HOME SAFE AND SOUND!

Just wanted to let you know we arrived home safe and sound late Saturday night!! We are still adjusting to the 7 hour time change but its is wonderful to be back in the states. Thanks so much for reading the blog- It was really fun to do- I'm sure there will be another one for our adventures in Waco, Texas this Fall! I'll keep you posted :)
Love, Tim and Carol

HOFBRAUHAUS

We finished our night at the most famous beer garden, perhaps in Germany; the Hofbrauhaus of Munich! Place was pretty cool- just about every stereotype that you can picture about a German beer hall took place here. Here's a shot of Carol tipping a glass (of lemonade)- :)

BEER GARDEN #1

Carol discovered this wonderful little place for us to have lunch- Ummmmm the German's know how to serve a hot dog- a foot long- each side, doubled over in a fresh hard crust bun! They had an ooompah band set up in the middle so we sat and enjoyed that for awhile. We also went to Munich's biggest outdoor market called Viktualienmarkt. Thing I thought was coolest was this tall pole that advertises what they are selling for people who can't read (a medevial tool) .

COUPLE MORE PALACE SHOTS

Bottom up:

1. Private chapel for the King built RIGHT into the castle next to his bedroom- this is where the funeral services were held for "Mad King Ludwig" who went crazy buildings all those beautiful castles in S. Germany.

2. Ceiling of a private reliquary room for one of the kings. Relics were (and still are) are HUGE thing in Europe. There exists a belief that if you have a piece of Christ's cross- or a nail from the cross- a piece of his robe- you have a more direct line to God-and if a relic belongs to one of the saints, perhaps all the better cause they might not be as busy as God and can intercede for you. So there were and are entire rooms devoted these relics. Today we saw what are claimed to be the complete skeletons of three babies believed to have been killed when Herod gave his command that all male babies be killed in his quest to kill Jesus after his birth. They were very carefully wrapped in beautiful linens and enclosed in a glass tomb- so tiny! Also saw what are believed to be the skulls of John the Baptist and his mother Elizabeth.

Last year I scoffed that these kinds of things were really 'the real McCoy' but this year the more I read about the connections of Italy to the mideast- and in this case the Pope was eager to give relic after relic to Munich to keep them Catholic and ward off the evil Protestant Martin Luther.

Last- this bed for the King, which was not even used- the room wasn't even used- it was just for show. His bed and bedroom were in a different hall in the palace.

INSIDE THE PLACE

Wasn't a let down from the gardens (bottom to top), shelled grotto area that was 1/2 inside, 1/2 outside, and hello! a mammoth hall created just to house one of the king's statue collection (a man after my own heart), a hall of relatives paintings,..

and take a close look at one of these paintings-

cause they were all CUT with a very bad knife- right when it was the last minute before bombs were about to fall on the palaces - to get them into safety-- you can see where each of them has been patched back in-

RESIDENZMUSEUM

We had to check out the main stomping grounds of the previous Kings of Bavaria (which is what this area was called before it joined with other states and became Germany in the late 1800s). You know the famous castle Neuschwanstein that Walt Disney based his famous Cinderella castle off of for Disneyworld... we saw that last year. That beauty is about 1.5 hours from here right near the Germany / Austria border.

This palace we saw today is the main headquarters for all of Bavaria- and it was HUUUUUUGE! It was made to look like the Pitti Palace in Florence which oddly enough-we saw in May so we could say, Yeah it really DOES look like the Pitti Palace!

Unfortunately it was yet another famous landmark being redone but at least they put up these very artistic drop cloths to show you what is under all the sheeting-

TOURIST TRAPS

They just exist everywhere don't they. But could these places BE more Bavarian- and I have to say- they get me with the hook everytime!