With Bob not feeling well we decided to make this day an easy, light day. We had planned to take in New a Town Hall, the Haufbrauhaus and the Residenz before heading to the Opera House for a ballet in the evening. We decided to skip the New Town Hall in the morning and just rest in the hotel. We did meet up with a friend from back home for lunch.

Leta has been to Munich before and it was happenstance that our trips overlapped. One of her favorite places to eat here is the Hofbrauhaus so we met there.

The Haufbrauhaus is an old building, and beautifully decorated inside. It isn’t overwhelming. They are known for their beer and being very busy so we thought ourselves lucky that it was not crowded that morning.

After having a nice meal and catching up, Leta headed back to get ready for her trip home and we headed to the Residenz.

The Residenz was high on my list of things to do because it is a little unique. It was the home and seat of power for the rulers of Munich and Bavaria from the 1300s (maybe earlier) through the 1800s. Each ruler expanded the palace and decorated those rooms in the modern style for the time, so going through the palace is like seeing the history of art and decoration for a few hundred years.

I liked the Residenz much more than Herenchimsse for one simple reason – despite being opulent and elaborate, it didn’t overwhelm and there was enough differentiation in the rooms to make it interesting. One of my favorites was the Room of Mirrors and the adjoining writing room.

At first glance, these are very similar to other rooms you see throughout Europe. But on looking a little further you notice a few things that make it feel different: the porcelain additions to the walls, the subtle details in the plaster and the way the room is reflected in each mirror so it always feels like you are looking through the room make it unique. it is also a small room, so the opulence isn’t overwhelming. It does make it difficult to get a good picture, however.

We decided to skip any more touring (including the Treasury where the jewels of the rulers were located) in the afternoon and just rested at the hotel before the ballet.

When we decided on Munich, I saw that the Munich Opera Festival was this month and asked Bob if he would like to go see something while we were there. He said yes and we settled on the ballet of A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Yes, a ballet of a Shakespearean play in Munich.

The Opera House is beautiful. It is exactly the right mix of grandeur and simplicity. The ballet itself was beautiful and yet very German. The fairy or dream scenes were … different. The discordant music with the minimalistic costumes were unexpected. I enjoyed the performance but am not sure I loved it. Bob’s comment was while he appreciated the athleticism of the dancers, his debt from making me sit through The Watchmen was now paid in full. Fair enough.

We didn’t do as much this day as we had planned, but that was ok. I think both of us needed a little bit of a rest after wandering around Munich in record heat for a few days. While we have no issue with 90 degree temperature, 90 degree temperature when you are outside and walking, or in buildings that are not air-conditioned, is a little hard on the body. But is was another really nice day.

For our second full day in Munich we headed out of the city to the island of Chimsse to visit the replica of Versailles that King Ludvig II began to build during his reign. He never finished the palace – either the building or the grounds – but what remains is fascinating.

We took the train out to Prien am Chimsse which is a storybook kind of town. It is cute and I could have wandered the town for hours and been happy. But, alas, we took a just as cute train to the docks, then a boat over to the island.

Today was a little different on a few fronts. I let Bob take all of the pictures. I didn’t ask for the camera, I didn’t tell him what to take, and I didn’t supervise in any way (so out of character for me, I know). Second, we did a guided tour of the palace, in large part because that is the only way to see it. Thankfully they have tours in multiple languages, English being one.

This place was opulent. I can’t think of a better word to describe it. In the finished rooms (there are 20 finished of the 70 planned rooms) every wall surface and ceiling is painted, decorated and gilded. Every piece of furniture is embellished. It was gorgeous, but too much. By the time we hit the unfinished entry, I was so glad to see plain brick walls.

The island itself, and the views from it, are worth the trip alone. On the train rise to Prien a local gentlemen called it a piece of heaven in Bavaria. He was right. I would have loved to simply wander the island for a few hours, but I was worried about the train times, and Bob was a little under the weather, so we didn’t. Instead we headed back to Munich for dinner.

We found another beer garden for dinner, this one close to our hotel and outside the main tourist area. Augustine is the oldest brewery in Munich according to their information. Started in 1328, they have been brewing beer for a long time.

We were not expecting a large place, but this was huge. And it was exactly what you think of when you think about a beer garden. There were tons of people, lots of food, a band and beer. A lot of beer.

Given that Bob wasn’t feeling great and we had some plans for the morning, we made it an early night, did a very un-European thing and went back to the hotel to rest. Part if me wishes we had stayed and enjoyed the atmosphere, but most of me is really, really glad we left early.

When we look for places to travel, Bob and I have to figure out what we want to do, where we can afford to go, and how much energy we want to expend. Generally we get the what do we want to do question down then I plan the trip and Bob says ok or no before booking anything. This year, I let Bob pick the location so Munich, for better or worse, was his idea. He decided on Munich because it has castles/palaces, lots of history, some very neat churches and beer.

Our first full day in Munich we decided to spend the day at Schloss Nymphenburg- the summer palace of the Bavarian monarchs. Getting there gave us some practice with the transit system, which we managed just fine. We did pick the hottest day of the year to tour the palace – an eighteenth century non air-conditioned palace. It was still worth it.

The main reception room is incredible. It is so light, so airy and so bright that it is hard to believe it is only natural light.

The other room that stands out is the room of beauties. One of the kings had portraits of beautiful women painted. He chose women from all walks of life, from the daughter of a farmer, a shopkeeper’s daughter to the daughter of a duke. He had a specific idea of what a beautiful woman looked like and he made sure to capture it.

Outside the palace, the grounds were amazing.

But more than just the grounds, tucked away, was a small chapel building that had one of the most unique rooms I have ever seen.

Shells. The entire chapel area is created by shells. Everything is done in shells and the pictures really don’t do it justice. It was totally unexpected, totally different and absolutely breathtaking. Well worth seeing.

For dinner, we went a more traditional route and headed to a beer garden. The Pauliner Nachenburger is a large, 3000 seat beer garden near the city center. It has both serviced and self serviced areas as well as playgrounds for children. We choose the served area and started out a little … unsettled as the few servers seemed to not want more tables. Eventually we got a server who insisted I try to say everything in German, and he corrected my pronunciation until I got it right. Part of me hated this, but part of me loved it. And really, if I can handle an encounter with Fritz, I can try anything.

The food wasn’t fancy, but it was really well done. Bob liked his beer and I had both a great German wine and a prosecco with elderflower. I tried to be adventurous with my food and drink this trip and it paid off.