Going to Munich - what should I get?

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After decades of humbugging me to get off the rock, my wife and I are going to Munich where a widowed friend in the Canadian foreign service is stationed in a three-bedroom apartment. I've only been out of state a handful of times and rather like it here. Wife thinks we'll go all over Europe including northern Italy and Slovenia (is that still a country? I gotta check) where her ancestors may have come from, according to Ancestry.com. IDK if I can/will afford all that. Our Munich hostess is fluent in at least four languages and her son may come along.

I want a new, coded diamond key for the E46 if they have one but can hardly think of anything else I might get. Open to suggestions. Will be at Ofest where our host has three reservations at the fancy tables. We will fly Honolulu - LA-Munich and return so no much chance to toss things out the window as we fly by. At 2 meters tall, the wife has kindly booked seats in the more expansive sections of Lufthansa and we'll see if the rumors of gorgeous young flight crew are still applicable.
 
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I would try to bring an Apfel Strudel Liqueur.
www.worldwidespirits.com

Prinz apple strudel liqueur 1,0l

For the apple strudel liqueur of the distillery Prinz, only the most aromatic and ripe apples are used. With a hint of raisins and cinnamon, this liqueur instantly conveys the delicious taste of home-made apple strudel. Made according...
www.worldwidespirits.com www.worldwidespirits.com

An airbnb I was staying at in NY had it, I took a few sips and could not stop. The idea was to replenish it but I could not find it in the US...
 
1. Bmw museum.

2; the rest:
Munich is full of old cultural history, from the ROman roots, to the old market square where you can get a nice evening dinner with traditional Schweinehaxe (pork's leg), to the (darker) Third Reich history. The Deutsches Museum is a fantastic museum, comparable to the Smitsonian in the US. The Munich Residenz is a typical opulant renaissance Royal castle with immensely rich decorated rooms.

Famous castle Neu Schwanstein, said to be the inspiration for Disney, is just 70 miles out (but a scenic 2 hrs drive); if you have a car it's a nice touristy visit.

History is close with Dachau concentration camp just next to Munich though it may not be your cup of tea for a 'light' holiday.
3hrs drive out is Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a 1500's medieval village.

Slovenia is just wonderfull, a mini Switserland to me. (and Yes, still a country). Lots of green valleys and wonderfull lakes, great for a hike and to escape to busy city life. I just visited it for a few days during our summer holiday. Capital Ljubjljana is charming with its river, cafe's and terasses, and very international due to many foreign students. (Studying there is free, so even Dutch students go there to University). The castle of Bled is also stunning. Slovenia is cheaper vs Germany/Italy btw.

just so you know - it's small compared to US standards. Munich to Venice is just a Wonderfull 6 hours drive.... get a hotel just out of Venice. Drive up early early morning, park at the end of the bridge leading into Venice at 05:30, take the watertaxi bus line "N" (Vaporetto as they are called,) through the Grand Canal, and have cheap coffee at the Plaza San Marco, standing at the bar, with the local painters and carpenters before the prices rise by 500% around 08:00 or so.
 
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eriknetherlands said:
3hrs drive out is Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a 1500's medieval village.
Click to expand...
I've just found some family history that is new to me and a long iine of my ancestors came from the area around Stuttgart dating back to the earliest couple born in 1480. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is just the north of some confirmed locations, I'd like to visit that area next time I'm in Germany.
 
Honolulu said:
I want a new, coded diamond key for the E46 if they have one but can hardly think of anything else I might get
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, there is a long waiting time for such keys. The remaining "empty" keys in the BMW warehouse are said to be reserved for the BMW Classic department already. It may be different for US VINs but I recommend to check availability and "production" time already early in planning your trip.
Otherwise, get an AK-90 and learn soldering to get it running and make you own key :)
 
Thanks for the suggestions! We'll avoid the darker elements of BMW's and Germany's past. I think after 75-odd years, and with all that has changed in the world, those things of the past can stay there. Ditto for Pearl Harbor. The Army took over Punahou where my mom was in high school and threw all the library books out the windows. My grandfather and uncle were high up in Nuuanu Valley and watched the Zeroes come through. Barbed wire on Waikiki beaches but the canoe races were still held. It was quite a time.

We will have a car part of the time but Terrie (our Munich host) is arranging an all-public-transport pass for the month we'll be there. I'll try put up another thread for BMW-related activities.

The risk for this island boy is that if there are no tradewinds, no mauka and makai, I am almost completely without a sense of direction. This wasn't much of a problem when we did two San Diego-to-Vancouver drives a year and two ago - just keep the ocean on the left and follow the yellow brick road. Ditto (in reverse) for picking up a BMW K1300GT m/c in Portland and riding two-up to San Diego to ship the bike to Honolulu.

Wife has been in Slovenia both before and after the Berlin Wall came down, before and after the troubles there. Their tour guide from the first trip was KIA at some point.
 
We did a Danube river cruise some years ago and really enjoyed visiting various cities. Having a guide for a few hours in a new city is a nice way to get a sense both a sense of the city itself and of the neighborhoods that you want to spend more time in.

As for directions, make sure you have a cell provider that has roaming coverage or get yourself an esim (we used airlo when visiting France this year) and use your favorite map application. Google maps are consistently good, but we used city mapper almost exclusively in Paris as it had great directions for using the metro as well.
 
