Friday, July 11, 2008
the end.
trip is over. look for synopsis of the trip, with the great pictures available sometime online in the future.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Sunday, July 6, 2008
July 6th, our last day.
So it's about 11:30PM again, and I can't sleep.
We're checked into our flight from here to Montreal, then will have to check in sept for our flight from there to Cbus. Tomorrow is going to be a LONG travel day but we're both ready to be at our own home, not living out of a bag anymore.
We couldn't have asked for a more perfect end to the trip, the British Grand Prix was 100% insane! In a wonderful way (well other then that Lewis had to win & Massa finished last of those that finished). It was JAM packed with action and spins and all kinds of goodness for those of us watching.
Today the weather was about 40 ( we could see our breath), COLD, and WINDY and RAINY! Wonderful for all the madness that was the race, we were a little cold but all was forgotten during race time!
I should probably call it a night soon and let the pictures we'll upload sometime after we're back do the justice for the race and it's wonderfulness.
After the race we took the bus from Oxford to Heathrow, then the train from there to Hounslow, there we got picked up by our cousins Lavi & Raj, they took us to dinner and we had a great time sharing funny stories about being married and just hanging out. Afterwards, we packed and weighed our bags (i did mention our stuff has multiplied right?). Aaron is now in bed, and I should likely also follow suit since we have such a long day ahead of us tomorrow.
Sleep on Monday night will be easy, since we'll be HOME! :D
We're checked into our flight from here to Montreal, then will have to check in sept for our flight from there to Cbus. Tomorrow is going to be a LONG travel day but we're both ready to be at our own home, not living out of a bag anymore.
We couldn't have asked for a more perfect end to the trip, the British Grand Prix was 100% insane! In a wonderful way (well other then that Lewis had to win & Massa finished last of those that finished). It was JAM packed with action and spins and all kinds of goodness for those of us watching.
Today the weather was about 40 ( we could see our breath), COLD, and WINDY and RAINY! Wonderful for all the madness that was the race, we were a little cold but all was forgotten during race time!
I should probably call it a night soon and let the pictures we'll upload sometime after we're back do the justice for the race and it's wonderfulness.
After the race we took the bus from Oxford to Heathrow, then the train from there to Hounslow, there we got picked up by our cousins Lavi & Raj, they took us to dinner and we had a great time sharing funny stories about being married and just hanging out. Afterwards, we packed and weighed our bags (i did mention our stuff has multiplied right?). Aaron is now in bed, and I should likely also follow suit since we have such a long day ahead of us tomorrow.
Sleep on Monday night will be easy, since we'll be HOME! :D
July 5th - Silverstone
July 5th
It’s 11pm on Saturday July 5th, I haven’t blogged in about 3 days but I have a ton to get out of my head, and Aaron’s asleep, so I could see this being a long one!
Last I checked in we were in London the morning we were headed towards the Silverstone area. We met the group going to the race at Heathrow Airport, hopped in a 9 person Ford van and drove about 75 miles to Oxford; where our hotel was. Just a random tidbit of info, the Mini is made here in Oxford and has been for the past 7 years. There’s a huge factory on your way into the city which is pretty neat, and you see SO many Mini’s. We arrived at the hotel, which is right on the Thames River. The location is beautiful, it’s an old manor house and has since had additions and renovations and it’s just in pristine condition, with gorgeous grounds, abundant flowers and simply breathe taking.
When we got into our room I was quite pleased with the facility, even more then I was just from the outside. We’re on the first floor and we have a walk out terrace which takes us to another courtyard, full of flowers. All the basics otherwise, but very clean, and well taken care of. This is by far my favorite place we’ve stayed (hotels wise) on our trip. The showers had hot water, with water pressure that was up to par, air conditioning, a fan in the bathroom to clear up all the fog post shower, (basically things that we think of as basic but that aren’t really across some of the places we’ve been). The icing on the cake was finding a floor fan in the closet, which I’m used to sleeping with at home!!!
When we got here we explored the hotel, and found a really nice pool and hot tub area in the gym, and ended up having a light lunch at the café. We unpacked, and relaxed and then later met the group for lunch. We went into Oxford the city, also where the university area is. It’s awesome, I can see a lot of what is trying to be done on OSU’s campus (and likely other campuses in the US) in terms of nice shops and eateries, around the perimeter of the campus; oddly one of the main roads is even called High Street!
