Advertisement
Published: November 29th 2013
I slept like a log until about 1.00am. Five hours straight is a pretty good sleep for me. I thought I might have trouble going back to sleep, but managed to be asleep more than awake until nearly 7.00am. I must've been tired!
We spent a bit of time on the blog and processing photos before showering and going to the communal room for breakfast. After our breakfast it was time to rug up again - the fleece lined travel pants are getting a go today - and venture out into the cold. It's going to be -1° again today, but the sky is clear and the sun is shining so that makes it more bearable.
Our first stop was the tower at St Peter's. With a blue sky and sunshine we had high hopes for a good view from the top of the tower so we paid our entrance fee and climbed the 299 steps to the viewing platform. On a very clear day you can see the Alps. Unfortunately it wasn't that clear today! Although the sky was blue and the sun was shining the horizon was quite hazy which hid the Alps from view. We had
a great view over the city though and Bernie took the opportunity to test out the panorama function on our new Sony RX100 Mark II. Believe it or not we have four cameras with us on this trip - two DSLRs, the new Sony and our other compact, waterproof camera.
Back at street level we wandered around to the Viktualienmarkt; the fresh food market. Even this market is very Christmassy at the moment. Amongst the food stalls there was plenty of evidence that Christmas is less than a month away. There are so many Christmas decorations for sale it is quite obvious that they take decorating their houses and trees very seriously here in Europe.
We headed back past St Peter's and into Marienplatz in time to see the Glockenspiel, the 100-year old carillon housed in the tower of the Neues Rathaus (New Town Hall). At 11.00am and noon the Glockenspiel chimes and 32 life-sized figures reenact historical Bavarian events. The top section features jousting knights and minstrels performing for the King and Queen. The lower section was made up of dancers.
After the Glockenspiel we visited the Residenzmuseum. For centuries the Munich Residence was the political
and cultural centre of first the dukes, then the electors and finally the kings of Bavaria. The building was the residence and seat of government of the Wittelsbachs the ruling dynasty of Bavaria. The various rulers furnished and extended the rooms to suit their own personal tastes and amassed their amazing collections of artworks and other treasures.
We purchased a triple ticket that would grant us entrance to the Residence Museum, the Treasury and the Theatre. We started with the Treasury which is housed in the area of the Residence that was once the kitchens. Some amazing Crown Jewels and other precious treasures were housed there.
After the Treasury we crossed to the other side of the foyer and explored the Residence Museum. I'm glad they had arrows to follow or we would still be wandering around the hundreds of rooms that make up the Munich Residence!! Because the building was added onto by successive occupants it is a real rabbit warren of rooms decorated in a range of styles transcending several centuries. The artworks and other treasures, such as the European porcelain of the 18th-century displayed in the Porcelain Chambers, also date from the Middle Ages to
the neoclassical era. Although the building was badly damaged during the war, it has been restored and renovated to provide a good idea of how it once looked.
Yesterday Christoph told us that the beer garden is still open in the Englischer Garten (English Garden) so, since the sun was shining, we thought we would have our lunch there. The biergarten is located near the Chinesicher Turm (Chinese Pagoda) in the middle of the park. I think Christoph mentioned that it is the biggest city park in Europe, anyway it was quite a hike to the biergarten and we had quite an appetite when we reached it only to find that the biergarten was not open!! Ah well, the was a little hut selling sausages so we had sausages in a roll for lunch standing at one of the outdoor benches. It is freezing cold here, but they still do a lot of al fresco eating.
After our late lunch we hiked back to the Residenz to see the Theatre, the third place of interest on our triple ticket, but first we went to the Christmas market in the Residenz courtyard. We were still hungry (or hungry again
after our invigorating walk back from the English Garden?) so I had a Nutella crepe and a hot chocolate and Bernie had a cheese crepe with a warm sherry punch. Both beverages came topped with whipped cream. Never mind the kilojoules!!
From the courtyard we walked around to the Residenz Theatre that is located adjacent to the entrance to the Residenz Museum only to find that it's not the theatre included on the ticket. The guy in the ticket box at the theatre told us that we needed to go left and then left again and we would find the Cuvillies Theatre included on our ticket. The Theatre is only open between 2.00pm and 5.00pm with last entries at 4.00pm. By this stage it was about half past three and do you think we could find the theatre?! We walked a complete block around the Residenz only to find that the entrance to the Cuvillies Theatre was in the courtyard where the Christmas market is!! On the plus side, walking all the way around the Munich Residence in the cold probably burned all the kilojoules from our afternoon snack! The theatre when we found it was tiny and very,
very pink!
Back at Pension am Jakobsplatz we set ourselves up in the communal room to process some photos and write the travel diary. One of the other guests headed out on her own shortly after we got in. A little while later there was some rattling and knocking down the hallway. When Bernie went to investigate it turned out that when the woman went out she locked her husband in their room. The way the locks work, when they are locked they are locked inside and out, they cannot be released from inside without a key if locked. Bernie rang Christoph who came over to let the captive out!
For dinner we ventured out to Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl a traditional beer house. It was very busy so we were squeezed onto a table with three locals. Tonight I had the roast pork with a bread dumpling, a potato dumpling and cabbage salad. Bernie had the roast duck with potato dumpling and red cabbage.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.063s; Tpl: 0.013s; cc: 5; qc: 28; dbt: 0.041s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb
Janet
non-member comment
brilliant
You have excelled yourselves with these photos once again. I really love the avenue of trees photo, just beautiful