The Grand Tour 2021
Germany (Munich), Austria (Patsch), Italy (Lake Como)
July 1 - July 11, 2021
Our usual tri-annual trip to Europe was unfortunately put on hold due to COVID. We had planned on a trip through London, Paris and then head over to Munich for our pilgrimage through Bavaria down to the Lake Como region of Italy. Due to the pandemic and Brexit, thing have changed.
This trip, being a little last minute because not knowing if or when the European Union would open up limited the usual six month planning phase. In addition, BMWUSA cancelled the European Delivery program, which was a fantastic opportunity to pickup your new BMW automobile at the BMW Welt Delivery Centre, drive it around on vacation, then drop it off at any one of several locations. It would then show up at your local dealership ready for re-delivery stateside.
The Plan!
This trip we decided to fly to Germany (Munich), rent a car then continue down to Lake Como for some rest and relaxation. We will travel from Orlando (MCO) to Frankfurt (FRA) through Dallas (DFW). Normally we would try to fly directly into Munich, but due to flight availability there wasn’t anything that worked out. A little silver lining flying DFW-FRA is that leg is on an American Airlines 787-9 (Flight 70). We’ve never flown on the Boeing 787 series so that will be a treat. I’d like to compare the new lay-flat seats in Business Class on the new planes to what we had on the older 777-200 series.
Once we arrive in Frankfurt, we’ll continue down to Munich on the Deutsch Bahn (ICE) Train. Again, due to scheduling, we weren’t able to take advantage of a quick 45 minute flight on Lufthansa FRA-MUC. After we arrive in Munich, we’ll immediately head to get our rental car. I booked us a rental through BMW-Rent, which allows the customer to pick from a fleet of current gen BMW automobiles for rent up-to 30-days. Since I’m a pretty big BMW car enthusiast, I decided to rent a BMW (F90) ///M5. I haven’t had an opportunity to drive that model, so I thought it was as good of a time as any to experience one in its natural habitat, the German Autobahn.
After we pickup the car, we’ll immediately head south into Austria for the weekend. We are going to stay in this fantastic little area south of Innsbruck, Austria. We stumbled upon Patsch and the Hotel Grünwalderhof during our Honeymoon in 2007. I made a wrong turn and got off the A-road early, winding through the mountain road until we came upon the Hotel. We were en route to Venice, Italy, so had a pretty long (6 hour) drive ahead of us at the time, but made a mental note to visit again. We wanted to stay there so much that we ended up leaving Florence a few days early to make it back up and visit Patsch and the Hotel. It was the best decision we made. It’s like a scene out of Hansel and Gretel, with a Biergarten patio and a spectacular view of the Austrian Alps.
After Patsch, Austria we’ll continue down to Lake Como and Gravedona, Italy for some rest and relaxation.
Day 1 - Headed to Germany
July 1, 2021 - 11:46 EDT — We departed from Orlando International Airport (MCO) on American Airlines 1709, on a Airbus A321S over to Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW). We are seated in domestic first class (3A/3C), which is a standard business class seat. Unfortunately due to COVID restrictions, the standard pre-flight beverages were not offered on this flight. There was also quite a bit of rough air (turbulence) on the climb out, which delayed our service a bit.
Our flight out of DFW to FRA was uneventful. We departed Dallas-Fort Worth (DFW) on American Airlines 70, a Boeing 787-9. We sat in Flagship Business, with the standard lie-flat seats (4D/4H). As with the MCO/DFW leg, no pre-flight refreshments were offered and generally speaking, service was more muted than on our previous trans-Atlantic flights on American Airlines. Dinner was pretty good — offering a variety of dishes (beef filet, fish (salmon), chicken, and a vegetarian pasta. Along with dinner, there was also a mid-flight snack/snack available in the galley as well as breakfast about 90 minutes before arrival. The FA‘s supporting the business section of the plane were attentive and helpful throughout the flight. Sadly, I wasn’t unable to rest comfortably due to adjacent passengers/children who were up and not being respectful of the other guests.
Day 2 - Hallo Germany
We made it to Frankfurt! Dumb me, I didn’t realize that I booked our departure on the ICE train from the Frankfurt (Main) Hauptbahnhof instead of the Frankfurt Flughafen Fernbf (Airport). I ended up running over to the DB Zentrum at the platform to see what could be done. As it turned out our original train was cancelled, so that allowed the attendant to convert our ticket to a flexible ticket and take whatever train and board wherever we wanted…. Score!! We ended up being able to catch an earlier train (ICE 529) that was ~25 min late and will get us into Munich around 13:30…. Actually all the trains were late this morning…. So much for German efficiency. Once we get to Munich, we‘ll take the U2 and U3 U-bahn‘s over to BMW Mini München to pickup our rental.
More to come as we celebrate getting back to normal, the world opening up and enjoying a holiday in Europe.
