Empty splendour at the Residenz Palace in Munich

The Residenz is the palace in the heart of Munich, formerly home to the Bavarian kings, queens,electors and the ruling Wittelbach dynasty. Large parts of the palace were destroyed in World War II but were restored after the war. We visited Munich in mid December for a long weekend and on our first afternoon it was raining, so we decided to get out of the damp and take a look around the Residenz.

We went through the archway to the inner courtyard and ticket office and picked up an audio-guide which can be used for both the Treasury and the main palace itself. We decided to see the Treasury or Schatzkammer first as it was the shorter of the two, taking about 30 mins to look around. We left our coats and larger bags in the free cloakroom - nothing larger than a handbag is allowed around the palace which may cause problems if you have a lot of camera equipment to carry.

The Treasury is a series of rooms with the crown jewels of Bavaria, from crowns, swords and tiaras, to altar pieces, decorative plates and tablewear. There was everything a royal family or court could want to impress and display their wealth, and the audio-guide did a good job at explaining it all.

Next we walked around the palace itself which takes over an hour. There are some rooms from the Renaissance period, such as the magnificent Antiquarium, a hall with a decorative vaulted ceiling that was used for banquets and receiving guests, and an interesting shell grotto, to one side of an inner courtyard. Most of the rooms are in the decorative Rococo style from the 18th century, with plenty of damask, gilding and painted ceilings, with furniture, portraits and porcelein of the period on display.

As there were not many visitors on a Friday afternoon in December, we practically had the place to ourselves and it felt a little sterile and empty. The palace is also rather large and after wandering from one room to another, I started to get a bit weary with gorgeous rococo room after gorgeous rococo room and was getting a bit desperate to be let out from the gilded cage.

I thought about the stately homes and palaces in England, where so much effort is put into bringing the experience to life, with seasonal events, opening up the domestic areas such as the kitchens, actors in period costume, and special activities for children. I couldn’t see any of this happening here, and wondered why - perhaps there are so many lovely palaces in Southern Germany that people become a bit weary of them. There just seemed to be too much splendour and not enough life in the Residenz - it was was difficult to imagine that it was once full of people, activity and the excitement of the Bavarian court.

After we’d spent a couple of hours in the Residenz, we were ready to sit down and found a rather nice coffee shop just round the corner, where we relaxed for an hour with our Kaffee und Kuchen, and admired all the Chrismas chocolates, stollen and iced gingerbread on sale in the shop.

After that we took a look at the famous Cuvilliés Court Theatre, also created in the 1750s, which was also included in the ticket and was tucked away in the courtyards of the Residenz. The best thing about tour, was that we discovered a lovely, atmospheric Christmas market in the courtyard of the Residenz, that we went back to the next day.

If you love beautiful palaces, portraits and decoration, you’ll enjoy seeing the Residenz, but it did feel more of a museum than a former home of kings - perhaps it would have more atmosphere in the summer that it did on a rainy afternoon in December.

Other Munich articles to enjoy

Visiting the Munich Christmas Markets - Podcast
Postcard from the Christmas Markets in Munich
A chilly welcome at Michaelkirche in Berg am Laim, Munich

Munich Resources

• Website of the Munich Residenz
• We stayed in Munich at Hotel Falkenturm, a comfortable, 2 star hotel which is well-located for sightseeing
• The guidebook I used on this trip was the pocket sized Dorling Kindersley, Eyewitness Top 10 guide to Munich, which I found ideal for sightseeing if you are there for a short time.
• Official Munich Tourism Website

Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

Don’t miss out - subscribe to Heather on her travels

Bavarian pork knuckle at Haxnbauer in Munich

If you can think of nothing better than a hearty roast pork dinner, served in the traditional Bavarian style, then Haxnbauer restaurant in Munich is your kind of place. It’s a large, busy restaurant located close to Marienplatz, and you may want to book, or be prepared to wait a while for a table.

If you are a vegetarian, you may have to hunt a little harder than most for a decent meal in Munich, the Bavarian heartland where meat is king. At Haxnbauer that means large hunks of meat, slowly roasted on a spit, slabs of pork served with rib sticking potato dumplings and only the token lettuce leaf in the way of garnish.

We were recommended to try Haxnbauer by a friend who comes from Munich, and it’s the sort of place that locals and tourists go when they want a warm and convivial atmosphere and a taste of Bavarian food and beer. The signature dish is roast pork or veal knuckle, marinaded and roasted slowly in front of a charcoal grill which you can see through the window from outside. If you are a real meat lover, you can order a whole pork knuckle to share between two and a couple will be brought to the table, priced for you to choose.

