Odds and Ends From Day One

The Opera House was build by King Maximillian I of Bavaria.  Because Opera Houses have a lot of curtains and candles the architects knew at some point there would be a fire inside.  So they built a reservoir on the top of the building to collect rainwater and the crude sprinkler system. 

When a fire did break out they released the “rainwater” but nothing happened.  It was the middle of winter so it was all ice.  Someone ran to the Hofbrauhaus.  The men created a line and passed buckets of beer to the Opera House to put out the fire.

This statue of King Maximillian I was put up by his son after he died.  King Maximillian hated this statue because it looks like he is asking for the check at a restaurant (very unking like).  But his son decided he would never know, and had it put up anyway.           

Residenz is the palace where Bavarian rulers lived.  We didn’t go inside but there are four lions outside.  You can rub the lions for good luck.  Locals rub them each time they walk by.  You can rub 3 out of 4 but not 4 or it cancels out.   

Viktualienmarkt was a nice market we visited our first day after our walking tour.  People were selling meat, cheese, fruit, vegetables, sauerkraut, spices and much more.  

Karlstor is an old city gate.  There was an ace rink near it and some little stands selling Bratwurst.  This is where we had dinner on after our first day in Munich!