Germany's Basic Cuisine

This crispy pork knuckle in Munich was so good! The skin really was crunchy

When you think of German food, the first things that come to mind are sausages, pork knuckles, schnitzels and sauerkraut. Oktoberfest food!

A disappointing currywurst that was hardly fiery hot

You would be correct. Most of the restaurants serving German fare in touristy spots serve the above items. In big portions.

First we tried the currywurst and they are advertised on signs with flames to indicate how spicy they are, but it's a pathetic sham. Even eaters who can't stand a piece of chilli on their food can eat the currywurst because it's basically a boiled sausage with a kind of ketchup sauce with curry powder sprinkled on top of it.

Seriously it was really disappointing.

Then we tried roasted pork knuckle in Berlin, Frankfurt and Munich. The one in Berlin was tender but the skin was very tough and hardly crispy. We thought perhaps the Germans could learn a thing or two from the Chinese when it comes to roasting pigs to ensure a crispy skin.

A pretty bland sandwich of pickled herring with onion rings

In Frankfurt, the situation improved a bit, with the meat from the pork knuckle meat very tender, though the skin was less tough, but again not very crispy.

However, by the time we made it to Munich, at a German restaurant near our hotel called Munchner Stubn, we were surprised and impressed that the menu item "crispy pork knuckle" really was crunchy! It was probably deep fried, but the skin delicious and the meat was not salty either.

The schnitzels I tried were good, hardly tough, even though they were breaded and fried. The meat was very tender and the flavour was helped along by some freshly squeezed lemon juice.

Meanwhile I tried eat as much sauerkraut as I could as it's not often found in Hong Kong and I basically eat it once a year during Oktoberfest. We also liked the braised red cabbage, more on the sweeter side though equally delicious.

A hearty portion of schnitzel in Dresden

The potatoes are either boiled, made into a potato salad with a tangy mayonnaise, French fries, or potato dumplings, which are chewy in texture, but not very palatable!

My friend YTSL asked if I had tried pickled herring, but I didn't see it on any menus. However at a rest stop along the autobahn from Frankfurt to Munich, I did try a pickled herring sandwich for 4 euros, garnished with onion rings and pickles. It was on the bland side, but oh well. At least I tried some seafood!

Perhaps the bonus of coming to Germany in the late spring is white asparagus season! I sometimes get to try it at fine dining restaurants in Hong Kong (at inflated prices because they are shipped over), but in Germany they were very fresh and meaty, and not too expensive.

Some restaurants offered several white asparagus spears with a side order of say schnitzel or smoked salmon or beef. It was the perfect combination with schnitzel. However, in Dresden I tried the white asparagus soup and it tasted way too salty.

Fantastic white asparagus in season wit boiled potatoes

We had dessert only a few times. Once was at a cafe in the Palmengarten, or Botannical Garden in Frankfurt, where we each tried different desserts. My apple pie was pretty good, a hearty slice. However, we had a fantastic apple strudel in Munich (the same restaurant as the crispy pork knuckle!) with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

The strudel wasn't saccharine sweet, and was choc full of thinly sliced apples marinated in sugar and cinnamon and wrapped in several layers of pastry. Oh so good!

In terms of drinks we did try apple wine that was quite sour so it had to be paired with something sweet to eat, though the draft beers were refreshing, even the dark beer brewed with malt made from at least 50 percent wheat. It's easy drinking and doesn't have much of a bitter aftertaste.

Absolutely divine apple strudel with vanilla ice cream

We didn't just eat German food -- we did eat quite a bit of pasta thanks to a casual Italian cafeteria-style restaurant called Vapiano that seems to be a chain all over the country. It's relatively fast and good value for money.

In Dresden we saw a Vietnamese restaurant and decided to give it a try. The pho ga or chicken pho was basically rice noodles in a delicious broth, but with thin slices of chicken that probably came from a deli. There was way too much chicken meat in the bowl. That was the only Asian food we had the entire trip. And what was I craving as soon as I came back to Hong Kong? Soup noodles with vegetables!

