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A familiar photo
These breakfast pictures are here to remind me of the way each day in Germany starts off great thanks to these healthy delicious foods.Another nice quiet rest in Oberammergau. Neither the church bells ringing outside my window nor the cowbells clanging in the distance disturbed me from my slumber. And what followed was another delicious breakfast buffet. Like a good Philly cheesesteak, the secret is in the rolls. The German hard roll is a thing of beauty. It works with cheese and cold cuts, with a sausage inside or simply smeared with butter. They should write odes to the rolls.
Today we had to stick to plan because we had two obligations scheduled. First on the list was an 1130 appointment at Loginout at Munich Airport. These are the people that arrange to ship your BMW over to the USA. BMW covers all the shipping costs including marine insurance. Our only responsibility is to get the car into their hands. They do all the work. Since we would be passing near Munich airport on our way to our next overnight stay in Nürnberg I decided it would be wise to do our shipping paperwork early in order to avoid a rush at the end of our two week trip. Since we had a 0930 flight back home on our final day I knew
Allianz soccer stadium
This is the home of Bayern Munich football (soccer). The stadium looks like a gigantic white tire. Traffic always slows on this part of the Autobahn. Loginout would not be open early enough to accommodate us then.
My concern was that you just never know what traffic was going to be like taking the A95 Autobahn up past Munich city to the airport. My Nav calculated an hour and a half but I decided to allow 2 1/2 hours in case of a Stau somewhere along the line. As it turned-out it took us less than the Nav's prediction. We ended up having to kill time at the airport waiting for Loginout to open and for another American couple to do their paperwork first. The actual transaction took no more than 15 minutes. We gave Kathrin one key, signed a few forms and got out of there by 1145. We saw only two US-bound cars in the Loginout lot.
Next on our schedule was a tour of the Regensburg BMW plant where my X1 was made. I had arranged for this on my own almost as soon as my car went into production. I had already done the Munich tour, a tour of the Leipzig plant where my 2015 X1 was built and visited the Spartanburg facility when I
More tourists arriving in Munich
Both runways were operating at Franz-Josef Strauss Airport as we drew closer to the Loginout offices next to the airport terminal. did my PCD in 2015. I simply went online, booked this tour using my BMW CCA ID (discount) and paid for it with Paypal. When we were back in Munich at the Welt signing all the forms, my Paperwork Lady reached into her desk to give us our tickets for the Munich tour. We said we didn't need them because we had done it before and we were instead going to visit Regensburg. She had a kind of quizzical look that implied "Why?". I wanted to see where my car actually came from. She then pulled out two other tickets that were for Regensburg and gave them to us. I figured I had just wasted $12.00 but no biggie.
The drive to Regensburg took just over an hour. When I booked my plant tour I was sent a confirmation letter advising me to allow for heavy traffic in the area due to construction. We had absolutely no issues. You just never know in Germany. The Autobahns are fine and dandy when they are clear and you can do 100 mph, but you can also end up delayed for hours not moving one inch. This happened to us near Füssen
Waiting to go to their new homes
Not only BMW, but also Porsche, Audi and Mercedes-Benz also use Loginout for shipping cars from Germany. These cars were destined for non-American destinations. in 2015 and last year just outside Salzburg. For the most part I would be sticking to the back roads on this trip. While my wife dozed I cranked her up to about 110 mph but quickly backed-off. I just don't trust the other guys in front of me. Even when they're Germans. The problem was that many weren't. There are a lot of other visiting Europeans and non-German truck drivers out there. I noticed too many lane straddlers.
The A93 up to Regensburg takes you through some interesting farmland. I saw lots of veggies already growing in the fields - cabbage, lettuce, potato, beets. But most interesting to me was when we entered the Hallertau region. Here was the home of the Hallertau hops which make German beer so perfect. Most of Germany's hops are grown in this geographically tiny area. All along the highway we saw guywires strung up to support the growing hops. At this time of the year they haven't grown much but based on how high those supporting wires stood it looks like they grow at least ten feet high by harvest time.
