This story has been sent to us by Joe Djan or known by his username: Gripster

You can see all the photos here

 

Day 1 - Delivery Day

After months of waiting we finally got to Munich on 11 May 2006. The journey was not as bad as it could have been, but flying San Diego-Newark-Amsterdam-Munich should be avoided when possible... In our case we got these flights free (FF points) and poured the extra cash into our hotels.

We were picked up by Sigrid Aniol - our charter cab. She introduced us to the autobahn in fine style. Within in minutes we were flying towards the ED center at over 200kph. Nice. Our ED was handled by Jenny. We got to the delivery center about 25 mins before they closed, so the experience was a little rushed. I was also too jet lagged to ask why my brand new car had 8 miles on the clock. If we had taken delivery in USA, it would have been fine, but other ED’ers have had only 2-3 miles. Regardless, Jenny took to the time go over the essentials and I managed a scribble in the bimmerfest book before, exhausted, we made our way over the Marriott in Munchen.

We had the BMW factory tour booked that night, but we took a wrong turn and got stuck in traffic. When we finally got parking we walked left instead of right and walked about 1 mile around the perimeter of the BMW plant to find that the entrance gate we looking for was ~100yds from the car. Duh! We talked our way in, but we were too late for the tour. Oh well, had to save something for the next ED!!

We made our way back to the hotel for a Bier and Schnitzel dinner. Oh, and sleep too! 

Day 2 - Venice

After resting one night in Munich we set off to Venice - about a 5-6 hour drive from Munich. We took the highways. Now - driving on the autobahn is an incredibly liberating experience. I wished the car had not been so new. I kept my speed below 110mph. What can I say, the 330i is built for these roads. It’s a tragedy that it will never see above 90mph in California - if that!

We stopped off in Innsbruck for lunch and then Verona for a snack enroute to Venice. We completely missed the famous Romeo and Juliet balcony... Venice itself was exactly as we expected it to be. Small, cramped, expensive hotels, gondolas, dirty water and lots of walking. So you’d think we hated, right? Quite the opposite - despite all it’s failings, Venice is a wonderfully romantic city.

We were complete tourists in the city, doing everything the guidebooks told us to. 3 days is enough though.

Day 3 - Tuscany

After leaving Venice, we drove to Bologna via Parma and Maranello. Parma was kind of a homage to Parmesano-regiano. We didn’t stop off at the cheese factory, but it was a must see town anyway. The stop off in Maranello was serendipitous.

 

I had crossed it OFF the list of things to do when I learned that you can only visit the factory if you are a prior customer. May be my next car then... However, being so near we went anyway. Its quite cool little place actually. There is a tourist trap museum, but it’s worth seeing. I parked the car outside the factory, just long enough to get a photo and before security could bust us. Cool photo of the car outside the factory though. Yeah!

We stayed overnight in Bologna, where we had the best meal of the entire vacation. Bologna’s a cool town for gourmets. Not that I’m a gourmand, mind, I ate spaghetti bolognese - my favourite dish ever! From Bologna it was off to Pisa for the obligatory leaning tower photos. Not much to say about the tower except that it leans and is much bigger than I thought. 

Day 4 - Florence

Before I say anything else about Florence, I have to mention Michaelangelo’s David and Botticelli’s ‘Birth of Venus’. Even if you are not an art fanatic, you MUST see these works.

They are breathtaking and images will stay with you forever. Florence is obviously famous for it’s art, but I liked it a lot for it’s atmosphere. Its just a very pleasant place to pass the time. It’s laid back, cultured, some amazing food and wine and the people look amazing and are among the friendliest I have ever encountered.

My wife liked the Prada outlet most... ;)

Day 5 - Pompei

Pompei was thrown in when we found ourselves with an extra day. We planned to stay in Naples, until we got there and found an impoverished, crime ridden city almost entirely devoid of traffic laws.

Driving a brand new BMW around these streets with cars, buses and mopeds flying at you, the Nav freaking out and a semi-hysterical wife is not good for ones health. We got right out of Naples and went to Pompei.

We were too late for a guided tour (which is a must) so we wandered around and took some photos while marveling at the sophistication of a society that lived hundreds of years ago. The place is beautifully preserved and somewhat spooky. Really worth seeing though.

Day 6 - Rome

Rome.

 

We had to give up the car in Rome. The hotel we stayed at had no self-parking. I wept as I handed the keys over to the valet, so it was quite a relief when I got to our hotel room and saw the car parked through the window behined a little port hole! I got the zoom lens out and snapped the first photo.

There’s not a lot to say about Rome that hasn’t already been said by someone far more eloquent than I. I will let the photos speak for themselves here.

 

 

We saw: - Pantheon - Vatican (yes - I did actually get a photo of the Sistine Chapel ceiling!) - Trevi Fountain - Colosseum - Spanish Steps - Cat Sanctuary (in the place where Julius Caesar was knifed!)