Welp...here I am....

[aye mate]

We are going to Frankfurt to visit my bro who is Interning for the US gov. I'm pretty excited. I am finally getting over some jet lag, I made the mistake of sleeping for a few hours yesterday around lunch time, didn't end up going to sleep til about 3am this morning.
As for the N-ring, I'm not really sure where its located and if we are even traveling that way. It would be awesome to see though.
There are some games in Munich and Koln. I don't think we are going to Munich but definatley Koln, probably heading over to Belgium sometime too. I'm not totally sure as we don't plan our sightseeing until we actually make it over here. I shall keep you posted!

 

[MassSupra89]

http://www.nurburgring.com/

 

[goliath]

:naughty: A smart man would pick up a set (or three) of manual folding mirrors while they are there.:biglaugh: :boink:

 

[encomiast]

Well, I don't know what you are imagining, but as for Supra parts in Germany, it's not like you walk into a car parts store and ask for some mirrors for a Toyota Supra or something - over here, hardly anyone knows that Toyota ever built other cars than small economy vehicles up to 90hp.
The typical way to get used parts for a Supra in Germany is: you know someone online who has parted out a Supra (or many of them) and you ask him to ship the parts to you. Such guys can be found e.g. on www.supra-forum.de.

Or you can walk into a German Toyota dealership and order the parts from factory, but that'll cost a small fortune - if the guys there even understand what you want :biglaugh:

aye_mate:
Have a nice stay here in Germany

 

[aye mate]

Yea, I'm noticing there are not alot of Japanese sports cars here. I did see a 350z, but other than that none. Most of the sporty cars here are German made (imagine that). Plus my German is very limited.

Encomiast- Because of the world cup games that are taking place in the Rhineland area, my family was thinking about making a trip down to Lake Constance. I could let you know where we are staying, and if its not too far maybe we could set up a meeting. LMK.

 

[americanjebus]

nuerenburg. <-spelling is off i know it.

 

[encomiast]

Encomiast- Because of the world cup games that are taking place in the Rhineland area, my family was thinking about making a trip down to Lake Constance. I could let you know where we are staying, and if its not too far maybe we could set up a meeting. LMK.

Sure, just drop me a line and I'll see if and when I have time to drop over - maybe a Supra buddy of mine can join us

 

[aye mate]

Today was a good day. We went to the Porsche Museum and the newly remodelled Mercedes-Benz museum. Very cool. I have a bunch of pictures from each, but not sure if I can upload them here.

 

[TopSecret]

Yea, I'm noticing there are not alot of Japanese sports cars here. I did see a 350z, but other than that none. Most of the sporty cars here are German made (imagine that). Plus my German is very limited.

Japanese cars arent worth alot of money in Germany (my dad told me that a long while ago cos I wanted to buy a Toyota...).
Basically, if you buy a Toyota or Nissan you have to drive that thing until it falls apart cos you get pretty much nothing if you would try and sell it (even if you would rebuild something, put new parts in or what have you) let alone getting ahold of parts and all that (like encomiast said, you need a fortune or contacts).

You actually saw a 350z??? Wow... never saw one in my hometown, not even in dealerships. One dealership had a orange 350z for a while... one! For like a week or 2 then it was gone.

Personally I think Germany is full of ugly cars... I dunno, depends on what kinda style and car you like I guess.
Also compared to North America, Germany doesnt have a lot of bigass trucks (F150s, F350s etc) driving around... at least not last time I was there.


PS: Pics of Porsches PLEASE!!! Id love to see them!

 

[encomiast]

I've actually seen a couple 350Zs here in the south, but they (as well as all other Asian sports cars) are far outnumbered by Merc SLs, Porsches, M BMWs etc.
Except for the Mazda Miata (MX-5) maybe, they are a common sight too.

That there are no high-displacement gas guzzling cars over here is mostly due to the high gas prices and taxation of displacement - the more displacement your car has, the more tax you pay (also depends on your car's emission standard though). That's why most people stick to small-displacement economy cars.

 

[TopSecret]

How are the gas prices anyway atm??? Must be fricken huge with the World Cup going on...

 

[encomiast]

See for yourself: www.aral.de :3d_frown:
You probably wouldn't believe me if I told you

 

[TopSecret]

OH MY DEAREST.... !!!!!!!!

An average 1.13 *Diesel* to 1.40 *Normal* for a fricken liter... and over here I hear canadians and americans bitching and whining about high gas prices... HA!

Well, its summer and we have the world cup.... of course they pushed it all the way up...

 

[aye mate]

I am back from the Lake Constance area. We were so busy seeing the sights, plus with my 2 nephews under the age of 2 years and my 80 year old aunt, there would have been no time to meet up with you Encomiast, sorry. But the area is very beautiful! I don't remember the names of the places we stayed in but the towns were cool. We stayed in Fussen last night and today and saw the two castles, then drove back to Stuttgart. I am really liking Bavaria, although it seems that the entire region is a big tourist trap, but that may have been because all the places we go are tourist traps.

 

[encomiast]

Glad to read you liked it down here

If you visited a town called "Überlingen" (on the north-western branch of the lake), you've probably missed me by a few feet
But from what you wrote I assume you've stayed in Bavaria (i.e. at the eastern half of the lake) most of the time?

 

[aye mate]

We went to Konstanz first, then visited Mainau, then Meersburg, then Ravensburg, then headed to Fussen.

 

[encomiast]

Right, you really made a tour to some of the worst (yet most beautiful) tourist traps at the lake
Meersburg is where I spent the first 20 years of my life... small world...

 

[aye mate]

Well now I am home. Its good to be back in the States, I CAN ACTUALLY READ MENUS! No more soccer craziness, I will miss the food, the awesome scenery and the people though. All the rude Germans I ran into were the Airport employees in Stuttgart (wouldn't let me carry my skateboard on the plane) and some lady in Dulles airport when we landed. (My handicapped aunt was with us so we got to stand in the handicap line at customs and she yelled at me and my girlfriend to go and get in another line.

Overall, it was good vacation, the World Cup atmosphere is totally unforgetable. I've never seen so many cops in one place...

Encomiast- Sorry didn't get to meet up with you! Maybe next time as my sister will be living there until March 2008.

 

[encomiast]

Yeah, maybe next time.... glad to read you made it home well.
And as for not meeting any rude Germans, you probbaly were just incredibly lucky. j/k of course

 

[aye mate]

Some pictures of the Porsche and Mercedes-Benz museums.