Day 10 - 5/20/2015, IPP

Wednesday was another rainy day in Munich.  We got up and lead a few students around for a rapid fire tour of various churches in Munich.  We saw five churches between 10 and 11:30, plus we caught the Marienplatz glockenspiel at 11.  The crypt for the kings of Bavaria was open so we stopped in there as well.  Quick tour and the few students that came with us seemed to really enjoy it.

In the afternoon we went out to the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics at the Technical University of Munich Research Center.  The first thing we did was take the students over to the math building to ride their slides.  They have slides from the third floor to the first.  Then we spent a few hours touring the ASDEX upgrade fusion reactor.  They test various materials and methods for fusion reaction confinement, hoping to one day run controlled fusion reactions for power sources.  The new ITER reactor in France should actually make power, if it works. 

That night we came back and the students went off to a memorable Mexican dinner.  Andi and I went to the Augustiner Keller near the Hauptbahnhof.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day10ChurchesAndIPPFusionReactor?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCIXKsu61-_K12wE&feat=directlink

Day 9 - 5/19/2015 BMW

Our first full day in Munich was spent at BMW.  We toured the museum and the manufacturing plant.  They make most of the 3 series cars here on a fully automated assembly line, about 1000 per day.  The weather was not great so we did not go to the Olympic park or TV tower, but we did see a lot of AC/DC fans coming for a concert.  In the afternoon, Andi and I found laundry and later took some students for a sushi buffet near Marienplatz.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day9MunichBMW?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCMyjkaD2nMLvmQE&feat=directlink

Day 8 - 5/18/2015, Ulm and Munich

Monday we got up early and caught a train from Stuttgart to Ulm.  In Ulm, we stored bags and took some time to climb to the top of the tallest church in the world.  After Ulm, we continued on to Munich, where we had a guided tour of the main areas downtown.  We ended the day at the Chinese Tower in the English Garden.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day8UlmMunich?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCOmS7pjHitO2dw&feat=directlink

MILES WALKED TODAY:  9.0 mi

Day 7 - 5/17/2015, Stuttgart free day

Today we had a free day in Stuttgart.  Andi and I met up with some friends we knew from our time living in Stuttgart.  We headed off to the zoo where she took a picture of every flower.  Later we met up with some of our students at the zoo.  Hopefully some of them hit a museum this afternoon as today was international free museum day.  Andi and I had a nice dinner with our friend at her house.

Monday is a rough day so we hope all the students are resting and saving their energy.

https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day7StuttgartFreeDay?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJ_0vqnzrNnHbg&feat=directlink

MILES WALKED TODAY: ca. 4.0+ mi

Day 6 - 5/16/2015, Stuttgart Mercedes and Porsche Museums

Today we had a late start to get over to the Mercedes museum.  The tour was nice and we saw some of the new energy concept cars.  They claim that they will release a fuel cell powered car in two years.  We will see.  It was nice to go through the museum with a good bit of history from the last couple of centuries.  When we left, soccer fans were streaming in for a Stuttgart VfB game.

We headed over to the Porsche museum, but we thought we did not have much time to eat lunch so we grabbed sandwiches in the train station.  We ended up having plenty of time.  Oops.  Porsche is a beautiful museum, but they focus more on power and performance, not history.  Also, they have added a lot of art near the cars.  They had a cleaner look in years past, now it is a jumbled mess.  Andi likes it though. 

We generally had good weather again.  Sunny but a bit chilly when not in the sun.  Later, Andi and I walked through the shopping district then went to a brand new American style mall near our hotel for burgers.  We did 6.8 miles today and 7.4 yesterday. 

https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day6StuttgartMercedesAndPorscheMuseums02?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCJCam67a_raO-gE&feat=directlink

MILES WALKED TODAY:  7.4 mi

Day 5: 5/15/2015, To Stuttgart

We had very limited wifi in Freiburg.  Today we have much better connectivity in Stuttgart.

We started this morning at the Fraunhofer Institute for Solar Energy.  Because Thursday was a bank holiday, we could not visit then.  Even Friday, most of the staff were still on holiday.  We had a short tour and saw some of the facilities then headed out to Stuttgart.  On the way, one train was a TGV, the fastest train in Europe.  We hit 249 km/hr which is over 150 miles per hour. 

Once in Stuttgart, we quickly got to our rooms then did a quick walking tour to familiarize the students with the area.  We stopped in the Schlossgarden for a while after walking through the main square and shopping district.

This had been a fun few days.  The students have been well-behaved and nicely engaged.  They seem to be bonding fairly well.  Andi and I are very tired from all the activity.

I have been taking a lot of photos.  I will make all of the photos available, but the good ones I try to put online.

Day 1
https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day1Freiburg03?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNWNjdWQwMixwQE&feat=directlink

Flew to Frankfurt and trained down to Freiburg. Walked to the top of the church and up the mountain to an observation tower. Everyone was tired but we had to beat back jet lag.

Day 2
https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day2FreiburgArea?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKXf9Zvhg9PXfA&feat=directlink

Tour near Freiburg to Hochburg castle, a biogas plant, a sustainable farm, and windmills. Finished with dinner in an old mill eating local products.

Day 3

https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day3FreiburgTourAndBikeRide?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLrOhKPUmcWPkgE&feat=directlink

Tour around Freiburg and bike ride out to Rieselfeld and Vauban.

Day 4
https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day4Basel?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCLbI-tvkmuCLdQ&feat=directlink

Free day and all the students went with us to Basel.  We went to the bridge where France, Germany, and Switzerland meet.  We also saw the cathedral and stopped by the Tageuley museum.

Day 5
https://picasaweb.google.com/105622415255178546785/Day5Stuttgart?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCKjd0fTn4IL_JA&feat=directlink

Quick trip to Fraunhofer ISE then off to Stuttgart

MILES WALKED TODAY:  7.4 mi

Day 4: 5/14/15, Freiburg

We had a free day today due to a national holiday.  Only restaurants and shops in the train station were open.

The entire group decided to travel to Basel, Switzerland and go to the point where three countries meet.  So, the group was able to go between France, Germany, and Switzerland in a matter of minutes.  Then we went to the Tinguely Museum in Basel.  Some students went into the museum, while others enjoyed the grounds around the museum.

We returned safe and sound at 5:45pm.  

MILES WALKED TODAY:  9.0 mi