10 April 2015 - The Dornier Museum Friedrichshafen

Our planned excursion today was to the Dornier Museum - "Fascination Aviation and Aerospace at Lake Constance".  It was the on the other part of our family ticket to the Zeppelin Museum last Saturday and we had to use it within a week.  Having our car made access easier and it was only 3 Euros to park there.

Dornier Flight Museum

The boys were excited!

Although Friedrichshafen is reasonably signposted, there are many roundabouts and unlabelled roads which do cause a bit of confusion!  Karl had downloaded the maps onto his tablet (but no wi-fi connection) but it was hard to follow so we decided to buy a Tom Tom before the end of the day!  It was by a bit of good fortune and a bit of common sense that we found our way to the museum.

3 D printer in action

3 D printed results!

Instantly the boys were drawn to the 3-D printing machine which was working on a model plane!  Luke is sure he wants a 3 D printer for Christmas!!!

Bomber plane

 We went outside to the aeroplane display and had great fun climbing up and looking in.  The most fascinating of all was a German bomber plane.  It was a bit gruesome thinking that this plane with all its navigational equipment and fancy interior had been/could be used to be so destructive.  The bomber has a bird's eye view over the target.  It was interesting to wander and ponder.

Inside the bomber

More screens to look at!

The cockpit, two seats for the pilots and a seat in front for the bomber.

Complicated!

Uniforms!

Uniforms

Note wheels on wheels because undercarriage is used for bombs.

This is where the bombs were stored.

Nasty plane really!

My excitement reached its peak when we heard a sound over head and saw it was the Zeppelin we have been spotting coming into land!  It sort of hovered down over one spot and we think passengers disembarked and boarded via a ladder!  As it costs between 160 Euros and 785 Euros for a flight, I don't think we'll be heading up in the air with the Zeppelin on this trip!  It does look magnificent and graceful!  We couldn't actually work out how it hovered over the ground and didn't see it take off again.

The Zeppelin landing

Inside the museum the exhibits were well organised, interesting and in English!  There were little booths where we could it and listen to vignettes in English, too and several documentary movie options.  The war was mentioned and in our view was rationalised somewhat but overall the displays were well done.  The vignettes were interesting especially those interviews with former forced labour immigrants and the kids were horrified at their mistreatment.  It led to interesting dinner conversation including discussion about Apartheid and also Australia's terrible treatment of our Aborigines.

Dornier was described as one with grit and boldness to pursue his ideas.  He came from humble beginnings as did many great inventors.  Dornier aircraft have also been used by the Australian Air Force and for search and rescue.  Some of the early passenger planes were seaplanes because they were thought to be safer if they were flying over water!

Achtung!

There was a great little children's area for play and craft and we all enjoyed making a paper aeroplane and using their craft material.  Call us cheeky or call us opportunists, Luke made a maize foam camel for one of his school projects out of the material provided which saved me collecting an egg carton and other junk to make the required model!  He also made a plane and a satellite.

Having fun, being a kid just like he should!

Putting on seatbelts in the helicopter.

Definitely time for uber lunch at 3PM when we left the museum and we headed in the direction (and didn't get lost) of a big shopping complex we had been to.  Lunch first which was very necessary and then purchase of the promised Tom Tom!

Safely home through all the lovely countryside to more essays!  

Luke was most excited at dinner to dissect and eat the smoked mackerel I had bought!  For a fussy eater, it is most strange that he loves fish of any description!  He gave us quite a commentary on its tiny teeth and hardened eyes from the smoking process!

4 April 2015 - The Zeppelin Museum and other rainy day activities

Having done our research and noted that shops will be closed on both Easter Sunday AND Monday, we knew we had to stock up on supplies today.  At home, the pantry is always full of potential meals that take only a bit of imagination to make.  Without the luxury of such a stock of food when we are travelling, we have to be a bit more prepared.  Having said that, top of our list today was a printer which we have needed/will need for school work and other documents.

The spring sunshine for yesterday has gone away for Easter it seems, so another grey and rainy day welcomed us this morning.  We were so glad that we had made full use of the delightful weather yesterday and that today some of our day was to be indoors.

We took the train back to Friedrichshafen from Bermatingen where the ticket machine rejected a 20 Euro bill we think because it was wet from the rain...and the ticket booth had no shelter....mmmm....German efficiency needs to take note...but fortunately we had a few coins to pay for the last two tickets.  However, German trains are clean and punctual and Melbourne's MYKI system is far from perfect!

Shaun das Schaf!

