Ulm

Start of the two week spring break and we had to go somewhere.  Mike and Pat are coming to stay Wednesday for 4 days and then we are off to Czech Republic.  But we wanted to do something special so we looked up a few places and decided Ulm was it.  Convincing Malcolm to drive 2 hours there was easy when he heard that the tallest steeple in the world is there AND you can climb it.  The steeple is 161.6m high and you climb 768 steps to get to a platform at 143m.  We took our friend Debra along and with the three of us in the car it was quite a talkfest so the journey did not seem too long. 

Ulm was great.  We started at the church.  Malcolm climbed as far as he could with some of the climb on the outer part of the steeple.  Whilst he did this, Debra and I went for coffee and found the monument to Einstein on the place where he was born.  After this we all went into the church which was very impressive. 

The view from the top

We then had a walk around town which was very beautiful and full of interesting buildings and sites.  The painted Rathaus (town hall), Library (modern glass pyramid), the Crooked House, the Danube and the Art Gallery were the highlights as well as schnitzel and beer for lunch/dinner.

 The Rathaus

Click here for more photos of Ulm

Friday Drinks - Prosecco in a can

I have been curious about Prosecco in a can since I first saw it in the supermarket.  Deb and I decided, much to Malcolm's disgust, to give it a go.  I think we will stick to the bottle variety.

Dachau

After 6 months of seeing the beautiful sites of Munich and Bavaria we decided it was time to see the Dachau Concentration Camp Memorial Site (the first concentration camp).  Words cannot describe how this place felt.  We did a tour that was run by a local volunteer whose family had been in one of the Eastern Extermination Camps.  It was a haunting experience to walk through the buildings and grounds where these atrocities took place and this will stay with us forever.

"Work Sets You Free" - the wrought iron gate at the original entrance

Last Snow of Winter

After the last snow fall of winter Malcolm took the following photos at our local Schloss:

Bad Tolz

It looked as if it was the last snow of winter so we decided to head to the mountains.  We drove to Tegernsee, then along the Austrian border and to Bad Tolz.  It was a pretty town and we wandered around, had lunch before heading up the hill to the Leonhardi chapel.

 

Olympiaturm and BMW Museum

On a clear Sunday we decided to go to Olympiaturm to get a bird's eye view of Munich. Unfortunately it was very windy and with ice falling from another part of the tower 100m above, the outside viewing platform was closed (unfortunate for Malcolm - not Ingrid).  So photos were taken from inside.  Also inside was a Rock Museum which kept Ingrid busy whilst Malcolm took lots of photos.  The museum was fantastic with lots of memorabilia from rock greats such as Elvis, Madonna, Elton John's piano, Freddie Mercury's leather pants and lots more, letters, clothes etc.

As it was minus 12 degrees outside and windy we decided to go to the nearest museum, fortunately only 100m away - the BMW museum.  It was extremely cleverly done that we both thoroughly enjoyed it.  Click here for more photos.

Spring??

Last weekend was sunny and we thought at last spring was here - we were wrong.  Here are a couple of photos taken from our bedroom window.