The 30 Years War drove the Bavarian king to France, and when he came home he wanted a mini Versailles all to himself. That is what I saw, surrounded by a wilderness suited to the Bavarians´ love of hunting. The queen´s hunting lodge had the most elaborate dog kennels I have ever seen.
I saw a lot of the Baroque style, and learned that I much prefer the Classical style, but none of it really suits my home, so I guess it does not matter.
I exited the tram and walked into Nymphenburg Palace chatting with a very pleasant couple at the end of their stay here in Germany. It turns out they are from Chester County, PA. Then we realized their daughters had gone to my high school. And when I told them my name, I got a hug--it was my soccer coach from elementary school and his wife, Mr and Mrs Schick! If we hadn´t walked in together, I doubt we would have noticed each other in the throng of visitors, so this was an even more amazing coincidence.
After walking around the grounds of the palace (they had a picturesque village to house the staff), I made my way back to the hotel to meet Cheryl. She arrived a little tired from a long morning and a short flight from Venice. As we popped out of the underground stop we ran into this parade of Bavarian musicians.
The New Town Hall really looks like it should be considered an old town hall, but that is just the effect of neo-Gothic architecture.
We walked into a few churches, including this one, St. Peter´s, which had some very skelatal relics. I thought this relicquary looked a lot like the one Pearl and I saw so often when we watched the Cadefael series together. Another chapel had a skeleton of a saint wrapped in gauze, but propped up in a lounging position.
I had been to the summer residence of the Bavarian nobility, and now we toured their regular palace, the one they needed to escape from in the summertime. It was huge, the result of every couple of monarchs deciding he´d rather build a wing than redecorate the old ones.
These were my favorite objects in the treasury--a special collection of jewels, crowns, and crystal. These are real bezoars, and Harry Potter fans will recognize them. In the 1700s people thought these things served as antedotes. They were prized as gifts for the powerful because kings could conveniently wear them around their necks and dip them into any suspicious drink to neutralize the poison. Of course that meant kings were wearing masses cut out of goats and camels, basically pearls caused by irritants in their stomachs. And they just wrapped gold work around them and called them precious.
It began to rain as we saw the spot where Hitler was arrested for causing a riot that resulted in his imprisonment--this was before he was elected and really rose to power.
These folks were walking their enormous Bavarian horns through the streets.
We ate a fairly unimpressive meal at the noisy Hofbrauhaus. The atmosphere of the main hall was cheerful, but the service was inattentive and the food was disappointing.
My time in Munich is nearly done. My best to everyone at home!!
Also, if you have a dream of making a trip to the Holy Lands, take a look at the trip my husband will be guiding next March. See holylands2014.blogspot.com.
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