Deutschland: München mag Dich (Munich likes you)

Posted by Amy Parker on June 28, 2011 · 5 Comments 

My question is, why does the English-speaking world call this beautiful country Germany, while the rest of the world calls it Deutschland? For the purpose of attempting to seem less American than I am, I will be calling Germany Deutschland from now on…

Fun fact: München (Munich) is the third largest city in Deutschland following the infamous Berlin and Hamburg, and it is the capital of Bavaria, Deutschland. Munich is one of three areas in Bavaria called München, which translates to ”by the monks’ place.”

My first experience in Deutschland was absolutely wonderful as it filled up my brain with culture and enlightenment. Our traveling ICON gang consisted of myself, Lauren, Christopher and Abby. We all had the mindset we would get there, walk around, and find goot bier and sausages (well- I found my e coli free salad).
We could have gotten a ticket straight from St.Gallen to Munich, but we stopped in Lindau, right over the border to pick up a cheap “family pass.” Switzerland is generally more expensive compared to Germany, so stopping to purchase this pass was completely worth it! Lindau was beautifully crafted along Lake Constance, with a good amount of untouched architecture from before WWII.

After our ride on the Alex train (similar to the one Harry Potter rides to Hogwarts), we soon found the hotel we booked called “Hotel Achterbahn” which translates to “Roller-coaster Hotel.” The concept of this small hotel was that each room was decorated as an emotion. I’m pretty sure we got the room called “Bliss” because everything was black and white. I assume it has something to do with the yin and yang. We were pleasantly surprised how nice it was considering it wasn’t very expensive.

After we settled in, we walked around the city, found our first biergarten and enjoyed the mild afternoon among the rush of the city. We saw violin, cello, and accordion playing musicians, lots of classy fashion stores (not to mention… 5 H&Ms right after the other), beautiful architecture, colorful flags, people drinking bier on the streets, and a souvenir stein as tall as me! Ah it was a rush of fun!

We found a restaurant to get dinner, and luckily they had an English menu so we didn’t order lamb shanks or anything weird. I found dumplings and salad while the others found preferred meaty meals. We all got some great biers- including the best beer I have ever had. Ever heard of a Bräugirgl Dunkel? That’s what it’s called and I can’t wait to drink it again! Later that evening, Abby and I went to a hookah bar to check out the lively night scene, and we had a lot of fun chilling with the Munich locals!

On our second day, our goal was to walk through the English Garden. After the most delicious omelette breakfast I have ever had from our hotel’s Cafe Camera, we set foot a few miles to and through the Englischer Garten, as we scouted out sights. Chris and I followed our bier senses. This garden was rather fascinating with it’s diverse landscape, inviting paths, hills, monuments, and bier garden spots that were conveniently located in close proximity. The English Garden is named as such because of it’s informal landscape gardening which became popular in the UK a while back. We stopped at the Chinesischen Turm Restaurant & Biergarten for some infamous Hofbräuhaus Helles bier, and pretzels.

After a long day of sighting surfers in the park, taking in our much needed vitamin D, spotting snack carts / musicians / hundreds of dogs, and finding bier to consume, we headed back to the train station for our long trip home. All in all, it was an amazing weekend, and I plan to take another trip to Germany because I fell in love with the culture.

As the saying goes, München mag Dich, and I felt liked. Cheers to you Deutschland. Zum Wohl!

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