Year ! This year again!
My friend Heinrich informed me right in time by the End of January that the registration was up again for the famous Pagoda weekend in July 2016 at Peter's hotel in Enkirch near the river Mosel(le) in Germany near Traben-Trarbach.
My friend Kurt and I (as a team) signed up that night, and right next morning the Event was already fully booked !
It has already been a good tradition by Peter Huesgen (PeterH here on the forum) to invite the German-speaking Pagodentreff folks once or twice a year for the traditional Moselle event at his nice scenic hotel in Enkirch located at the German river Mosel (Moselle). This has been the fifth year in row.
A total of 24 cars, all with two passengers, listened to Peter's invitation this time for the second event in July, which now was from Thu, Jul 14 - Sun, Jul 17. There was also an early Mosel event already at the end of May.
Among the attending cars were 22 Pagodas, one very beautiful A124 Cabriolet and two R129 SLs. Kurt and I attended in his nice green R129 since my 114015 was not allowed. Cabriolets only this time!
Some attendees arrived already early on Thursday (including Kurt and myself) but most of the official crowd shuffled in on Friday.
Friday: Arrival of all participants until 5.00 PM. After a cheer welcome we attended the winery of Peter's brother just up the street two blocks. At the small wine tasting we had some very nice wines and brandies and some very nice "great to see you back" small talks. After this very sound basis we enjoyed a great dinner at Peter's hotel, and the socializing afterwards took place until late at night.
Saturday: After a comprehensive breakfast we started for our first tour in the morning. The weather was positive; cloudy and no sun though but also no rain to come up. We toured only on some very nice rural roads through the volcanic Eifel along some hidden maar lakes and hilly forests. Just plain beautiful! Our main destination that day was the Himmerod Monastery, a beautiful clerical ensemble, very typically classical.
We were allowed to line up our Pagodas and - most important - enjoyed first our very nice lunch in the restaurant nearby.
After lunch we made a guided tour through the monastery, held by Father Ignatius, and we learned soon that the monastery was completely rebuilt by the end oft he 19th century by the monks after the previous monastery was completely decayed before. So, this is in reality an almost brand new monastery. Almost unbelievable today how the monks could have managed that during their very humble days with only praying, very little sleeping and food and lots of hard work.
After the tour Father Ignatius blessed our cars, see the attached pics.
We continued our scenic tour, and this time even the very last sleepy Pagoda team took their softtop down as the weather had very much improved: sun!!
Our last destination was the scenic town of Traben-Trarbach, very well worth a visit! We lined up the 22 Pagodas on a public parking spot at the banks of the river Moselle and lots of visitors looked at these strange old …. "Where the heck do they all come from?" An unrelated visitor with his R107 joined us instantly!
https://youtu.be/TAiYWOjxW_Uhttps://youtu.be/HPkZIbXOyyUA very nice dinner and lots of sozializing chatting finalised this fantastic and eventful day.
My friend Heinrich and Peter shared some time that weekend to improve Peter's slightly faulty new brake booster (T52). Heinrich and Peter solved the problem, and I was very graciously allowed to test drive the improvements on Peter's Pagoda. Well, his 280 with the short 4.08 rear in combination with the Getrag 5-speed and the stiffer Mechatronic springs is a real pleasure to drive. Especially how much the 15 inch rims together with the 205/60 tires made the difference! You cannot judge that before driving such a combination. With these much more modern tires the Pagoda is just a different car! It's a pleasure to drive, and so safe! A huge improvement in comparison to the usual 185/80 14 inch rims/tires combination (Vredestein or Michelin). It's really well worth the consideration! Thank you so much, Peter, for letting me drive and enjoy your car for half an hour!
After a very well and warm Goodbye between friends (which we have already been or have become there) all of the teams departed towards their home designations at around lunch.
Kurt and I enjoyed once more a very scenic departing trip along the Moselle via Cochem towards Koblenz before we headed home.
Again this was a awesome weekend in Enkirch and environment: Great people, optimal organization of accommodation, touring, visiting and even the weather was stable - by far not as hot as last year (wasn't Peter's fault). The event organized by Peter and his team couldn't be any better! Nice people, great atmosphere and the familiar environment of the Moselle, just perfect.
Thank you so much to Peter and his family & team for the organization and the fantastic hotel and food (again I gained quite some weight …) and especially the touring highlights..
We look very much forward to the next Event in July 2017!! Hopefully - Peter, please!
Achim
(again without 114015 - but next time!)
