24"? Can you Say 24K? Popemobile FTW

This is a GDM G-Class Pope Spec.

Pinky ring worth about 50 BLING BLING

everytime he come around the corner BLING BLING

In awe.

I traveled to the Mercedes Museum in Stuttgart. It's funny, when punching in the route to the Museum, it was like the car was automatically filling out the forms for me. Must have known it was going back to it's origin =)

Stuttgart is an awesome town. The place is practially overrun with people driving Mercedes Benzes. It's such a relief to not see any BMWs =) =) =P

Stuttgart reeks of MBZ and it has a 2 block 5 story all glass MBZ dealer to prove. Another nice POI for Stuttgart was the MAHLE plant which cranks out tons of high-performance pistons for people like me. I saw a bulletion board on the facade which read something like "Speed is the answer."

The Mercedes Benz Musuem is an 8-level building that's constructed out of a mix of glass and concrete. There are actually 2 routes you can take through the museum-- The Legends Tour and the Collections Tour. Think of a vertical strand of DNA and imagine it loaded with cars. That's pretty much what the Museum feels like.

I spent 8 hours at the Museum and I *still* need to go back for more.

it was well worth the EU12 price of admission.

Pita Pita?

German toilet paper.

Check out those hard, raised dots on the surface.

It's a pain in the ass to use.



literally.

Location

This is where i am.

You can see Porsche Plant #1 directly SW of me.

C Class

The rental. Radar equipped with GPS =)

Policia Update

See post titled "Policia"

Radar FTW

BTW, this Mercedes radar system is awesome. You get a display in the center of your dash up front, and a display up in the headliner for the rear. 2 graduated meters display how close your right and left sides of the bumper are to the wall and beeps help you "feel" how close the wall is with this system. It automatically engages for the front when the car is in a forward gear and it automatically engages for the rear unit when the car is in reverse.

Za Autobahn

I don't speak a single lick of German, but I feel so comfortable on the Autobahn!

It's my first day here and I'm already driving 140kph all the way up 175kph so far on unfamiliar roads and it's just awesome to see cars almost .5mi ahead of you pull to the side to let you pass. It's a great feeling that makes you feel like the human race still has hope =P

It's the total opposite of California drivers that slow down to the speed limit and refuse to move over when you come up on them. Try coming up to a BMW driver in LA @ 100mph... They never move over! =(

Someone asked me why the autobahn doesn't have a speed limit--
I reason it has to do with 3 things: the roads, the machines and the drivers.
The roads are silky smooth and perfect, the machines are built to handle at speed and the driver's licensing process here makes the US's look like a game of pin the tail on the donkey (i.e. any idiot can get a license in the USA)

I'm at home here driving on the autobahn. It's just so invigorating averaging 160kph and being able to open up the car when space allows and NOT have to worry about Crown Victorias and quota obsessed cops writing you a fat speeding ticket. I just wish I could have brought MY car (the VW GLI) over so I'd finally be able to make use of my 6th gear at 5000+rpm =)

I'm In Germany

I'm in Germany and I'm lovin' it.

Ironically, my first meal here was at a McDonald's. =)

Prado, Thyssen-Bornemisza and the Reina Sofia.

Art. I never did very well in that subject, and the best true-to-life drawings I can muster still look like glorified stick figures.
Even though I'm not much of an art buff, I still went to the golden 3 and I'm glad I did.

Madrid has Prado, Thyssen Bornemisza and Reina Sofia museums all within walking distance of each other. You can purchase a 3 musuem pass for only 12,00 euros and it's worth it!

The Thyssen has works from Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Gris, and Gauguin.

The Reina Sofia is actually a converted hospital and it houses works from Salvador Dali, Picasso and Miro. This is the museo you want to go to! The Reina Sofia houses Picasso's famous Guernica, and it's one good reason to fly to Madrid.

The Prado is free on Sundays and I really can't remember what was there since it was so busy, but I heard if you're lucky, when you go the Picasso exhibit might be open.

Siesta

The Siesta! if you read the sign it says "Horario. Manana De 9, A14, Tarde De 17 A 20."

It means this shop closes at 2PM, just like the rest of Spain. If you need to buy something other than beer from 2-5PM, good luck because everyone will be closed, including your bank!

