Date: Sun, 28 May 2006 13:55:07 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: The ultimate driving machine (sort of) ... on the most scenic road in Germany (so far) ...
Guten morgen,
I'm back in Germany -- well, at least for the next 8 hours... here for the long
weekend.
The flight from San Francisco-Chicago was uneventful, and once again there were
samosas at the Flagship Lounge at O'hare! I don't know how many I must have had
-- they were tiny ones -- maybe 7 or 8... plus all the "usual" foods. The
flight from Chicago to Frankfurt was scheduled to depart at 7:30PM. We all
boarded on time, the plane was pushed out from the gate at 7:25, we started
watching the safety video, we were almost ready to depart, and then.... the
plane was pulled right back to the gate again!
The captain made an announcement that "one of the passengers is very ill and
will not be travelling with us".... ok. Fine, whatever. So we pull back to the
gate, a lady is practically carried out by two of the flight attendants, with
her husband following her, apologizing to everyone for the delay... Then the
captain again: "We have to wait here for them to remove the bags belonging to
those passengers" .... okaaaaaaaaay..... I went to sleep.
One hour later we were still parked at the gate.
The flight left close to 1 1/2 hours late, took off over a windy Lake Michigan,
flew over Detroit, Toronto, St Johns, (about that time I fell asleep again
while watching Clint Eastwood's "Bloodwork" on the DVD they gave), when I woke
up we were over a cloud-covered Cork, Ireland, the sun was out, and people were
being served breakfast. I took out Bloodwork from the player and started
watching "Rick Steve's Europe: Germany". Saw an episode of Rhine River castles
and immediately decided that's where I want to go today.
Please ignore the next paragraph.
For my own future reference: Rothenburg, Hoenshwangau/Neuschwanstein, and
Nurburgring (Wehr exit from A61) for future day-trips...
The plane landed at Frankfurt Flughafen at noon today, and from then till now
I've been on the road. I got a rental car upgrade again -- BMW 318Ci ("C" for
"Convertible", and "BMW" for "uses the more expensive gas"). And despite the
forecasts, it did not rain today! I had the top down for most of the trip...
more on that later.
After studying the map for about 20 minutes and getting a clear idea where to
go (a requirement if driving in Germany), I headed out -- A3 to Mainz, A60 to
Bingen, and exit #10 on Hwy 9, going north along the Rhine!
On my last trip here, I had driven south from Cologne on Hwy 42, which goes
literally next to the Rhine river on the eastern bank. Today was Hwy 9 North,
on the western bank of the Rhine.... Both are equally scenic -- both are 5-star
in my system, but today's road "felt" better because of the convertible. I
didn't have to bend down and look up through the windshield while driving to
see the mountaintop castles -- they were all in plain view in my normal driving
position!
These are great river roads ... both of them -- 9 and 42! And according to Rick
Steve and me, the most scenic section along the Rhine is between the towns of
Koblenz and Mainz. All I'll say about it is this: "mountaintop castles, small
towns, railroad tracks, two roads, wineries on the hill slopes, and the Rhine
River." The rest you can see in the pictures from today, although they really
dont do the place justice! Especially since I didn't bother to stop the car
before clicking the picture in most cases. The area around the town of St. Goar
is spectacular!!
I'll leave out the part about the chocolate pastries, strawberry pastries,
apple strudle, ... oh, sorry. Too late.
Just before reaching Koblenz I took a turnoff for the Autobahn -- It was close
to 4pm and I was itching to go for a "real" drive while it was still daylight!
Went north for a little bit, got in a traffic jam, took the next exit and came
back south, put the top up again, and took A48 and A3 back towards Frankfurt.
Hmmmmmmmmm..... The 318Ci is one of the low-end Beamers, and it didn't have as
much "ooomph" to it as the Mercedes C200 (my last German roadtrip)... and
definitely less than the E240 (my first German roadtrip)... But I'll guess it's
still better than the Audi A3 that I had reserved. Anyway, it was also quite
windy in the afternoon, and I didn't really feel comfortable going too much
faster than 200-210kmph in that much wind.. Besides, at 200, the engine was
running at 6000rpm (redline at 6500rpm) in 5th gear -- so that's close to the
top limit of that car.. I did touch 210 (maybe 215) a few times... but that was
it, not anywhere near previous drives...
Reached Frankfurt around 7pm or so, but I wasn't feeling "done" yet... I put
the top down again and kept going on A3 towards Wurzburg... knowing my
experiences here from last thanksgiving.
3 lanes each way, long stretches of the highway without any speed limits, a few
road construction areas, and people who don't know how to drive.
I didn't quite make it all the way to Wurzburg -- more traffic jams forced me
to turn around back to Frankfurt again .. but I did manage to have a little
more driving fun (with the top down) before the day was over!
The pictures should be on the website by the time you read this email:
http://www.callmewanderer.com/eur06-2
Off to bed now... tomorrow is my flight back across that big blue wet thing...
I need a convertible in Alaska!!
guten abend,
me.
Over Wyoming, and O'hare airport with Chicago skyline in background:
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Along the River Rhine
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