Ingolstadt is not that far from Augsburg and is dominated by the auto manufacturer. The parts of town we saw lacked any of the charms of Augsburg but we didn't see very much of it, just the part that counts:
I found out the 4 connected circles in the Audi logo represent the four companies that joined forces to create what we know today as Audi. Also the main manufacturer was named Horch and I believe "Audi" is the Latin translation of this German name and means "listening".
These conveyor belts are very popular in German museums. We saw another one highlighting furniture in a design exhibit at the contemporary art museum in Munich. This display is much bigger, immaculate and completely silent as it goes around.
The two following pics are of N's favorite cars.
This is my favorite. Kind of looks like a mobile land fish.
This was spotted outside on the lot where wealthy people who own Audis can park. They also can drive into an adjacent garage for repairs with a very space age door that looks like some thing out of Star Trek.
We headed back after meeting Nadine and some of her coworkers just to say hi at the architecture firm. Mo made a special stop at the Audi test track on the way back. What appears to be a lake is actually black top that has been freshly watered down to replicate difficult driving conditions so brakes and general handling can be discerned. Unfortunately they were done for the day so we didn't get to see any "drifting".
This is the edge of the parking lot of that place. I kept seeing red poppies wherever we drove but wasn't quick enough to snap a pic so took advantage of this situation to juxtapose our different subjects of interest.
The way back.
And back in Augsburg, a 1950s mural close to our place.
Right now, two days later than the trip mentioned above, we are sitting on a train to Frankfurt to visit A's college friend Christian, the friend we stayed with a decade ago. Before we left Davis, I read an article in the nyt that said the public transit infrastructure in Germany was endangered and needed updating. And I quote: "if you want the precision of the German train system, go to Switzerland." I thought the nyt article was an exaggeration but I've been able to write this entire blog post because of a train blocking ours, a broken signal and other various deficiencies. In fact it's so insufferably hot on this train it's starting to smell like a Limburger factory.
UPDATE: we are going to miss our connection to Frankfurt because of a signal and switch problem. Everyone on here, and this train is packed, is very pissed off. You won't be reading this until after the fact unless I can find some wifi.
I guess I won't take every nyt article with a pound of salt again!
The skies are very dramatic. There's one shot where everything--the clouds, the grass are being driven to the left of the farm. It looks like a Van Gogh painted it, but perfectly sober. pp
ReplyDeleteThe skies are very dramatic. There's one shot where everything--the clouds, the grass are being driven to the left of the farm. It looks like a Van Gogh painted it, but perfectly sober. pp
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