Otherwise, you can order a plate of the sliced pork or veal knuckle and potato dumplings with a salad and there are some other Bavarian specialities to try such as smoked Bavarian ham with radish, Bavarian meat loaf with potato and cucumber salad or pork knuckle jelly. If you are vegetarian, I’m afraid it’ll be the ‘Fitness Salad” for you, an enticing mixture of radish, tomato, cucumber and carrots with a sour cream dressing. Luckily, I’m not vegetarian, but although I enjoyed my meal and wheat beer at Haxnbauer, my next instinct was to find something fresh and green after all that meat and dumplings!

This posted as part of Wanderlust Wednesday, hosted over at Wanderlust and Lipstick - head over to Wanderlust and Lipstick for Christmas sweetness and more foodie delights.

Haxnbauer im Scholastikahaus
Sparkassenstraße
80331 München
E-mail; haxnbauer@kuffler.de
Tel +49.89. 216 654 0

Other Munich articles to enjoy

Visiting the Munich Christmas Markets - Podcast
The latest Dirndl fashions from Bavaria in Munich
Drinking Feuerzangenbowle to warm the spirits in Munich

Munich Resources

• We stayed in Munich at Hotel Falkenturm, a comfortable, 2 star hotel which is well-located for sightseeing
• The guidebook I used on this trip was the pocket sized Dorling Kindersley, Eyewitness Top 10 guide to Munich, which I found ideal for sightseeing if you are there for a short time.
• Official Munich Tourism Website

Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

Don’t miss out - subscribe to Heather on her travels

An autumn weekend in Lisbon - Podcast Episode 5

In Podcast Episode 5 I’m taking you to Lisbon where I took a weekend break in November with my husband. In the podcast you’ll hear about the gorgeous boutique hotel where we stayed, our sightseeing at the Monastery of Jerónimos and Castelo de Sao Jorge, the delicious local specialities we tried, the mournful Fado music we heard and our chat with Sergio, a local designer who gave us an insider’s view of Lisbon. If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe to my podcast series on I-tunes to be updated with new podcasts (if you are a subscriber to the blog you’ll also receive podcast updates as well as all my other articles)

To download the Weekend in Lisbon podcast, right click here 39 min [mp3]

To subscribe to all my podcasts in ITunes click here

I hope you also enjoy the slideshow which is designed to accompany the Podcast;

Shownotes

In the podcast you’ll hear about the weekend we spent in Lisbon in late November 2009 including;

• How we easily and cheaply got from the airport into the city centre using the aerobus service
• A description of the welcoming boutique hotel Heritage Av. Liberdade, where we stayed for 2 nights
• The dinner we ate at Casa do Alentejo a restaurant set in a Moorish Mansion that serves as a Cultural Centre for the Alentejo Region of Portugal
• Our breakfast at the hotel of local specialities like Pasteis de Nata, air-dried ham and local cheese with a slice of quince preserve, with exotic teas served from an old apothecary’s counter
• Why you should wear your most comfortable shoes when visiting Lisbon and the Elevadors that will help save your aching legs
• Our visit to the Monastery of Jeronimus and the nearby Monument to the Discoveries commemorating those who sailed from Lisbon to the Indies and Africa
• The delicious custard tarts called Pasteis de Belem that you can buy at the famous cake shop near the Monastery
• The Catelo de Sao Jorge perched on the top of the hill with a view over the roofs of Lisbon and the River Tegus, although as it was raining we couldn’t see as much of the view as we would have liked!
• Meeting local designer Sergio and his partner Marco for tea in their appartment near the castle and their recommendations on what to see in and around Lisbon.
• Our evening out in the Fado restaurant where we enjoyed the music but found the meal a little disappointing and had to have a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream on the way home to make up for it.
• Our Sunday morning visit to the church of Sao Domingo where the walls are still blackened from a fire in the 1950s in contrast to some of the other highly decorated churches you find in Lisbon
• You can subscribe to all my podcasts on I-tunes
• The signature music was Venus as a Girl by Andy McKee on MusicAlley.com
• All other music was recorded in Lisbon

Other recent Podcasts

04 Visiting the Munich Christmas Markets
03 Ecuador and the Amazon Rainforest
02 My Istria Travel Diary
01 Family Travel with Hospitality Club

Lisbon Resources

• Visit Lisboa - Official Tourism Website
• Go Lisbon Blog - I found lots of useful articles on things to do in Lisbon
• On this trip we stayed at the gorgeous luxury boutique Hotel Heritage Av. Liberdade, which was ideally located for sightseeing
• On this trip I used the Dorling Kindersley Eyewitness Top 10 travel guide to Lisbon which is a pocket sized guide that’s ideal for sightseeing if you’re there for a short time - read my review here
• Podcast - Hostelworld Podcast - Only in Lisbon
• Podcast - Guardian Unlimited Podcast - Lisbon

Read more travel articles at Travel Blog Home

Don’t miss out - subscribe to Heather on her travels

Next Page »