Day 45 - I Are Confused

I forgot to mention a guilty pleasure I pursued yesterday. It's so cool it deserves it's very own list.

• Dallmayr. Dallmayr is one of the world's best delicatessens. That's what my Europe by Eurail book said. But when I went by and looked in the windows, all I saw were cigars, wine, and chocolate, staples of a healthy diet, to be sure, but not what I consider delicatessen. Regardless, coming home from the Residenz, I decided to see what the inside was like. It was cool. There were rows and rows of foods I couldn't even identify. There was a fountain with live crayfish. At least I think they were crayfish. I used my sloppy german to ask for some items without meat. I got some potato and veggie cakes, some fruit salad, and some pasta salads I couldn't identify. I also got some chocolate covered fruit (mango, figs, and apricots). And then I saw them.
• Avocados. Avocados from Israel. All the avocados I'd seen in european markets could easily pass for recovered meteorites. But this was Dallmayr. These had to be good. They also cost two euros a pop, but who the heck cared! I bought one and was on my way. I didn't even get around to eating it until this morning though as I spent the evening walking around with some guys from the hostel and violating one of the most basic laws of physics and food safety by eating a pretzel bigger than my head. But back to the avocado, it was good, like the rest of the Dallmayr food. The texture was not as smooth (which means it was probably not as fatty) as a Mexican avocado. But the taste was really nice, and I finally got to use the salt and pepper I bought for cooking in France, well, the salt anyway. Mmmmmmm.

Okay. Enough delectation.

• Not Neuschwanstein. I somehow slept through most of the construction noise (Oh yeah, did I mention there are holes being cut in walls and ceilings and pipes being run starting at eight in the morning, every weekday in my hostel?) and didn't wake up until ten. It was a beautiful sunny day out, so I thought I'd hit the Nymphenburg gardens. Then I realized I'd just spent the last evening wandering the English Garden with guys from the hostel and wasn't really in a pastoral mood. So what did I do?
• Alte Pinakothek. Regardless of whether or not you know what that is, you're probably confused. Why the heck would I go to a painting museum, given I haven't really enjoyed paintings very much in my travels thus far? Well, the guys I'd been walking with the night before were going to the New Pinakothek (with modern paintings as opposed to classical ones) and I figured with my limited interest in paintings, I could breeze through the Alte Pinakothek and catch up with them at the New Pinakothek. Boy was I wrong. I ate that gallery up. I don't even understand why, but I was really enjoying myself. The Flemish masters were really speaking to me. Actually, I think it was the free audioguide that was speaking to me. Considering that admission was only four fifty, the free audioguide was a sweet deal. What's more, it did a really good job of brining out the most interesting parts of the paintings. Sometimes it would talk about the technique involved in making especially bright colors. Sometimes it would talk about the artist and what the artist thought about the painting. There were some oil sketches of some Ruebens paintings (and lots of Ruebens paintings). I took a picture of the sketch for one of the few paintings I bothered to photograph in the Louvre. [Note to self: It was the painting of some Medici lady arriving on a boat.] Anyway, the audioguide definitely helped, but I think the organization of the museum was important as well. It was a simple layout and chronological. It was easy to get lost and run into dead ends in the Louvre. The National Gallery was a bit confusing for me as well. But every room in the Alte Pinakothek is numbered, and in every doorway you can see which room you are leaving and which room you are going to. Leave it to the germans. It's funny how something so completely unrelated to the quality of the paintings makes viewing them so much more enjoyable. I will definitely hit the New Pinakothek and happily give more of my euros to this great institution. They can probably use them too, as there were more people sunbathing on the lawn than viewing the gallery.
• BMW Museum. It was about three thirty when I finished up with the Alte Pinakothek, so I started walking. I ended up (after a detour because it moved) at the BMW Museum. I'm not really a big car nut, but I thought some of my audience might be, so I have some photos (including interesting placards talking about the history of the company and the significance of particular models) for you. I spent about half an hour taking pictures, then I headed for Nymphenburg. I never made it.
• Olympic Park. Some of you may remember that Munich hosted the olympics. Actually, if you remember it at all you probably remember that eight Arab terrorists murdered eleven Israeli athletes. I didn't remember until I looked it up just now. It's bizarre, because I just spent a beautiful afternoon in the olympic park, watching children play, ducks swim, and healthy germans work to stay that way by biking, jogging, and simulating cross country skiing with rubber tipped ski poles. I took some pictures of the green grass. I climbed a hill and took some pictures of the city. The legacy of that tragedy does not live here. I wonder if there's even a plaque. Maybe it's at the airport where the majority of life was lost. Spooky.

So like I said, I never made it to Nymphenburg. I caught sight of it around eight, but that meant it was too dark, and I was eager to get home to some real food (mushroom pizza in this case). The gal at the pizza place on the corner is so italian. For the record, if the survival of the italian people depends on their ability to perform customer service, they are doomed. If it wasn't for the ruins and art, I'm not sure they'd even have a tourist industry. Regardless, I ate well and will now head back to bed. I guess I have to get up early tomorrow or I'll never make the Neuschwanstein. And the salt mines probably won't make the itinerary either. Oh well. That's what I get for trying to plan ahead.