We ate at a place called the Quod, decent food, nice atmosphere, and in general fun. Afterwards we walked a little, and I saw a ton of things I wanted to explore in more detail, unfortunately all the shops shut down at 5:00PM or 5:30 (at the latest)! Even on the weekends. So we headed back to the hotel, got our race day tickets and called it a night.
The next morning we got breakfast, and all piled into the car to head to the track. I was filled with glee but also a little sad, knowing this was basically the last stop in our honeymoon “tour.”
I can’t explain it but Silverstone is AMAZING, it’s clean, pristinely maintained, orderly, and the atmosphere just intoxicates you with excitement for Formula 1. As soon as we got there I knew I was going to love it! The cool thing that we found was Friday and Saturday had roving grandstand admission, with Sunday seats being assigned. This is very cool because you get to explore the whole track and see the action from so many different spots. Mainly we watched Formula 1 practice 1 & 2 and spent the rest of the time roaming the track. We made a full loop of it. All the manufacturers really go all out with displays and souvenirs for fans, and items which can be bought. It was hard to keep in mind that we’d already been to 3 races thus far, and had bought enough cool stuff, and to keep the money in the pockets! Honda had a huge blow up dome which inside they had a model of the car, and a 12 minute video, very well done, about the heritage of Honda and Formula 1! We checked that out, and just about everything else we could, the weather was just right, rain free, but not too hot!
We found that EVERYONE had Lewis fever, (except me of course) and about 3 guys walking around with gorilla face masks and white tee’s that were anti-Lewis; otherwise the Brits love them some Lewis! Button got a few cheers when we went around, as well as David Coulthard since this will be his last British Grand Prix (since he’s retiring). Mercedes is making a KILLING off the Lewis merchandise. We managed to watch the second practice from the Pit Grandstands, and were directly across from Renault’s pit!!! It was awesome, I got to see Flavio, and took some spy shot pictures of him, sadly didn’t get to see Alonso, at least not without his helmet on! It was cool because from there we could also see the team’s “mobile home” setups, and finally laid eyes on the McLaren Monstrosity. It was quite a view.
That about sums up the Fourth of July at least from the track perspective. After the track we got dropped off (at 4:49PM) in Oxford city center again, with about 40 minutes to do it we did some power shopping/browsing, many of the places had already closed, especially in the market (very much like North Market in Columbus, just MUCH bigger); but we were able to check some stuff out. After the shops closed we walked around the city, basically aimlessly, just checking it all out. Tons of very cool architecture, and just neat things to see. We happened upon the gourmet burger kitchen, and Aaron’s eyes lit up, we had been recommended this place in London, but didn’t have time to get it. Thankfully Aaron had looked online to know there was one in Oxford, though we weren’t sure we would find it, luckily we did! I wasn’t much in the mood for a burger, but Aaron really wanted to try it, so I figured sure why not. We got a burger and a chicken sandwich. The food was brought out and I was for SURE glad we ended up eating there, it was very well priced, very very very fresh, and all home made in terms of the sauces and such. It was a GREAT meal. Full and very happy we continued to walk around some and just hold off falling into food coma. We checked out the Oxford Castle, and Christ’s’ Church. After that our feet were ready to fall off and we caught a cab back to the hotel. After relaxing for a bit we decided to take advantage of the pool and the hot tub. It helped to relax us, and officially wear us out. We got desert from the hotel café, watched Top Gear and happily went to sleep! For sure one of the BEST days of our vacation.
Now we’re caught up to today, this morning we had breakfast again at the hotel, Aaron couldn’t get over the fact that they serve baked beans as part of the traditional English breakfast, not sure why they do it, but it just didn’t sound good to us so we passed for more traditional (to us) fare. It was raining all during breakfast, so we headed to the track, with our rain gear! It was pretty chilly, if you factor in the wind all day. The sun would help, but rain was off and on all day.
We watched practice one, did some walking around, got some free Santander gear (bags, and mats) and hung out, trying to stay warm. After practice, we took advantage of our Silverstone Racing Club access which was a building and a tent which had about 10 TV’s and tables and chairs for about 150 people. It was warm, and dry.
