FINALLY A SUNNY DAY!

It has been about a week of straight rain and we finally experienced a sunny day and it was beautiful! Today we toured a number of places, all beautiful and equally unbelievable. Starting at the Isar River, we heard a presentation from one of my fellow students on the trip. He gave a brief lecture about the history of this main artery that runs through the entire city of Munich. One of the most interesting things about it is the way they have combined this natural river with the help of man-made construction to harness power and store it in the efforts of energy conservation.

After the Isar River and a stroll around the park adjacent to it, we stopped in a nice beer garden to relax and have some lunch. The final stop was the most breath taking. We made a trip to the Olympic Park designed for the 1972 Summer Olympics. All I can convey about it is "WOW". The park is built on an old site that had once contained large quantities of rubble. To solve that problem, the designers created these large viewing mounds that, underneath, were filled with the old rubble. The mounds are incredibly high overlooking the entire park. Although they are a bit of a climb, we saw plenty of devoted runners breathing heavily all the way to the highest peak. Below are pictures of the "finale" view seen from the highest mound. 

 It was absolutely amazing!

I think what is most interesting about Germany's landscape architecture is how much they value their environment and outdoor space. We have learned and observed a lot about the culture and I see that the values of this culture are definitely different than that of America. Germany values their quality of life and making it sustainable and beautiful; whereas America sees life as an opportunity. Both are great lifestyles but I would love to integrate both values into my life.

- Michelle