Time to say bye to car for now

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The driving portion of trip was coming to completion. The car need to be returned so it could be put on the boat for the US. Porsche provided several options for dropping it off, but for a fee. I opted to return it to the factory. So back to Stuttgart I go. My travel companion was flying home from Paris, so took the train from Strasbourg. So I was driving alone back to the factory. I was just a little nervous about the roundabouts, and the pouring rain did not help either.

Strasbourg is located very close to the German border, so I was back in Germany pretty quickly. I hit some serious traffic jams, but the GPS rerouted me thru some amazing little towns.

And the rain stopped, the traffic opened up and the roads were straight and clear. Oh yes, time to open this baby up……. Wait damn tires are speed rated so I only got to about 235 Km’s or 145 mph’s.  The best part? Getting lapped by some amazing works of German engineering.

Bye bye to car for now. I was told it would be heading to the port that same day or the next. So using my goggling skills, I was able to narrow it down to 1 of 3 ships it could possibly be on. So hopefully we are reunited by mid-August.

Now on to the next portion of my trip. I took the train from Stuttgart up to Mainz for one night. Why Mainz? There’s Hyatt.

It’s not a proper trip to Germany without some curry wurst and more wine of course.

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And that is point I would like to say that I went sightseeing and did all these amazing things, but no. I spent the evening “working”

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Well at least I had a nice view of the Rhine.

 

 

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!

 

And I am off….

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I guess I should clarify something with my posts, they are not in real time. They are days behind. So if you arre reading this thinking, hmm I think I am going to find Flo in Germany, yeah I am probably already home.

My usual travel pattern, when heading to Europe, is to take a 6:00pm departure,  so I have a chance at sleeping. Well due to the schedule for the next day, I took the 2:20 pm from Chicago to Frankfurt. Rookie Mistake #2.

I also booked my ticket late, so the choice seats where gone. Rookie Mistake #3.

So I ended up in the middle seat sandwiched between 2 men, both who where armrest hogs. The one to my left was  not as bad, elbows touch someone would move. However, the guy to my right? I am pretty sure he was trying to get his cuddle on.

So 7.25 flight time, I watched 3 movies, so maybe 2 hours of sleep? Arrived in Frankfurt at 5:20 am, ready to go to bed rather then face the day.  But the next day, was the big day, and I was way to excited to sleep.

Originally the plan had been to meet up with friends in Frankfurt and we would drive down to the Audi Forum in Neckarsulam. I had booked a hotel room at the airport so we could refresh before fhe drive.  Well plans changed, flights cancelled and I made rookie mistake 4. Don’t prepay your hotel unless your willing to lose it.

So I walked over to the Frankfurt Hilton Airport to refresh and drink about 4 expresso’s.  The Hilton was located in the Squaire, which right next to the train station for the long distance trains. So it worked out great given my bad situation.

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I had prebooked the train, at risk, because the price difference was so signficant it was worth it. Next stop Stuttgart……….

 

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