Nymphenburg Palace

With a day off from sightseeing for me on Wednesday (I had a photography commitment smack in the middle of the afternoon) K, B and I were back at it again on Thursday morning.  Sadly, the gorgeous blue skies and the unseasonable warmth we had been experiencing for the past week or so gave way to winter temperatures and winds that day.  Thankfully we were heading to Nymphenburg palace so most of the day would be spent inside.

Sitting to the west of the city center, Nymphenburg Palace is now one of the most famous sights in Munich.  Originally commissioned in 1665 by Ferdinand and Henriette (the prince-electoral couple), the building was intended as a summer home for the royal family after the birth of their son, Max Emanuel.  Over the next 150 years, the palace would systematically be added to and today it stands an impressive (and sprawling) 700 meters from side to side and includes a 490-acre park and five museums.

It was too cold to be outside for long so we decided to stay inside and visit 3 of the museums - the Schlossmuseum (the royal apartments), Marstallmuseum (carriage's) and Porzellanmuseum München (Nymphenburg porcelain).  First we had to get to the front door though as it was a bit of a walk away...

First up, the royal apartments.  Which, if you have ever visited a palace, are all pretty much the same to me.  I did snap some pictures...

They were restoring the ceiling here so it was interesting to see what was underneath it all.

 Next up, the Marstallmuseum.  Housing one of the most important collections of court carriages in the world, this museum was a first for me.  It houses over 30 royal carriages, various sledges and hand coaches and represents over 300 years of coach building culture.  It was interesting to see the amount of detailing on each piece and the pride that they took in the craftsmanship of each carriage.

 Across the hall, we wandered through the porcelain museum (where I did not take any pictures) at a fairly rapid clip.  I think we were all a bit museumed out at this point and we were starting to get hungry.  We braved the cold back to the car and drove to Marienplatz where we stopped for some Italian food.  It was closing in on time for me to pick up the girls so I parted ways with K and B as they were off to the Deutsches Museum for the rest of the afternoon...