Doctor Doctor

This is Dave doing the blog again. Wendy and I are trying to keep up, so we’re splitting the blog duties. Plus, Wendy’s day wasn’t that exciting as you will soon find out.
We started off sleeping in. Our train trip from the day before had everyone exhausted, and we have a tradition of letting everyone sleep in after road trips.
Wendy had set up a doctor appointment for Mali while we were in Salzburg. It was 2:30, which is a tough time on the sleep in schedule because we’re usually not getting out of the house until noon or 1. It was a cloudy and cold day, so we thought we’d do something inside and went with the Residenz. If you’re wondering what it is, here’s a description from their web page:
The Munich Residenz served as the seat of government and residence of the Bavarian dukes, electors and kings from 1508 to 1918. What began in 1385 as a castle at the north-eastern corner of the town (the Neuveste, or new citadel) was transformed over the centuries into a magnificent palace, its buildings and gardens extending further and further into the town.
At first, I was hoping to get everyone there, but it wasn’t going to work. We were getting out too late, Mali wasn’t feeling well, and Wendy (who offered to take doctor duties this time) had some stuff she wanted to get done at home. So, Hayley, Dillon and I took off on our own.
The Residenz turned out to be big and impressive. It’s similar to the interior of Versailles. It doesn’t have the hall of mirrors, but it does have the Antiquarium which is impressive to say the least. There were a few other rooms that also took your breath away (Ahnengalerie, the ornate chapel, etc…). The grounds can’t compete with Versailles, but the rooms and décor seems to match up if not exceed. The one down side is that a lot of it is reconstructed. Most of the building was destroyed during WWII. That seems to go for most of Munich, unfortunately. So, a lot of the rooms were redone. From our bike tour, it seems like the 72 Olympics was a catalyst for a lot of the work getting finished around town.
One of my personal favorites was the relic room. For some reason I find the relics fascinating (both what they claim to be and the kinds of things that are considered relics). If you are a relic fan, this is the place. It had more than I’ve ever seen at any cathedral. The audio guide, which is more than comprehensive, unfortunately didn’t cover them all, but here are the few highlights: passion of the Christ collection that included thorns from the crown of thorns, a piece of the true cross, and part of the sponge used to give Him vinegar; the skulls of John the Baptist and his mother (Elisabeth the Baptist according to Dillon); three mummified remains of infants killed by King Hared during the slaughter of the innocents; and one other big ticket item I’m forgetting. That doesn’t cover all the other items in this room. It was great.
We soldiered on through the rest. The audio guides were way too detailed. If you listened to the entire descriptions in all the rooms, I bet you would be there three days. The kids were hungry since we went straight there (and left the house at noon), and I was getting tired of fancy room after fancy room, so we sped through the second half. It was really, really big.
After that, I drug the kids to the Viktualienmarkt because I hadn’t been there yet and the pizza place the kids wanted was overpriced and mediocre. Hayley was feeling very tired of German food, so she opted for the Subway that’s in the market. Dillon and I opted for the stall that had the longest line. We got wurst and brotkartofel (a kind of pan fried potato salad). I love the stuff. We had it at the beer garden on our bike trip and it is good stuff. They seem to like mixing sodas here. There’s an orange-cola soda combo Dillon got. It seems generically its called Spezi, but there are different brand names for the same drink. My favorite name is Schwip Schwap.
Hayley was done with the Residenz. I let Hayley and Dillon go up the tower at Peterskirche (since she hadn’t gone up yet). I waited below. While waiting I went into a bakery and got apple strudel for a snack. I wasn’t anywhere near as good as the stuff we got in the small town on the Sound of Music tour. I think I was too far into the tourist sector.
After the tower, Hayley wanted to go home, so she took off while I went with Dillon to finish the Residenz tour. Before going in I called Wendy to see how the doctor went. Turns out Mali didn’t have anything horrible, and if it was bacterial it was too late for an antibiotic, so we got some stuff for her symptoms. The bad part is Wendy got a ticket on the train for traveling out of zone. We bought a 1 week pass for public transportation that covers zone one and two. Wendy didn’t realize that she was in zone 3. The ticket was 40€. Clueless tourists get no sympathy. I love the German train system, but it is terrible at letting honest people stay honest. She wasn’t trying to cheat. She just didn’t know she left the zone. The zones are not obvious, and they aren’t on the main metro map (only on a second map that’s really tough to read). Plus, the zones are much smaller. In Paris with a two zone map, you could go anywhere in the city. You left zone one and two when you left the border. Munich is much tighter with no clear lines. I thought to warn her because I realized I was in zone 4 when we went to church (and fortunately didn’t get caught) when it was too late. Unfortunately, I forgot.
Anyway, Wendy was heading home. The doctor we were recommended was on the other side of town, so she was going to be a while returning, so Dillon and I went back to finish the Residenz.
We hit the treasury. The audio guide intro said that if you listened to each item, it would take you 5 hours to go through the 11 rooms. I believe it. Man, that audio guide liked to talk and talk. Whew.
There was some really impressive stuff in the treasury. Our favorite was a statue of St. George. It was as sparkly as I’ve seen in a long time. There were a number of impressive crowns and other royal regalia. We went through fairly fast because we were both getting tired, and this kind of art work is nice but gets repetitive (to me) after a while. We went through the Cuvilliés-Theater on the way out (gorgeous and a place I would love to see a performance).
On the train back Dillon noticed Wendy and Mali a few seats back. We walked back and surprised them while they were helping some Koreans find the Englischer Garten.
After we got home, Wendy needed something fun (long train ride and getting a ticket wasn’t her idea of fun), so she and I left the kids at home and did some shopping at the cute shops around our house. The first one was an amazing clothing store that does custom work. The lady had a great sense of design, and Wendy and I loved everything there. Unfortunately it was well out of our price range. We did find a few things at the other shops around, and then we finished up getting our last round of large grocery shopping in Europe. Wendy headed home while I went and got dinner. There’s a Donner Kebab (Turkish sandwich kind of thing) place near the shops, so I got some for the family. They are good, but not as good as the Falafel we had in Paris. Man, I still miss those. If I had found them sooner on our trip I would weigh 30 pounds more.
After dinner Wendy made her amazing hot chocolate for dessert. It’s better than the stuff we had in France and a huge hit with everyone. We put the kids to bed, Wendy chatted with friends online, and we called it a day.
We’re in the final stretch. It was funky thinking about limiting our grocery purchases because we wouldn’t be able to use it all. I’m going to miss it, but I’m also feeling good about it ending. We’ve seen and experienced a lot. It has been an adventure and a great one at that. I’m looking forward to the last few days and then the adventure of living in the US again.

Fountain in the Residenz courtyard (water comes out of medusa’s head and the stump on her body).

The Antiquarium and the kids half way through it.

Dillon trying to see the optical illusion on the ceiling (painted to look like a much larger room, but it only works in the middle of the room)

A bunch of stuff from the Residenz.

Kids enjoying lunch at the Viktualienmarkt then going up the skinny stairs at the church.

Sparkly stuff from the treasury and the Cuvilliés-Theater.