Munich's Museums

Beyond the Deutches Museum's planetarium is the Frauenkirche in Munich

Our last full day in Munich was a cold and rainy one... we took our hop on, hop off bus again just before 10am and got off at Deutches Museum, which focuses on science and technology with over 28,000 items.

A self-playing keyboard and drum!

the museum was founded in 1909 and is geared towards families and many had young kids. A random trivial fact is that for a time the museum was used to host rock and pop concerts for acts like The Who, Jimi Hendrix and Elton John.

When we arrived there was a lineup, but went quickly and we decided to tackle the museum from the top down. The top floor is a planetarium, but it wasn't open yet, and it talked about all kinds of things related to space, from the sun to the constellations, how telescopes can see so far into space and how the black hole works, using a silver ball rolling around slowly into a spiral that spins very quickly at the end before disappearing into the hole.

On the same floor, the sixth floor, there is an outdoor area where you can see the museum has a tower that shows the barometer and hygrometer, which measure the humidity and water vapor in the atmosphere; the recording was a bit on the high side because it was rainy that day, which sadly made it difficult for us to take some nice scenic pictures of Munich.

The Wright brothers' plane

We also saw exhibitions on things like engines, a man demonstrating how to blow glass, the history of ceramics and how bricks are made in a factory. Another one that I found interesting was musical instruments, though it focused on keyboards.

There was a very small keyboard with black keys called a spinett and a clavichord, both about two-thirds the size of a piano. There was even those self-playing pianos -- one that included the drums too -- and they were pretty massive machines.

One Yamaha looked like today's upright pianos, but this one was different -- it can help musicians record music, as the movement of the hammers is scanned by an LED light barrier. The information is then stored in a MIDI file in the computer. When the music is played back, the signals are electronically converted, and the piano keys move hydraulically in the same way the pianist struck them. Wow.

A plane that was similar to what The Red Baron flew

I had heard of the hurdy-gurdy, but this was my first time actually seeing it. It was a giant box on wheels, but it's supposed to be a stringed instrument that makes sound when it is cranked by hand. The roller rotates and the bellows are then operated, this makes the pins of the roller open valves so that air flows to the corresponding pipes.

There was even a very old jukebox and not the ones we think of from the 1950s -- this one was from 1900 that was shown at the World Exhibition in Paris. Very neat.

Down on the first floor were flying machines including the one made by the Wright brothers in 1909, the first engine-driven plane. We also saw the Fokker Dr. I, the World War I fighter plane made famous by Manfred von Richthofen, or The Red Baron.

The Alte Pinakothek is only 1 euro on Sundays!

The airplane's wings only had a span of 7 metres, making it easier for the plane to fly tight turns. To be honest I don't know much about The Red Baron -- only from what I read from Snoopy comic strips! Nevertheless it was fun to see the plane in person.

We had a quick lunch in the cafeteria which offered decent food and after we finished we noticed there was a big line out the door for people to get food. When we left the museum, we saw a very long line that was almost a block long. Perhaps this was a way to spend a rainy Sunday.

Gorgeous flowers by Rachel Ruysch

After our dose of science and technology, we headed to Alte Pinakothek, an art museum that houses over 700 artworks from the 14th to 18th centuries. The museum was commissioned by King Ludwig I and built from 1826 to 1836 in a Neoclassical style. Originally the building was meant to hold the entire art collection of the House of Wittelsbach, and the king allowed the public to view the works, and it continues this tradition today.

It was still raining when we got there, and there was a giant lineup to buy admission tickets. We soon found out why -- on Sundays admission is only 1 euro!

The building is long and narrow and basically two floors. There are a lot of religious paintings with all kinds of themes from the nativity scene to the crucifixion, angels and depictions of heaven and hell.

