blake

Rennlisters-

As part of a 3 week tour of England & Germany, I have spent the past 5 days touring Bavaria. We spent a few days in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and then headed down to Fussen to visit Neuschwanstein & Hohenschwangau castles. Very nice indeed! Anyway, I came across a "Porsce Gruppe" that had parked beneath Hohenschwangau on Friday. I have posted a picture below. I was not able to meet any of the drivers unfortunately. I did see a brand new white GT2 drive by - what a sight that was!

As part of the trip, I agreed to forego a day at the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart to attend Playmobil Fun Center for our 9 year old (wooho!). Am I mad? Well, perhaps. As part of that "deal", I will be picking up a 997 for the day on Monday morning at Munich airport. I plan to drive all day and have it back to the airport where I will meet my family for our flight back to London on Monday night. Ahh - this should be fun...

-Blake

Edgy01

It's always fun in Germany! Missing the Porsche Museum is no big deal. When the REAL museum opens next year,--THAT will be something. (It's been unimpressive for decades).

blake

Thanks Dan - and btw, I appreciated your posts when you took european delivery of your 997. They certainly helped me decided to rent a 997 while I am in the area. For tomorrow, I have decided to head down to Garmisch on the A95 for a look.... Should be fun.

I am excited about the REAL Porsche museum opening as well. I will be back once it is open!

-Blake

Edgy01

Garmisch is beautfiul. Try Berchesgaden, too, if you have the time. The Eagle's Nest (Kehlsteinhaus).

(They close at 4 pm--last bus up).

Maxsar

Have fun. I was over there last week, but not quite as far South. I have driven west out of Munich before on the A96 on my way through Switzerland. That was a great drive.

I rented through Avis at the Franfurt airport. Online they didn't show much in the way of interesting cars, however I notice they had both a C4S Cab and a Caymen in their lot. I would have inquired to see if they were available but I was short on time. If anyone is renting from Frankfurt airport it might be worth a call.

eilig

Have a great time! I rented a Porsche from AVIS at the Munich Airport my last several times as well. It is one of life's pleasures.

BTW, if you've got the urge to test the top speed of the car, one of the best places I've found is heading north from Garmisch toward Munich on the Autobahn. Last year I had an F430 up to 315 km/hr on that stretch!

DJ23

Hey Dan I'm not the best with geography but is that the same Eagle's Nest that was in the movie "Band of Brothers" ? Whether or not it is, what an impressive shot.

Jay

Meister Fahrer

Great trip! Did you see the medieval "Torture Museum" at Rothenburg?

I spent a few days in Berchtesgaden and Obersalzberg on a ski trip while in the Army.
The US Army owns all the former **** barracks around the Eagle's Nest and turned it into a US military resort!

spiderv6

Just be careful on that road, you can't let rip on many parts of it - if you see a posted speed limit, follow it as they have cameras everywhere, but you will still find sections to enjoy - have fun!!

helispud

Great pictures! My wife and I are planning a trip to northern France & southern Germany in October. this thread really helps feed our anticipation!

Edgy01

Don't know for sure (not that familiar with Band of Brothers).

It's in a region of Germany adjacent to Salzburg, Austria. (P.S. -- buy your petrol in Austria,--it's generally less expensive than buying it in Germany.

blake

Thanks guys for the kind posts.... It has been a week since my joyride with a 997 C4S, and it was worth the price of admission! Since that time, my family and I have returned to England and have put almost 2000 miles on an Avis Audi A6 touring the country from Inverness down to Brighton. This too has been fun, but the valuation of the dollar against the pound ($140US to fill the gas tank) has put a damper on our spending... But enough of this - back to the 997!

I arrived at Munich airport last Monday morning at 6:45am and was handed the keys to a 2008 C4S Targa in Obsidian Black with black partial leather interior. It had GPS (which rocked btw) and only 600km on the odometer. The car was virtually brand new. This is the first time that I have driven a C4 and I really enjoyed the AWD, though it felt a bit less spirited than the C2. For Park City Utah winters, this would be a no-brainer as a daily driver - and a car that I would be glad to own. Also, I really loved the Targa! It is an excellent compromise between the Coupe and Cabriolet, and the wind noise was not so bad. I spent the “back-roads” portion of the trip with the windows down and the top open, and spent the “Autobahn” time with everything sealed shut listening to my iPod (from Vivaldi to GunsNRoses and even some Techno). From a performance perspective, the car came alive above 200kph but began to twitch a bit above 250km/hr (needed an alignment IMHO). To this end, I chose to hover for most of the trip around the 220-230kph range and enjoyed the smooth ride. What a car!

So about the trip… I decided to head SW from Munich towards Austria and turn around in Garmish (German border town). As the Airport is NE of the city, I needed to pass through the city heading SW at around 7am. This was a bad idea, and I spent about a half hour in traffic. However, once traffic cleared, I made it to the border by 8:30am - well ahead of schedule. So, I decided to continue into Austria, around the backside of the Tirol range, and back-door Fussen (Neuschwanstein Castle), then make a big loop back to Munich. I was allocated 200km with the car, and ended up going over by 147km. This cost me .84 Euros per extra km. I arrived back at the Sofitel in Munich where they picked up the car from me at Noon. I covered 347km that morning, and spent a ton of time walking around small towns (Oberamagau & others) and taking pictures. As you can see from my pics below, I had a blast. Total bill was @$600US – money well spent!

I can now cross this off the lifetime "bucket" list...

-Blake

blake

Oh come on guys - share some comments please!

-B

danoberer

Incredible trip and pics Blake! I hope you enjoyed it! It's a good feeling to cross those momentous experiences off the Bucket List! Pretty decent movie by the way, if a bit corny....

sullic

Blake: Thanks for taking the time to tell your story. I just finished a 2 week trip through Munich, Vienna, Prague, Stuttgart, Paris, and London. My girlfriend picked up her BMW 335xi. We were forced to keep it under 100 mph, so that limited fun somewhat, but it was still a blast. I can only hope that I will get back soon to drive a Porsche, and see their new museum.

It is too bad that the German's seem hell bent to put in a national speed limit of 87 mph for the autobahn. History shows the road is very safe, so I fail to see the rational to make this move for anything other than political reasons.

I hope to get back within 2 years or so, will likely spend more time in Germany, and head south to Switzerland, and Italy.

Again, nice recap. thanks.