We did catch a neat little entertainment idea by McLaren, they had 2 men on stilts, painted and dressed in silver, they were entertaining the crowd, and just looked really neat. It added to the festival feel of the grand prix, all the while still being laid back, and VERY fan friendly.
We headed back outside for qualifying, which was great, the results of qualifying were disappointing if you were a Ferrari or Lewis fan, but pretty cool for Heikki. Also both Renaults made it into the top ten! Nice. There was a brief moment of rain in Q2, but overall dry conditions. Mark Webber is also on the front row; rather unexpected, but good for him all the same.
We enjoyed the GP2 race from inside the Silverstone Racing Club hospitality area and then headed back to the hotel. After a nap at the hotel we went to dinner in Oxford again, this time a place called Browns, a fun restaurant, very similar to Marcella’s in cbus. We ate shared stories and then piled into the van. On the way back to the hotel we stopped by a college one of our co-travlers had spent a summer at in Oxford and got to step within the gate for a few. It was very neat, the colleges don’t have dorms on one end and classes on the others, and it’s more all inclusive in the same area. He shared some stories and we headed back to the hotel. On the way back, as we pulled into the hotel, we saw fireworks over the river, I’m sure nothing to do with the 4th of July, but at least we got our share of fireworks this weekend, even all the way over here (it was something I missed!). Now it’s about 11:30 and I’m pretty much caught up. Going to call it a night so I have the energy to enjoy our last whole day in Europe tomorrow!!!
It’s 11pm on Saturday July 5th, I haven’t blogged in about 3 days but I have a ton to get out of my head, and Aaron’s asleep, so I could see this being a long one!
Last I checked in we were in London the morning we were headed towards the Silverstone area. We met the group going to the race at Heathrow Airport, hopped in a 9 person Ford van and drove about 75 miles to Oxford; where our hotel was. Just a random tidbit of info, the Mini is made here in Oxford and has been for the past 7 years. There’s a huge factory on your way into the city which is pretty neat, and you see SO many Mini’s. We arrived at the hotel, which is right on the Thames River. The location is beautiful, it’s an old manor house and has since had additions and renovations and it’s just in pristine condition, with gorgeous grounds, abundant flowers and simply breathe taking.
When we got into our room I was quite pleased with the facility, even more then I was just from the outside. We’re on the first floor and we have a walk out terrace which takes us to another courtyard, full of flowers. All the basics otherwise, but very clean, and well taken care of. This is by far my favorite place we’ve stayed (hotels wise) on our trip. The showers had hot water, with water pressure that was up to par, air conditioning, a fan in the bathroom to clear up all the fog post shower, (basically things that we think of as basic but that aren’t really across some of the places we’ve been). The icing on the cake was finding a floor fan in the closet, which I’m used to sleeping with at home!!!
When we got here we explored the hotel, and found a really nice pool and hot tub area in the gym, and ended up having a light lunch at the café. We unpacked, and relaxed and then later met the group for lunch. We went into Oxford the city, also where the university area is. It’s awesome, I can see a lot of what is trying to be done on OSU’s campus (and likely other campuses in the US) in terms of nice shops and eateries, around the perimeter of the campus; oddly one of the main roads is even called High Street!
We ate at a place called the Quod, decent food, nice atmosphere, and in general fun. Afterwards we walked a little, and I saw a ton of things I wanted to explore in more detail, unfortunately all the shops shut down at 5:00PM or 5:30 (at the latest)! Even on the weekends. So we headed back to the hotel, got our race day tickets and called it a night.
The next morning we got breakfast, and all piled into the car to head to the track. I was filled with glee but also a little sad, knowing this was basically the last stop in our honeymoon “tour.”
I can’t explain it but Silverstone is AMAZING, it’s clean, pristinely maintained, orderly, and the atmosphere just intoxicates you with excitement for Formula 1. As soon as we got there I knew I was going to love it! The cool thing that we found was Friday and Saturday had roving grandstand admission, with Sunday seats being assigned. This is very cool because you get to explore the whole track and see the action from so many different spots. Mainly we watched Formula 1 practice 1 & 2 and spent the rest of the time roaming the track. We made a full loop of it. All the manufacturers really go all out with displays and souvenirs for fans, and items which can be bought. It was hard to keep in mind that we’d already been to 3 races thus far, and had bought enough cool stuff, and to keep the money in the pockets! Honda had a huge blow up dome which inside they had a model of the car, and a 12 minute video, very well done, about the heritage of Honda and Formula 1! We checked that out, and just about everything else we could, the weather was just right, rain free, but not too hot!