I preferred the non-religious pieces, portraits of ordinary people, country scenes, and there's one of a bouquet of flowers by Rachel Ruysch (1664-1750). She was the daughter of Dutch botany professor Frederik Ruysch and she used his vast collection of animal skeletons and botany samples to practice her drawings.

Albrecht Durer's self portrait that is Christ-like

She was so good that at one point she taught her father and sister how to paint. At the age of 15, Ruysch apprenticed with a well known flower painter, Willem van Aeist, and he taught her among other things how to arrange flowers so that they looked more spontaneous. While she continued to work with him, Ruysch was already selling her own work at 18.

Ruysch would later go on to marry Amsterdam portrait painter Juriaen Pool and have 10 children! She continued to paint while married.

Another famous work we had to see was Albrecht Durer's Self-Portrait with Fur-Trimmed Robe, 1500.

He painted this when he was 28 years old and it is considered unusual because of its frontal angle and meticulous details. Durer based the style of this portrait on icons of Christ the Saviour, his hand raised in the sign of the blessing.

Madame de Pompadour by Francois Boucher

One fabulous piece of Rococo art has to be Francois Boucher's Madame de Pompadour, 1756. She was the official mistress of King Louis XV of France and here she is wearing an elaborate afternoon dress surrounded by books, sheets of music and drawings. We were mesmerized by the detail in the folds of the dress as well as the reflection in the back. Her proportions seem a bit off though -- she must have been extremely tall according to this painting and had very tiny feet! In any event a beautiful portrait that shows off the lifestyle of the aristocracy in that period.

Munich's Pride and Joy: BMW

The BMW headquarters (left) and the museum (right)

You can't go to Munich and not go to the BMW Museum! We got there via a hop on, hop off bus and everyone gets off at this stop. Anyone who is a fan of the German "ultimate driving machine" comes here to make a pilgrimage. And if you really want, you can buy a BMW as a souvenir of your trip too.

This is the showroom across the street with a sleek bridge

The showroom is a massive building that includes the Mini, and you can buy not only the cars, but also lifestyle products, from jackets to baseball hats to suitcases and toy cars. Some people were trying on the cars for size, getting in and out of them, while others were there to pick up their cars and drive them off in a special exit driveway for them that looks space age (from what we could see from the outside).

Meanwhile across the street via a sleek elevated walkway, is the BMW headquarters, a distinctive building that looks like four vertical cylinders in a car engine, while the museum looks like the cylinder head, both designed by Austrian architect Karl Schwanzer.

They were built between 1968 and 1972, finished in time for the 1972 Summer Olympics and the BMW headquarters is very close to the Olympic Village, giving the company greater exposure.

Inside the showroom, many were eager to look at BMWs

One good tip is that because we took the hop on, hop off bus, the BMW Museum also gave us a few euros off on admission! Bonus!

The museum is laid out in a linear way and goes through the entire history of BMW. Its origins go back to World War I when an unknown aircraft engine manufacturer called Rapp Motorenwerke GmbH presented a newly and innovative aircraft engine to the Prussian military authorities, the company was renamed Bayerische Moteren Werke (BMW) in 1917.

This is also when BMW's logo was developed -- the company name in a black circle, with blue and white panels from the Bavarian national flag.

One of the early motorcycles BMW produced

From there the company designed engines for motorcycles and then cars in 1929. Up until World War II, BMW's main products were aircraft engines, motorcycles and cars. Then during the war the company focused on aircraft engines, and motorcycles were a sideline business, while car production was stopped altogether.

But during this time, the BMW factory in Eisenach, in central Germany, was in the Soviet-occupied zone, and so the Soviets produced pre-war BMW motorcycles and cars there until 1955. However, its Munich plant was completely destroyed and it took time for the company to not only rebuild but also find another means of business because BMW was banned from producing motor vehicles the Allies.

One of BMWs first Formula 1 cars in a beautiful shade of blue

As a result, BMW made pots and pans, other kitchen equipment and bicycles, and finally got permission from the United States to restart motor production, in particular motorcycles in 1947. BMW started manufacturing cars in the early 1950s which was good timing because by this point the market for motorcycles was saturated and people were starting to demand cars.

