We awoke to drizzle in Munich. So we had a late start and went into town on the tram, after a long chat with Sebastian and Jan at the front desk of our hotel. Jan had lived in NZ briefly and was raving about how friendly and nice the people were. 🙂
So we arrived in town with our umbrella in use again:
And apparently we need a translator not only for the language, but for the signs as well! What does this sign mean, women and children walk to the left, but men carry on and dig up graves???
You want to look Bavarian, yah?
On Marianplatz.
Apparently this frog got caught and is preserved in wrought iron. 😉
Okay, this I understand without needing a translator. 🙂
A photo of a rather damp Marienplatz!
Made it to the Glockenspiel in time to see the performance!
Look what you can buy here, just what every young kid wants, their own BMW:
And here’s what every young kid gets: their own bike. 😉
Lots of bikes here, it makes sense since it is all flat and traffic is bad!
Through another huge door and we were in the Munich Residenz – the very large palace of the last Bavarian royal family, the Wittelsbach family.
We took a while to work out what these huge ceramic things in the rooms were, the puzzle was solved when we asked one of the guards. They were central heating! Yes indeed, dating from 1825. These stoves were fed from the back by servants going down a hidden hallway. 🙂
And here is something I’ve never seen before: a Giraffe Piano!
Nice to see that some rooms are still used today for some practical purpose:
This had to be the strangest thing in the palace, the reliquary. These were said to be the family’s most prized possessions. Below is (supposedly) John the Baptist’s skull and his mother’s skull right and left, and I can’t remember what was in the middle thing:
These I remember. Mummified hands. Said to be from children who were killed at the time of Jesus’ birth when Herod said young males had to be killed. Really not something I’d want in my house. Just saying… 😉
I wouldn’t mind having this ceiling though. 😉
This compact pipe organ was in a small private chapel:
There were sometimes 2 of the large stoves for heating the larger rooms, pretty ones too:
There was room after room after room of beautiful paintings, furniture and treasures:
I don’t know how easy it would be to sleep in a bedroom like this!
The chamber of mirrors was amazing to stand in, with so many mirrors. It was very expensive to have these hand made mirrors back in the day, so again, this was a statement of opulence and prosperity.
Back in the real world… it wasn’t raining any more! Yay! 🙂
It was cold though, we bought some roasted chestnuts from one of the many stands selling them, and had a look in a tourist shop. The main items for sale were nutcrackers and cuckoo clocks, all different types:
And… leder hosen:
We took the tram back out to where we were staying as it was right next to the Nymphenburg palace. So that’s were we went next. This palace was the summer house of the Wittelbach family whose “house” we had just visited.
And ya’ know, this was not too bad for a bach/holiday home:
I have photos from a lot more rooms than this, but hey, we need to get on the road and you’ve probably seen enough. Suffice it to say that the summer house was just as sumptuous as the city residence! This was the palace from the back:
Then we made our way back to our slightly more modest accommodation. 🙂 This hotel is owned by a 20 year old heiress, worth millions of Euros, the history was interesting! We were staying in the top room with the corner turret.
Wow..they let you take photos in the Residenz! We were not allowed in the Wurtberg one and unfortunately they had no tourist book with great photos of the entire interior. It is even more spectacular than the Munich one. I still don’t if it was the same branch of the Bavarian Kings.
Yep, we’ve been allowed to take photos inside (but no flash) pretty much everywhere we’ve been except Schwangau. 🙂
Marianne
According to Wikipedia the Würzburg Scloße was commissioned by the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg Johann Philipp Franz von Schönborn and his brother Friedrich Carl von Schönborn in 1720, and completed in 1744. They won’t be related to the family at the München Residenz.
Your photos are absolutely beautiful!! I have just read all your news from Italy, Austria and Germany. The weather here was unusually warm in September, but alas, now it is 13 degrees Celsius, but no rain the coming days. The day after tomorrow we’ll meet. I am excited! I hope, though, that after these beautiful places you have been to, you can adapt to my humble abode. 🙂 See you soon,
Janny
Ha, don’t worry, we’re adaptable, so long as you have a tikar or something. 😉 And 13 degrees sounds warm compared to the highs of only 8 we’ve had the last few days!!! We’re very much looking forward to seeing you too, not long now!