Our final company visit was today’s main highlight: the widely known car brand BMW. This is the second time I have visited the BMW Welt (World); last year my parents and I only spent a few short minutes there because we crammed a bunch of museum visits into one day. Today, I was able to take my time taking pictures of the cars, sitting in them, and visiting the gift shop. Last year, I had wanted to visit the BMW factory, but of course, time did not allow. Therefore, I was especially excited to finally walk through the production line and observe hundreds of orange robots from KUKA and the Swiss company ABB weld, assemble, and paint each car in the assembly lines. I was quite amazed by the sheer number of things going on at once, as well as the seamless coordination among all the robots. I can’t even begin to imagine how people managed to program each and every robot for their specific jobs. Overall, BMW and KUKA are my two absolute favorite company visits on this trip.

We were scheduled to visit the BMW Museum after the end of our factory tour, but unfortunately, it was closed. As a result, we decided to visit the Olympiapark nearby. I must say, this was definitely a great alternative, and it was a perfect addition to our Munich visit. First, we went all the way up to the top of the iconic Olympic Tower, where you could see an even better view of Munich than from St. Peter’s Church. Last year, I had eaten at the revolving restaurant in the Olympic Tower, and I can definitely say that the view from the very top was just as beautiful today as it was last year. From 291 meters above the ground, I could see countless buildings, including the Allianz Arena soccer field, the BMW buildings, the 1972 Olympic stadium, and downtown Munich. After exiting the tower, we took a walk on the park trail, which led up the peak of a steep green hill. From there, we got an awesome view of the Olympic Tower and BMW headquarters on one side, and downtown on the other side–I could even see the famous Frauenkirche clearly! I think today holds the record for the most panoramic views on the trip so far. Sometimes the most beautiful opportunities and experiences are not planned.

Tomorrow, we will visit some more of the most famous sites in southern Germany. One exciting day concludes, and another shall begin.