The company started making mini cars called Isetta, but it couldn't compete against the Volkwagen Beetle. But by the early 1960s BMW was back on its feet with investors showing faith in the company and not wanting to merge with Daimler-Benz, and new cars that had powerful engines.

The BMW 1600, my father's first BMW!

We got to see those motorcycles and early Formula 1 cars contrasting against today's models. You had to be a petite driver -- practically the size of a horse jockey -- to fit into the old school racing car. Even back in the late 1920s they already knew about aerodynamics, with one racer who broke time records with BMW-designed motorcycles with an aerodynamic body like a fish.

There are a lot of consumer cars on display -- the 1600 from 1966 was there -- my father's first BMW which was fun for him to reminisce about as well as other models. The Z3 was also there, which 007 drove in Goldeneye -- the first time James Bond drove a non-British car.

For design fans, there are 1:1 clay models and videos of how the engineers, designers and modellers need to work together to figure out how every detail of the car is going to look like. Another section of the museum also explains the need to transfer from fossil fuels to electricity, and shows off its BEVs or battery electric vehicles.

Contrast it with this futuristic car powered by fuel cells

If that visit to the museum doesn't inspire you to go buy a BMW I don't know what will. It definitely emits those aspiration vibes for those who want to buy their first car, or their next...! Fantastic marketing tool that BMW has done tastefully and not overtly.

And if you want a bite to eat, their cafeteria does pretty good food too!

Munich: The Grandeur of Nymphenburg Palace

The idyllic fresco on the ceiling in the Grand Hall

It was raining this morning when we woke up... but the precipitation let up by the time we left the hotel to catch a tour bus to Schloss Nymphenburg. It was built as a gift from Bavarian Elector Ferdinand Maria of the Wittelsbachs to his wife, Henriette Adelaide of Savoy, who finally gave birth to an heir to the throne, Maximillian II Emanuel, in 1662.

Construction began two years later, employing Italian architect Agostino Barelli. Henriette Adelaide of Savoy was an Italian-born princess, and called her Baroque home, "Borgo delle ninte", or "Castle of the Nymphs", hence Nymphenburg.

Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este

After Elector Maximillian Emanuel grew up, he expanded the country home to create a summer residence, expanding to its left and right to accommodate the entire court during the summer months. Today the additions create a giant curve around the man-made pond and canal.

There is a long driveway to the palace and then for just 6 euros you can check out some rooms inside the palace. It isn't on the same scale as say the Palace of Versailles, but still grand nonetheless.

The first room we entered was the Great Hall, which is in the centre of the palace with a lavish Rococo style. There's a fresco on the ceiling featuring an idyllic scenery and suspended are stunning chandeliers that are covered in crystal beads.

On the walls are portraits of many people, some with interesting backstories. One is Maria Leopoldine of Austria-Este. She had the misfortune of marrying at age 18 to the 70-year-old Elector Karl Theodor.

Her main role was the produce her husband an heir, but she refused to obey, and after Karl Theodor died in 1799, she managed to negotiate the succession to another line of the Wittlesbach family, than a competing Habsburg imperial house.

The Chinese-themed walls and lacquer cabinet

As a result she became very popular which helped Mari Leopoldine become an estate owner, successful property agent and a stock market speculator. She was a very independent woman in the 18th and early 19th century.

Meanwhile the rooms are furnished with beautiful pieces, like a table that has designs of realistic-looking birds, flowers, fruits and insects that are inset with precious stones in marble. Another room has a Chinese theme, the walls looking like floor-to-ceiling screens, while the room also features a beautiful lacquer table with gold Chinoiserie design.

There's one room that has 36 portraits of women that King Ludwig I of Bavaria deemed beautiful women. They weren't all aristocrats or royalty -- there's even a daughter of a shoemaker in one of the portraits painted by Joseph Stieler. Interesting to note is that the king had something for brunettes...

