so that only 1 in 400 cars may have similar configurations. So one option is having custom leather. They actually have a leather room in which there were 2 women, hand sewing leather. Seriously, sitting there HAND sewing the leather. It blew my mind. And in that moment, I thought, I will have one someday. Probably after I win the lotto, but I will have one.

3 years later, 4 months after placing the order, I finally had my dream come true.

I thank God for giving me the ability to dream, the courage to follow them and for keeping me safe to be able to tell the tale. Here’s to dreaming big and having them come true!

 

Stuttgart and Neckarsulam

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And the journey continues….

With my bag situation, getting on the train was interesting. When purchasing train tickets in some parts of Europe, you have the option of getting a seat reservation.  When traveling at peak times, it’s probably a good idea to ensure you actually get a seat. Or you can be cheap (like me) and take your chances.  I took my chances and got lucky, the train appeared to be empty. I had some fun getting my 4 bags up the stairs……

Again, normally I am not traveling for 12 days, so storing my bag have not been an issue in the past. This time I asked a nice German couple for some assistance and they showed me where to put my bags, in the overhead. Why, yes I work out, I explained as I heaved my seriously heavy bags up top.  And these trip reports would be nothing if I did not tell you about yet another Rookie Mistake, I am losing count of what number at this point.  Some guy heard me speak and was like oh are you American? In hindsight, I should have said No, Haitian, Canadian, Alien, something other then admitting to being American.  If you recall, I was tired but excited, so I said why yes……. And so his life story began. At one point, the nice German couple looked at me with pity. Finally I just smiled and put on my headphones, which were unplugged, and pretended like I could not hear him.  Luckily he took the hint, until we reached Stuttgart.  He, of course, waited for me to get off the train and only after I had cleared all the stairs, said do you need some help? I tried to run away but with 4 bags, was not very successful.  So I stopped to pretend like I was consulting my map and he did not notice, thank goodness……

As part of the European Delivery Program, Porsche pays for the first night hotel, so they put us up at the Am Schlossgarten, which was located right across the street from the train station.  Beautiful hotel, they gave us a superior room on the 7th floor with a balcony. Which was nice, but it was facing west and Stuttgart was having a heat wave. To say it was hot would be an understatement.

We arrived early in Stuttgart so we could go do the Audi Factory Tour in Neckarsulam. The tour was scheduled for 1.45pm, so we quickly got changed and ran over to Sixt to pick up our rental car.  And we got lost walking over, my fault, trying to remember the directions while being jet lagged. Finally arrive at Sixt, and while filling out the rental car paperwork, they ask about additional insurance. ( Cheap Ass Alert). I said no thanks my credit card provides coverage.  Ma’am are you sure, it’s a BMW M6, wait what???? YES give me the insurance, please.

So off we go or so we try, but we not quite sure where we are going and the navigation is in German. Back to rental car office for assistance and now we are off for real.  Even pushing the pedal in the Beemer, we did not make it in time for the tour.  We were still able to check out the Forum though.

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With the heat starting to get to us, we headed back to Stuttgart and had a nice dinner, before attempting to sleep. Attempting being the key word because our room was easily 90 degrees.  Besides who could sleep when we knew was in store for the next day??????