I’m not sure why I think this way, but when I think of Germany, two things come to my mind: BMW and Audi.  Audi won’t be a part of this trip, but today, we visited the BMW factory.  I woke up a couple minutes too late today so I only had time to eat an apple before leaving for BMW.  I didn’t mind though; my excitement would be enough to distract me from any hunger I had.

When we arrived, we had a few minutes to look at the cars that were being displayed throughout the showroom.  We knew we would have more time later, so I spent most of this time admiring the i8, BMW’s electric sports car.

We then went on a tour of the factory, which showed just about every step of building car.  We saw where the doors were joined to the body, where the engines were inserted, and, perhaps the most interesting part to watch, where the cars were painted.  Not surprisingly, KUKA robots were also used here.  Towards the end of the tour, we saw a long line of various BMW cars moving along the assembly line, ready for the final steps before completion.  This one part of this one tour is one of the major reasons that I chose to come to Germany instead of Costa Rica, Italy, or either of the other two Plus3 options, and I can honestly say that I am not disappointed.

After the tour, we went back to the showroom, where I was able to look all of the other cars on display, including cars made by Rolls-Royce and Mini.  When we left, we walked a short distance so we could ascend yet another high tower.  This time, though, we were able to take an elevator to the top.  As always, the view was great.  We descended and almost immediately decided to climb a nearby hill.  Again, the view made it worth the hike.

We then took the bus back to the hotel, but my group and I didn’t stay there.  Instead, we went to the University to meet the German students in our group and to finish our presentation.  The German students had worked a lot on the project, so all I had to do was go over what I would be presenting.  Afterward, we went to an Italian restaurant, where I ate pasta for the hundredth time in the past week.  If only we had this much Italian food at Pitt…

Today was a great day to follow up such an emotional day yesterday, and I figured I could wake up for the Penguins game again.  It was my second time waking up for a game and it was the Penguins’ second win since we left Pittsburgh.  Maybe I should keep waking up for them.