At the front door and ready to head in.
This is only the entry way into the museum, it was HUGE!!!
The boys thought this U boat was cool.
We headed to one of the outside parts of the museum. They were running for the stairs, so excited to go up to the top!
It was a private jet at one time, you can see to the left there was a desk and a bed and on the right a table. AJ said that is where they played cards. :-)
This was right behind where Michael was standing. This Tschaika is a very luxury equipped presidential limousine. It was produced from 1959-1981 in the USSR.
This is the bottom of the plane that holds the car in the pictures above.
The boys in one of the trains.
Isn't he so cute - I love this smile!!!
We went up into a big 747 plane - they even let us climb down into the cargo area. AJ wasn't so sure about going down there, so Michael and I did. AJ did end up coming down after.
The boys thought it was cool to be able to walk on the wing of a plane.
This is the slide that is underneath the big plane. I hiked up over 90 stairs with three of those slide bags and then Michael didn't want to go. The things I do for my children. :-)
They even have US Air Force and Navy planes.
The next building we went into was about space, cars and motorcycles. This is the inside of a full size space shuttle.
This was a mock up of the US moon landing.
The boys thought these trucks were really awesome because they were racing trucks. The movie that they were watching showed these trucks racing, or more like crashing.
For the Russian astronauts, these blue and grey seat liners are custom made to the individual Cosmonaut and used during launch and landing.
Michael said the guy wasn't really floating he was held up by a string, which he was. I tried to tell him that it was to show what space was like with no gravity.
The boys shut me in a helicopter, they thought it was really funny.
Then we were able to go down and check out the inside of the U boat.
Michael found his bed - he said he was going to take a nap.
Where they used to house the bombs.
The MS Bremen 4 is the largest sea-going model ship in the world. It has already had trips in the USA as well as the North and Baltic Sea. The model was driven on the Rhine to Speyer in August 1999.
Above and behind the boys is the Welte Philharmonic Organ. Only six of these organs were made. This one was built in 1916 and is the largest of all. Its price equaled the value of about 45 Model-T Ford automobiles. It has 2600 pipes, that may be played manually or automatically.
This is just a little closer up view of it - pretty magnificent!
I couldn't help taking a picture of this with all the open air buses that we have done over here, this is where it all started. The Mini was converted into an open, double-decker bus for driving people through parks, zoos, etc. The boys had enough of the museum, so we headed out for lunch. And of course we headed for McDonald's. We then played some cards, a rousing game of Trash. After that, I saw a sign that said the Christmas market was still going on, so of course I decided we had to check it out to the chagrin of my boys.
Right by the market was the Speyer Cathedral. Construction was started in 1024 by Conrad II because he wanted it to be his last resting place. In 1308 the last ruler was put to rest in this cathedral, making the list of eight emperors and kings and a number of their wives.
Statues at the outside of the door - they were on both sides.
The altar, they say it hasn't really changed since the 1600s. It is one of the few Cathedrals that has stayed the same.
Then off to the Christmas market!! It wasn't a big one, but still had some fun stuff there.
AJ with some hot chocolate! No gluwhein for me since I was driving.
A look at the Cathedral as we were walking back - it was such a beautiful blue sky!
On the way home I thought I saw snow, but as I looked closer, it was big tarps covering some type of crop. This was heading back to Kaiserslautern and yes I took the picture while I was driving. I am sorry, but I couldn't help it. You can also see that the sun was starting to set. We had a fun day!! We went home and just relaxed the rest of the evening. The boys wanted to stay up until midnight. AJ made it, Michael was close. I think if we didn't start watching a movie while laying in bed he would have made it. :-) 2013 was a great year with lots of wonderful adventures!! We are looking forward to the next year and seeing what it brings!
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