München/Munich
I’ve never been to Germany before. I’m equipped with ‘danke,’ ‘bitte’ and ‘prost.’ That’s about it. Time for a crash course on restaurant ordering in German!
In most other languages I can’t roll my R’s or grunt the right way so I sound incompetent. The pronunciation of German seems a little more natural to English speakers. At least if you know the rules. There are few things that are hard. For instance, V’s become F’s sometimes and W’s become V’s most of the time.
Weizenbier = Vie te zen beer
English has a Germanic base. The vocabulary and structure is very similar but English also steals a lot of Latin and French. It results in a language that is more concise.
Everything takes longer to say in German because the language is very descriptive. I feel like I’m stumbling through most of the pronunciations. One word is often dozens of syllables and can be literally translated. If you listen carefully you might hear part of an English word.
‘Excuse me’ is ‘Entschuldigung.’ All one word.
“Schmutzwasserpumpe” translates as a dirty water pump or pump you put into dirty water. In English, we call it a “sump pump.”
Thankfully, almost everyone speaks English better, than I speak their language. It’s both a blessing and a curse.
A blessing because I can communicate almost anywhere I’ve traveled. A curse because there is little incentive to learn other languages. Beyond learning a handful of polite sayings.
It’s an interesting phenomenon in the world. When an Italian goes to Germany, they are not going to try to communicate in Italian. Nor vice versa. They are going to communicate in English.
There are twice as many non-native English speakers in the world. Compared to native speakers. There are far more native Spanish or Mandarin speakers in the world. Yet, somehow English has become the international language of choice? What ever happened to Esperanto?
I don’t need to be an polyglot but the older I get the more I have a desire to speak at least one other language fluently. Yes, this is on me, first world problems.
I can get by in Germany without learning much German. But the inability to speak it better still makes me feel uncomfortable. As if I am in some way insulting other cultures by not speaking their language as well as they speak mine.
Bucket List
Oktoberfest was a bucket list item for me. I’m not exactly sure why. The second largest Oktoberfest in the world is actually in Kitchener, Ontario. About an hour from where I grew up, and I’ve never been. For those wondering, it is nothing like Beerfest.
I have a confession to make. I really enjoy beer but it conflicts with my professional image. Consequently, I don’t drink that much of it any more, save the summertime. When I do, it needs to be worth it. It needs to be a cultural experience in another country. Fitting of something I’m doing like camping or playing a gig. Or it needs to be really good beer at home. It won’t shock any Canadians to read this but a lot of Canadian beer is excellent. Like most beer countries, not the crap we export but the local fresh beer.
The craft beer scene in Vancouver has exploded in the last few years. When beer drinkers visit Vancouver, I often take them on mini brewery tours. Some of my favourites if you’re ever in Vancouver:
We Stepped Off the Plane
The first question any customs officer will ask is: “what brings you to…”
“We’re here for Oktoberfest.”
Customs officers seem to work in pairs in Germany. They roll their eyes, turn to each other, say something in German and laugh. The second customs officer asks me if I’ve ever had German beer before.
“Yes I have. It’s quite good.”
They remain unconvinced that I’ve had any of the good stuff because they assume you can’t get it outside of Munich. Implying that I should be cautious and not get into trouble. I get the impression Bavarians are sick of tourists that can’t handle their alcohol. We’d meet a few later.
I know the Germans are very proud of their beer. It permeates their culture and this is particularly true of Bavaria. It’s commonplace to have a weizenbier with your white sausage breakfast. This is an extension of hundreds of years of tradition. Drinking water before modern treatment techniques was dicey. Drinking beer was a way to stay hydrated (and slightly buzzed) without the risk of getting sick. The old-school water filtration system was making beer.
Most small towns in Germany I’m told have their own publicly owned breweries. The town owns them. It’s a very different vibe from the craft beer scene in Canada or the US. It’s not capitalist in the same regard. Rather, it’s a basic right to have access to good fresh beer. The majority of this beer does not leave the town and surrounding area.
München is no longer a small town. Of the ‘big six’ breweries most of them are available in North America. There are 40+ breweries in the Vancouver area, to it seems less than 10 in Munich. They know what they like and they do it well. Unlike the rest of the world, they export some of their good beers.
Yet as I would discover the beer I’ve had outside Germany is not the same beer. It’s like drinking Guinness in Ireland. I’ll still drink it in Canada but there is something different about it in Ireland. I’m most familiar with German wheat beers. I was not as familiar with the two brands that I would come to enjoy the most.