Mediamarkt was 2 kms from the station and by the time we got there we were sodden from the rain.  We found and bought the printer and some cables with ease.  Mediamarkt was just like Harvey Norman or Good Guys and even had massage chairs to sit in whilst the boys looked at all the techno stuff!  We had to laugh at all the "Shaun das Schaf" DVDs. My camera had failed to charge overnight which was a minor hiccup only discovered when I went to take the Shaun das Schaf photo!  Fortunately Karl had his tablet with him and took the photos today. We had just missed the bus back to the station so we walked in the rain, again.  A quick trip to the supermarket for lunch supplies and we joined the queue at the Zeppelin Museum.  We bought the family Kombiticket for the Zeppelin Museum and also the Dornier Flight Museum close by for 34 Euros, which we can use over the next seven days.

Impressive glass steps at the Zeppelin Museum

Once we were inside the people seemed to dissipate and we only had to wait a little while to enter the Hindenburg exhibition.  The first port of call was to the theatre where we saw two great documentaries (one in 3 D) about the Zeppelin and the Hindenburg Airships.  They were HUGE, as big as 8 football fields and difficult to store.  

The Hindenburg went down in 32 seconds killing 36 of its 91 passengers and crew.  There were as many crew as passengers aboard and catered for them all well.  The luxury of the space and facilities available were amazing.  There was even a smoking room on board - rather hazardous I would have thought! We really enjoyed walking through the life sized model of the Hindenburg and appreciating its vastness.  Economy air travel with knees touching the seats in front really doesn't compare!

Lounging on the Hindenburg!

The lounge of the Hindenburg!

Seeing parts of the actual Hindenburg remains was pretty exciting including some of its fuselage, crockery, uniforms, clocks and navigational equipment.  The fact that the media was ready and waiting for it in New Jersey, where it crashed, means that there is detailed footage of the event.

Fuselage from the Hindenburg

More pieces of the framework of the Hindenburg

 Prior to the Hindenburg, the Zeppelin had made 540 trips all over the world but not quite to Australia, but as far as Brazil, Japan and the Arctic Circle.  Amazing!  The engineers had to climb on top while these airships were flying to check equipment!!  Brave of them!

Hindenburg engineer!

The other exhibition at the museum was about Gustav Mesmer, the Icarus of Lautertal, who spent many years trying to make flying bicycles.  He was a tortured soul in many ways, from a poor family, and he had a poor education and periods in mental health institutions.  In his later years, however, he enjoyed freedom to invent and paint his ideas which are now on display.  It was a lovely exhibit with enough written in English for us to understand.  Ann Hansen (my friend who went in the Moomba Birdman Rally in 2014 in a orange dog to raise funds for the RSPCA) should take note!!  In her case, she plummeted gracefully straight into the Yarra River!

Gustav Mesmer's flying bicycle

More from Gustav!

Gustav's creations

He even modified shoes to help his lift off on his bicycles!

The last bit on our agenda was the supermarket which we whipped around efficiently conscious of the 1523hrs train back in our direction.  The regional trains only run hourly and we were cold and wet enough not to want to wait another hour.  We made the train with a few minutes to spare.  It is great to have the big kids help with the heavy shopping.

Annika was keen to make hot cross buns and we were keen for her to do so!!  Just as well this house had a good sized oven and a tray! The aroma was wunderbar!

Being a Saturday evening, we decided on pizzas for dinner and gathered around Tim's laptop for a movie...just like home!  Yep, another James Bond tonight: "The Man with the Golden Gun" which was filmed on islands near Phuket in Thailand. We had seen similar unique shaped islands on our way to Phi Phi Island. Family traditions are good and necessary!

3 April 2015 - Good Friday or Karfreitag as it is known in Germany

Yeah! Spring sunshine and still crisp air.  Cold enough for coats and scarves but delightful in the sun shine! We had chosen the day well for exploring.  Our main motivation for going to Ravensburg, which is incidentally home of all those lovely jigsaws and puzzles, was that it was a big enough town/city to have a computer shop to buy a printer.  Karl had "googled" National Public Holidays in Germany and thought that, unlike Australia, Good Friday was a normal trading day.  In UK, when I was working there, Good Friday was a normal working day, so we were hopeful.

Changing trains at Friedrichshafen

The little two carriage train from Bermatingen runs every hour and we were in plenty of time to buy our tickets from the machine which is a very cumbersome way to purchase tickets and not at all indicative of German efficiency!  We alighted at Ravensburg and it was looking pretty quiet....all the shops were closed for Good Friday! So, no printer today but a beautiful day for exploring rather than being inside! However, most important of all, the bakeries were open so as we had planned to buy lunch, we were relieved.

