Munich's Museums

Beyond the Deutches Museum's planetarium is the Frauenkirche in Munich

Our last full day in Munich was a cold and rainy one... we took our hop on, hop off bus again just before 10am and got off at Deutches Museum, which focuses on science and technology with over 28,000 items.

A self-playing keyboard and drum!

the museum was founded in 1909 and is geared towards families and many had young kids. A random trivial fact is that for a time the museum was used to host rock and pop concerts for acts like The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Elton John.

When we arrived there was a lineup, but went quickly and we decided to tackle the museum from the top down. The top floor is a planetarium, but it wasn't open yet, and it talked about all kinds of things related to space, from the sun to the constellations, how telescopes can see so far into space and how the black hole works, using a silver ball rolling around slowly into a spiral that spins very quickly at the end before disappearing into the hole.

On the same floor, the sixth floor, there is an outdoor area where you can see the museum has a tower that shows the barometer and hygrometer, which measure the humidity and water vapor in the atmosphere; the recording was a bit on the high side because it was rainy that day, which sadly made it difficult for us to take some nice scenic pictures of Munich.

The Wright brothers' plane

We also saw exhibitions on things like engines, a man demonstrating how to blow glass, the history of ceramics and how bricks are made in a factory. Another one that I found interesting was musical instruments, though it focused on keyboards.

There was a very small keyboard with black keys called a spinett and a clavichord, both about two-thirds the size of a piano. There was even those self-playing pianos -- one that included the drums too -- and they were pretty massive machines.

One Yamaha looked like today's upright pianos, but this one was different -- it can help musicians record music, as the movement of the hammers is scanned by an LED light barrier. The information is then stored in a MIDI file in the computer. When the music is played back, the signals are electronically converted, and the piano keys move hydraulically in the same way the pianist struck them. Wow.

A plane that was similar to what The Red Baron flew

I had heard of the hurdy-gurdy, but this was my first time actually seeing it. It was a giant box on wheels, but it's supposed to be a stringed instrument that makes sound when it is cranked by hand. The roller rotates and the bellows are then operated, this makes the pins of the roller open valves so that air flows to the corresponding pipes.

There was even a very old jukebox and not the ones we think of from the 1950s -- this one was from 1900 that was shown at the World Exhibition in Paris. Very neat.

Down on the first floor were flying machines including the one made by the Wright brothers in 1909, the first engine-driven plane. We also saw the Fokker Dr. I, the World War I fighter plane made famous by Manfred von Richthofen, or The Red Baron.

The Alte Pinakothek is only 1 euro on Sundays!

The airplane's wings only had a span of 7 metres, making it easier for the plane to fly tight turns. To be honest I don't know much about The Red Baron -- only from what I read from Snoopy comic strips! Nevertheless it was fun to see the plane in person.

We had a quick lunch in the cafeteria which offered decent food and after we finished we noticed there was a big line out the door for people to get food. When we left the museum, we saw a very long line that was almost a block long. Perhaps this was a way to spend a rainy Sunday.

Gorgeous flowers by Rachel Ruysch

After our dose of science and technology, we headed to Alte Pinakothek, an art museum that houses over 700 artworks from the 14th to 18th centuries. The museum was commissioned by King Ludwig I and built from 1826 to 1836 in a Neoclassical style. Originally the building was meant to hold the entire art collection of the House of Wittelsbach, and the king allowed the public to view the works, and it continues this tradition today.

It was still raining when we got there, and there was a giant lineup to buy admission tickets. We soon found out why -- on Sundays admission is only 1 euro!

The building is long and narrow and basically two floors. There are a lot of religious paintings with all kinds of themes from the nativity scene to the crucifixion, angels and depictions of heaven and hell.

I preferred the non-religious pieces, portraits of ordinary people, country scenes, and there's one of a bouquet of flowers by Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). She was the daughter of Dutch botany professor Frederik Ruysch and she used his vast collection of animal skeletons and botany samples to practice her drawings.

Albrecht Durer's self portrait that is Christ-like

She was so good that at one point she taught her father and sister how to paint. At the age of 15, Ruysch apprenticed with a well known flower painter, Willem van Aeist, and he taught her among other things how to arrange flowers so that they looked more spontaneous. While she continued to work with him, Ruysch was already selling her own work at 18.

