A few weeks ago we enjoyed our second visitors from the states: Andrea's mother, step-dad, and older sister. It was a whirland visit (only 7 days) but we managed to get in a few different countries and some great sight-seeing.
The first stop was Munich, Germany. We have been to this great city a few times, but the visits always seemed to be for only a day or night. So our plan for this visit was to spend a few days getting to know this fine city.
Marienplatz and the infamous Glockenspiel.
Lunch at the world famous Hofbraeuhaus.....including the Polka band!
Of course the warm weather brang out the "fun crowds".....example "A" below and the "Bier Bike Tour". Get your exercise by riding a bike, see the famous sights of the city with a trained tour guide, and stay "hydrated". Hilarious to watch really.
The sunset offered some amazing views.
The weather was perfect....mid-80's and almost no clouds. The ideal conditions for discovering the city.
The best way to see the city in one afternoon? Why by taking an authentic Mike's Bike Tour of course! Funny and informative and a great way to cover a lot of ground in just a few hours. Some of the pictures from our ride.
Andrea and her step-dad enjoying the sun during our break in the English Garden.
The heart of the English Garden: the 25 meter high Chinese tower. The size of the English Garden was surprising......it is larger than New York's Central Park
The bikes neatly lined up while we enjoyed our lunch.
We took a quick break to watch the "urban city surfers" on the local river.
Andrea and her step-dad on a brief stop along the river.
The next day we headed out to the Deutsches Museum (German Museum). It has always been very high on my list of museums to visit.....and it did not disappoint. Known for being the worlds largest musuem of technology and science, it has over 28,000 exhibit pieces from 50 fields of science and technology. If you ever find yourself in Munich, this is a must-see. A warning however: there is a LOT to see there, so my advice is to treat it like you would visiting the Louvre Museum in Paris: have a game plan of what you want to see before you enter. If you don't......well, let's just say that you will likely take over a week to see it all. Enough chatter....let's see the pics!
A great view as we entered the musuem.
One of my favorite displays: the aeronautics section. Check out this cross-section from an Airbus plane:
Taking a brief break with satellites in the background
One of the coolest exhibits was the setion devoted to marine crafts.....including this U-Boat and the cross-section cut out exposing the layout of this incredible craft.
I have to say the highlight of the museum visit was the section dedicated to the mining industry. You begin the tour by descending several flights of stairs where they show what it was like in the early days. As you ascend towards the main level, they do a great job to show the evolution of the industry and practices. During the entire exhibit you are walking through very dark tunnels and narrow hallways....we really felt like we were in an authentic mine. Most of the pictures turned out a bit blurry, but here is a good one showing how the workers in the early days mined. Rough work doesn't begin to describe what it must have been like.......
The electric section, including the larger than life light bulb.
It was a great visit and we loved being tour guides and showing off our favorite finds! The other cities and locations we visited have been covered in prior entries, so we'll end it here. In all, it was a fun-filled time hanging with Andrea's family and it really helped us reflect on how much we have learned and experienced since we moved here in early 2010.
