You Go Nate!

From A Day in Munich

Alan Comes to Visit - Part 3:
A DAY IN MUNICH (Sep. 10)

After a long day in Berchtesgaden we were able to sleep in a little bit on Wednesday. After waking up and having breakfast, we headed to the city center. We arrived at the Marienplatz...

And then climbed the stairs of St. Peters...

...for a view from atop the church.

Across the square we watched the Glockenspiel Tower on the City Hall chime on the hour!

...the court jester and company...

...a nail-biting horse-tournament...

That was a close one!

We climbed back down the stairs and took the U-bahn to the Olympic Park. Next to the Olympic Park is the BMW world headquarters.

The Olympic Tower and stadiums are all surrounded by a beautiful park area.

We went inside the main stadium...

ha ha ha

Here's Alan cheering on the wheelbarrow on the track...

We'd eaten a lot of German food the past few days so we decided on something a little bit different for lunch. I knew of an excellent sushi restaurant. All-you-can-eat sushi for about €10. Not bad. The sushi comes on a conveyor belt and you simply take what you want when you want it. I ate way too much...

We went back towards the city center to visit the Residenz Palace. This palace in the heart of Munich was the main residence for the Wittlesbach family who ruled Bavaria for centuries. The outside was under construction so I don't have a picture, but here is one of the many inner courtyards...

One of the first stops on the labyrinth-like tour was the Shell Grotto...

This ornate grotto is built completely out of seashells. It was mostly destroyed in World War II but after the war, Bavarians from all around collected shells to reconstruct this unique structure...

The details were exquisite...

Here's an interesting fountain with Perseus slaying Medusa. The water comes out of Medusas head and her neck. Very cool.

Next we entered the Antiquarium, an ornate hall of statues of ancient Romans. Many of the busts are from ancient Rome. The painted arches on the ceiling each depict a different Bavarian village from the 1550's and because of the strength of the arches, they survived the WWII bombs.

We walked through many interesting rooms, ornately decorated and hard to photograph...

In one room they had a collection of many of the holy relics valued by the Catholics of centuries past. A relic is usually a bone, a skull, a shriveled hand, a veil, a piece of clothing, that belonged to a revered saint, an early apostle, or even Christ himself (there are several heads of John the Baptist floating around Europe, and enough splinters from the "actual" cross of Christ to create a whole forest.)

Here are some preserved bones of a saint....

One of my favorite rooms was this small chapel with a gorgeous lapis-lazuli-blue and gold ceiling.

If you've ever been to Versaille, Schönbrunn, Sansouci, or another 18th century royal palace, you know what the inside of these palaces can look like with so much detail in the decoration and at times feeling like a cherub or two threw up all over the wall...

Some people have a nice pedigree chart in a fancy book. The Wittlesbachs kept their pedigree chart in a special hall dedicated to the portraits of ancestors through the years....

Also in the Residenz is the Treasury. Here we saw fine jewels and rare objects from centuries of Royal collecting.

Here is a heavily bejewelled crown originally from England and dated at 1370. It is the oldest known English crown in existence...

Here is a mini-altar from 870 AD that traveling royals would use to worship while on the road...

Here is an ornamented ostrich egg from the late 15th century. The ostrich egg was considered a sacred Christian symbol and was greatly prized. An early Christian writer explains:

The bird lays eggs but does not brood them in the usual way: it sits facing them and stares at them intensely; they grow warm in the heat of its gaze, and the young are hatched ..... That is why in church the eggs are proposed as a model for us: when we stand together and pray, our eyes should be watching God, because he took away our sins

Here is a Chalice of Narwhal tusk from aroun 1500. It was considered by JK Rowling to be a possible magical item in Harry Potter but Harry Potter and the Chalice of Narwhal Tusk just didn't roll of the tongue so easily.

Here is an exquisitely crafted depiction of St. George slaying the dragon. Each piece of the knight, the horse, and the dragon is a finely cut and polished precious stone or material. It dates from 1586.

The Bavarian Crown and accessories...

Various royal swords dating from 1455, 1480, and 1653...

Here is another finely crafted piece of work. It is a small chest with crystal engravings on the side depicting various scenes from the Old Testament. 1570...

Here are some goat bezoars which were considered magical and highly prized in former times. These stones come from the stomach of the goat and are believed to protect one against poisons. Thanks to a bezoar, Harry Potter was able to save the life of Ron Weasley after the latter drank poisoned mead.

I thought this was interesting: a lapis lazuli and gold bathroom set from the 1720's. Notice the toothbrush...

Here is an 18th century violin made from tortoise shell!

And a 1710 chess set made from tortoise shell and mother-of-pearl...

Another interesting piece, sugar tongs shaped like a stork and a baby rattle with an animal claw. 1680's.

Here is an ancient Olmec mask that was set in this Baroque ornamentation in 1720.

After visiting the Residenz we headed over to the worlds most famous pub: the Hofbräu Haus.

We walked through and swiped a couple of coasters...

The locals keep their own beer "steins" in a locker...

There were a few locals there that afternoon enjoying a brew...

Next, we wandered down the busy pedestrian plaza and looked at souvenir shops and people watched. Our tour ended at Stachus... one of the main gateways to the inner city.

It had been a fun day of seeing Munich. It was fun for me to have an excuse to visit many places I had yet to visit.

Coming up next: The very top of Germany, Alpine scenery, a frog, and a good Samaritan.


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