5000km Euro track&road in a Panamera
06-27-2019, 03:29 PM
#16
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Thread Starter
There are cities that practically everyone seems to have visited. Copenhagen is one of them. I had no real sense of the city as a first time visitor.
Copenhagen was never bombed in the war, was not razed by high rise developers, not destroyed by any natural cataclysm. It has one rather featureless high rise which caused such dislike by the populace that no more were permitted. As a result it is a city where you can see the sunset and has the sort of landscape where you can still see spires in the distance.
The best thing to do with your car is to dump it and walk or get a taxi. Danes all speak English and without exception were helpful, upbeat, friendly and a delight to deal with. Danish is apparently very difficult to learn and its impossible to begin to guess the pronunciation.
The Hotel St Petri is an excellent place to stay in the old Latin area, and has the all-important valet parking. Views at sunset are very pleasant indeed and they serve a good breakfast. Also was amused at the thought of having granola in a Petri dish.
Full points for an excellent sign for the washroom
Walking round:
Tivoli Gardens has the feeling of a very old-fashioned amusement park with traditional ( if terrifying )rides, good snacks, and beautifully tended plantings. Originally a gift from the King in the 19th century in an inspired bread-and-circuses move, the king donated the park to avoid being deposed, set himself up as a constitutional monarch and survived.
Speaking of Kings, Rosenborg Palace is small by mansion standards but was the home of Christian IV, a warrior who never said no to a good time - this was the Playboy Mansion of the time with lots of mistresses, major partying, and general licentiousness.This cat had a special room under his bedroom for an orchestra to play, peepholes and all sort of amusements.
When his wife had a dalliance he had a special ring made for her of her hand in a compromising act- it is on display in the palace. Despite his outrageous life Christian did not die young of liver failure. The palace is worth a stroll and the crown jewels arent bad either.
The Caritas Fountain , the oldest in Copenhagen caused a scandal when it was erected - the city fathers then set it up on a high pedestal so the populace would not notice the mother and son who were squirting water out of predictable places. Take that, Manikin Pis.
The austere St Petri Church has an interesting new world connection- the Jesus statue was used by the Mormons as the prototype of their giant statue in Salt Lake City.
City Hall has some good Harry Potter type dragons and fountains.
a lovely old Benz was parked on a side street..these things last forever ion cared for:
about the last thing I expected to see was a number of Swiss-registeed Excaliburs:
06-27-2019, 03:34 PM
#18
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Thread Starter
Christiana is a self contained, self-governing community that was originally founded by squatters. Attempts to move them out failed, and today it has its own governing body and sees itself as a tiny republic. They make bicycles here and have a grocery store, but the main commerce is selling soft drugs on the Main Street where many small stalls are set up. The available quantities are very impressive in size and variety.
Normally the police do not come in, but on this particular day there was a sharp warning shout and suddenly the street sprang into action. Within thirty seconds the sellers and product were gone when a team of police stormed in. Someone was pinned to the ground , handcuffed and taken away. Two minutes later there was a all-clear shout. People and product quickly reappeared and commerce resumed as if nothing had happened.
Photographs of inhabitants or on the main dealing streets are strictly forbidden. It is quite a safe and friendly place during the day at least and has some stores and eateries.
An easy to se around the city is the hourly and inexpensive boat tour. The bridges are so low that you can tough the them while sitting down.
You can see the rather ordinary Little Mermaid being photographed from shore for a million selfies and Instagrams:
However, one of the biggest draws in Copenhagen is the incredible number of world class restaurants. Since Noma became regarded as the best restaurant in the world, numerous alumni have started their own places, and Copenhagen has numerous Michelin starred restaurants. Booking in advance is just essential, and Danes are famously prompt. 6pm does not mean 6:10pm. More of these next post.
Normally the police do not come in, but on this particular day there was a sharp warning shout and suddenly the street sprang into action. Within thirty seconds the sellers and product were gone when a team of police stormed in. Someone was pinned to the ground , handcuffed and taken away. Two minutes later there was a all-clear shout. People and product quickly reappeared and commerce resumed as if nothing had happened.