Ruysch would later go on to marry Amsterdam portrait painter Juriaen Pool and have 10 children! She continued to paint while married.

Another famous work we had to see was Albrecht Durer's Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe, 1500.

He painted this when he was 28 years old and it is considered unusual because of its frontal angle and meticulous details. Durer based the style of this portrait on icons of Christ the Saviour, his hand raised in the sign of the blessing.

Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher

One fabulous piece of Rococo art has to be Francois Boucher's Madame de Pompadour, 1756. She was the official mistress of King Louis XV of France and here she is wearing an elaborate afternoon dress surrounded by books, sheets of music and drawings. We were mesmerized by the detail in the folds of the dress as well as the reflection in the back. Her proportions seem a bit off though -- she must have been extremely tall according to this painting and had very tiny feet! In any event a beautiful portrait that shows off the lifestyle of the aristocracy in that period.

Munich's Pride and Joy: BMW

The BMW headquarters (left) and the museum (right)

You can't go to Munich and not go to the BMW Museum! We got there via a hop on, hop off bus and everyone gets off at this stop. Anyone who is a fan of the German "ultimate driving machine" comes here to make a pilgrimage. And if you really want, you can buy a BMW as a souvenir of your trip too.

This is the showroom across the street with a sleek bridge

The showroom is a massive building that includes the Mini, and you can buy not only the cars, but also lifestyle products, from jackets to baseball hats to suitcases and toy cars. Some people were trying on the cars for size, getting in and out of them, while others were there to pick up their cars and drive them off in a special exit driveway for them that looks space age (from what we could see from the outside).

Meanwhile across the street via a sleek elevated walkway, is the BMW headquarters, a distinctive building that looks like four vertical cylinders in a car engine, while the museum looks like the cylinder head, both designed by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer.

They were built between 1968 and 1972, finished in time for the 1972 Summer Olympics and the BMW headquarters is very close to the Olympic Village, giving the company greater exposure.

Inside the showroom, many were eager to look at BMWs

One good tip is that because we took the hop on, hop off bus, the BMW Museum also gave us a few euros off on admission! Bonus!

The museum is laid out in a linear way and goes through the entire history of BMW. Its origins go back to World War I when an unknown aircraft engine manufacturer called Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH presented a newly and innovative aircraft engine to the Prussian military authorities, the company was renamed Bayerische Moteren Werke (BMW) in 1917.

This is also when BMW's logo was developed -- the company name in a black circle, with blue and white panels from the Bavarian national flag.

One of the early motorcycles BMW produced

From there the company designed engines for motorcycles and then cars in 1929. Up until World War II, BMW's main products were aircraft engines, motorcycles and cars. Then during the war the company focused on aircraft engines, and motorcycles were a sideline business, while car production was stopped altogether.

But during this time, the BMW factory in Eisenach, in central Germany, was in the Soviet-occupied zone, and so the Soviets produced pre-war BMW motorcycles and cars there until 1955. However, its Munich plant was completely destroyed and it took time for the company to not only rebuild but also find another means of business because BMW was banned from producing motor vehicles the Allies.

One of BMWs first Formula 1 cars in a beautiful shade of blue

As a result, BMW made pots and pans, other kitchen equipment and bicycles, and finally got permission from the United States to restart motor production, in particular motorcycles in 1947. BMW started manufacturing cars in the early 1950s which was good timing because by this point the market for motorcycles was saturated and people were starting to demand cars.

The company started making mini cars called Isetta, but it couldn't compete against the Volkwagen Beetle. But by the early 1960s BMW was back on its feet with investors showing faith in the company and not wanting to merge with Daimler-Benz, and new cars that had powerful engines.

The BMW 1600, my father's first BMW!

We got to see those motorcycles and early Formula 1 cars contrasting against today's models. You had to be a petite driver -- practically the size of a horse jockey -- to fit into the old school racing car. Even back in the late 1920s they already knew about aerodynamics, with one racer who broke time records with BMW-designed motorcycles with an aerodynamic body like a fish.

There are a lot of consumer cars on display -- the 1600 from 1966 was there -- my father's first BMW which was fun for him to reminisce about as well as other models. The Z3 was also there, which 007 drove in Goldeneye -- the first time James Bond drove a non-British car.

For design fans, there are 1:1 clay models and videos of how the engineers, designers and modellers need to work together to figure out how every detail of the car is going to look like. Another section of the museum also explains the need to transfer from fossil fuels to electricity, and shows off its BEVs or battery electric vehicles.

Contrast it with this futuristic car powered by fuel cells

If that visit to the museum doesn't inspire you to go buy a BMW I don't know what will. It definitely emits those aspiration vibes for those who want to buy their first car, or their next...! Fantastic marketing tool that BMW has done tastefully and not overtly.

And if you want a bite to eat, their cafeteria does pretty good food too!

Picture of the Day: Angel of Victory

A bronze statue of an angel carrying a fallen soldier

On my way to Gastown to have drinks and dinner with friends, I walked past the Seabus Terminal and Waterfront SkyTrain station that are both in the former Canadian Pacific Railway Station.

Next to it is a bronze statue of an angel holding up a fallen soldier. The work is called Angel of Victory (1922) by Coeur de Lion MacCarthy. It was commissioned by the Canadian Pacific Railway to commemorate its employees who died in World War I.

It stands on the far right of the former CPR building

The plaque says:

To commemorate those in the service of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company who, at the call of King and country, left all that was dear to them, endured hardship, faced danger and finally passed out of sight of men by the path of duty and self sacrifice, giving up their own lives that others might live in freedom. Let those who come after see to it that their names be not forgotten.

What a wonderful commemoration.

Picture of the Day: Nanjing Massacre at 80

People gathered at the Cenotaph in Central... are they allowed there?

This morning I took our company shuttle bus to work and on the way we passed by the Cenotaph in Central.

I was shocked to see a bunch of people standing there and holding large Chinese flags.

Then I remembered it was the 80th anniversary of the Nanjing Massacre, but why were these people standing there?

The Cenotaph is a war memorial that commemorates the dead in the two world wars who served in Hong Kong in the Royal Navy, British Army and the Royal Air Force.

What does it have to do with Nanjing?

If they want to commemorate the Nanjing Massacre they need to find their own cenotaph!

Chateau Gazing

Chenonceau chateau, with the original tower on the right

This morning we went to visit a beautiful chateau at Chenonceau. It is located in a beautiful idyllic setting and one can imagine royalty arriving by horse-drawn carriage, with immaculately manicured gardens flanking both sides of the castle.

It was owned by Thomas Bohier and his wife Katherine Briconnet. However, Bohier owed money to the crown, and he had to forfeit the property to Henry II.

Catherine de Medici's portrait on the fireplace

He in turn gave the chateau to his mistress Diane de Poitiers, who was apparently 20 years older than him and known for her beautiful skin and red hair. In her bedroom is a portrait of Henry II's wife, Catherine de Medici, who looks very stern, so it seems strange for Diane to have her rival's portrait hanging on her wall, or is it a reminder not to be like Catherine?

After Henry II died, Catherine took her revenge, kicking out Diane and taking over the estate. She held parties in the gallery and covered the area to create more space in the chateau.

The next generation, Henry III occupied the chateau with his wife Louise of Lorraine. However, when he was assassinated, Louise was so distraught that she made her bedroom all black, while she wore white, the royal sign of mourning.

Each of the rooms were very beautifully decorated, and tapestries were more used as ways to insulate rooms, and many of the fireplaces are still in working order. The kitchen was interesting, with lots of copper pots hanging on the walls, as well as knives in the butcher area with a well worn wooden block.

The gallery used for parties and wounded soldiers

There were no washrooms in this chateau -- they used chamber pots and hardly bathed! Also curtains were installed in four-poster beds so that people could have some privacy -- there weren't many corridors so people, from visitors to staff had to pass through other people's rooms to get elsewhere.

There are many interesting details, such as the private chapel, the interlinking C's that almost look like a "D", and the original tile worn out, but the designs can still be seen on the edges of the rooms.

During World War I, the gallery was used as an impromptu hospital for over 2,000 soldiers, and in World War II, its location on the River Cher marks the line of demarcation between the occupied zone and the free zone.

The butcher room with choppers and a worn chopping board

The resistance used the chateau to smuggle people, including Jews from the north to the south in the free zone.

Outside the gardens are very pretty, but use the same plants in the entire design which while pretty, isn't very interesting for green thumb fans. There's also a garden maze, but we didn't have time to go in.

After lunch we visited the chateau at Amboise, a short drive away. It was originally built in the 15th and 16th centuries, and was the home of many kings and queens -- Charles VIII, Francis I, Henry II and Catherine de Medici.

However most of the property is gone, after an owner sold many of the stone blocks to raise money. But what we could still see was impressive.

Leonardo is apparently buried here

We first went into the small St Hubert chapel and in there is apparently the tomb of Leonardo da Vinci. He was asked by Francis I to come to France, and at that time the artist was already 64 years old. Leonardo was not the first Italian architect/artist invited by Francis I, as the others didn't want to come.

It is believed that days before Leonardo died, he called the notary to come and discuss his will and burial arrangements. He asked that he have a simple tombstone and he was apparently buried with one hand behind his head, which is unusual.

However the original church in which he was buried (not far away, on the same grounds) was destroyed, and his corpse was moved again, apparently in this chapel; however we cannot be sure because Leonardo had no descendants so there are no DNA samples to verify this. Our guide believes 95 percent that Leonardo is buried there.

The castle with those in black still existing, in red are gone

Then we made our way into the main building, going through several of the rooms, like the cupbearer's room, where there is a special cabinet storing the king's drinks. Only one person has the key to the cabinet to prevent poisoning.

Another was a long room with vaulted ceilings that would have been used for dining and partying, but also for trials, one case which involved Protestants who were convicted with attempting to assassinate the king and were hung outside the castle for four days so that the public learned a deadly lesson.

However towards the end of our tour some of the rooms were decorated with 19th century furniture, complete with wallpaper and paintings. The landscaped gardens outside are also sculpted, with bushes looking like verdant balls.

A Flemish influence in the architecture of the castle

We survived the day -- reaching 35 degrees! It was still very hot and very bright at 7pm! And it will still be very hot in the next few days.

Rant of the Day: Remembrance Day

Handmade ceramic poppies "planted" around the Tower of London's moat

Yesterday I dug out my poppy -- the British one with no pin -- and put it through the buttonhole of my polo shirt. I tried using a safety pin to pin it to my shirt, but made the poppy look worse.

So I wore the poppy to work and some British and Canadian coworkers noticed that I wore the poppy, but no one else.

I have to add though it's hard to find a poppy if you don't know where to get one...

If you don't have a hole in your lapel, where to put the poppy?

A mobile medical clinic happened to come to our office to give employees who requested it, a flu jab and I went to get one. When I walked in, the local nurse pointed to my poppy and asked me if I wore this pretty flower for a reason.

I said, "It's November 11!" and then she was kind of taken aback but soon realized she should have known.

Only in Central did I see British suit types wearing poppies, and yesterday morning the cenotaph in Central had several wreaths around it, ready for the Remembrance Day ceremony later in the day.

Why do Hong Kong people not mark Remembrance Day anymore? Or is it because it's not a British colony anymore?

Have the Hong Kong people forgotten the British and Canadian soldiers who fought in vain (and lost) the city to the Japanese in World War II? Or are they resentful of the Japanese occupation?

Regardless, this is Hong Kong's history and a part of the city's identity too.

In any event, it just seems sad and disappointing that Hong Kong people do not remember the war dead. Or is that a gweilo war that didn't concern them?

A moving tribute to soldiers who have fought for Britain

This year more Canadians and Brits have come out to remember the soldiers who fought not only in World War I and II, but in Iraq and Afghanistan. This year marks the 100th anniversary of World War I.

In London, there was an amazing display of ceramic poppies, all handmade and "planted" in the moat of the Tower of London by volunteers, thousands and thousands of them to create a sea of red.

It is a beautiful tribute to those who gave up their lives for their country, fighting for freedom.

And isn't that what people are sort of doing in Hong Kong right now?

OK the colours are different, but I just feel it's so important to remember where we came from to figure out where we are now...