Residenz

We grabbed some quick sandwiches for breakfast and headed to Allianz stadium. Unfortunately there wasn't a game there, which was contrary to the information on the website, but we still got to wander around inside as they had an open training earlier that day. It's still an impressive stadium. I wish that we had the chance to see it all lit up. Apparently you can see it for miles around.

We went down to the Residenz, the old home of the King of Bavaria. We accidently entered the Egyptian exhibit first as we didn't know that it was separate from the rest of the museum.

We eventually found our way to the real entrance and were relieved to find they had an English Audio tour. The entire egyptian exhibit was in German, so it took us five minutes of looking things up in the dictionary just to find that they said, "collection of various containers".

Inside the Residenz all the old crown jewels are kept. There was the same collection of bejeweled crowns, swords, wine decanters and a huge panel of medals. The piece I found most interesting was a complete makeup box for a queen in the 1600s. It looked like it would take 4 hours to get ready each morning.

In the main section of the residenz, there was a hall of forebears proving the legitmacy of the King's claim. It was all done in South German Rococo, which is where they paint tons of gold leaves that intertwine with animals. It all seems so ridiculously gaudy. Whatever would possess a man to carefully craft a golden goose spewing a vine into the ear of Poseidon?

There was an impressive fountain done almost entirely in sea shells in one of the courtyards, but it was nothing compared to the Antiquarium. It's a giant hall done almost entirely in different colors of marble and flanked on both sides by busts of all the famous Roman Emperors. The king that built it must have had a major inferiority complex. Lexi and I wondered what we would put in ours as we don't have any antiques and you could never get ferrets to sit still long enough to flank a room.

Upstairs were the Red and Green rooms, where the king held his meetings and parties. There were apparently very stringent rules regarding royal furniture. It had to get fancier as you got closer to the King's main room and you had to be of a certain rank to get a certain type of seat. The king got an armchair. Important nobles got seats with a back but no arms. And others got stools and so on.

The most ridiculous room was the bedroom that no king ever slept in. It was a public room where the king would tell everyone he was going to bed at the end of a party so they all knew to leave. He actually slept in a more modest room with a more comfortable bed downstairs.

The freakiest room was a room of religious relics. Most of them are mummified hands in elaborate gold cases or skulls covered in silk. One of the skulls is supposed to be John the Baptist's. I rarely succumb to superstition, but I couldn't take any pictures in there. It just felt wrong and wierd.

Along the "Ewww" theme there was a statue of persius killing medusa with water flowing out of head and the severed neck. It is an impressive statue with dynamic posture and exquisite detail. Still, I wonder why the king wanted it in his garden where he went to escape the pressures of the royal court.

After we left the museum, we went to a nearby candy store and picked up some fresh meringue. It was so good. I rarely get meringue so fresh that the inside is still gooey.

We had a giant plate of meat for dinner. It was supposed to be a variety plate for two, but it could easily have fed four. We hardly made a dent in it, even though we were starving. Next time I go to that place, I'll have to ask him to bring me two of every animal instead. It would be less food.

After dinner we went to the Augustiner beer garden, but it was late and there weren't many people there. It was still cool to see the guy tap a wooden keg for us. We had a giant german beer and then went back to the hotel.