We found that EVERYONE had Lewis fever, (except me of course) and about 3 guys walking around with gorilla face masks and white tee’s that were anti-Lewis; otherwise the Brits love them some Lewis! Button got a few cheers when we went around, as well as David Coulthard since this will be his last British Grand Prix (since he’s retiring). Mercedes is making a KILLING off the Lewis merchandise. We managed to watch the second practice from the Pit Grandstands, and were directly across from Renault’s pit!!! It was awesome, I got to see Flavio, and took some spy shot pictures of him, sadly didn’t get to see Alonso, at least not without his helmet on! It was cool because from there we could also see the team’s “mobile home” setups, and finally laid eyes on the McLaren Monstrosity. It was quite a view.
That about sums up the Fourth of July at least from the track perspective. After the track we got dropped off (at 4:49PM) in Oxford city center again, with about 40 minutes to do it we did some power shopping/browsing, many of the places had already closed, especially in the market (very much like North Market in Columbus, just MUCH bigger); but we were able to check some stuff out. After the shops closed we walked around the city, basically aimlessly, just checking it all out. Tons of very cool architecture, and just neat things to see. We happened upon the gourmet burger kitchen, and Aaron’s eyes lit up, we had been recommended this place in London, but didn’t have time to get it. Thankfully Aaron had looked online to know there was one in Oxford, though we weren’t sure we would find it, luckily we did! I wasn’t much in the mood for a burger, but Aaron really wanted to try it, so I figured sure why not. We got a burger and a chicken sandwich. The food was brought out and I was for SURE glad we ended up eating there, it was very well priced, very very very fresh, and all home made in terms of the sauces and such. It was a GREAT meal. Full and very happy we continued to walk around some and just hold off falling into food coma. We checked out the Oxford Castle, and Christ’s’ Church. After that our feet were ready to fall off and we caught a cab back to the hotel. After relaxing for a bit we decided to take advantage of the pool and the hot tub. It helped to relax us, and officially wear us out. We got desert from the hotel café, watched Top Gear and happily went to sleep! For sure one of the BEST days of our vacation.
Now we’re caught up to today, this morning we had breakfast again at the hotel, Aaron couldn’t get over the fact that they serve baked beans as part of the traditional English breakfast, not sure why they do it, but it just didn’t sound good to us so we passed for more traditional (to us) fare. It was raining all during breakfast, so we headed to the track, with our rain gear! It was pretty chilly, if you factor in the wind all day. The sun would help, but rain was off and on all day.
We watched practice one, did some walking around, got some free Santander gear (bags, and mats) and hung out, trying to stay warm. After practice, we took advantage of our Silverstone Racing Club access which was a building and a tent which had about 10 TV’s and tables and chairs for about 150 people. It was warm, and dry.
We did catch a neat little entertainment idea by McLaren, they had 2 men on stilts, painted and dressed in silver, they were entertaining the crowd, and just looked really neat. It added to the festival feel of the grand prix, all the while still being laid back, and VERY fan friendly.
We headed back outside for qualifying, which was great, the results of qualifying were disappointing if you were a Ferrari or Lewis fan, but pretty cool for Heikki. Also both Renaults made it into the top ten! Nice. There was a brief moment of rain in Q2, but overall dry conditions. Mark Webber is also on the front row; rather unexpected, but good for him all the same.
We enjoyed the GP2 race from inside the Silverstone Racing Club hospitality area and then headed back to the hotel. After a nap at the hotel we went to dinner in Oxford again, this time a place called Browns, a fun restaurant, very similar to Marcella’s in cbus. We ate shared stories and then piled into the van. On the way back to the hotel we stopped by a college one of our co-travlers had spent a summer at in Oxford and got to step within the gate for a few. It was very neat, the colleges don’t have dorms on one end and classes on the others, and it’s more all inclusive in the same area. He shared some stories and we headed back to the hotel. On the way back, as we pulled into the hotel, we saw fireworks over the river, I’m sure nothing to do with the 4th of July, but at least we got our share of fireworks this weekend, even all the way over here (it was something I missed!). Now it’s about 11:30 and I’m pretty much caught up. Going to call it a night so I have the energy to enjoy our last whole day in Europe tomorrow!!!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Monday 6/30 back in London
Got a great nights sleep last night, back in London, where things are familiar.
