Montserrat, Spain - GPS: 41.59673N 1.83843E

Note: Published Feb. 4, 2008 but back dated to be in chronological order with our travels.

After a few very busy days in Barcelona, we decided to head to Montserrat. Monastery, culture, nature - all to be enjoyed in a spot that is theoretically best reached by a combination of train from Barcelona, followed by rack railway or cable car up the mountain.

Folks along the way were dubious as to whether our motorhome would make it. No one seemed to know whether or not staying in the motorhome would be allowed. A call to the parking office assured us there was room to park our 35' beast. The person I spoke with indicated that while unsure of the "official policy" he knew others stayed in their motorhomes while visiting.

We found Montserrat easily enough and surprisingly, the route up was quite nice. Roads were wide and well banked and as it was a Monday, there was no tourist traffic for us to deal with. (I believe we took the BP-1103 off the A-2 on the way up.) We found three other motorhomes in the parking lot and parked near two in the mid-section of the lot. (we eventually moved a bit so we weren't sleeping "downhill.")

The views are striking and the landscape phenomenal. Here you see the view from our door...don't jump! Being the off-season, it felt like we largely had the place to ourselves. Tourist traffic was very low and while that also meant the main cafeteria was closed, it allowed us to selfishly enjoy the surroundings without competition.

Monday afternoon, we explored the grounds and the Basilica. Inside, it's silent and extremely ornate. When you exit and enter the side door to the right, you are led through the side corridor, up steps, and to pass directly in front of the statue of the La Moreneta (The Dark One) which is the patron saint of Catalonia. After touring the Basilica, the doors exit to the cave of candles. There are so many candles burning you can feel the increase in air temperature! Very beautiful and serene.

Approaching:

Top of the landing, outside the Basilica courtyard:

Basilica facade:

Cave of candles:

After a quick dinner, I coerced the family back up to the Basilica at 6:15 to hear the Boys Choir. However, I had not memorized the timetable well enough. 6:15 is Rosary (no singing) and 6:45 is Vespers (singing at the end)-we should have arrived at 6:45. Not knowing, we sat quietly in the back, listening to the Rosary (in Latin, I believe) with the Monks responding in the background. At 6:45 the bells started ringing and the monks entered the Basilica for Vespers.

At the end of Vespers, the monks sing and the Boys Choir enters to join in. Attendees are presented with the contrast of the deep resonating adult voices against the high, almost angelic boy's voices. The monks departed and the Boys Choir sang two additional hymns. Beautiful and yet ghostly. Sophia and Megan thought the voices of the Boys Choir hurt their ears. Hurrah! They finally understand how their own screeches and squeals sound to us!!

Personally, seeing the boys enter almost brought me to tears. I couldn't help but think of kids barely older than Megan being sent off to live at a monastery. The boys are educated on site and sing five times daily. I'm sure there is a process in place to accomodate familial association. Just was a little disturbing to see the group of mostly young boys, away from home, arms tucked inside their white tunics as they entered and exited. My mommy heart couldn't help but break just a little and think these kids are somehow being deprived of their childhood and family bonds.

By the time we returned from Vespers, the two motorhomes near us had left. So, here we were, in a deserted section of the parking lot, by ourselves. On one hand it was kind of cool. On the other, a little eery. Needless to say, we had a fairly restless night. Wanting to be unobtrusive, we left the sliders in. The parking lot is attended and there was no reason to feel uncomfortable - other than we were waiting for someone to knock at any moment and ask us to leave. Believe it or not, we could hear the echo of dogs barking from the valley below. I know I should be able to tune it out by now, but something about feeling alone and isolated on the side of a mountain made it all the more irritating at 1am.

Tuesday morning I headed out for chocolate croissants as a treat - nothing like a bit of buttered chocolate with coffee to cure the effects of a restless night. The road construction near the top was already in process, but I was the only "tourist" and there were several times that the machinery stopped. In awe, I enjoyed several minutes of complete silence intermingled with the gorgeous landscape during my walk (~1/2 km each way). For me, that alone was worth the trip. After breakfast and lots of coffee, we headed out our separate ways. Dan and Megan were off to hike the St. Jeroni trail; Sophia and I were intent on visiting the museum.

