Day 3: München - BMW Welt and Museum, Olympic Park, Asamkirche

Our trips to the Mercedes-Benz Museum and Porsche Museum in Stuttgart were eye-opening, and we expected no less from the BMW Museum when we got off the Olympia-Einkaufzentrum subway this morning. Across from the station is the imposing BMW Welt (BMW World, shown here) building, which is the manufacturer's giant showroom and car delivery center.

We spent over an hour in this showroom, not because we were contemplating to buy a 90,000€-plus-change M3 (BTW, 19% value added tax included) or to argue with the associates there why the BMW hydrogen powered car (aptly named Hydrogen 7) is not going to be the answer to the energy and environmental problems due to basic thermodynamic principles. A nasty thunderstorm was in full force outside, and there was no covered walkway between this building and BMW Museum across the street.

The only predictable part about the weather in the past week has been the transience of thunderstorms; they came and went usually in an hour. As soon as the storm subsided, we walked to the museum (the bowl-shaped building). We began our tour at the basement, where a collection of antique BMWs are on display, and we worked our way up, with a stop at the cafe for lunch, to the top floor where concept cars are exhibited. The kids were snapping a lot of pictures in the museum and a couple are shown here. The rest can be found here.


By the time we left the museum, the sky was clear and we enjoyed a leisurely saunter in the nearby Olympiapark, the hub of the 1972 summer Olympics.

One of Glenda's friends suggested that Asamkirche is a gem and is a must-see. An easy subway ride took us directly from the Olympiapark to this church. Unfortunately, the church is under renovation until fall, and we could only peep through the glass on the front door to admire the grandeur inside.