It took a bit getting here, our train from Germany to Paris was smooth, it had a cool speed that was in each cabin and you could see how fast it was going, for a while it was going 320KPH! Crazy fast, it was fun to watch the speeds go up and down.
Otherwise not major drama on that train, of course when we get to Paris it's a MESS! The Euro star signage is kind of crap and figuring out where to retrieve our reserved tickets took a bit, then we had a quick lunch, and got ourselves to the area our train was to leave from.
For some reason earlier that day all the trains were behind a little because there had been a power failure in the English Channel (scary idea to be on a train in the Channel and have no lights!) So there was a mess of madness, and people who were antsy and impatient.
After a long wait (about a 40 minute delay) we got on the train, and then got back to London, the ride was uneventful. In London we had to take the underground to meet my Aunt at the station close to their house, so we got in line to buy a ticket for the underground.
Sweet victory was when the person in front of us was French, and got to the ticket counter and asked the attendant if she spoke French, the attendant looked at her like YOUR NUTS!!!
We got our tickets and made it to the right station, got picked up, and came back, vegged and ate dinner.
The entertainment for the night was watching the Euro 2008 final game, Turkey vs Spain.
I was rooting for Spain as the underdog, and they WON! 1-0. I guess Germany didn't play so well. It was fun watching with English announcers!
Today we're heading to another relatives to hang out, and then tomorrow we're going to explore some more of the city, and do a little bit of shopping. Then Wednesday will be a relax day before we head to Silverstone.
Still waiting to hear from Prodrive if we can make it to them from Oxford (where our hotel is) to Banbury (where they are) about 35 minutes apart, via public transport since we won't have a car. If we can we'll head there on Thursday, and then spend Friday/Saturday & Sunday F1'ing it!
It took a bit getting here, our train from Germany to Paris was smooth, it had a cool speed that was in each cabin and you could see how fast it was going, for a while it was going 320KPH! Crazy fast, it was fun to watch the speeds go up and down.
Otherwise not major drama on that train, of course when we get to Paris it's a MESS! The Euro star signage is kind of crap and figuring out where to retrieve our reserved tickets took a bit, then we had a quick lunch, and got ourselves to the area our train was to leave from.
For some reason earlier that day all the trains were behind a little because there had been a power failure in the English Channel (scary idea to be on a train in the Channel and have no lights!) So there was a mess of madness, and people who were antsy and impatient.
After a long wait (about a 40 minute delay) we got on the train, and then got back to London, the ride was uneventful. In London we had to take the underground to meet my Aunt at the station close to their house, so we got in line to buy a ticket for the underground.
Sweet victory was when the person in front of us was French, and got to the ticket counter and asked the attendant if she spoke French, the attendant looked at her like YOUR NUTS!!!
We got our tickets and made it to the right station, got picked up, and came back, vegged and ate dinner.
The entertainment for the night was watching the Euro 2008 final game, Turkey vs Spain.
I was rooting for Spain as the underdog, and they WON! 1-0. I guess Germany didn't play so well. It was fun watching with English announcers!
Today we're heading to another relatives to hang out, and then tomorrow we're going to explore some more of the city, and do a little bit of shopping. Then Wednesday will be a relax day before we head to Silverstone.
Still waiting to hear from Prodrive if we can make it to them from Oxford (where our hotel is) to Banbury (where they are) about 35 minutes apart, via public transport since we won't have a car. If we can we'll head there on Thursday, and then spend Friday/Saturday & Sunday F1'ing it!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Sunday June 29th the beginning of the end.
Sunday June 29th the beginning of the end.
Sitting on the first class train from Mannheim to Paris this morning, it’s about 10am, and we took a small regional train from Heidelberg to Mannheim, got some breakfast, a latte, peach iced tea and a shared blue berry muffin.