Turns out, the trail was entirely inappropriate for Sophia. Dan and Megan made it in about 2.5 hours RT. Megan was simply beaming when they met up with us. Her face aglow, her spirits lifted at accomplishing such a feat. She's turning into quite the little hiker. They passed other Americans struggling on the trail and Dan threw out, "If she (Megan) can make it, so can you." Ouch. After summitting, someone else they had passed made it up and pointing at Megan, said to Dan, "muy rapido." That's our girl.

Trail perspective:

View from the top:


Rapido niña: (OK - hope this isn't Spanish slang for something other than my intention - I'm so proud of Megan that she completed the hike with Dan and in such great time - couldn't resist trying to use the quote from the hiker they encountered on the trail.)

Sophia sat contentedly in her stroller while I wandered the museum, listening to the audio guide. We were virtually the only visitors and I couldn't help but think that off-season traveling is the way to go.

We greatly admired the work of Caravaggio (Repentant Saint Jerone), Picasso, Dali, Monet, and many others. I particularly enjoyed the Catalan collection and being introduced, specifically work by Fortuny and Nonell. I don't know how much of it Sophia really enjoyed - but there were certainly paintings and sculptures that struck her fancy and elicited a comment. One, of a little girl sitting at the piano but turned to look at the painter looked so much like Sophia that she actually asked, "Is that me?" Another sculpture, of a mother holding a child, brought forth an "aww. Look. It's a mommy holding a baby. Is that you, mommy?" Very sweet.

By the time we finished with the paintings, I was overwhelmed to the point of not being able to take in any more artwork and Sophia was ready to get out of the stroller. One funny note, the audio guide mentions a quote about the area - "A man is not truly married until he visits Montserrat." Not entirely sure how that is supposed to be interpreted, but hey, Dan, I guess you are now "truly" married.

No stopping point is complete without a playground. =)

We headed out almost precisely 24-hours after we first arrived. The only surprise to the whole trip was that we were charged the "bus" rate for parking. 24 Euro for 24 hours! The car rate is only 5 Euro. Kind of a bummer, but at least the money goes to the ongoing support of the Monastery.

Barceonla, Spain - 41.41306°N 2.22194°E

Note: Blog post published Feb. 3 but back-dated to be in correct chronological order.

Somewhat reluctantly, we left L'Estartit, headed to Barcelona. Did I mention how much we enjoyed just relaxing and taking in the gorgeous surroundings and weather? Our last night there, we met a couple from Great Britain, who are headed to America! They are currently in a large motorhome and have toured Europe in a 35-ft vehicle as well. We stayed an extra night to continue sharing information. Good stuff and a huge thanks to Mike and Ali for all the info. Hope to see you when you reach the Seattle area.

The weather was great - warm, but not too hot during the day (60's F). Evenings cool off quickly as soon as the sun sets. Lots of road noise at the parking lot, but hey, where else can you stay in Barcelona for 22 Euro/night?

Day 1 - We used public transport to get around. Seemed like a lot of hassle for the 9km we needed to travel to get to the downtown district. Kids over 4 must have a valid ticket. Sadly, unlike Germany, there is no "family" or "partner" pass that allows us all to economically travel together. Still, it is cheaper than renting a car and paying for in-city parking.

Destination for the day was the Mercat de la Bogueria and Las Ramblas. Time permitting, we hoped to also visit the Cathedral. Wander we did, and we were overwhelmed by the beautiful city, the splendid colors of Mercat de la Boqueria and the wonders to be found on Las Ramblas. We were caught up at some point in a street production of live music and oversized puppets at the Cercle de Artistis. Later, Dan was chased down by street clowns yelling "Papa" as he pushed Sophia along in the stroller. We encountered seemingly spontaneous dancing on the sidewalk as we wandered. At the end of the day, I walked away feeling like this city is ever-changing. I don't know that anyone can capture the spirit of Barcelona in words - our experience was one small section of a very large, very diverse city. And, no, we didn't make it to the Cathedral on this day.

