Day 0 (9/14/05)
Left Williamsburg, drove to Richmond and caught commuter plane to IAD. There non-stop to MUC Via UAL business class. Poor service in flight!

Pictures should be added Sunday

Day 1 (9/15/05)

We picked up our two cars on September 15th and delivery center was quite busy. Waited about an hour to be shown the 2 cars. Signed the Bimmerfest book upstairs and had breakfast with my wife, son and daughter-in-law. Got a little anxious about time. I had to pick up my youngest daugher who was flying in from San Francisco at noon.

Only one guy to explain both cars. Probably too much to absorb in a single sitting. Took about 45 minutes for the explanation of both cars. Inserted both of BeeWangs NAV DVDS and sent my wife and son back to Munich airport to pick up my daughter in 330i. My daughter-in-law and I drove 530xi to the Munich Marriot (Berliner Strasse). The rooms were free and the parking cost reasonable and secure. At about 2:00 PM we headed to the Glockenspiel and lunch in the Rathskellar. Brats were excellent, the mounds of tatar sauce on the roast beef was disgusting. The glockenspiel was memorable. Most of the remainder of the afternoon, I held up a wall as wife and daughter helped the struggling German economy (shopping). We took a taxi to English Biergarten and ate dinner in the Chinese tower restaurant. Nice meal and cool location (thanks Bimmerfest for the recomendation). Cost was moderate.

Day 2 (9/16/05)
Awakened and mostly recovered from jet lag. We visited the Residenz and treasury. Awesome experience. The Aristocrats surely knew how to live! We had lunch in a restaurant in the opera plaza. Women once again in the shops. Lunch in Germany and Austria is a major meal and is time consuming.

Dinner was at Lembach's and is recommended. Food and service were very good and prices were not high enough to cause bankruptcy. We're saving the geldt for Salzburg dinner!

Day 3 (9/17/2005)

Drove both cars to Salzburg. I was the leader in the 530xi and my son and his wife followed in the 330i. We drove most of the trip at between 90 -103 MPH. Got to Salzburg at about 11:00 AM and checked into Hotel Sacher. Internet weekend rate was 155 Euros. Beautiful property, dastardly valets parking the cars. They damaged one tire and wheel. Had a quick lunch at Hotel Sacher cafe (Sacher Torte and coffee for me). We then drove to meet a tour of Hitler's Eagle's nest get-away. Visability was poor, and it was snowing quite hard on the mountain top. Tour guide was clearly anti-American and quite incensed by our WWII bombing of innocent women and children. It angered the heck out of me. The number of Russian, Poles, Gypsies, Jews that Germans excuted during WWII was appalling. Any way Sylvia, the guide, got my shorts in a knot!

We returned to the hotel in time to dress for dinner and dined at Ikarus Restaurant. It is in a beautiful 5 story Aerodrome. The Aerodrome houses an antique airplane collection and it is very difficult to get reservations. Booked ours by internet 4 months in advance. Conceirge was suprised. They are unable to obtain reservations at Hangar 7. Meal for five was over 600 Euros. It was well worth the cost. Stellar food service and ambience, may some day receive a single Michelin star.

Day 4 (9/18/2005)

Awoke in Salzburg and rounded up the crew for breakfast in the Hotel Sacher. One discovery we made quite early was that European coffee makes Starbucks and their ilk taste like swill. Most of us had Viennese Coffee (caloric content is above 3 digits) and Westphalean(sp) ham croissants. Croisants were as good as Paris!

Got everyone ready by about 9:30 AM and hit the road on the way to Vienna. First stop was Hellbrun Pleasure Palace (5 miles outside of Salzburg). It was a summer home for and Arch-Bishop with a warped sense of humor. Fountains galore. Many which soaked the tourist. Water was used to activate numerous things. Beautiful grounds, fun with the shooting waters and a significant early 17th century palace with much that was original still retained there for viewing. It was interesting, educational and great fun. Stopped for lunch in the middle of no where (half way to Vienna. No one spoke English or French (my wife and I can get by in French). Good food, reasonable prices and very helpful waiter. Our waiter indicated he was in mandatory English classes to help the business.
After lunch we filled up both cars at a cost of approximately 80 Euros. Arrived in Vienna at about 4:00 PM. The Marriot on Parkring had no place to park in the hotel front and no visible bellmen. Put my wife and daughter out and asked them to find a bellman as well as aplace to park the cars. I then circled the hotel (10 blocks due to construction) with my son in the 330i following. After circling the hotel, my wife had rounded up bellman. He and my son unloaded the vehicles and circled behind the hotels to park. My son found a short cut and was very proud to have found the garage before me. 20 minutes after I arrived in the Vienna Marriott lobby the missing son arrived. Turned out, he had parked in the Radison Hotel's parking garage and had to locate a hotel employee to let him out. Oops.... Were tired and went to dinner near the Vienna Marriott. Restaurant was very reasonable and quite nice. Local food. Name was Gasthaus Puersner. About two and a half blocks from the hotel, but my wife found a short cut and we walked about 6 blocks to find the restaurant.

Day 5 (9/19/2005)
My son & I got up early to return the 330i to Harms (Vienna). My son (GM @ a GM dealership in Chicago) had noticed a scratched rim and tyre damage to the left rear wheel on the road from Salzburg that we did not inflict. Told the women (2 wives + daughter) we should be back by 10:00 AM and meet them at the hotel. GPS was working well in both cars, but despite the GPS aid, we had difficulty finding Harms in the industrial park. Drove around in circles for nearly 30 minutes. We went in an office building to ask directs and were given a little help (language barrier). The building where we asked directions, had an empty parking lot, so we starting moving the cars around and taking lots of pictures of them together. This seemed to irritate the manager of the facility and he came out and started screaming to get of their property or he would call the police. We beat feet and turned in the 3301 at Harmes and used the 530xi to motor back to the hotel. Arrived back in Vienna center at about 11:00 AM. We had something to eat at the cafe in the Hapsburg Residenz. The food was okay and not too pricey considering its location. We then toured the Residenz and the Sissy Museum. Both exhibitions were wonderful and deserved more time than the 2.5 hours we gave them.

To be continued..