I like learning and observing. Every country I’ve travelled to has their local lager or two:
- Bahamas = Kalik
- Mexico = Pacifico or Corona
- Indonesia = Bintang
- Korea = Hite or OB
- Italy = Peroni or Moretti
- Malta — Cisk
Well…you get the point…
German beer culture is COMPLETELY different. It stands in a league of its own (though I’ve never been to Belgium). Most beers are slightly stronger than what you’ll find in other places. 5–6.5% alcohol and it all comes in one litre steins. Well you can get a half litre but why would you?
It’s delicious. Not something resembling water you tolerate because it’s your only option.
Munich the City
Is actually quite nice. It was heavily bombed back in the 40’s so a great deal is fairly new. It’s dense. We find a nice little cafe across the street from our AirBnB and a hipster coffee joint around the corner. There is some pretty epic skiing a couple of hours over the Austrian border. Reminds me a little of Vancouver, but no ocean, much older/colder and German.
Nothing is taller than the Frauenkirche church in the town square. Tight, old, European cities fascinate me. No one really had much foresight about city planning until recently. Yet these old cities seem to work. Not that much light penetrates the city streets in the fall or winter.
Like Paris or London, even parts of Toronto it seems like this type of city should foster a community vibe. Compared to the towers of New York, Hong Kong or Vancouver. It’s damp and chilly so people aren’t really out and about the same way. Those who are around, are friendly. Most of the German’s I meet come across as intense. They are focused, blunt but good natured. Once they find out you’re Canadian, they relax a bit.
Public transportation is efficient with a mix of buses and trains above and below ground. Most of them run late and 24 hours on weekends. It reminded me of most Asian cities I’ve visited in this regard. Florence has two competing public transportation companies, which is weird.
The food is surprisingly good. You don’t hear much about German cuisine. What I expected to be mostly fried and unhealthy was surprisingly lighter in taste. There is a lot of pork, a lot of sausage, beer and of course schnitzel. You can get a salad with some protein easily though. I am not a fan of gingerbread, but it’s the bomb in Munich. We ate well and I didn’t hate myself for it.
For an old town with a spiderweb structure of roads we had no real problems getting around. We stayed about a 15–20 minute walk from the Oktoberfest grounds. To give you an idea of the focus of this part of the trip; I did no other tourist research beyond Oktoberfest.
We did a walking tour of Marienplatz between Oktoberfest adventures. That was it. It was good, I’m glad we did it. It’s always strange to get a tour in Munich from a southern gal but you know, globalization.
In hindsight, we could have stayed longer and did more. It’s very expensive to stay in Munich during Oktoberfest and the weather is hit or miss. It was cold and miserable one day. Sunny and warm the next. I’m told that Bavaria and Munich specifically has the highest cost of living in Germany. I’d consider coming back in summer or late spring all the same.
Despite being 2 hours away, I wish we had made time for Neuschwanstein Castle. It served as the inspiration for Disney’s castle. Nymphenburg Palace likely would have been another interesting place we missed.
The Third Reich got its start in this city, though no one obviously is proud of this. You can do a wide variety of tours. People will talk about it, but you feel a lot of tension lingering in the air. There are sombre reminders around the city. At a point in history Hitler was thrown in jail in Munich. After a failed attempt to overthrow the local government.
Contrary to what you may read online. No you cannot visit the pub where Hitler started the Nazi organization, it was destroyed in the war.
History in this instance is something worth knowing, so it won’t be repeated. The NS-Dokumentationszentrum would have been an interesting visit. It’s a museum that focuses on the history and consequences of the Nazi regime. It’s good to see people still talking about the world wars. Nothing has ever been quite so devastating. You see remnants all over Europe but it’s strong in Munich.
It feels like there is a lot of animosity still towards Germany in the rest of Europe. You do not get this sense about Italy, though they were part of the Axis. I don’t know much about it but I like Germany so far. The only thing we ever learnt in school about Germany was about the wars. They’ve actually contributed some excellent science, architecture and art. Stuff I never thought to look into before we got to Munich.
The rest of Europe appears spooked that they are ‘trying to exert control’ in a new way. Through economic prowess. I don’t get that feeling. I get the impression they are still working hard to make amends. They can’t turn off their industrious intuition. It’s difficult to acknowledge the past while also moving towards a better future.
I don’t want to give the German’s too much praise but it does appear the EU is hanging by a thread. The dire consequences of nationalism are likely fresh in German minds. Eighty years isn’t that far removed. There are still generations alive who were there.
Worth considering in the wake of nationalism’s painful return to the world stage. Not that I’m trying to make any political points. 🤓
