Driving Fast and Slowing Down in Germany

We awoke of course to rain again in Belgium.  For the first time though the catering tent was not insane as many people had departed the night prior, so we were actually able to get to all the food easily and Andy was even able to order a hot meal for a few pounds.  We checked out about 10AM, but had 6 hours before Alec's second most anticipated adventure of the trip, driving the famous Nurburgring in Germany.  We had quickly assessed a few options the day before and opted for the Moselle River town of Cochem.

Unfortunately, along the way we needed to stop twice as our tires kept showing low and then upon arrival we couldn't find good parking to allow us to walk up to the beautiful Reichsburg Cochem Castle which drew us to the town.  Apparently this is quite the little hot spot as the car parks were packed and lots of people were about on bikes, walking dogs, and enjoying the shops and restaurants.  It was a picturesque town and would have loved to spend a day there. By the time we found a parking spot and walked into town (and after our 3 days in a row of walking back and forth to the race track) we opted to skip the castle, grab a bite to eat, walk in town a bit, and then head on our way.

We enjoyed lunch at Elli's Schnitzel-Haus.  The reviews on-line were mediocre to poor, but honestly the food was quite nice.  Prices were not crazy and the service was very friendly and helpful.  I would learn later after some research it was the owner who was serving us.  Andy had his first schnitzel, Alec pizza, and myself chips (fries) with a tatziki type dipping sauce.  It was very nice. A 20 minute walk back to our car and we were off...by the way, I forgot to mention Alec would get to drive fast later this afternoon, but Andy did get to drive the autobahn a few times on this day.  I will admit when he started pushing 90mph I chickened out and asked him to slow down.

We arrived a bit early for Alec's drive so we went on to the race course and visited the Nurburgring RingWerk, which is a museum.  Had we researched a little better I would say we probably would have explored a little more of the overall facility before committing to the museum. It was good, but had several attractions aimed at young children.

Needing to arrive an hour early we drove to Ringfreaks, the company Alec had spent weeks finding.  See at 18 there were many rules for driving the famous 28.2k Nurburgring.  In 2027 it will celebrate 100 years of racing.  It has hosted about every kind of motorized racing you can imagine and has seen the likes of Schumacher to Hamilton win on its famous curves.  Today it is mostly known for its 24 hour endurance races. Back to the rules...Alec's age, and budget, limited the cars he could drive.  He would wind up with a BMW F30 328i.  He also was required to have a coach in the car with him.  He could drive anywhere from 2 - 5 laps.  He spent his hard earned In-n-Out dollars and went for 5.  Andy went with him and checked him in.  I figured a nervous Mom would not do well for Alec's confidence.  The guys in the office were kind enough the point us to "YouTube Corner" for us to watch for Alec. Andy might have lied to me or limited my information upfront by saying it was the corner where YouTubers liked to video the fast cars.  After Alec was finished I would be told it was actually the corner where YouTubers like to record crashes.

Alec turned on his data so we could acess his Life360 location and be ready for photos and videos.  He would do 2 laps and take a break while the coach rode with someone else, then he would do 3 more.  We sat and waited patiently as he waited in a line to scan his pass and access the track.  We would learn ANYTHING...and we do mean ANYTHING can do the open track tourist drive.  We saw minivans, a car with a large Thule box, a work van, and lots of family wagons.  These were mixed amongst Lotus, BMWs, Porsches, and more.  It was incredibly entertaining.  Andy hid Alec's speed from me and I only got alerted when he was a couple minutes out so I could climb down the hill to the hole in the fence for photographers.  He had a great time!  And was very grateful for the coach.  The turns were so numerous and seemed never-ending that he said it was super helpful and allowed him to drive faster and more agressively overtaking many other drivers.  By the way if anyone goes and wants a coach his name was Marcell.  Apparently he has over 5000 laps on the course and has raced on it quite a bit.

He wrapped up around 7PM and drove the car back to the facility on his own and checked out.  Starved we stopped at a local petrol station and secured some snacks and hit the road to Cologne where we would check into our first real hotel, Artotel by Raddison, located right on the Rhine.  It was a beautiful location and our room was a corner with huge windows that opened on the second floor looking towards the cathedral.  We were disappointed that the hotel advertises a restaurant, but it only exists for a pricey (but plentiful) breakast buffet.  So we ordered via Uber Eats from Micki's   It was very fast, hot, and good Italian.  The hotel had provided us a large water with air ("sparkling water") and Andy grabbed his first Kolsh from the bar when he met our delivery guy.

We slept in and enjoyed the buffet which was very good.  Alec worked out in the minimalist hotel gym and we lazed around and I did laundry until nearly 2PM.  Then we had the fun adventure of returning the rental car to the train station.  We tried to go into the parking garage through the wrong entrance, then it took us about 15 minutes and several in and outs of the building to learn we simply drop the keys in a box marked Hertz and walk away. 

A quick walk around the corner and we were at the centerpiece of this city and UNESCO site, Cologne Cathedral.  It is the tallest twin-spired church in the world and the second largest cathedral in Europe. Construction began in 1248 but would not be well-funded until the 1840's.  It was amazing...definitely ranks up there with Notre Dame, St Peters, and Duomo.  It would take us nearly an hour to self tour the interior.

What else does one do after chuch, but have a beer so we headed off to Brahaus Fruh am Dom, which translates to the Beer Hall of the Cathedral, so very close.  It was started in 1895.  We settled into a table on the first floor and so it began.  Our beers were marked on a coaster on the table.  The server would only stop when we placed our coaster over the top...well not really...he was very used to tourists who did not know so he was kind enough to ask us if we wanted more and how many.  We would learn he was Persian, who came to Germany via L.A. to escape the Iyotollah's rule.  We were grateful for his kindness because by about 4 beers in we could not be trusted to remember to place our coaster over the top. We ordered traditional and appetizer of Halver Hahn (bread, cheese, butter, and onion) and our meals included Deftige Gulaschsuppe, Schweineschnitzel, and Ofenfrischer Schweinebraten and of course, Streudel, for dessert.  A very fun and filling afternoon as we would wind up spending nearly 3 hours there just chatting. We walked back to our hotel to enjoy more of the city sites and then off to bed as we had an early morning train to Berlin, our final stop.