Photographs of inhabitants or on the main dealing streets are strictly forbidden. It is quite a safe and friendly place during the day at least and has some stores and eateries.
An easy to se around the city is the hourly and inexpensive boat tour. The bridges are so low that you can tough the them while sitting down.
You can see the rather ordinary Little Mermaid being photographed from shore for a million selfies and Instagrams:
However, one of the biggest draws in Copenhagen is the incredible number of world class restaurants. Since Noma became regarded as the best restaurant in the world, numerous alumni have started their own places, and Copenhagen has numerous Michelin starred restaurants. Booking in advance is just essential, and Danes are famously prompt. 6pm does not mean 6:10pm. More of these next post.
06-27-2019, 03:35 PM
#19
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
..restaurants:
It is astonishing how such a small city can have so many world class places. They do share some things on common:
(1) Reservations are essential
(2) Emphasis on local ingredients
(3) More fish than meat
(4) Many small plates rather than big portions.
Fiskebar is in the fish market area and has superb fresh oysters and a top quality mainly seafood-based menu- very informal.
Link; https://fiskebaren.dk/
Relae has a tasting menu, also informal, and has a knife drawer at every table . Very good.
Link:https://www.restaurant-relae.dk/en/
Kadeau is another tasting menu and is easy to miss on the street, a dark blank door with a doorbell. It is very relaxing inside , with a menu of considerable complexity and impeccable service. Like all restaurants here the music is very muted. Back in North America there is a dreadful trend to have noisy music in even very good restaurants. This is a calm, quiet, relaxing atmosphere.
It seems that every restaurant visited in Germany, Denmark and Belgium played only American music, though at low volume.
Link:https://www.kadeau.dk/
Kiin is unusual, a Michelin-Starred Thai restaurant. There is a level of theatre and drama in the dishes here but overall very good
Link:https://www.kiin.dk
As usual the best way to get to manu of these places is by taxi.they are plentiful and precisely on time.
It is astonishing how such a small city can have so many world class places. They do share some things on common:
(1) Reservations are essential
(2) Emphasis on local ingredients
(3) More fish than meat
(4) Many small plates rather than big portions.
Fiskebar is in the fish market area and has superb fresh oysters and a top quality mainly seafood-based menu- very informal.
Link; https://fiskebaren.dk/
Relae has a tasting menu, also informal, and has a knife drawer at every table . Very good.
Link:https://www.restaurant-relae.dk/en/
Kadeau is another tasting menu and is easy to miss on the street, a dark blank door with a doorbell. It is very relaxing inside , with a menu of considerable complexity and impeccable service. Like all restaurants here the music is very muted. Back in North America there is a dreadful trend to have noisy music in even very good restaurants. This is a calm, quiet, relaxing atmosphere.
It seems that every restaurant visited in Germany, Denmark and Belgium played only American music, though at low volume.
Link:https://www.kadeau.dk/
Kiin is unusual, a Michelin-Starred Thai restaurant. There is a level of theatre and drama in the dishes here but overall very good
Link:https://www.kiin.dk
As usual the best way to get to manu of these places is by taxi.they are plentiful and precisely on time.
06-27-2019, 03:38 PM
#21
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Thread Starter
A short train ride out of Copenhagen lies an absolute jewel of a modern art gallery called Louisiana. It has a first class collection in a beautiful building, and is situated where you can see Sweden across the water.
06-27-2019, 03:45 PM
#24
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Thread Starter
Time to move on from Copenhagen and on to Jelling.
Where?
Jelling is a tiny place looming large in Danish history- it is the site of the fort of Harald Bluetooth who was first real King of the Danes and brought Christianity to Denmark.. There is very little left Viking culture apart from scattered artifacts, but two huge stones written in Runic scrip were placed here by Harald more than a thousand years ago, and they survive in good condition.
The developer of Bluetooth technology was a great admirer of Harald Bluetooth, hence the term . The Bluetooth symbol is a combination of the Runes for H and B.. Harald Bluetooth.
We are better off that it was not named after Harald’s son, Forkbeard, or grandson, King Canute.
..and so on in to Aarhus, a busy commercial port. Certainly not a tourist zone , the best accommodation is in a business park near downtown.