Picture of Mercat de la Bogueria - it was early in the day so we only purchased a fresh fruit plate to share. I have been craving the huge shrimp ever since. The colors and the energy of the market are fantastic - a welcome change to the supermarket duldrums.

Picture from Las Ramblas - a 1.2-km pedestrian zone that has everything from street performers to live animals for sale. I couldn't help but think of my mom as we passed dozens of small flower shops, all with bright flowers and floral arrangements. We avoided the "seedy" area of the strip - mostly due to our keeping to daylight hours with the kids. It was nice to see so many people out and about - most of our stops lately have been in tourist towns that are fairly well closed for the "winter."

Finally, as we were looking for lunch, we came across this attractive offer. Too bad we're not Australian and so glad we American's aren't the only ones known for our excessive behaviour.

Day 2 - We decided to use pedal power to visit the Sagrada Familia, considered to be Antoni Gaudi's masterpiece, though it's been under construction since 1888 (that's 176 years, folks!). There is a very nice pedestrian/bike path (Ave de Diagonals) that made the going really easy for the most part. We arrived without too much trouble (the city streets are a little deceptive and we wound up needing to backtrack a bit).

We found our way to Sagrada Familia and were instantly in awe of the size and detail of the temple. The ornate exterior begs for a pair of binoculars and about a week of quiet contemplation. Parking the bikes, we started to wander in, only to notice that the fencing was separating two areas and it looked like we were going in the exit. Then we noticed the Disney-style entry booths ... and, making our way around the corner, finally found the tourist entrance (our original attempt would have put us in the small chaple, which was actively in use). Inside, one is greeted with a construction site! Scaffolding, materials and workshops fill the center area. A display of the types of stone and regions of the world they were imported from gives the tourist something to do. Other than that, it's stare, in awe, at the interior with the huge columns which branch out at the top. Parts of the building are still open to the environment; other parts have gorgeous stained glass, which reflects spots of colors around the building. It's both magnificant and gaudy at the same time (no pun intended). We got in line for the elevator as it was a 45-minute wait, learning only later that there is a second elevator with a much shorter wait period. We were well rewarded for the wait and the additional 2Euro per person. The narrow, winding staircases, views of the steeples with their mosaic colors and fantastic views of the city were breath-taking.

Exterior views from ground level:

Interior view with light reflectin off the stained glass:

Spiral Staircase:

It's difficult to imagine working on a project of this magnitude. Gaudi worked on the temple for 40-years. When I think of the construction continuing for 176 years, and it's projected to be completed in 2020, I realize that there are several generations of laborers who will have dedicated significant time to a project that is ongoing, even after their time on the temple. I get impatient enough with my short-term projects... I can only imagine that one of this magnitude can be disheartening some days. On the one hand, contributing to this great masterpiece; on the other, knowing you may not ever see it completed.

Thoroughly lost in thought and honestly, I was questioning the steep price of entry (8 Euro pp + 2 Euro pp for the elevator though they didn't charge for the kids to enter the church), we out looking for lunch. Let's just say we got very lost - which was fun in it's own right until we also got very hungry... then very irritated. It's impossible to know where to eat in this town. So much seems "cafeteria" style and uninspired; other places have only the "Menu of the day" avaialble - which though a great price, is too much food for us in the middle of the day. Finally, only cafes in the tourist centers were open, get off on a side-street and everything was closed up (it was Sunday, after all). So much of the afternoon is comprised of memories - I'm unsteady enough on the bike with Sophia, you don't really want me taking pictures along the way too. We saw a lot of mosaic work, inspired by Gaudi; we saw a live orchestra, performing in the middle of the pedestrian walkway on the Ave d' Joan with the audience dancing to the music. Finally, we ate a rather uninspired lunch at a corner cafe.

