First I want to say that one of the purposes of my trip was to get away from the daily work pressures that, while I do love, a body needs a change of priorities from once in a great while. At least I will use that as my official excuse for not posting news or photos until I returned I managed to spend almost an entire week avoiding a computer and e-mail! I am quite proud of that and really needed it as well.

I arrived in Munich last Friday, Sept 30th. Rolf was right on time to pick me up in a new 1-series. He took me immediately to the delivery center where we talked for about a half an hour while I waited and we had a snack. He took off and not long after, my name was called. As I neared my new car, I felt it was even nicer looking than I had remembered from test driving cars at the dealer. The color combination really works and is really a classy look. There are other combinations I seriously considered, but I have no regrets with my final choice. It may prove challenging to keep clean, but when it is clean, it really is sharp looking!

It was the last weekend of Oktoberfest, and although I had a colleague who could have got me into a tent, my hotel reservation for Friday night was in Salzburg, so I wasted no time in getting behind the wheel and heading out of town for my first drive. I was given the generic instructions for break-in, although he only mentioned keeping it under 4500 RPM's, not the 100 mph limit that is mentioned in the owner's manual. While I had no intentions of pushing the limits, not long after starting towards Salzburg I had to pull onto a busy road from a stop. After shifting into second gear I needed to accelerate pretty hard to merge into traffic. I was surprised by just how quickly and freely it revs once above about 2500 RPM's! Before I even knew it, I found it 'very quickly' up near 4500 RPM's and climbing fast. I backed off, but really appreciated just how much this engine wants to run.

The drive to Salzburg was nice, and I took it easy getting there. The European NAV DVD is a 'must' for getting around in unfamiliar areas, especially if the language is also not so familiar. I got to Salzburg late in the afternoon and checked into a nice hotel right in the heart of the old town. Things closed early, but I did find a place to grab a bite and have a Zipfer or two (or three )

The next morning, I slept late due to the time difference between East Coast US and Austria. I walked around Salzburg for a while, but couldn't resist the call of my car, beckoning to me to go drive. I next went to Hallstatt, Austria. Not a particularly far drive from Salzburg, but a few windy roads made it quite enjoyable. Hallstatt is somewhat of a sleepy town off-season, but neverless a place worth seeing. I had a nice meal there, stayed in a great old place overlooking the lake, and enjoyed a 'few' more Zipfer's. My very little bit of German paid off as surprisingly little English was spoken by some of the employees there. But with the right attitude and good effort, we managed to communicate well enough. (Zipfer bitte? )

The next day I headed South to Heiligenblut to get onto the Großglockner Hochalpenstraße. It was a great drive, but the weather was not cooperating. It was drizzling and foggy the whole way, which gave me a chance to really appreciate the rain-sensing wipers. They work amazingly well, whether in a light drizzle, or a heavy downpour, they always adjusted to just the right speed. The drive over the mountain road was a blast!!! Breaking the car in right with one gear shift after another and enough turns to break the steering mechanisms in quite well, if there is such a thing Unfortunately the fog and rain made the visibility near zero, so the scenery was not what it could have been. But I did run into some snow and freezing rain, and the summer performance tires were no problem. I used a little common sense and took it easy, but I never felt that I was in danger of losing control. But again, I did take it easy near the top when the freezing rain started.

That's enough trip description for now, I'll attach a few photos and continue on with the rest of the trip in a later post...