Germany Vacation - Our Trip Begins

    Our much anticipated vacation to see Justin has arrived! We begin our adventure at Springfield, Illinois's airport. The first leg of the trip is a short one; Springfield to O'Hare (Chicago).

Excited travelers, they are very good at disguising their enthusiasm :-)

    We had quite a long layover at O'Hare, which gave us plenty of time to get thru security, find our gate, and explore some of the interesting sites/or world of O'Hare. After walking around for awhile, I decided that a school group may enjoy a 'field trip' here:
       
      Areas to observe light displays and moving pedestrian walks for science.

How much time can be saved by using the moving pedestrian walk?

Lights turned on and off from one end to the other....kind of a disco-like effect.

Natural History buffs may like the dinosaur display.

A very impressive display

For another angle of viewing it, you can go under it!

And everyone is passing right by it, without even a glance at it!

Walls of plants for Botany

Can enjoy the blooms while looking for your flight/gate status.

Or get right up close to them.

There is an extraordinary art exhibit in one hallway.

These city-scapes artworks are much more impressive to see in person.

Hanging from the ceiling are some unique mobiles.

I like the turtle :-)

They add a bit of color to the drab grey ceiling.

And again...people just passing thru without a glance!!!

A little Social Studies/Geography.....associating the maple leaf with Canada.

Home-Ec/Decor...check out the chandeliers made out of wine glasses.

And the piano is playing by itself...keeping everyone entertained=both the people waiting in line to board their flight and the people at the bar.

Aaaahh, made it to Frankfurt, Germany!

Justin's car trunk is quite filled with suitcases.

On the autobahn to Hermersburg (village that Justin lives in)

A very long day of traveling is over and now time to...

Jet-lag setting in

The view from Justin's house is awesome, could just pretend his house is a resort! Couldn't decide which pic I liked best...

Different lighting in the day and a half before we left for our bus tour of Prague, Vienna, Budapest, and more.

On our way to Munich, where the tour starts.

One of the highlights for Geoffrey....driving a BMW on the autobahn.

On the bus....tour begins!