A soggy day in Munich town.

We've had a lot of rainy days here. Pretty much only rainy days. Last Thursday was a German holiday...but it was also a rainy day. So instead of going somewhere, which was obviously my first choice...I wandered around the city. If it keeps going on like this I may be forced to give in and get an umbrella.

Biergarten in the Englischer Garten

So what does one do with a day off such as this? One goes to museums, of course.

I went to the Wittelsbach Residenz - "the seat of government and residence of the Bavarian dukes, electors, and kings from 1508 to 1918. The complex as a whole is one of the largest museums in Bavaria." They're not kidding, this place is seriously huge. Here are some pictures of the facade and the Hofgarten (Court Garden) when it was still nice outside.

My favorite part of the tour was the antiquarium and the reliquary. And the strange, grey, mini-tennis-racquetesque audio guide handheld speaker...of which I don't have a picture.

Antiquarium

Did you know that holy relics are physical remnants - body parts...or objects - of saints? Who knew?! It could be anything - mummified children supposedly slaughtered by Herod, a piece of Christ's cross, someone's hand. Rich people (and churches too, I believe) would collect this stuff and display it as a sort of endorsement of their status. I will never be satisfied with a mere burial again. I want my bones to be entombed in gold.

Look, they thought this was the head of John the Baptist:

I was then supposed to meet up with a friend to go to one of the art museums but she was hung up at a lunch with the missionaries so I did a lot of this:

And a lot of this:

I ran out of things to do so I rode the U-bahn to the end of its line. Why? I was filled with the spirit of exploration! To embark into the great unknown with only a 1500 page book and an iPod, that is man's greatest desire!

Unfortunately, by the time we met up and made it to the Pinakothek they were closing in 45 minutes. Ach du Schande!

So we hung out German style - went out for Italian and chatted in her room until late. I may or may not have almost called her a Nazi once but guys, they're way normal over here.