Enroute to the motorhome, we wandered off to the convention center grounds (which are across the street from the Parking Forum). There's a whole "Forum" built up here that is simply fantastic. We had avoided the area, thinking it was only for conventions and exhibitions. But, there are playgrounds, beach access and plenty of sights to see. Very cool to see a city establish an waterfront area such as this. Though it does seem geared toward summer concerts and fairs, it's open to the public year-round to enjoy.

View from the "Forum:"

That's it for Barcelona this time. We're headed to Montserrat next.

Some of the best days are free

GPS location of our campground: 42.04235N 3.18449E
Camping Les Medes - a very nice, very friendly campground.

We came to l'Estartit for a day or two and have stayed a week. In part, it's the beautiful weather; in part, we have Internet access and have been updating the blog (now if only I wasn't so wordy...).

But, to get back to the title. Some of the best days are free and we've found that here. The town is a tourist destination and is completely boarded up right now. On the outskirts, there are a couple of grocery stores that are open. On weekends, the Harvey's in town (British fast food) opens, but are hard pressed to serve food. The boats that take tourists around the Medes Islands are operating only on Sundays, and we missed the boat, so to speak, due to a misunderstanding of the prices posted outside the vendor's office.

So, why stay? Let the pictures do the justice on this one, keeping in mind that it's January.

Sunsets:




Playing:
There are playgrounds everywhere along the beach.




The beach:
Sometimes, you've just gotta roll up your pants, kick off your shoes and go with the flow.

Hiking:

Outing 1 (1/21) - we didn't really have a goal - there's a street, running up the side of the hill to the villas and we followed it. At the top is a nature preserve as well as two view points / hiking destinations. We called it good though, to reach the entrance to the nature reserve - we weren't provisioned for a long stroll. Looking at the map later, we were on track for Cala Calella and just didn't know it.

Outing 2 (1/22)- Castell del Montigrí

A fortress built to protect Torroella de Montigrí in 1294, but never completed, this was a fun, somewhat spontaneous activity for the day. The summit is at 302m (992ft) and it took us about 1 1/2 hours to make it (keep in mind we had two little ones along for the "walk"). Megan was a trooper and handled the ascent and descent with no complaints. Sophia too, but parts of the trail were too rocky and steep - so Dan carried her most of the way up. You can climb up one of the towers and walk the perimeter of the fortress (another 13m in height)! We made it down the mountain as the winds were starting to pick up and arrived at the bus stop just in time for the (late) bus. Happy bunch tonight!

Go up this:

Pass 3 chapels:

The cross is about the mid-point (or, as Dan says, "You've done 90% of the verticle, don't stop now.)

Summit + 13m - the perimeter of the fortress.

Swimming:

This campground has three pools, one of which is indoors and open in the off-season. The kids have never slept so well!

We've been fortunate that the winds have not been present until today. The winds have a special name here, La Tramuntana. According to the climate tab on the tourist site, the area is generally mild, but the NNW Tramuntana winds can be as high as 100km/h! The wind has been gusting through, starting this afternoon. At certain parts of our bike ride home, there was no need to pedal as the wind provided plenty of push! For that, the climate write up also mentions the area has an average of 2,600 hours of sunshine every year... we're not missing the rain in Seattle.

Ciao for now.

Update: L'Estartit, Spain

¡Hola! We just arrived in Spain and are loving the feeling of thawing out. It reached 60-degrees today (15.5C for any European readers). I found myself peeling off my sweater to bask in the sunshine coming in the front window. Ahhh... nice!

Apologies for the delay in blog posts. It's been a while since we've had affordable access to the Internet and our time spent with friends and family over the holidays was not the appropriate time to be spending copious amounts of time online. Internet prices can run in the range of 8-15 EUR per HOUR! Many places didn't offer a discount for multiple hours, makine a long run online impossible.

