Yesterday the Wyknenko's arrived in Germany! I went for a walk around Landshut and just as I arrived back at the Klemm's, they drove on in. We went for a walk around Landshut after a great lunch that Mirjam made. Landshut is known for having the tallest brick steeple in the world at 400 feet. It really towers over you when you walk up to it. We also walked up to a small castle overlooking the town. On the walk back it rained on us pretty good but nothing anyone who has lived in Seattle for awhile can't handle.
Today we set out to see Neuschwanstein Castle. This is the castle that looks like it exists in a fairy tale and was built by crazy King Ludwig II. The Klemm's let us borrow their VW van to make the journey, which was very kind of them, they are great people. The drive down through Bavaria was great with rolling hills, farms, and Bavarian houses all along the road. It was great to be traveling with friends for a change instead of by myself. Although I only had to wait for me when travelling by myself. The castle was great and really looks like it belongs in a fairy tale. It was built in the 19th century and so was never meant to keep out intruders and was just to make the crazy king happy.
I added some more photos to the munich and landshut album so just click below for more. If you haven't figured it out yet, after you click on the album picture, you can click to start a slideshow of the images as well. I have added captions to some of the images so enjoy.
Friday, March 30, 2007
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
The A380 is huge!
Last night Horst told me that the A380 was flying into the Munich airport today. Of course being a little of an aircraft enthusiast myself, I had to go see it. It was planned to land at 12:30 today and I arrived at the airport with just enough time to climb a hill for a view. I was a little worried I'd miss it since I had to take three different trains to get to the airport and had no idea how often they came or how long it took for them to reach their destination. But as you might be able to see in the photos, I made it and saw the giant A380. It did a flyby and then flew around and landed. I got to see the approach but missed the touchdown since there were buildings in the way. But it did taxi by where I could see it from a distance.
Afterwards, I wanted to see it at the terminal but of course they don't let you in without a plane ticket and to see it from the nearest road was on the opposite side of the huge airport. So instead I headed back into Munich and went to the Deutches Museum.
The Deutches Museum was great. It is a science and technology museum with great exhibits that are interactive and very explanatory. I loved looking at the evolution of the power machines from water wheels to steam engines to jets. They had other things for aviation and electricity and many others. They had to kick me out at 5 when it closed. I then found a nice bratwurst to eat before I headed back to Landshut. They really know how to make a nice bratwurst here and don't even have ketchup to ruin it with. Back in Landshut we watched football (what we call soccer back in the USA). It was Deutschland vs. Denmark, Denmark won by one on a score in the last ten minutes of the game.
Anyways, the Wyknenkos arrive tomorrow afternoon! It will be good to see them. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I got to talk with Darren on the phone shortly after I arrived in Landshut. It was great to hear him and I can't wait to see him again soon. Well I better upload some photos for you all and get some rest.
Afterwards, I wanted to see it at the terminal but of course they don't let you in without a plane ticket and to see it from the nearest road was on the opposite side of the huge airport. So instead I headed back into Munich and went to the Deutches Museum.
The Deutches Museum was great. It is a science and technology museum with great exhibits that are interactive and very explanatory. I loved looking at the evolution of the power machines from water wheels to steam engines to jets. They had other things for aviation and electricity and many others. They had to kick me out at 5 when it closed. I then found a nice bratwurst to eat before I headed back to Landshut. They really know how to make a nice bratwurst here and don't even have ketchup to ruin it with. Back in Landshut we watched football (what we call soccer back in the USA). It was Deutschland vs. Denmark, Denmark won by one on a score in the last ten minutes of the game.
Anyways, the Wyknenkos arrive tomorrow afternoon! It will be good to see them. Oh yeah, I forgot to say that I got to talk with Darren on the phone shortly after I arrived in Landshut. It was great to hear him and I can't wait to see him again soon. Well I better upload some photos for you all and get some rest.
 |
| Munich and Landshut |
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Bavaria, the land of Lederhosen
My last night in Florence was great. I realized that I was leaving the best place in the world to get gelato so I decided the only way to fix that was to have two gelatos for the day. I would have had three if I wasn't in such a hurry to catch my train after dinner. I found a hill to climb up and have a wonderful view of Florence during sunset. I'll add more pictures to the Florence link.
The night train from Florence to Munich wasn't as comfortable as my last one. I didn't sleep to well but it still is nice to wake up in a new city. After getting off the train I stowed my big bag in a locker and went off blindly into Munich. It was very chilly this morning and I was glad to have a hat and gloves with me. Munich is pretty much flat and not hard to get around. I didn't use any of the public transport and just walked around today.
Munich has one of the largest city parks in Europe, the English Gardens, and they were great to walk around in in the morning. This is also the park that is well known for the nude sunbathing but nobody was out today. I also walked past the Glockenspiel around 8 in the morning when no one was there and came back at 11 when it goes off and the square was packed with tourists. I must say I wasn't too impressed with the Glockenspiel but it was neat.
