Auf Wiedersehen, Munich!

Munich is relatively small, so I was originally planning on taking the train over to Salzburg for the third day, but I decided to stay in Munich as I hadn't seen as much as I had hoped on the day I arrived. The weather had massively improved and no rain or snow was in sight, so I got my day pack ready and headed out back to Marienplatz to see the glockenspiel at the Rathaus play.





The glockenspiel plays twice a day, and it recalls a wedding that took place back in 1568. It takes a while to get going, but if you're patient, you can see the wedding procession, the joust, the coopers' dance, and the rooster crow.

I took a stroll over to the Asam Church, which is a Rococo church built by two sibling architects. The church functioned as a showpiece for all the things you could order from their firm, and it's pretty intense.





I especially liked the gold grim reaper caught in the act of cutting the thread of life. Who knew he used gold scissors.



It's a bit of a shock walking back outside with the bright light, and if you look to your right, you can see the city walls!



I turned left and walked towards Frauenkirche. The church is easy to spot due to its twin domes, and the interior is surprising modern since much of the church was destroyed during World War II. It was a nice rest for my eyes after Asamkirche!



There's a neat little detail you may miss if you're not looking for it. There are tiny painted men who helped construct the church decorating the tops of the columns playing peekaboo.



I also really admired the beautiful metal work surrounding the perimeter of the pews.



Just nearby is the St. Michael's Church, a Renaissance building with a beautiful yet not overly ornate interior.











There's a crypt below, containing the Wittelsbach royal tombs, including the king that built Neuschwanstein and Linderhof, but unfortunately, it was closed.

I next paid a visit to the famous Dallmayr deli, which is similar to the food hall at Harrods. There were loads of delicious goodies to be had! 

Even an in house coffee roasting bar with beans stored in large porcelain urns!

It was getting on lunch time, so I decided to visit a restaurant that J and his officemates had gone their first night, the Spatenhaus Beer Hall, which serves some damn good Bavarian food. I'm not quite sure what I ordered, but it was definitely meat based, brown, and delicious. I don't really mind eating alone, and it was nice to sit down and rest my feet and read through the guidebook for a bit.

After ingesting copious amounts of meat, I ducked into the nearby Residenz Museum, which is the former royal palace for the Wittelsbachs. It was just in the nick of time too, as it started to rain. The Museum is split into three sections, the Treasury, the private apartments and the Cuvillies Theatre. I wanted to visit all three, but I opted for just the Treasury and the Apartments in the time I had left before the museum closed.



The treasury is pretty freaking amazing, and I spent a good chunk of my time oohing and aahing over all the beautiful things. I probably could've stayed in there forever, just drooling and wiping my chin for hours on end.









But it was time to visit the apartments, which weren't too shabby.



Let's just say that restraint wasn't exactly the royals' strong suit.









I  made it out of the museum just as it was closing, which gave me just enough time to nip back over to the Hofbrauhaus to take some snaps and pick up some souvenirs for the beer drinkers in my life.











It was pretty much the perfect end to my Bavarian holiday, and I was ready to go back home to London and spend some time with J and the cats.