Everyone is doing well. We have tons of fun pictures and memories to share - will try to spend some time tonight updating the blog with the back-dated posts.

Some of the memorable stops:

• Christmas markets in Switzerland and Germany
• Beautiful extended Christmas with my host-family
• New Year's in Munich with friends (you think 4th of July fireworks at our house are bad, you haven't seen anything compared to this!) and celebrating Sophia's 3rd birthday at the permanent circus in Munich.
• Lugano, Switzerland - beautiful!
• Driving along the Italian Riviera - though I didn't take any pictures due to being overwhelmed with the beauty while at the same time scared to death of the narrow roads, cliffs, cyclists and sheer number of people out enjoying the sunshine!
• Visiting Stes Maria De La Mer, France, whose church is dedicated to the two St. Mary's and Sara, the Patron Saint of Gypsies.

On the personal front, the kids are growing at an alarming rate. Megan has started reading and tries to read sign posts and graffiti along the way. She doesn't care that it's all foreign languages - she's just happily putting sounds together. Sophia is working on going through her "Terrible Two's" at age 3... fortunately it's not a daily experience. Dan and I are healthy - Dan's learned the secrets to a mean fried rice and yummy pancakes. =) Life is good.

Lugano, Switzerland (updated, images added)

GPS Coordinates of the campground: 45.99549N 8.90917E

We had heard that the climate in Lugano is mild and favorable - that the city has Mediterranean winds and it doesn't snow. Bearing this in mind, we set out to spend some time in the Italian Switzerland (and why not? we've spent plenty of time in French and German regions of Switzerland).

A note on the drive - I wish I had taken pictures. We had a great freeway system to climb the mountains, coming in from Germany. Beautiful views. Some snow, but the roadway was clear and wet. At certain parts, trucks must pull off and they are then queued back on the roadway - presumably this helps keep traffic backups to a minimum. Once we reached the peak and started the downward descent, the nice wide highway remained, but suddenly we had a series of serious switchbacks to deal with. At certain points, I could look out the side window and see the bridge we had just descended to my right! I don't really like this feeling and the road signs, showin trucks with their engines on fire didn't help to calm my nerves. Alas, engine braking and all, we make the descent just fine and all is well. =)

We stopped for the night in Chur - the oldest Swiss city (according to the signpost as you reach the city limits). The ground was wet and we tentatively found a spot to stay in a very crowded campground for 47 chf per night. Ouch. Welcome back to Switzerland. We had Internet access at the gate, but not at our parking spot. Bummer. We didn't do much here - the cost to stay is pretty prohibitive given that we have our own facilities and really just need power and a parking spot. I did enjoy a nice jog along the river - with the Swiss military using the side of the mountain as a firing range. And, I was saddened to hear that they used to have snow - but not for the past 15 years. Global warming.

On to Lugano. There are no campgrounds in Lugano, per sey. The nearest (and the only one open in winter) was TCS Camping La Piodella just outside of Agno. Steep price again - 47 chf per night. Summer rates are up to 60chf and vary depending on proximity to the lake. It's not that we mind paying to camp; but the facilities for which we are paying are closed for the season (swimming pools, tennis, boating, beach). Even the playground was closed - which we ignored and let the kids play anyway. On the funny side, walking to the shopping plaza, we found Sophie Lounge outside of the World Trade Center.

We came this far, we must see Lugano (tourist site is here) and see what all the fuss was about. Daytime weather was nice, warmer than Munich. Nights were frosty. Internet access was nill - so what is there to research? Nothing.

We embarked on a train from Agno and disembarked about 20-minutes later in Lugano. Where to go now? The train tracks literally dead-end and while you can see the town below, it's not entirely obvious how to get there. Crossing the street (up hill), we found the train station and fumbling our way around, managed to find the funicular that takes travelers down the mountain, to Lugano. Cool!