This "collection of the most beautiful" was made open to the public. They were shown in two salons in the Festsaalbau of the Munich Residence, and only after the war in 1945 were the portraits moved to Nymphenburg.

From his youth, King Ludwig I was fascinated by female beauty. He was also a generous art patron, transforming Munich into the art centre of Germany.

A beautiful table of flowers, birds, insects and fruits

One of the bedrooms we get to visit is Queen Caroline's, which still has the original furnishings for visitors to see, complete with mahogany furniture.

In 1842, then Crown Prince Maximillian II and his wife Marie of Prussia took up residence in Nymphenburg Palace. Three years later, she gave birth to the heir to the throne in this bedroom. The son was named Ludwig in honour of his grandfather, Ludwig I.

However this son, Ludwig II ascended the throne at the age of 18, but he had a difficult relationship with his parents and he had is own psychological issues. Partly because he was so indulged and reminded of his royal status, Ludwig II became eccentric, shunning big social events and preferred to be secluded, and became very interested in the works of Richard Wagner.

The bedroom where the future King Ludwig II was born

Ludwig II also spent a lot of his money constructing castles, the most famous of which is Neuschwanstein, located about an hour a way by train from Munich. Apparently Walt Disney modeled his famous fairytale castle on Neuschwanstein.

In the end it was determined Ludwig II suffered from paranoia and was deemed incapable of being king; in the end he died a mysterious death, found dead in shallow water with one of his psychiatrists in 1886...

After wandering through the palace apartments, we took a long stroll to try to find the Chinese-inspired pagoda. We did find it, a Baroque-style small building, and inside is Chinoiserie style wallpaper and furniture. However, the security guard said that our ticket did not include admission to this pagoda so we had to leave.

The palace should really have staff on standby in these extra places to accept additional admission fees -- it is already a 20-minute walk to get to the pagoda from the palace -- why can't we just pay extra on the spot?

A look at the palace from the garden at the back

Nevertheless, we had a good time visiting the palace, as well as seeing all the birds, in particular the swans and ducks that occupy the grounds. They make good natural lawnmowers, which means we had to avoid the green-coloured poo...

Munich's New Town Hall

The gorgeous neo-gothic facade of the New Town Hall

We hired a car to take us from Frankfurt to Munich today, about 400km which took five hours with a lunch break in between. It was a pretty smooth ride overall. Yesterday we learned from our driver how every driver in Germany is well trained -- they all must enroll in professional driving schools for three months and the tests are pretty extensive.

Looking at the tower from inside the town hall complex

Once someone gets their license they have to drive carefully for the first two years -- if they get a speeding ticket, their license is revoked and they won't be able to drive for two years. Apparently the practical driving test is also difficult as the examiner will sometimes ask the driver trick questions to throw them off.

Our hotel is walking distance to Marienplatz, or Mary's Square, and we wandered there after an early dinner.

There's a lot of free entertainment, lots of musicians performing for any spare change you may have. One really good performer was a soprano accompanied by a guitarist.

The square has been around since 1158 with farmers selling their produce and merchants hawking their wares, but these days the area filled with international shopping brands like H&M, Vodafone, SportCheck, United Colours of Benetton, and discount clothing store TK Maxx. There are also mobile fruit stands that are also selling white asparagus which is in season.

The highlight of Marienplatz is the New City Hall or Neues Rathaus that is a stunning neo-gothic building made of brick and limestone that was built between 1867 and 1874.

The tower features a glockenspiel

Meanwhile the facade of the building features a glockenspiel in the tower balcony and everyday at 11am, 12pm and 5pm, mechanically powered figurines represent stories from Munich's history, along with the city's coat of arms, and then angel of peace.

We didn't get a chance to see the show, but maybe we can check it out in the next day or so, as well as take the lift up the 85-metre tall tower to see the views of Munich from above.