Where?
Jelling is a tiny place looming large in Danish history- it is the site of the fort of Harald Bluetooth who was first real King of the Danes and brought Christianity to Denmark.. There is very little left Viking culture apart from scattered artifacts, but two huge stones written in Runic scrip were placed here by Harald more than a thousand years ago, and they survive in good condition.
The developer of Bluetooth technology was a great admirer of Harald Bluetooth, hence the term . The Bluetooth symbol is a combination of the Runes for H and B.. Harald Bluetooth.
We are better off that it was not named after Harald’s son, Forkbeard, or grandson, King Canute.
..and so on in to Aarhus, a busy commercial port. Certainly not a tourist zone , the best accommodation is in a business park near downtown.
06-27-2019, 03:46 PM
#25
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Surprisingly good art gallery with a circular rooftop walkway in different colours that block each other periodically on a walk.
There is a small old section:
In the old section there is an outstanding restaurant down a graffiti alley.
A great restaurant.
There is a small old section:
In the old section there is an outstanding restaurant down a graffiti alley.
A great restaurant.
06-27-2019, 03:50 PM
#26
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Denmark was plastered with election posters when I was there..interesting to envy guess the politics of these three who were running against each other:
Still...it was time to get back to Germany and only a couple of days to the Nürburgring.
Still...it was time to get back to Germany and only a couple of days to the Nürburgring.
06-27-2019, 03:51 PM
#27
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Thread Starter
Hanover is another city that was bombed to dust. The Sheraton there is fine to stay in assuming you know the width of your car to get into parking. I have come across this before. Luckily there is just enough space to get through.
Herrenhausen is a massive palace and garden complex here to replace the historic structure lost in the war, paid for by Volkswagen.
It may follow the origins design but it feels new, the huge gardens having immature plantings and the statuary bone white and unweathered.
There is a spectacular modern grotto, utterly at variance with the formal and traditional design of the palace.
Herrenhausen is a massive palace and garden complex here to replace the historic structure lost in the war, paid for by Volkswagen.
It may follow the origins design but it feels new, the huge gardens having immature plantings and the statuary bone white and unweathered.
There is a spectacular modern grotto, utterly at variance with the formal and traditional design of the palace.
06-27-2019, 03:52 PM
#28
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Next day the weather is perfect and the driving through leafy country roads is a delight.
In a rural area you come to a gate that leads to a long crisp low building. It is surrounded by trees and meadowland.
Welcome to Bergen-Belsen.
In the vastness of the Holocaust this is one of the more famous camps. It was not an extermination camp, but held both Polish POWs and Jewish prisoners. While thousands died here it was not large by the standards of the Holocaust.
It is famous for two reasons.
(1) Anne Frank died of Typhus here.
(2) When the British Army liberated the camp in 1945 they brought a camera crew to record the next days. There were around 10,000 people dead or dying on the open ground from Typhus and starvation. Basically as the war ended the SS starved the inmates to death. So big was the number that the initial plan to use the SS guards to bury the bodies in mass graves was abandoned after a couple of days. There is harrowing footage shown in the memorial centre of a large army bulldozer driving down the street , pushing the piles of bodies into huge open pits.
Today it is all peaceful, but the mass graves remain each showing the estimated number of victims.. 2000 here, 5000 there and so on. It is a grim and sad experience.
Surprisingly, despite its very remote location it was very well attended.
In a rural area you come to a gate that leads to a long crisp low building. It is surrounded by trees and meadowland.
Welcome to Bergen-Belsen.
In the vastness of the Holocaust this is one of the more famous camps. It was not an extermination camp, but held both Polish POWs and Jewish prisoners. While thousands died here it was not large by the standards of the Holocaust.
It is famous for two reasons.
(1) Anne Frank died of Typhus here.
(2) When the British Army liberated the camp in 1945 they brought a camera crew to record the next days. There were around 10,000 people dead or dying on the open ground from Typhus and starvation. Basically as the war ended the SS starved the inmates to death. So big was the number that the initial plan to use the SS guards to bury the bodies in mass graves was abandoned after a couple of days. There is harrowing footage shown in the memorial centre of a large army bulldozer driving down the street , pushing the piles of bodies into huge open pits.