The city is comprised of narrow streets and tall buildings, much as one anticipates from European cities. We wandered a bit and found our way to the lake front promenade. Such a beautiful day and so nice to stroll along the lake, enjoying the scenery. Portions of the walkway contain a sculpture garden to enjoy as well. At some point, we stopped for our brown-bag lunch and felt a bit the tourist stand-outs as people walking by were mostly decked out in high fashion. Here we were, eating a picnic lunch, two kids running around like crazy, enjoying the beauty of the area. Of course, this is when I finally noticed how terribly dirty Megan's light pink jacket is. (sign) I especially loved the guy who was wearing a pristine suite, but had a knit Nike cap on his head! Such a contrast in statements - made me giggle. We saw plenty of fur and high heels.



Left: View from the lake front promenade, facing the city
Right: View from the lake front promenade, facing the mountains

Later, we wandered through what is probably the "Rodeo Drive" equivalent. With Louis Voitton commanding your attention on the corner, the shops we browsed were all for the rich and famous. One of the nice things about wandering these cities in low-season is there are no other tourists around to crowd us out or make me feel out of place. Short of a few security guards outside a jewellery store, I don't think we saw another shopper in the district. I dared purchase post cards along the way ... they are some of the most expensive post cards yet. About 2,00 EUR per post card, including postage.

We visited three churches - the second only briefly as it appeared worship services were in process. The first was deserted when we entered and we were overwhelmed with the frescos. And so, we were free to wander Di Santa Maria Degli Angeli A Lugano church. This church was started in 1490 and completed in 1499. It contains a fresco that details the history of the Ticino region on the interior walls as well as very ornate religious paintings. (dates are provided on the Italian tourist site but I was unable to translate the full history of the church into English. Sometimes, Bablefish just doesn't work its magic.)

The third church we visited was an accidental find. By this time, we're tired and ready to go home for dinner. Coming upon the funicular again, we peeked around the corner and saw the street running up hill, in parrallel. Megan was bargaining hard to take the funicular again. Dan and I thought we should take the street path. Grown ups win on this one - though she gave us "frowny" faces the entire walk up. Picture to the right: tryin to give perspective to the hill we walked up.

Imagine our surprise to see the beautiful church when we reached the top of the hill! We basically walked right in to Cattedrale San Lorenzo. From our reading, we see the church was referred to as early as 818 with the facade errected in the 1500's. We explored the church in detail, again, we were virtually the only people there and it was simply marvelous. So many details to study, so little time (and hey, it would help if we spoke the language - it's simply not all in English!)

Right: One view of the Cathedrale, as you approach

Lower Left: As you turn the corner, the view changes
Lower Right: View of the bright colors and details of the altar (no, I didn't use flash)

Bottom: View of the landscape upon exiting the Cathedrale

Memmingen, Germany 47.99543N 10.18232E

Heading back to Switzerland, we stopped for the night in Memmingen. No particular reason other than wanting to get groceries and there was an inexpensive stellplatz. We were in for a pleasant surprise. Sadly, I didn't have the camera with us and we stayed only 1-day.

For pictures, check out the city's web site - we saw most of the "red" route: http://www.memmingen.de/593.html

The Stellplatz is located right outside the moat and the city is accessible only through one of the gates. From the link above, the best indication of our path is the Green Route link "Luginsland." We walked the outer ring of the city (scroll to the bottom and see the image next to "Neue Welt") and entered at the Luginsland corner tower. The walk continued around the canal until we could find a side-street to allow us access to the city.

I'm not doing the history of the city any favors here - but it's all detailed on their web site. Beautiful place for a brief stop over. We thoroughly enjoyed the quick tour.

I wouldn't have made the blog post, but that I think some readers will really enjoy the pictures of the old city (red route) and in addition, am trying to finish back-filling the details of our journey to date.

Cheers!

A Must See: Deutsches Museum

After recovering from a very late New Year's Eve, in which we stayed the night with Aaron and Kerstin, we decided to venture out and visit the Deutsches Museum. We planned it all out - take a packed lunch, leave early, and have plenty of time to explore the vast museum.

