Another Awesome Week #2

G'day everybody, Tom again. Had another jam packed full week in Germany and enjoying every bit of it. My host family is awesome, everyone at school is really freindly and so far it's been just been a fantastic experience.
  
This week we did a couple of things: on Thursday we went to the BMW factory, the Olympiaturm and the Marienplatz in Munich, on Sunday we went to a place called Ruhpolding, today we went to the "Therme", or the thermal indoor pool/swim center, and of course on Tuesday we went to Lake Chiemsee which I spoke about in my last blog.

 Munich was much like I imagined, big, historic and beautiful. All the buildings are beautifully built and decorated and also full of historic background. First of all we weNt to the Marienplatz which is the center of Munich and often refered to as the heart of Bavaria. The Rathaus or town hall is situated here.

Next we went for a tour of some of the sights close to the city center and then watched a thing called a Glockenspiel which is kind of like a carousel but half way up the Rathaus and with loud, simple music. We then ventured out to the BMW factory/Olympia park area and went to the Olympiaturm. The Olympiaturm is a fairly tall tower that looks almost identical to the Telstra Tower in Canberra. We got a great view of the city  but sadly not the mountains because they were clouded over. We then moved on to the BMW World where you could gawk at all the cars on display. My favourite was a BMW X4. See below. Although it is a BMW world , they also diplay Mini Cooper and Rolls Royce. We then got a 2.5 hour tour of the factory. All over the world there is something like 10 or 11 factories, so the Munich plant only makes two different models; a sedan and a stationwagon, the 315 series. But the Munich plant is the headquarters for all the other plants across the globe.

In the factory we started off in the Press shop. This is where all the parts for the metal skeleton are created with 50 tonne press moulds. All the different parts for both models; the sedan and wagon, are made in the same shop. Next is the body shop where all the parts made in the press shop are put together. Next is the paint shop and that goes on once the whole metal body is assembled. The car body gets in total five coverings of paint/protective layers and can be made any colour that the customer chooses. The car then goes on to an assenbly line of 3.5 kilometers and on this line the car is completed and and effectively can be driven the second it comes off that line. All the cars made there are made on an order basis, wwhich means that you order it and then they make it to your specifications. The factory was amazing and added a whole new dimension to how I look at cars now.

Rathaus at the Marienplatz

BMW X4

   Yesterday the family and I went to a town called Ruhpolding to go and see the family of lukas's dad, Klaus, in particular his 88 year old mother. The main reason though was beacause 4 years ago exactly was when Klaus's father died. We went to church and then went out for lunch at a restaurant. Nothing special but just interesting to note. Also interesting to note is that the brakes on German bikes are the other way around, the front is the left and the back is on the right. I found this out the hard way and went straight over the handlebars.

   Today we had a few hours in the thermal baths in Bad Aibling. They were really cool. Some were hot and some cold,  but they were all good especially the outdoor thermal bath. It was awesome, and so warm. Also good was the Eucalpyptus Sauna  which really cleaned out my sinuses. So that is about it for now, until next week, Ciao.