I like it though, since at 2, everyone takes a siesta, or afternoon nap since it gets hot around that time. You can sleep or lounge around, but then at 5 o clock, most shops start opening back up again and life continues at a cooler time of day.

Capitol City

Madrid is a very beautiful capitol city! It has tons of old buildings and even all the non-government and non-commerical buildings are worth taking pictures of.

I took plenty of shots and went through 2 CF cards.

Policia

Today after my siesta I went out to grab a bite to eat and I was treated to a show!

I got to see 4 criminales get handled with Spanish hospitality by dozens of Policia in riot gear and riot shields.

Poor guys.

Perro

Whoa! The breeds of dogs here are awesome! It sucks I ran out of battery power yesterday-- I saw a lot more dogs yesterday than I did today.

I wasn't able to recognize alot of the breeds here, but some are actually really cool. I saw one dog that looked like a cross between a dachshund and a beagle and a retriever and then I saw another dog that looked like a super excited teddy bear...

Double-Decker Bus Tours

I had the chance to take one of those 2 level bus tours. It was interesting. You get a set of headphones with your 1 day pass and as the bus drives by landmarks in the city, a man with a funny New Zealand accent tells you a little bit about each building and monument assuming you picked the right language on your audio guide.

It did get a little annoying at times though, not because of the man's accent, but because during down times between points of interest, the bus would blare loud ass Spanish opera music through the audio guide forcing you to turn them down. Then a POI would pass by and you wouldn't know what it was since the audio guide was turned down so low. By the time you turned it back up, you ears were already being assaulted by more Spanish opera.

Sangria. So Special, It Gets Its Own Post

Mmm. I'm in Spain, and I'm loving the Sangria. I'm totally going to hit up a tapas bar when I get back to Los Angeles.

What is sangria? Wikipedia defines sangria as a wine punch which originated in Spain. It typically consists of a red wine, chopped or sliced fruit, a sweetener such as honey, and a small amount of added brandy, triple sec, or other spirits.


The sangria here is just so yummy.

If you guys ever get the chance to Spain, make sure you do!

Every bar here has their own sangria mix just like they have their own house beer.

It's awesome to bar hop and order up a fresh pitcher of sangria in less than a minute. Beat that Hooters!

Tapas! Bar Hopping! Mmmm!

I think what I'm going to miss most about Spain is the food. The Tapas and Beer here are awesome!

It's great, I can go out at 6PM, hop into one bar and get a plate of tapas in less than 30 seconds.
I drink a beer, try more tapas out and hop to the next bar. I'm loving it!

What's nice too is that the bars stay open LATE. I actually went bar hopping last night, came back to the hotel to get some sleep, and when I woke up this morning, I was able to grab a quick bite to eat at the same bar I went to the night before (manned by the same crew!) right before they closed. I think this was around 7-8am, so these Spaniards stay up LATE.

we need stuff like this in the US!

Church here is awesome. (You didn't know? 94% of Spain is Catholic) I've never seen a black messiah before. It's an ominous looking figure of Jesus. No wonder everyone's so devout =P I could have sworn this image was clearer when I took it...

Anyway, mass was ok. It seems that every time I pass by the Church, there's a mass going which is awesome because after mass, everyone goes to the bars across the street.

Mass is good, because it means the bars are open!

The bars are right across the street and when I say street, I mean American size alley. I can pretty much look out from inside the Church and see across the street into the bar and tell you what the grandmas inside are drinking.

So here you go to mass, and then go drink.

Why can't the US be more like this? =P

1st Post Proof

Hey. It's a blog. It's my first, so I assume these first posts will read like crap and gradually get better as I get used to this (hopefully).

So to those people that don't beleive I'm in Spain, here is a picture of me. You can clearly see the European Union plate on the Peugeot next to me =) This is Calle Lope de Vega, and you can see my hotel behind me to the left. It's the 2nd to the last building.

Hopefully I'll get to blog all the pictures I took. There are just so many pictures, and not enough time to get to all of them. Also, I have to write this blog downstairs in the hotel since all floors above the 3rd have no working ethernet ports nor wireless reception. =(