With some time to kill before our
Killing time at the airport
Since we had to wait for Loginout to open and then for a pompous American couple to do their paperwork, we had a few minutes to look around the plaza just outside the airport terminals. Below was a huge beer garden and a number of fast food joints. tour, we decided to head into downtown Regensburg. Initially I hoped to find our way to the World's Oldest Sausage Stand along the Danube but traffic in town was a bit heavy and their system of one way streets rather confusing so we headed for the nearest available pay lot. I love the way the Germans and Austrians rather accurately post the number of available parking spaces on big digital signs throughout their cities. We found ample parking in a covered parking lot near the Old City. Not wanting to risk scratching the new car we parked at the very top where no one else would be near us.
We wanted to leave for the Regensburg plant by 1400 just in case the "heavy traffic" was in the vicinity of the BMW Werks. More inportantly, the first hour of parking was free. What followed was a rather rushed attempt at finding lunch in the space of less than an hour. The sausage place was blocks away so we rushed up the the nearest street looking for a place to grab a sandwich and beer. Every place we checked looked packed. Then we decided we should go to the Kaufhof
This place is hoppin'
Just north of Munich airport the Autobahn passes through the Hallertau region of Bavaria. This is home to the best beer hops in the world. At least they are in my book. Every field seems to be growing them. department store restaurant just as we had done in Munich. They always had a nice selection of food, good beer and most importantly, free toilets. We saw shoppers with bags from there so we knew one would be nearby. We asked for directions in our limited German and learned it was four blocks away. I was a bit winded by the time we found the store's door and ran for the escalators.
The incredible luck we enjoyed on this trip continued. The restaurant was almost empty. I ordered Currywürst and two beers. The beer tap wasn't working but the waiter suggested we head outside to the rooftop area where the beer was flowing. We were doubly rewarded - good beer and an incredible view. Our Franziskaner Dunkelweizens were even more delicious than usual because of the near 80 degree temperature up on the rooftop terrace.
I was getting antsy about making it to the factory tour on time so we sprinted out of Kaufhof and back to the city parking lot. Parking was free because we stayed less than an hour. Germany is the best. Because of the circuitous route we were taking the X1's
Not quite there yet
It was just the beginning of the growing season when we visited, but by September the hop vines have grown to the top of these growing cages. Nav seemed to be confused about getting us out of the city, but that was only because of the convoluted pattern of one-way and dead end streets around the Old City of Regensburg. We reached the BMW plant with plenty of time to spare.
We had about a twenty minute wait before our tour began. I found it amusing that a pamphleteer from the Communist Workers' Party was standing just outside the company's gates in full view of the rather gruff unhelpful security men sitting in their guardhouse. Just before our tour group was allowed in, a shift change occurred. Scores of workers, men and women, came streaming out through the turnstiles and past the Commie. Most of the workers just ignored him as he tried to hand out literature. The few that grabbed the paper briefly glanced at it then threw it in a nearby trash receptacle. I watched this intently. Not one single employee kept the propaganda sheet. Obviously BMW Arbeiter love capitalism. Once the Exodus from the factory ended we were allowed to walk in past security and up to the reception building. Here we checked in and were given ID tags (not allowed to keep
them like in Leipzig), safety goggles and audio guides.
There are no photos allowed on these factory tours which is a real shame. The first part of the tour was a nice 10 minute BMW commercial mostly lauding the merits of the new X2 also being produced in Regensburg. When the film concluded one of the check-in girls came up to the two of us and told us that since we had paid for this tour in advance, but not taken the Munich tour given free to ED patrons, she would process a refund for us. It was only $12.00 but I still thought that was very classy of BMW. Jürgen, the guy who was to be our tour guide overheard this and seemed pleased to know he had some actual BMW owners on this tour. None of the other dozen people in our English tour were Americans. Three were from Poland, two from Thailand, two from Italy, one was a Buddhist monk in full robes and the rest appeared to be from central Europe.