For lunch, I got a good tip from somebody that works for a bike tour company in Munich. It turns out the famous Hofbrauhaus has a lunch special under 5 euro. It was some sort of potatoe and cheese soup with some meat and potatoes for the entree. It tasted pretty good especially washing it down with a nice Hofbrauhaus beverage.
I made it to Landshut this afternoon and Mirjam picked me up from the train station and brought me to her home. It really has been great how the families I've stayed with have been so helpful and nice. It makes traveling so much easier when you stay with a local. Later, I went with Mathias for a bagel snietzel (sp?) at a restaurant in downtown Landshut, pretty tasty and cheap. Well off to planning for tomorrow, I just found out that the A380 (super big passenger jet plane) will fly into the Munich airport tomorrow afternoon. I'll post some pics of it if I see it. Auf Wiedersehen.
The night train from Florence to Munich wasn't as comfortable as my last one. I didn't sleep to well but it still is nice to wake up in a new city. After getting off the train I stowed my big bag in a locker and went off blindly into Munich. It was very chilly this morning and I was glad to have a hat and gloves with me. Munich is pretty much flat and not hard to get around. I didn't use any of the public transport and just walked around today.
Munich has one of the largest city parks in Europe, the English Gardens, and they were great to walk around in in the morning. This is also the park that is well known for the nude sunbathing but nobody was out today. I also walked past the Glockenspiel around 8 in the morning when no one was there and came back at 11 when it goes off and the square was packed with tourists. I must say I wasn't too impressed with the Glockenspiel but it was neat.
For lunch, I got a good tip from somebody that works for a bike tour company in Munich. It turns out the famous Hofbrauhaus has a lunch special under 5 euro. It was some sort of potatoe and cheese soup with some meat and potatoes for the entree. It tasted pretty good especially washing it down with a nice Hofbrauhaus beverage.
I made it to Landshut this afternoon and Mirjam picked me up from the train station and brought me to her home. It really has been great how the families I've stayed with have been so helpful and nice. It makes traveling so much easier when you stay with a local. Later, I went with Mathias for a bagel snietzel (sp?) at a restaurant in downtown Landshut, pretty tasty and cheap. Well off to planning for tomorrow, I just found out that the A380 (super big passenger jet plane) will fly into the Munich airport tomorrow afternoon. I'll post some pics of it if I see it. Auf Wiedersehen.
 |
| Munich and Landshut |
Monday, March 26, 2007
Pics of Firenze!
Well I finally found a place I can upload my pics from. Enjoy! I take a night train to Munich tonight and then should meet up with the Klemms in Landshut. Looking forward to seeing Germany!
 |
| Florence |
Sunday, March 25, 2007
Uffizi, Bargello, and more
Well I made it through another day in Florence. I really only went into the Bargello and Uffizi museums today so I was taking it pretty slow compared to some of my other days of travel. Although both of these places have superb paintings and sculpture. They don't let you take pictures in either, as well as a few other places I've been recently, so I'm not holding out on you in posting pictures of David, just not able to deliver. Well at least not the originals, there is a copy of David near the Vecchio Palace that I got a picture of but it's just not quite the same.
They made the jump here to summer hours (one hour ahead) last night and the hostel I'm staying in was good enough to post signs everywhere letting us know. Otherwise I may have been an hour late to my reservation for the Uffizi and very sad. The Bargello had many sculptures in it including David by Donatello (different than the one by Michealangelo that most people know). The Uffizi is full of great Italian paintings including the cy Botticelli. I really liked one of the unfinished paintings by Leonardo though. It was great to see some of the sketches he made before completing the painting and really see how well he works with the three dimensional perspective that was a new concept in the renaissance.
It rained a bit today but nothing somebody from Seattle isn't used to. I booked a night train to Munich for Monday night today, so Chelle I guess to answer your question I'll have to come back later to make it to Switzerland.
I'm trying to post pics but the sight is continuing to load and not finish and my time here is up. I guess you'll have to wait a little longer for Florence pics, sorry. It's good to hear so many comments from you all, keep them coming.
They made the jump here to summer hours (one hour ahead) last night and the hostel I'm staying in was good enough to post signs everywhere letting us know. Otherwise I may have been an hour late to my reservation for the Uffizi and very sad. The Bargello had many sculptures in it including David by Donatello (different than the one by Michealangelo that most people know). The Uffizi is full of great Italian paintings including the cy Botticelli. I really liked one of the unfinished paintings by Leonardo though. It was great to see some of the sketches he made before completing the painting and really see how well he works with the three dimensional perspective that was a new concept in the renaissance.
It rained a bit today but nothing somebody from Seattle isn't used to. I booked a night train to Munich for Monday night today, so Chelle I guess to answer your question I'll have to come back later to make it to Switzerland.
I'm trying to post pics but the sight is continuing to load and not finish and my time here is up. I guess you'll have to wait a little longer for Florence pics, sorry. It's good to hear so many comments from you all, keep them coming.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)