Fountain in Marienplatz, Ravensburg

Beautiful 15th Century building with frescoes

Rathaus

Ravensburg was just coming to life as we walked to the old part of town and the bells were tolling madly.  The gentle sunshine was so welcome!  Ravensburg was not damaged at all in WW2 so medieval buildings are still standing and it is so pretty.

Cafe chairs with blankets!

Marienplatz is the hub of the town and the bakeries and cafes were setting up for the day.  I love the way they all supply blankets and knee rugs for those who chose to sit outside!  

Love the random play equipment in the streets!

Court of justice!

We followed the bells to the big Evangelical Church there, established first in 1400's by the Carmelites and then in 1600's as an Evangelical Church.  We could here a choir singing beautifully and peeked in.  The church service was in full swing and the kids were reluctant to go in, so we didn't. Karl and I would have liked to!

Tall tower built into town wall!

Love the way buildings are incorporated in the old walls

Same house, different angle

Ravensburg

 Following a rough path through the little cobbled streets, we saw a hill, and had to climb it. At the top was the Youth Hostel with fabulous views, at the site of the old Veitsburg (castle) named after St Veit (Vitus). Vitus is considered the patron saint of actors, dancers and epileptics. Further, he is said to protect against lightning strikes, animal attacks and oversleeping!  Again, the bells tolled and the kids reminded us (again) that we hadn't had morning tea!

Weingarten Abbey in background

Kids frolicking down the hill

 The path down was lovely.  It is always fun to explore the alternative paths!  We came out near another two of the town's towers, the Mehlsack (1429) and the Obertor (1432).  There are over 10 towers of the medieval fortification and we tried to spot them all!

Annika!

Me and  Ravensburg as we walked down the St Vitus hill

Easy for gutter cleaning and wood storage.

 The old town walls are still standing in places and buildings over the centuries have been incorporated into them.  We saw some great examples.  The other thing we noticed and loved were various, well done attic extensions adding space and style to the old buildings.

Another fantastic Medieval tower.

This was the oldest looking tower we saw.

The Quiet Cat tower!

 We found a playground with plenty of sun and decided that this was the right place for morning tea!  Tim, Annika and I walked back to the bakery for some goodies (and this time also a coffee for Karl and me - Good Friday celebration).

More beautiful buildings

And another...

Annika and Luke doing as the sign says!

There is also a big Catholic church, St Jodok's, in Ravensburg. After the Reformation in the 1500's, it was agreed, in this region, to split all areas of government between the Protestants and the Catholics, hence the two big churches so close together.  And we heard the bells toll again! Lovely!

St Jodok's Church

Stunning stain glass windows in pristine condition despite the age of the church.

Looking to the front of the church - apt on Good Friday

Another lovely ancient tower incorporated into the buildings around.!

Note fake blackbirds to scare pigeons!

More pretty frescoes.

The Evangelical Church - also built into surrounding buildings

Narrow alleys

Pretty all the way!

Friedrichshafen here we come!

As the day was young(ish) and we had seen what we wanted to in Ravensburg, we decided to go back to Friedrichshafen on the train, as our ticket permitted us to do this.  What a jewel lay before us, the sparkling Bodensee (Lake Constance).  When we had travelled over from Switzerland this time last week, it was greyish and we couldn't appreciate its beauty.  Today, it shone!

Bodensee and alps!

On the rocky shores of the Bodensee.

 We took our "uber lunch" snack to the lakeside and the kids joined others in throwing rocks in the water!  The esplanade was alive with folk enjoying their Good Friday and the lovely weather.  Cafes and waiters were dotted along the lakeside.  I tried to surreptitiously take a photo of a waited in lederhosen (and white runners!) but couldn't!

Annika looking for rocks to skim across the lake.

Tim and Luke throwing stones.

Kaiser Wilhelm i) von Preusen looking impressive.

Majestic swan

Trufula trees? again?

From the tower on the lake

There were so many eating delicious looking icecreams which cost a huge amount.  The kids looked longingly and we kept saying they were too expensive and THEN away from the main drag Annika spotted waffle cones with one scoop for 1 Euro! They convinced us it was a bargain...and chose their treats!

Ice creams for 1 Euro!

 The walk back to the Stadtsbahnhof was pleasant although the cool of the afternoon was now setting in.  We literally jumped on the Markdorf train (they only go once an hour) and hoped it would stop at Bermatingen even though it wasn't listed....and it did!

Karlstrasse!

A short walk through our very quiet village and we were back home inside our historic house.  An excellent day was had by all!