There’s a feeling of sadness, like this is the beginning of the end of the journey, but at the same time looking forward to it a little, looking forward to going back to English speaking places where we understand signs, and menus and people. And even past that, a feeling of going back to the country where our currency doesn’t have to be converted, and where we know where things are, and don’t need adapters and converters to plug in electronics. I can’t wait to go home and drink milk, and veg on the couch, and relax. I figure that won’t happen for a few days, we’ll get back to the states on Monday the 7th of July after a LONG day travel and hopefully just pass out, then we’ll head to work, and probably suffer through the day, and THEN we’ll get home from work and hopefully just relax… that sounds fun, that’s Tuesday, Wednesday night after work we have an auto-x board meeting, so life won’t be slow getting back into our routine at all, just jumping right back in and hopefully not being too far behind!
Aaron in his boredom figured out that our train will travel 157.5 miles per hour! Cool!
Sitting on the first class train from Mannheim to Paris this morning, it’s about 10am, and we took a small regional train from Heidelberg to Mannheim, got some breakfast, a latte, peach iced tea and a shared blue berry muffin.
There’s a feeling of sadness, like this is the beginning of the end of the journey, but at the same time looking forward to it a little, looking forward to going back to English speaking places where we understand signs, and menus and people. And even past that, a feeling of going back to the country where our currency doesn’t have to be converted, and where we know where things are, and don’t need adapters and converters to plug in electronics. I can’t wait to go home and drink milk, and veg on the couch, and relax. I figure that won’t happen for a few days, we’ll get back to the states on Monday the 7th of July after a LONG day travel and hopefully just pass out, then we’ll head to work, and probably suffer through the day, and THEN we’ll get home from work and hopefully just relax… that sounds fun, that’s Tuesday, Wednesday night after work we have an auto-x board meeting, so life won’t be slow getting back into our routine at all, just jumping right back in and hopefully not being too far behind!
Aaron in his boredom figured out that our train will travel 157.5 miles per hour! Cool!
Saturday, June 29th
Saturday, June 29th we spent the day at Stuttgart, we took the train to and from Heidelberg (40 minutes) and had a day trip, it was nice since we didn’t have to cart around luggage, just our back pack with camera and other basics. We took the bus from near our hotel to train station, missed the 10am train by about 2 seconds, it was leaving as we got to the platform, had about an hour to kill, got cash for the first time on our trip (so far we’d managed to just use funds we’d converted in Ohio!), and then got some breakfast. Breakfast consisted of a fresh baked pastry, and an apple, a Latte Machiato, and some form of Orange juice/drink that Aaron didn’t favor. We also during this time found a little shop called “Piccadilly: an English Shop” where they sold souvenirs of London and books in English, along with basic English staples, one of which was naan (too funny). The owners spoke proper English as well; we bought Jeremy Clarkson’s “Don’t Stop Me Now” from there and headed back to the station. The train we took was a high speed train, to the point where our ears were popping like we were on a plane! Weird, but a very effective way of travel. After we got to Stuttgart we went to the information station outside of the train station, figured out how to get to the Mercedes and Porsche museums using the local subway. We decided to hit the Porsche museum first because it was smaller and closed earlier.
We arrived at Porsche Place (yup that was what the stop was called off the subway!) and walked outside the dilapidated under construction station to Porsche heaven, there was a HUGE dealership, with about 60 cars, all makes, models, colors. We oogled it from the outside and headed towards the museum, it was all very nicely laid out, and very nice new buildings. The “museum” was free admittance, it was only about 20 cars, but it had some very cool history in those 20 cars, they had a black carrera GT, right next to it the had the 1998 24 hours of Le Mans winner, which I think was the high light of the whole day for Aaron to see. They had lots of cool stuff to buy as well. Aaron settled for some posters that came in a cool carrying box, we figure it evens out what would have been the cost of admission. They also had Porsche rally cars, and Indy Cars, and Indy car engines. Just a lot of history, right there for you take in.
There was also an area (off limits to us of course) where you design your own car, and then probably 3 months later get it in real life! Very cool, and very exclusive.
After we left the museum and walked past numerous factory gates headed back to the train station we realized that the construction that was occurring was a super pimp Porsche Museum, we took pix of the construction and maybe some day we can do a before and after compare.