Let it be known I got my 10,000 steps in that day! The Regensburg plant is very spread out and of course, it's
Rushing for lunch
We only had an hour to find lunch in Regensburg but we had a rough time finding a place for a quick bite. Fortunately we saw indications of a nerbt Kaufhof department store. very modern and much noisier than the other BMW plants we had toured. There was no safety glass or tour platforms on this tour. We were up close and personal. I won't bore you with all the details but know that we went through the metal press area, the body shop, the paint shop, and the final assembly areas. Two things that really left an impression on me were the fact that when they build an X1 or X2 not every part is created in Regensburg. As they started production on my particular X1 a message was sent to another BMW factory in central Europe where the engine would be built. Within 48 hours the engine was built and shipped to Regensburg. They don't keep inventory laying around.
The other thing that struck me was the seriousness of the workers. Not in the sense that they were automatons but their total dedication and intensity while working. Nobody was standing around the coffee machine while others worked, nobody on their cell phone and no one yucking it up for the tour. The fact that they get breaks frequently each shift helps. They not only have the chance to go eat,
Alte Kapelle
No time for sightseeing in Regensburg. We were on a lunch hunt. but there are stress free zones set aside for them to exercise or meditate while taking a break. They have sports leagues organized by BMW and special vacation packages available when the plant shuts down for retooling. At tour's end we were given free refreshments (no beer).
The tour lasted more than two hours and was probably the most informative of all those I've taken. I'd love to just pull up a chair and watch the workers as they add the various components at final assembly. What teamwork. The paint shop is highly entertaining as well. Later in our trip as Mother Nature continually covered my car with fine grains of pollen each day, I was reminded of those robotic spray guns merely misting the car with minute amounts of paint.
We needed to get to Nürnberg where our hotel would be for the next two nights so we hastily downed our soft drinks and returned to our car. There was no souvenir shop at the Regensburg plant nor any free swag to stuff into our ever expanding suitcases. The drive up to Nürnberg was just over an hour. Once again with not too much traffic along the
Midday meal with a view
Another safe bet on most menus in Germany is Currywurst. Basically it's a hot dog with spicy ketchup and chili powder. Always great when served with French Fries (Pommes Frites). way. Nürnburg's traffic patterns are also a little odd. It seemed like every time we entered a new city the BMW's Nav would require us to make U-turns. At first I thought
I was screwing up but some of the roads are simply set-up so that a left turn is impossible and one must drive on a bit to the first U-turn intersection.
We had stayed at the Smile Hotel on our 2015 European Delivery. We absolutely loved the place. The proprietors speak excellent English (he worked in a US Army hospital), have a great sense of humor and are extremely helpful in giving advice and directions. Booking.com showed that they were booked-up, but a direct email to the hotel was instantly confirmed for two nights at just over $100 per night with breakfast and free parking.
Once again as I neared the Smile Hotel situated in the middle of a slowly deteriorating Middle Eastern neighborhood I wondered if I had made a mistake. Maybe things had changed in three years. Instead of trying to park on the street I drove straight into the hotel's somewhat hidden courtyard and parked. Our host was waiting for us at the
front desk. He showed us to our huge room with kitchenette in the annex off the street and inside the courtyard, offered to let me park my new car in one of their private garages and helped us connect to the WiFi.
Naturally it was time to eat and have a beer or two. With our car safely stowed inside our castle walls we walked through the city walls a few hundred yards away and to the banks of the Pegnitz river which divides the historic district from the shopping district in the Altstadt. We returned to our favorite little restaurant, Karl's Brückla (Charles' Bridge). An outdoor table was available. Spargelsuppe, Jägerschnitzel and a couple of Tucher lagers and I was in heaven. My feet were sore and my eyes weary but sitting in the alley way sipping beer and watching the disco ball light show in an apartment across the road made me feel more relaxed than at any other time on this vacation. No more appointments the rest of the trip.
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