Munich

After Dachau, we needed something happy, so we went to Munich. I had looked online and saw a few places that looked like fun, but I didn't really know much else about Munich, so we took the hop-on, hop-off bus. We hopped off at the first place I had seen online, the Munich Residenz. It was the palace for Bavarian monarchs from 1508 until 1918. I really wanted to see the Cuvilliés-Theater, so that's where we went first. 

It was rather hard to find, though. We got off the bus when I saw a wall with an arch that said, "Residenz." It seemed like that's where we would find it. It was just a big park, though. We tried looking at the map, but the map of the gardens didn't include how to get into the palace. The building that looked like it should be the palace didn't have an entrance. In the meantime, Em saw people with Starbucks, and she wanted some. Max told her that if she could ask them where it was, she could have some. So, she went up and asked them in German where the Starbucks was, and they answered in German. She took us right there! So, Max & Em had their coffee, and we headed back to find our palace entrance. 

After a bit of wandering, we found it. I saw a door that said, "Cuvilliés-Theater," so we tried it. It was locked. It had a sign that said it was some sort of door, but the translator on my phone didn't know the word. It must have said it was not an entrance, but we didn't know that. We wandered a bit more, and we found the front door to the theater, yay! I had wanted to get a Bavarian Palace Pass, but, though the Residenz was included on the pass, you couldn't buy it there. We didn't understand that at first, though. The guy at the ticket window didn't understand my poor attempts at saying "annual pass" in German, and he didn't speak enough English for me to say it that way. Another guy eventually came over and helped us, and that's when we found out we couldn't get it there. So, we just bought tickets to the Residenz. 

Anyway, the theater was spectacular. It was small, since it was just for royalty and guests, but it was the most ornate place I've ever seen.  

 All of the bunting and curtains are actually carved out of wood. As you can see, the whole place was gold and red. Elaborate carvings cover the whole place. It is a major work of Bavarian Rococo. 

After the theater, we went to the rest of the Residenz museum. First, we went to the treasury, where we saw  a bunch of treasures (who knew?). We had to get back to the bus before too long, so we didn't get the audio tour. So, since I don't even know what they all are, I'll just provide you with pictures. 

 We were debating going into the main part of the museum when we saw these guys going in

 Of course, we had to follow them. We thought we would just grab a few pictures of them, see a couple of the rooms we wanted to see, and then go back and catch our bus. Unfortunately, the museum was one way, and it took you through everything. So, we spent a good deal of time rushing through the museum, trying to get out. There were some pretty cool rooms, but unfortunately, my computer is acting funky, and I can't get the pictures up right now. If I rotate pictures, they disappear. But, if you're really interested in seeing pictures of the museum, you can go here - <http://www.residenz-muenchen.de//englisch/residenc/index.htm> 

Emma says - Finding the Starbucks made me feel really awesome, and my German teacher was really proud of me when I told her. The crowns were pretty, and the people in costumes were cool. I'm glad we went.