We headed into the dealership that we passed on our way to the museum, and I find something I really liked, it was a little Porsche tea set, very cool, different, and a neat decorative item. When asking to buy it I was told they weren’t sold after 1:00PM on a Saturday but that I could come back on Monday. L I told the guy I was going to be in London on Monday and thanks anyway, figures, something I really like, I can see, and see the price tag for, but can’t buy!
After we got the train back to the main station, had a lunch of Pringles (we had been carrying with us) and sprite, we transferred lines to go to the Mercedes Museum, I had second thoughts about this one because I figured I would be overloaded by Lewis Hamilton stuff! The area of the Mercedes museum is what I can see Porsche is trying to go for with their new museum and construction, very neat sleek contemporary buildings, with a lot of presence. We got to the museum, got some lunch from the café, Aaron got steak with some type of fruity sauce, and I got Asian glass noodles with vegetables (thinking it would be a safe choice). Neither of our choices were too good, I should have done what I thought about doing which was order pasta with tomatoes sauce off the kids menu! The glass noodles were cool to look at they were like transparent headphone wires, but they were super doused or immersed in soy sauce, and just not very good.
After the sub par but needed meal we started to the museum, the museum is set up like the Guggenheim, where the whole building spirals, they send you by elevator to the tip of it and then you spiral your way down, it was about 8 floors. The top started with the beginning of the car, and you worked your way down the floors through the evolution of the automobile with significant historical markers to show the progress. We found out that antilock brakes were introduced/developed in 1978 (Aaron’s birth year) and Airbags in 1981 (my birth year)! Neat little facts like that all the way down 8 stories. On the second to last level we found the entire “shrine” to racing memorabilia, Formula 1 cars, Indy cars, rally cars, racing trucks, very neat! We took lots of pictures, to the point where about ½ way through the tour we had to go back to the coat check and get new batteries out of the backpack for the camera!
After the museum, we headed back to the main station, and got our signals crossed, we were both tired, but there was a desire to go “shopping” and a desire to get on a train and safely back to Heidelberg, it was about 6:15 when we got to the train station, and there was one leaving at 6:19, so we got on it. It wasn’t like the morning train a high speed straight to Heidelberg train, this was a regional one, where we would have to get off and make a connection. We ended up making it to the station we were to make the connection, but due to not knowing exactly what was going on, we missed our connection, and had to wait an hour for another one. That really sucked! We were both tired, hungry, and patience was low. We survived though, and figured after everything we’ve seen and done if that was as “off course” as we were going to get, not a bad deal.
We finally got on the right train, got to Heidelberg, took a cab to Liberty Pizza (near our hotel), which served “American style pizza” (mind you this is the only real meal we’ve had all day) it’s like your basic carry out papa johns or dominos and there happens to be a bench out side, we sit on the bench, watch the sun go down, and wait for our pizza.
This pizza shop happens to use Smart Cars for its delivery vehicles, which I thought was pretty cool, they were all white smarts about 4 of them, which would come and go with pizza. We sat through about 3-4 different runs from each of the cars because after the pizza was done, we sat on the bench and ate. We were happy, fed, and together, what more could we ask for? It was a pretty great last meal in Germany, thank you very much.
The funny part while we were sitting there was the reactions of the delivery people, like, uh, you’re sitting there eating pizza? : ) One of the drivers came out to get to his smart, and since they all look the same, he didn’t recall which one was his, so he stood there for a minute, puzzled, and finally just got out his key fob and used the remote to figure out which was his. It was amusing. Or maybe we were just loopy after a long day.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, it was about 10:30 and we knew we were in for a long day today so we called it a night. All packed, and ready to head back to English speaking London, through un English speaking France, on super high speed trains!
We arrived at Porsche Place (yup that was what the stop was called off the subway!) and walked outside the dilapidated under construction station to Porsche heaven, there was a HUGE dealership, with about 60 cars, all makes, models, colors. We oogled it from the outside and headed towards the museum, it was all very nicely laid out, and very nice new buildings. The “museum” was free admittance, it was only about 20 cars, but it had some very cool history in those 20 cars, they had a black carrera GT, right next to it the had the 1998 24 hours of Le Mans winner, which I think was the high light of the whole day for Aaron to see. They had lots of cool stuff to buy as well. Aaron settled for some posters that came in a cool carrying box, we figure it evens out what would have been the cost of admission. They also had Porsche rally cars, and Indy Cars, and Indy car engines. Just a lot of history, right there for you take in.