Today it is all peaceful, but the mass graves remain each showing the estimated number of victims.. 2000 here, 5000 there and so on. It is a grim and sad experience.
Surprisingly, despite its very remote location it was very well attended.
06-27-2019, 03:54 PM
#29
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Thread Starter
A final overnight in Koln ( with parking of course) was all that was needed before the short drive to the Nürburgring.
The hotel had three simultaneous weddings going to so was a bit overwhelmed.
Casual Italian restaurant was ok though.
....and then it was time for a considerable change of pace. The Nürburgring
Am concerned that the Panamera will be like this on a race track:
We will see.
The hotel had three simultaneous weddings going to so was a bit overwhelmed.
Casual Italian restaurant was ok though.
....and then it was time for a considerable change of pace. The Nürburgring
Am concerned that the Panamera will be like this on a race track:
We will see.
06-27-2019, 03:55 PM
#30
Rennlist Member
Thread Starter
Arriving in Nürburg is a familiar feeling. That feeling is a mixture of excitement and fear…the rush of heading out on the track, and the sense that it may be memorable, not for the driving experience but for the moment where I make a mistake and end up stuck in the armco waiting for the Bomgard truck to pick up the wreckage of the car and my ego. I know that feeling.
I generally stay at the same place, ( Hotel am Tiergarten) and it does not change. Frau Schmitz, the proprietor, is the same welcoming delightful person as ever, Patricio who runs the Pistenklause restaurant is the same, the menu has not changed.
It is Sunday, and a full open day. The track is packed. The track temperature is 52c. Generally I would not run on a day like this, especially in a case that is very different to what I would use normally. There is no chance to even wash the car as even the self wash in Barweiler is closed.
The weather forecast for the next two days is thunder and lightning and heavy rains. I ran here before in these conditions and it was a scary experience. Best answer is to run today. As I leave the hotel which is close to the track I hear a scream of tires, a big crunching noise, and silence.
By the time I get down to the track entrance there is a closure, one of several that day. There will be another. I decide to wait till late in the afternoon to run when traffic will be lighter. I call Jochen from Frozenspeed to see if he can make it for a few shots.He has some time so we will try if the track opens.
The track is closed for more than an hour. Touring the parked cars, things have changed a great deal from when I first came. The Ring was much cheaper then, the cars cars more varied. Lots of tuner cars, old M3s, old 3 series, older 911s and fairly regular cars..Minis, VWs and so on.
Now, the mix is different. Large numbers of track focused cars..Ariels, a Dallara or two and massive numbers of GT3s and RS. I think there is a garage somewhere where GT3s are stored and breed at night.
..and now, for something completely different:
I generally stay at the same place, ( Hotel am Tiergarten) and it does not change. Frau Schmitz, the proprietor, is the same welcoming delightful person as ever, Patricio who runs the Pistenklause restaurant is the same, the menu has not changed.
It is Sunday, and a full open day. The track is packed. The track temperature is 52c. Generally I would not run on a day like this, especially in a case that is very different to what I would use normally. There is no chance to even wash the car as even the self wash in Barweiler is closed.
The weather forecast for the next two days is thunder and lightning and heavy rains. I ran here before in these conditions and it was a scary experience. Best answer is to run today. As I leave the hotel which is close to the track I hear a scream of tires, a big crunching noise, and silence.
By the time I get down to the track entrance there is a closure, one of several that day. There will be another. I decide to wait till late in the afternoon to run when traffic will be lighter. I call Jochen from Frozenspeed to see if he can make it for a few shots.He has some time so we will try if the track opens.
The track is closed for more than an hour. Touring the parked cars, things have changed a great deal from when I first came. The Ring was much cheaper then, the cars cars more varied. Lots of tuner cars, old M3s, old 3 series, older 911s and fairly regular cars..Minis, VWs and so on.
Now, the mix is different. Large numbers of track focused cars..Ariels, a Dallara or two and massive numbers of GT3s and RS. I think there is a garage somewhere where GT3s are stored and breed at night.
..and now, for something completely different: