Saturday 10th Jan - A very early start to the day with a 7 hour train trip ahead of us. With a short trip back to Verona, we changed trains to head for Germany. We had the compartment to ourselves for more than half the trip so that was nice. I found the trip exciting going through the Alps and what took 7 hours only felt like 2. Magnificent landscape to see with some snow about through Austria, and not as many tunnels as I thought. Lots of passengers got on at Innsbruck in Austria, I believe it's a town were many international university students study. We did have border control guards walk up and down the train a couple of times but they just look and don't say much. Once into Germany the landscape quickly flatten out into farming fields and towns. Getting off the train in Munich you immediately feel the efficiency of the place compared to Italy! Our hotel was across the road from the railway station, but we did walk right past it the first time, still struggling with google maps!! Once booked in it was very nice, huge family room and bathroom with double sinks, racks to hang towels on and a bath which Liam enjoyed relaxing his tired legs in.

Sunday 11th Jan - a nice slow start to the day, woke up to a wet morning. Stepped outside for a walk but it was colder than we thought so dashed back inside to put more layers on. Fairly quite walking the streets, shops are shut on Sunday in Munich unlike Italy. As we wandered into the main square and it started to snow, at last - Liam thought it was amazing seeing it fall from the sky, and so quiet, he tried catching it with his tongue and watched it fall on his jacket. Time for a coffee and we couldn't resist the choice of cakes. We finished just in time to watch the Glockenspiel chime, the tower forms part of the town hall and chimes 3 times a day and re-enacts two stories from the 16th century consisting of 43 bells and 32 life size figures. The top part plays first telling the story about the marriage of Duke Wilhelm V. Then the bottom figures perform a dance according to a myth, that was done in the streets during 1517, the year of the plague, the dance was suppose to bring "fresh vitality" back to the streets. The whole show lasts about 15 minutes, we stood there and watched it while it snowed which made it all more mythical - beautiful. Next we found a museum for old toys. Robs favorite was a little robot called "Robby the robot" from the 1956 movie Forbidden Planet, but there were cars, trains, robots, bears, dolls every toy you could think of.

Monday 12th Jan - Streets a little busier today with the shops open. Today was Liam's day as we were going to spend time at the German Museum. On the way we stopped at MacDonalds for a coffee, Germany is a little more orderly than Italy. As I waited at the counter to be served I was promptly directed to wait in line! I was waiting at the receiving counter not the order counter. Streets are generally a lot cleaner and you pay attention to walk traffic lights, not like Italy were lights are just a mere suggestion. There is also a dedicated bike path on the side of the walking path that is up off the road, a great idea when you know its there, other wise to get bold over by bicycles, and there are many. Most cars you see are BMW, Mercedes, VW or Audi. Anyway we got to the museum and Liam was in his element as there were many interactive k*** to turn or lever to pull, we ended up spending 4.5 hours there, and learnt a few things ourselves also. A very interesting afternoon.
We decided to head back into town for a german sausage for tea and found ourselves hovering the edge of a huge demonstration for anti racism in Germany. There is a new anti immigration movement called PEGIDA (Patriotic Europeans Against the Islamisation of the west). Many people see them as being a racist group and urge them not to rally but recent events in Paris has increased the movements actions especially in East Germany. Rob was fascinated and wanted a closer look, he tried but with the enormous crowd and riot police that were dressed in full riot gear and cameras on their heads, he didn't get very far- thankfully. We went and enjoyed our german sausages and watched from a safe distance. We also discovered another ice skating rink so I guess we will be back.