There was also an area (off limits to us of course) where you design your own car, and then probably 3 months later get it in real life! Very cool, and very exclusive.
After we left the museum and walked past numerous factory gates headed back to the train station we realized that the construction that was occurring was a super pimp Porsche Museum, we took pix of the construction and maybe some day we can do a before and after compare.
We headed into the dealership that we passed on our way to the museum, and I find something I really liked, it was a little Porsche tea set, very cool, different, and a neat decorative item. When asking to buy it I was told they weren’t sold after 1:00PM on a Saturday but that I could come back on Monday. L I told the guy I was going to be in London on Monday and thanks anyway, figures, something I really like, I can see, and see the price tag for, but can’t buy!
After we got the train back to the main station, had a lunch of Pringles (we had been carrying with us) and sprite, we transferred lines to go to the Mercedes Museum, I had second thoughts about this one because I figured I would be overloaded by Lewis Hamilton stuff! The area of the Mercedes museum is what I can see Porsche is trying to go for with their new museum and construction, very neat sleek contemporary buildings, with a lot of presence. We got to the museum, got some lunch from the café, Aaron got steak with some type of fruity sauce, and I got Asian glass noodles with vegetables (thinking it would be a safe choice). Neither of our choices were too good, I should have done what I thought about doing which was order pasta with tomatoes sauce off the kids menu! The glass noodles were cool to look at they were like transparent headphone wires, but they were super doused or immersed in soy sauce, and just not very good.
After the sub par but needed meal we started to the museum, the museum is set up like the Guggenheim, where the whole building spirals, they send you by elevator to the tip of it and then you spiral your way down, it was about 8 floors. The top started with the beginning of the car, and you worked your way down the floors through the evolution of the automobile with significant historical markers to show the progress. We found out that antilock brakes were introduced/developed in 1978 (Aaron’s birth year) and Airbags in 1981 (my birth year)! Neat little facts like that all the way down 8 stories. On the second to last level we found the entire “shrine” to racing memorabilia, Formula 1 cars, Indy cars, rally cars, racing trucks, very neat! We took lots of pictures, to the point where about ½ way through the tour we had to go back to the coat check and get new batteries out of the backpack for the camera!
After the museum, we headed back to the main station, and got our signals crossed, we were both tired, but there was a desire to go “shopping” and a desire to get on a train and safely back to Heidelberg, it was about 6:15 when we got to the train station, and there was one leaving at 6:19, so we got on it. It wasn’t like the morning train a high speed straight to Heidelberg train, this was a regional one, where we would have to get off and make a connection. We ended up making it to the station we were to make the connection, but due to not knowing exactly what was going on, we missed our connection, and had to wait an hour for another one. That really sucked! We were both tired, hungry, and patience was low. We survived though, and figured after everything we’ve seen and done if that was as “off course” as we were going to get, not a bad deal.
We finally got on the right train, got to Heidelberg, took a cab to Liberty Pizza (near our hotel), which served “American style pizza” (mind you this is the only real meal we’ve had all day) it’s like your basic carry out papa johns or dominos and there happens to be a bench out side, we sit on the bench, watch the sun go down, and wait for our pizza.
This pizza shop happens to use Smart Cars for its delivery vehicles, which I thought was pretty cool, they were all white smarts about 4 of them, which would come and go with pizza. We sat through about 3-4 different runs from each of the cars because after the pizza was done, we sat on the bench and ate. We were happy, fed, and together, what more could we ask for? It was a pretty great last meal in Germany, thank you very much.
The funny part while we were sitting there was the reactions of the delivery people, like, uh, you’re sitting there eating pizza? : ) One of the drivers came out to get to his smart, and since they all look the same, he didn’t recall which one was his, so he stood there for a minute, puzzled, and finally just got out his key fob and used the remote to figure out which was his. It was amusing. Or maybe we were just loopy after a long day.
After dinner, we walked back to the hotel, it was about 10:30 and we knew we were in for a long day today so we called it a night. All packed, and ready to head back to English speaking London, through un English speaking France, on super high speed trains!
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