On the train ride from Prague we had time to look through our Münich & Bavarian Alps guide book and found out that the Deutches Museum, which happens to be a quick hop, skip, and a jump from our hotel, is a museum that would pique our interest. It is a science and technology museum that houses over 50 sections and is six stories tall. You can't possibly go through it all in one day, and you have to really choose about three or four halls you're the most interested in.
Now this was a really cool museum that I know especially my Dad and Koji would geek out at. After you pay, get out of the foyer and first walk in to the museum you are greeted by ancient full-size ships and canoes, etc. It's easy to get caught up in this room and look at all of the different types of boats, and you can also head downstairs below these to get a look at the inside of the very large ship you saw when you walked in, and further down you can see reproductions of rooms you would actually have on some of the boats. As you wander you're way through the basement you see explanations of how ships move including a large display of different types of motors (all real and full size) and a pool with different types of hulls so you can see which hull moves the fastest.
There was also many, many planes on display of all kinds. Some of the coolest was the section view of a typical passenger plane and some of the fighter jets. They also had a rather in depth section on ejector seats.
Can you see me?
Another cool section to go through and read about was space travel. It was especially cool to read about what exactly happens to the human body in space such as our immune system going down significantly. It actually doesn't sound too fun to be on the moon.
Their pharmaceutics section was also very cool and one of my highlights from the museum was a humongous cell you could walk in and see all of the different parts explained. This would have helped immensely in biology class!
And lastly, one of the coolest sections ever was their model railway and information on tunneling. We got to see full-size replicas of tunnels and how they build the walls, and also the different things that go in to a tunnel such as the rails and wires and what they do. We got to touch the forbidden electric third rail!!! :D
The model railway was absolutely spectacular. It was obvious that a lot of hard work and time went in to making this elaborate contraption. They only run it three times a day but it is so true to life. When they run it they show you a screen of what the computer system looks like with all 22 trains running and they also have a camera attached to one of the trains so you can see what it looks like while it goes through the system. It is so incredibly true to life and I can't believe how fun it was to watch.
We also got to go to the planetarium but it was only in German so we didn't get to learn anything, but it makes me want to go to the one at home really badly now. It was my first planetarium experience so it was still very, very cool to see. Lastly we went to see the musical instruments (with a very strange trombone) and their special exhibit on '50s things. Any of these TVs look familiar? I especially loved the patterns.
In total we ended up spending 5 hours in the museum and while we got to see a lot we didn't even see the half of it. We could have kept going but our feet tired out before our minds. All in all, the Deutches Museum is a great museum I would recommend to anyone. The hands-on features were great as were their true-to-life models.
Later on in the evening after dinner we went for a ride on our bikes and came across this cool subway (in the literal sense, not the train kind of subway) with awesome graffiti.
On our second day in Münich we had one of the most fun and relaxing days I've had so far. We started our day by biking through Englischer Garten, a very large park similar to Golden Gate Park. The were so many incredible streams and a large lake with many ducks, swans, and coots all milling around and venturing over to the grassy lawn to eat. We even got to see a Coot's nest which was cool. Those damn Coots have been everywhere we go, even here in Switzerland.
A mini bunch of wildflowers I picked. :)
After relaxing by a stream for a good while we ventured over to an area of Münich called Schwabing. It is a younger part of town with many shops and cafés and it is a great place to hang (minus the large boulevard that runs down the middle of it - kind of ruins the vibe). We ended up spending a good amount of time there before heading back over to the park and there were so many people. It was absolutely one of the most beautiful days we've experienced so far, and I think it also was for everyone in Munich so they all decided to skip whatever they were doing and go to the park to hang out with friends. We ventured to the Biergarten in the park underneath some Chinese tower and there was a band playing German music in the tower while hundreds of people hung out drinking beer and eating. We did as everyone else and had a liter (maß) beer and a very large pretzel!
We spent a good long time there enjoying our selves and completely forgot we had to return our bikes by six and we finished at around 7:30. We knew we were going to have to miss our train the next morning to Zurich which left at 7am, but we were not too upset because we were having such a great time in Münich and were happy we would have an extra half of a day to get to do some things we wouldn't be able to if we left early. It was very easy to get new tickets for a later train so all stresses were averted.
On our half day we went to the Transport Center, a part of the Deutches Museum that is housed in a different place. (They also have a separate center for planes too which is incredible considering how many planes were in the main museum.) Hall I on urban transport was closed which was a bummer because that is the part we were most interested in, but it was ok because we got a discounted entry fee and we weren't so pressured to see everything with our limited time. We still enjoyed reading (and seeing) a history on bikes, learning about Münich's goal for biking in the city, and seeing a prototype of an ICE train engine (the entire first car is the engine!).
The first bicycle of sorts. There were no pedals so you pushed yourself.
During WWII there was a shortage of rubber so tires we're made with all kinds of things like cork and springs.
After finishing up seeing everything in the museum we had just enough time to do our laundry, grab a delicious Japanese lunch, and catch our new train to Zürich.
Overall we had a great time in Münich and I would definitely recommend it to anyone. Besides the great museum, the life and people are great and the town has a great vibe.
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