Schools, Art, and BMW

We began the day with a visit to a state educational system of Bavaria that oversees the quality of education for children of all ages and is heavily involved in educational research. It is a fascinating system and part of the presentation was made by an elementary teacher. Since we are not visiting an elementary school as was originally scheduled, I approached Claudia to help me make contact with another elementary school teacher so we could e-mail each other and upload pictures of what we are doing in our classrooms. I would also like to do an art exchange with this second grade teacher and include the German children's artwork with my class' for our spring art show in May. I have other ideas which I would like to implement and hope to get the ball rolling when I return home.

Another highlight of today's visits was the Bavarian Art Museum in Munich. What an art collection! You can find Rafael, da Vinci, Murillo, El Greco, Frans Hals, van Dyck, Canaletto, Rembrandt, and the largest collection of Peter Paul Ruebens' work in the world. There are many more artists represented but unfortunately we did not have time to view every piece. The German people have rebuilt after both wars. They restore rather than destroy. And the museums are always bustling with people from what I have observed. I just love being surrounded by so much art!

Our final destination took us to the BMW complex, part of what you see above. This particular building is formed to resemble four cylinders. I know all the guys in our family would love this museum. They have historic and futuristic cars all on display. The latest model is powered by hydrogen. If you order a BMW, you can pick it up in the building across the road which is connected by a skywalk bridge of sorts. By the way, BMW stands for Bavarian Motor Works, not British Motor Works, as I thought. The Olympic Park where the olympics were held in the '70's is just across the way. Remember Mark Spitz and the Munich tragedy? That's where it took place. The building where the Israeli athletes were housed, known as Olympic Village, is nearby.

Speaking of olympics, we rode on the Olympic Highway which Hitler had constructed before the war as part of his autobahn plans and which led to the area where the 1936 olympics were held. Ohio's own Jesse Owens won his four gold medals here.

Since my time at this computer is limited, I have to end even though I have not mentioned all the other places that we have visited. We leave for Frankfurt tomorrow after a morning visit to another Munich site.

By the way, did you know that Munchen, the German spelling of Munich, means little monk. It's a symbol you see in many places. I've taken a photo of that, too, Is it any wonder that my camera card has read "memory card is full"?