Euro Delivery - final report (archive)

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Hamburg did turn out to be a very cool city. Sadly I was there for only 19 hours, so obviously I didn't experience all the city has to offer, but I will highlight some things:

o The Hotel Vier Jahreszeiten is first class. Its the best hotel in town and it shows. Total bill for room + internet + parking: 400 DM.
o The shopping in the central downtown area is excellent.
o The canal system that runs through downtown creates some great settings for restaraunts.
o The Reeperbahn is a "red light" district that must be seen to believe. I've never visited Amsterdam, so my experience is limited, but this night life area (that's a better description, as its not just an adult entertainment area) was really impressive. Like the book says, notorious.
o Cats is playing, a show I could have seen for free (made the right connection, quickly), but the Sunday matinee didn't start until 3pm, which was too late to stay in town.

Sunday's drive was to Frankfurt. I didn't have a clear route in mind when I left town, other than head South. There are quite a few choices, so I just decided to point her South and see where that takes me. Of course, I find construction before I even leave town. The tunnel going under the Elbe river on the A7 had lane closures, and it was pretty slow going. Over an hour to get the 5 miles out of town, so to start off the day, it wasn't looking good - nightmares of the A9 were flashing.

But that was the worst of it. Reached the other side of the tunnel and didn't experience any further significant delays the rest of the day. After missing an exit (I had sort of intended on taking the A1/A3 to Frankfurt via Koln) I found myself on the A7 heading toward Hannover. Since I was heading South, and the A7 was moving along just fine, I decided to go with the flow. Boy did this turn out to be the right move. Without a doubt, the A7 is the most pleasurable stretch of Autobahn that I drove. It goes up and down, around and over, just meandering along nicely. It made the 120 mph limit extremely enjoyable, because that was just the ideal speed. Southbound on the A7 was also great, as it had far less traffic than northbound. There were a couple of (and one quite bad) significant delays northbound, which I was quite happy to be zooming along past.

The A7 went so great, that I stayed on it all the way to Wurzberg. At this point (nearly 6pm), I'm so close to 1200 miles, that I decided I needed to drive further, and instead of heading West to Frankfurt, head South on the A81. At 6:25pm, I break through the 1200 mile mark. I decided to take a run up to 145 mph, but traffic was a bit much, so I settled back down to 120, and just cruised along until I met up with the A6. Here I head West, but quickly get off and take the small E41 along the Neckar river in to Heidelberg. Its a nice drive along the river, even at night, as there are many small castles and churches lit up along the hillside over looking the river. Plus its twisty and fun to drive. I was at last able to engage Sport mode and do a little quick passes, but nothing too crazy.

I had dinner in Heidelberg and then attempt to take some long exposure pics of the castle. Unfortunately the wind was blowing pretty hard, and my little tripod was moving far too much. I'm sure they won't turn out very good. I guess I just need to come back again ;-)

So now I'm just a short way South of Frankfurt, its 9pm, and I need to get to the hotel. The A5 North to Frankfurt is where I'm going to have to let the legs on the 540 stretch out. Its actually an ideal setting for truly high speed driving, as the A5 is very flat and very straight. Per the speedo, I was able to get to 150 mph. At this speed, I wanted to stay away from other cars. (During my first run up to 145, someone decided to change lanes right in front of me, without signalling, and this was something I wanted to avoid repeating.) A faster speed was certainly possible, but there was just a bit too much traffic for my tastes. Thus, 150 is it. Lots of cruising between 110-120. A fair bit of the A5 was done at 130, and 150 was reached. All in all fine for this American.

I then proceded to my hotel, which I thought was in Frankfurt, but is actually in Kronberg, about 10-15 miles Northwest of Frankfurt. Its a bit difficult to find this late at night (after 10pm now), but I do finally arrive. The Schlosshotel Kronberg is fabulous. If you get a chance, stay there. Its a converted castle and the staff is excellent. My room was on the 5th floor (the only room on this floor), at the top of the steeple/clock tower. I had windows on three sides, and a private balcony. Granted, this is the only room in the hotel that's like this and its a single room, so your mileage may vary, but I enjoyed it to no end.

The next day, sadly, I had to give the car to Harms. In Frankfurt, they are located South of the airport. Do yourself a favor and have them fax you a map (unlike what I did...drive around and try and find it), as it is a bit of a hassle to find otherwise.

On the flight home, I read the owner's manual from cover to cover. Surprisingly, it noted not to excede 4500 rpm and 106 mph, while Christian said 4000 rpm and 120 mph. I don't understand the discrepency, but I did what I was told, and if it causes a problem down the road, at least I enjoyed the trip.

Now the toughest part begins. I'm back to driving the VW for a couple months, waiting and waiting. My next post will comment on my impressions of the car, as this one has gotten long enough.

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