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We Pick Up Our New Mercedes
Entry 3 of 14 | show all | print this entry |
We slept almost 11 hours, then got up for breakfast (cheese, cold cuts, muesli with yogurt, bread, and canned fruit-okay, but not too filling). Then we called a taxi and took our free ride to the Mercedes plant (they provided us with a taxi voucher).
The customer center is very modern and expensive-looking (as well it should be). We met with a nice frau (lady) who spoke perfect English. First she told us that they had expected us on the 10th-I guess I forgot to tell them of our change in plans. She had Steve sign a lot of papers, and then arranged for our factory tour. It started with a movie-very flashy but not too informative. Then we boarded a small bus with 2 other couples, one from Scotland and the other from Hilton Head, SC. On the bus we went into two buildings. One was the stamping plant where they take huge rolls of steel and turn them into the body frame, doors, roof, etc. The giant presses exert many tons of pressure to mold the parts. Then we went through a building where they put the car's shell together. They make 2000 cars a day at this plant: C-class, E-class, and the S-class. The A- and B- class cars and all trucks are made in one of their other plants. (The A-class is tiny and the brand-new B-class is not much bigger. Mercedes also owns Smarte Car, which is a very tiny 2-seater that we saw all over London and see a lot here. It is made in France.) The line we watched was making the C-class sedans and coupes. The welding and bolts and screws are all done by robotic machinery. Each car has a bar code that tells the robots and people exactly which options go on each car. The robots don't forget to tighten a bolt or make a weld. But there are people to oversee the robots and do quality checks. Over 2000 people work here and the plant has its own fire station with 40 firemen and 20 fire trucks. There are also stores, workout areas, cafeterias, etc. It's like a small town.
Then we got out of the bus and used the headsets that they provided so we could hear the guide talk, no matter how far away we were. This was very nice. We saw the assembly line where they put in the sunroofs (glued in after being lifted into the car through the windshield), the dashboard (assembled in the basement and installed as one piece-put in through the door), the seats, etc. Most of this work is done by people, with the help of robots for lifting heavy parts. The assembly lines move at different heights for different steps, so the workers can do most of the work standing up-for comfort. After the seats are in, they add the power train (engine and all the way back to the exhaust). It comes up from the basement and is married to the body-now it can be called a car, the guide said. We saw the test track where they check the horn (one horn blast is heard every 30 seconds-that's how many cars are being tested) and check for water-tightness (the "rain test"). The whole process takes 3-1/2 to 4 days.
Next, we had lunch at the Mercedes restaurant. Steve had saddle of venison with cranberry sauce and spaetzle (German noodles) and Judy had a small portion of pork roast with lots of mushrooms. (The smaller portion cost 75 percent of the regular and was just right.) Steve also had some Riesling wine. We had dessert, of course. Judy's strawberry ice cream was served in a martini glass with fresh strawberries on top. Steve had the special ice-cream parfait. It was a mix of vanilla and chocolate ice cream, with chocolate sauce drizzled over it, and a plum sauce, and some fresh fruits, and a chocolate "straw." The huge plate was decorated with the Mercedes emblem (star) in powdered sugar. Even with all this, we didn't use all of our allowed €65.00 (almost $85), so the waitress asked us if we wanted a bottle of the Riesling to go. Of course we said yes, and she added a small box of chocolates, too.
While Steve waited for our nice English-speaking frau to finish the paperwork, I bought a model of the car for Steve to have until his real car is delivered in Cleveland. The shop had Mercedes clothing, accessories, pins, models, bicycles, etc. Finally, we were taken to the waiting room for our new car. An English-speaking technician went over the car with us, showing how everything worked. Finally, we officially took possession of Steve's beautiful new white E-350 sedan and drove off of the Mercedes grounds (about 2:00 p.m.).
The car rides wonderfully and is very quiet. We followed the instructions to downtown Stuttgart and found the tourist information office almost by accident. We parked the car in an underground parking facility. The tourist office gave us a map to get back to Haus Birkach-she had a program that did it all for her and printed out the map. Steve signed up for 2 tours on Friday, when Judy will be teaching: a walking tour from 11:00-12:30 and a bus tour from 1:30-4:00. He should know Stuttgart well by the end of the day.
It was still only 3:00 so we decided to walk around. We found the State Opera, the New Palace, the Old Castle or Palace, the Collegiate Church and Schillerplatz (a platz is a square). The New Palace was started in 1746 and is now government offices. It was rebuilt after the destruction of WW II. The Old Palace marks the site of the wall built in the 10th century around Duke Liudolf's stud farm (Stuttgart). The castle was started in the last part of the 11th century and was the residence of the Counts of Wurttemburg until the New Palace was finished in the middle of the 18th century. It also was rebuilt after the war and now houses the State Museum with the Wurttemberg crown jewels, a 30,000-year-old ivory lion's head, and burial objects from a Celtic tomb from 500 BC. The Collegiate (or State) Church was originally built in 1170 and added on to over the years. It was rebuilt after the war with a very modern interior. Inside are the tombs of over 100 members of the Wurttemberg royal house.
We stopped at a sidewalk café outside the King's Building for coffee and apple strudel (with ice cream, of course), then walked down one of the streets to look for an alarm clock (Wenker) since Haus Birkat doesn't have clocks or a wakeup service. We found one for €5. We walked around some more, looking at the beautiful buildings, until dinner. We ate at Wiener Wuld, a nice little chicken restaurant. Steve had a wrap filled with chicken, cucumber, lettuce and dressing and Judy had chicken soup with carrots and celery and noodles and a side dish of basmati rice. It was very good and only cost €15. Then we got the car out of the parking garage (€7) and drove back to Haus Birkach. The directions from the tourist office were wonderful and we got back safe and sound about 8:00 (after a quick stop at a grocery store to get some cookies for Judy to take with her evening pills). We got to bed about 11:00 p.m.
Where I stayed:
Haus Birkach
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