First - we missed the bus by 30-seconds. So, we waited for the next (20-minutes) and almost missed it too! As the bus pulled away, I looked at Dan and asked, "Do you have the backpack?" Turns out, I was the last one out of the RV and had failed to notice that the backpack was still there (to Dan's credit, he had the kids and had stepped out to take the garbage out.).

Next, as we exited the bus with the stroller, the driver lowered the hydraulics. The front tires of Sophia's stroller were jammed between the curb and under the bus! The driver can't raise the hydraulics without closing the doors, which wouldn't close because the stroller was now 1/2 in and 1/2 out of the bus! Sophia was NOT amused. We finally got through to the anxious driver (who appeared to be having his examination) to pull slowly forward and to the left. Success! No damage to the stroller - we were on our way again.

The next setback has to do with user error. We learned a great reminder of traveling mass transit in Munich - one stop is not necessarily 1 block. Rather than transfer to the next U-bahn, we decided to figure it out ourselves. An hour later, we discovered the outdoor ice skating rink, and also that we were now two U-bahn stops from the museum.

Defeated, we ate a fast food lunch and then boarded the nearest U-Bahn. Amazingly, when one exits at the correct stop, chances are much higher one will find what they are looking for.

Arriving about 2-hours later than we had anticipated, we finally entered the Deutsches Museum. I'll admit now that our visit didn't do the museum justice. There's simply too much housed under one roof.

We first toured the vast mining exhibit. The upstairs contains the above ground machinery utilized to sort materials and production of oil and gasoline (in addition to other gasses) and examples of the drilling equipment. Following the signs, we entered the "mine" and descended downwards for what turned out to be about an hour-long tour of realistic mining operations.

After the mines, we found the heavy machinery - Dan was all but drooling. How many hobbyists would kill to have half the equipment in the exhibit? Had we been able to do our research in advance of the visit, there are opportunities to see live demonstrations of the lathes and other machines. At one lathe, you can buy a miniature replica of the Olympic Needle, made before your eyes. (a note to everyone who says "That's what the Internet is for" ... it's not always available when we need it - Internet cafes with 2 kids are not feasible for long and our campsites often don't have access points; or the cost is prohibitive.)

Wandering on (and wiping the look of longing from Dan's face), we next discovered the aeronautics exibits. Airplanes, war planes, rockets, a space shuttle capsule. Very cool stuff to fuel dreams. Here's a picture of me and Sophia climbing the stairs next to a rocket. Speedy Dan and Megan were up above, tempted to see if they could spit on us. They chose to take a picture instead.

Before we were finished with the aeronautics exhibits, I saw the "Kinder Reich" sign pointing downstairs. We ventured down and found one of the best children's museums I've ever seen! The kids were thrilled to be turned loose on the water exibits, giant lego building blocks, even the over sized guitar that you can climb into and feel how the instrument works through vibrations. My personal favorite was the sound-proof rooms - 3 in total. In the main room was an oversized zylophone; one of the smaller rooms contained drums and the final room contained a piano with the cover off. Cool stuff - especially that those outside this area of the exhibit didn't have to deal with the noise.

After a snack in the cafe (prices weren't too bad and the cake was pretty yummy... and they serve beer!), we ventured onward. It was already close to 5pm - we breezed through the textiles exibit and on the way out, had fun exploring their exhibit on bridges. Lots of models to examine and one life-sized suspension bridge to walk over and experiment with how the bridge response to movements. By now, we started hearing the "15-minute" warnings that the museum was about to close. Sadly, we wandered out, retrieved our outer layers and Sophia's stroller and started the journey home.

This museum is definitely worth the visit. We would visit again in a heart-beat. Though this time, would make sure to know when and where to find the active exhibits. I'd love to see the lathe and the laser in action. Nevermind the other exhibits we missed - and trust me, there's plenty we didn't explore.

Other pictures:

Can't they harness the energy? (Kid sized hamster wheel in the kid's museum):

Megan learns how a pulley can help you lift something heavy: