JacksGirlz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2007
- Messages
- 662
DAY SEVEN
Bags had to be ready at 7:30am this morning. We gathered at 8:20am to take a group picture in the town square right next to our hotel. I dont know how but Rudy managed to get the bus in and out of these tiny street and we were on the bus and on the road by 8:30am. The ride to the Steiff bear museum and factory was about an hour and a half.
All of the junior adventurers showed their excitement that we had arrived!!
We broke up into the same groups that we had yesterday. Half of the group toured the museum first while the other half stuffed and decorated their animal heads. Below Ive copied a post I previously made on the Germany ABD Meets thread about this activity.
My DD15 thought making just a head sounded weird before she did it but ended up liking the experience. It is due to time constraints that you only make the head. You can choose different animal heads besides a bear - pig, sheep, frog, rabbit. The choices change depending on what the Steiff employees offer. You stuff your animal with the softest fluff imaginable. The employees make sure it's stuffed enough then you pass it to the employee to sew the top of the head up. The animal only has eyes to start with so you get to be creative and ask the airbrush artist to design a face for your animal. My DD had the artist put a crown on the top of her Teddy's head. Some other adventurers added a monocle, a cigar and a beard. Think of something cute or silly and they will likely do it for you to personalize your bear/animal head. To stuff, sew and decorate all the animal parts by hand to make an entire animal would take about 24 hours, much longer than we get to spend at the Steiff museum. The head itself makes a nice little pillow for the airplane.
Here is DD with her Teddy Princess
And me with my Pig
In the museum we met the first teddy bear and then followed Frieda, a doll, and her friend, Knopf, a teddy bear. Frieda and Knopf were looking for the 3,000 lost teddy bears. Here is a picture that explains the story a bit more.
We learned the history of the Steiff bear and how Margaret Steiff came to make these creations in the first place. There is much more to the story but youll have to take the trip to find out.
There are lots of large stuffed animals on the second floor for you to sit on and take a picture. DD loved this one the most.
I liked this one myself.
The best part of the museum is going down the Steiff snake slide. Everyone in the group, including our guides, went down the slide at least once. Just be sure to lay flat as the slide in completely enclosed.
This is the top of the snake.
The Steiff gift shop had many Steiff animals other than just bears and childrens clothing. Our guides had warned us that items purchased in the gift shop could not be shipped to the US so you would have to carry them with you. Here are more pics from the museum.
We had lunch at the Steiff cafeteria. Salad was a starter and then you could choose multiple selections including wienerschnitzel, pasta, baked pastries filled with broccoli and cheese, pasta filled with spinach and ratatouille. There were different cakes or ice cream for dessert.
After lunch we were on our way to Munich, approx. 2 hour drive. We watched Princess and the Frog during the drive. When we arrived to Munich it was about 2:45pm. Nadine ran right into the hotel to check us in. By the time we were off the bus and in the Kempinski hotel lobby we were able to pick up our room key, drop off our carryons in the room and have a quick bathroom break before meeting back again in the lobby.
Here's our room.
The room was an accessible room so the shower was large and had a bench to sit on inside.
Since it was raining pretty heavily outside our group went into a conference room. This is when we met our local guide, Michael. I can't say enough good things about him. He was funny and engaging as he brought the history of Munich to life. He introduced us to the Wittelsbach family and, with the participation of members of our tour, how the family came to rule Bavaria for hundreds of years. The rain let up and we ventured outside for our walking tour. Nearby is the Hofbrauhaus and we did a quick walk through of the first level (there are 3) and saw where the family beer steins are stored.
Here are highlights on the walking tour.
Market square maypole
Jewish memorial
Inside a very ornate church
DAY SEVEN Part #2 link below
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3142451
Bags had to be ready at 7:30am this morning. We gathered at 8:20am to take a group picture in the town square right next to our hotel. I dont know how but Rudy managed to get the bus in and out of these tiny street and we were on the bus and on the road by 8:30am. The ride to the Steiff bear museum and factory was about an hour and a half.
All of the junior adventurers showed their excitement that we had arrived!!
We broke up into the same groups that we had yesterday. Half of the group toured the museum first while the other half stuffed and decorated their animal heads. Below Ive copied a post I previously made on the Germany ABD Meets thread about this activity.
My DD15 thought making just a head sounded weird before she did it but ended up liking the experience. It is due to time constraints that you only make the head. You can choose different animal heads besides a bear - pig, sheep, frog, rabbit. The choices change depending on what the Steiff employees offer. You stuff your animal with the softest fluff imaginable. The employees make sure it's stuffed enough then you pass it to the employee to sew the top of the head up. The animal only has eyes to start with so you get to be creative and ask the airbrush artist to design a face for your animal. My DD had the artist put a crown on the top of her Teddy's head. Some other adventurers added a monocle, a cigar and a beard. Think of something cute or silly and they will likely do it for you to personalize your bear/animal head. To stuff, sew and decorate all the animal parts by hand to make an entire animal would take about 24 hours, much longer than we get to spend at the Steiff museum. The head itself makes a nice little pillow for the airplane.
Here is DD with her Teddy Princess
And me with my Pig
In the museum we met the first teddy bear and then followed Frieda, a doll, and her friend, Knopf, a teddy bear. Frieda and Knopf were looking for the 3,000 lost teddy bears. Here is a picture that explains the story a bit more.
We learned the history of the Steiff bear and how Margaret Steiff came to make these creations in the first place. There is much more to the story but youll have to take the trip to find out.
There are lots of large stuffed animals on the second floor for you to sit on and take a picture. DD loved this one the most.I liked this one myself.
The best part of the museum is going down the Steiff snake slide. Everyone in the group, including our guides, went down the slide at least once. Just be sure to lay flat as the slide in completely enclosed.
This is the top of the snake.
The Steiff gift shop had many Steiff animals other than just bears and childrens clothing. Our guides had warned us that items purchased in the gift shop could not be shipped to the US so you would have to carry them with you. Here are more pics from the museum.
We had lunch at the Steiff cafeteria. Salad was a starter and then you could choose multiple selections including wienerschnitzel, pasta, baked pastries filled with broccoli and cheese, pasta filled with spinach and ratatouille. There were different cakes or ice cream for dessert.
After lunch we were on our way to Munich, approx. 2 hour drive. We watched Princess and the Frog during the drive. When we arrived to Munich it was about 2:45pm. Nadine ran right into the hotel to check us in. By the time we were off the bus and in the Kempinski hotel lobby we were able to pick up our room key, drop off our carryons in the room and have a quick bathroom break before meeting back again in the lobby.
Here's our room.
The room was an accessible room so the shower was large and had a bench to sit on inside.
Since it was raining pretty heavily outside our group went into a conference room. This is when we met our local guide, Michael. I can't say enough good things about him. He was funny and engaging as he brought the history of Munich to life. He introduced us to the Wittelsbach family and, with the participation of members of our tour, how the family came to rule Bavaria for hundreds of years. The rain let up and we ventured outside for our walking tour. Nearby is the Hofbrauhaus and we did a quick walk through of the first level (there are 3) and saw where the family beer steins are stored.
Here are highlights on the walking tour.
Market square maypole
Jewish memorial
Inside a very ornate church
DAY SEVEN Part #2 link below
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3142451
it's never as interesting as Michael made it.
