A long day at the museum
Breakfast
I ate breakfast with my hosts this morning, and I have to say that they could not be any nicer. A couple, Alexandra and Chris, who have a cute little boy, and who have converted their 2nd story into a Air BnB rental.
The place is great, and they’re taking very good care of me. Their suggestions, and offers of kindness are, once again, the moments that make a trip like this worthwhile.
Purchasing Tickets for the Museum
As you can see from the picture, when I arrived at the museum, the line was pretty short, and it took me no more than 2 minutes to get my tickets.
However, as I was leaving the museum, the line had increased significantly, to the point where these folks would likely wait about 20 minutes, just to purchase tickets.
The MB museum in Stuttgart is 10 floors of immersion into the world of Mercedes Benz. I wanted to listen to an expert, so I signed up for a guided tour, in English, and it was great. Throughout the tour, we were told about all of the “Firsts” that Mercedes takes credit for, starting with taking credit for creating the first automobile.
As Americans, I’ll bet a large percentage of our population believes that it was an American that created the first automobile, but that’s not the case. It was 1886 when Karl Benz created a 3-wheeled car, which is the basis for all automobiles today.
I spent about 4 hours in the museum, taking pictures, and reading the exhibits. All of the pictures I took are catalogged below. I’ve decided the pictures into Cars, Bicycles, Trucks, and Race Cars. Enjoy.
MB Cars
MB Trucks
MB Race Cars
MB Bikes
A visit to the MB showroom
I’m told that this automobile showroom is the largest Mercedes showroom in the world. I certainly wouldn’t dispute it, and it was really, really big.
Walking through the floor, I came upon a C43 AMG 4 door sedan, configured with less equipment and options than the car that i ordered, but it was in Brilliant Blue, and it was certainly similar.
Looking at the sticker price, you can see that it sells for 82,000 Euros, which is about $100,000 USD. My car is priced at about $76,000 USD, and like i said, I’ll be getting more car than the one on offer on the floor.
This discrepancy should not be a surprise for anyone that’s a car guy, but to a run-of-the-mill American, you’ll be surprised to hear that the pricing that we pay, for German cars, is between 25-33% less than what a German would pay for the same car.
Shopping on the way home?
Each time I purchased a drink at the museum, it cost me almost 4 Euro, and it was beginning to bug me. I had hoped to buy a drink, and then refill the bottle with cold water from a fountain, but there are no fountains to be had in the entire museum. In addition, the water in the Water Closet (Men’s room) was warm, and expected to be used to wash your hands.
And so, as I made the 1.6 mile walk back to the BnB at about 3:30, I decided to stop and get some cash, and then to do a little shopping. I was able to purchase some cold cuts, a couple types of cheese, crackers, biscuits, 6 beers, Iced Tea, 4 liters of orange drink, 1 liter of orange juice, 1 liter of gape juice, 2 rolls, 4 pieces of fruit, and 2 carry bags, all for less than 20 Euro.
Now, the problem would be, how do I get all of this stuff back to the BnB. Well, sometimes you just tough it out, and walk. Which is what I had to do. You can imagine that carrying all of those liquids was heavy, but I just imagined that it was like the Fireman’s carry, which we do in crossfit. I called this, the grocery carry, and instead of 50 yards, it was more like 800 yards or so.
What will tomorrow bring?
My plan for tomorrow is similar to today, but different… I’ll wake up, get some breakfast at about 9:00 AM, and then travel to the Porsche museum. Once done with that, I’ll ride the bike into wine country, and experience some of the wines in the local area, being very careful not to drink anything that will affect me materially.
Drinking fountains are a rarity over this side. Love the pics! Can’t wait to see you next week!
Hey Girl,
Its always so nice to hear from you, but whats this you say, no drinking fountains in this land of yours? I’m really looking forward to getting to Belgium, and spending some time with you. That said, I do have a MotoGP race in BRNO that I expect to be AWESOME.
I know you are in heaven looking at all those cars. Really enjoying your blog, but missing you too. Enjoy!
Yes, as a car guy, I get a warm feeling all over, my legs go weak, and I begin to drool. I think that’s called a cargasm.
Looking at your car photos, I’m struck by the exuberance of the those in #12-39. They bring home that the ensuing decades of well-intentioned safety and fuel economy regulations have slowly forced all makes and models of cars into a sameness of exterior design. When auto makers can only differentiate their products visually by the badge on the outside and the size of the touch screen inside we have lost something of value – namely the automobile as art!
Keep having fun!
Hey Bill,
As I walked along, looking at those cars, I for a great many of them, I simply could not believe how beautiful they were. The designs were big, opulant and elegant, but the paint looked like it was 1/4″ thick, and poured on.
Oh, my plan; Keep having fun.