We got a 2019 G30 (530e) 2 years ago so another car in addition to the CS (currently inop), 325iC convertible and K1300GT seems a little bit much regarding parking if not for the numerous other reasons, one of which is that at 6'6", 280 lbs I don't fit the 1, 2, 3 or 4 series. I've tried, but the top and back of my head were getting a little worn entering and exiting the car. Another 2002? Any day of the week, or night!
 
I strongly suggest you scoop up as many memories of a different place in the world as you can. The sights, the tastes, the smells, the sounds, the look and feel of the people..The wider world is a wonderfully diverse and unique place. GO..

And immerse yourself in the kaleidoscope of ways that humans live and carry out their lives. There is food, music, cars galore, and pretty much everything one could imagine out there..

And, even if you bring home nothing material (after dragging fragile ceramic artifacts through Japan, I now travel light!!), you will either purposely or inadvertently bring home memories that you will carry with you, weightless, for the rest of your life.

I still remember picking up ancient pot shards around a the acropolis in Athens as a kid in 1964 (now highly illegal), and eating a lunch of bread, cheese and pepsi on the banks of the Seine in Paris, because we had no money for anything else.. Yet I also recall being served tea and melon by the proprietor of an archery shop in Tokyo, and an antique shop in Nagoya, not because I might buy something, but because it was polite and gracious. That is something I have learned through a life of travel. As long as you are gracious, those you meet will return the graciousness tenfold. People are basically good all over. And going out to meet them broadens your world. Yeah, you can do a tour, and check off the "sights of the world", but go to a cafe, and have the prix fixe menu that the working guys are eating, and you will find real people, with pretty much the same hopes and dreams as you, who live different lives and speak differently, but n the end are still part of this giant human family,

Photo: My wife Susan in a small restaurant in France where we stopped our canal boat and had lunch in a place where a bunch of cable TV guys apparently also had lunch. It was delicious, and fun talking in broken English and French with the proprietors and the clients.

IMG_7913.jpeg


And then there is AutoWorld in Brussells. AMAZING! Got a mint copy the 1972 brochure for my 3.0 CS( and my 1980 635) there...
IMG_8271.jpeg

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So yes. GO!!!!
 
eriknetherlands said:
1. Bmw museum.

2; the rest:
Munich is full of old cultural history, from the ROman roots, to the old market square where you can get a nice evening dinner with traditional Schweinehaxe (pork's leg), to the (darker) Third Reich history. The Deutsches Museum is a fantastic museum, comparable to the Smitsonian in the US. The Munich Residenz is a typical opulant renaissance Royal castle with immensely rich decorated rooms.

Famous castle Neu Schwanstein, said to be the inspiration for Disney, is just 70 miles out (but a scenic 2 hrs drive); if you have a car it's a nice touristy visit.

History is close with Dachau concentration camp just next to Munich though it may not be your cup of tea for a 'light' holiday.
3hrs drive out is Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a 1500's medieval village.

Slovenia is just wonderfull, a mini Switserland to me. (and Yes, still a country). Lots of green valleys and wonderfull lakes, great for a hike and to escape to busy city life. I just visited it for a few days during our summer holiday. Capital Ljubjljana is charming with its river, cafe's and terasses, and very international due to many foreign students. (Studying there is free, so even Dutch students go there to University). The caste of Bled is also stunning. Slovenia is cheaper vs Germany/Italy btw.

just so you know - it's small compared to US standards. Munich to Venice is just a Wonderfull 6 hours drive.... get a hotel just out of Venice. Drive up early early morning, park at the end of the bridge leading into Venice at 05:30, take the watertaxi bus line "N" (Vaporetto as they are called,) through the Grand Canal, and have cheap coffee at the Plaza San Marco, standing at the bar, with the local painters and carpenters before the prices rise by 500% around 08:00 or so.
Click to expand...
Well, if Venice is on the menu, then you also need to stop at Harry's Bar and American Grill and have a martini while sitting on Hemingway's bar stool!!

Actually, my favorite thing to see in Venice, other than just walking around the place, is the churches. They have loads of absolutely world class renaissance art... Basilica S.Maria Gloriosa dei Frari
 
Harry's bar is a MUST in Venezia. yes the martini is good, but have a bellini. believe it or not, the burger is great ... but how do you not eat pasta or veal there - the veal chop with sage - wow. especially with white truffles on the pasta. i had one of the 5 all time best meals of my life there in 1984. one of the highlights was taglerini verde with truffles and prosciutto.

face it, about the only way you can have a bad meal in Italy is to go to an american fast food joint. and then there are the wonderful wines, all over the country. but i have to agree with Scott - the churches are fabulous. i like San Giorgio Maggiore

years ago i designed the Europa and Regina hotel there, worked on the Gritti Palace and the Excelsior hotel on the Lido.
 
Doing the Danube at the middle of next month. From Budapest to Bucharest and then to Nuremberg for a few days. I will hit a few Dealers on the way.
I hope I will maybe get to the Nurbergring/At the least some T-shirts and hats for my son and grandson and me,
 
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Bert Poliakoff said:
Doing the Danube at the middle next month. From Budapest to Bucharest and then to Nuremberg for a few days. I will hit a few Dealers on the way.
I hope I will maybe get to the Nurbergring/At the least some T-shirts and hats for my son and grandsonand me,
Click to expand...
Bert, if you swim by in Vienna give me heads up - can take you for a ride in a local E9 :-) -- did the same a while a go with Stan
 
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