Acclimating to the German landscape, in pictures.

On Wednesday, my first full day in Germany, Stephan and I visited the Paläontologisches Museum München at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. We came on a whim after hearing there is an archaeopteryx on display. The museum is cute and small and housed in the lobby and hallways a building, just like the Pacific Museum of the Earth in the EOAS building at UBC.

The museum is in the far right foreground, running behind it are houses on the Richard-Wagner Strasse. I like the pink house because it is modest and waves only a tiny flag to you as you walk past.

Behold the mighty skull of the Dreihornsaurier! A triceratops by any name is awesome to see. I think this one looks surprised. I would be too, if my body had turned into a puny pole.  

The skull of a Neanderthal. I used all my German skills to translate the label. This specimen earned $50,000 a year, was in a gang called the “Intelligenz” and one day hoped to see Anaheim. I wonder if they ever did...

Upon closer inspection, this is not archaeopteryx. Es ist eine Horndinosaurier, von Kanada.

In the end, we couldn’t see Archaeopteryx because it was in the shower or at a birthday party—the person spoke at lightening speed—but a nice consolation was getting the meet Fossil Of The Year 2013, the wooly mammoth.

What better way to follow-up the museum than with a sunny afternoon stroll along the Isar river in Munich. Even the trees need to hit the beach in this gorgeous weather.

Stephan waits in line with young and old alike to buy Radlers (a beer–lemonade concoction) from a curbside kiosk. As an uptight Canadian, I wasn’t thrilled to see these children drinking and cycling, but they assured me they can handle their liquor.