5 Things I Loved About Munich During Our Look And See Trip

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Stories. Stories are the backbone of nighttime rhythms as voices pass the time shooting the breeze. Growing up, and even still, my family loves to tell stories. Stories of funny memories, sweet blessings and car ride adventures. Stories of grandparents meeting, fond idyllic childhood remembrances and the ways God showed up in each of them. We tell them again and again and somehow, like a well worn shoe, they never grow old. It was through stories that I came to know and admire Germany. As Germany is the place where my grandparents met and my mom’s earliest memories were formed during my grandfather’s military station there, I grew up on stories of quaint German streets smelling of wurst, wooden sleighs in the snow and God’s protection through treacherous Alpine mountain driving. Now years later, those stories came to life as Charlie and I take on new German adventures. The countdown is on until we fully settle into this area to craft new stories, but this past week we were given a glimpse of what those might be. Sent on a “look and see” trip by Charlie’s company, we spent a week in Munich setting up bank accounts, house hunting and exploring our soon to be stomping grounds. While I could tell you of all the logistics and back end work to make these things come about (and I am happy too for sure – check out THIS recent post, drop a comment below or DM me on Instagram!), I want to share the first 5 things that I have loved about Munich, Germany during our look and see trip. 

These next five things to love are not in any particular order, but are things that immediately stood out to me while experiencing this amazing culture for the first time. While you might not be thinking of moving abroad (or maybe you are!), these things are pieces you can enjoy and experience even in a week as I did. I am sure that in the years to come, I will have many off the beaten path adventures to advise and places to try, but these are some of my favorite first impressions and  I would love to share them as they only happen once. So, I hope this post might spark a bit of a sense of adventure for you too to explore a new place and people in another corner of this beautiful world.  

Architecture

Churches

Another amazing aspect of Bavaria is the plethora of churches! Open throughout the day to the public, most churches can be explored quite easily and are home to gorgeous stained glass windows, tremendous vaulted ceilings or large baroque art installations. The churches throughout Munich and Landshut show the change in art and worship over the years in an extraordinary way. As most of these churches are Catholic, they do ask that you not disrupt or enter during service times, but otherwise they are free to explore. If you have any interest in the varying art styles and architecture throughout the ages, the churches are a great place to learn and see them in their original intended location. Even beyond the art, they are filled with rich history and truly were designed to draw one’s eye to the heavens in worship. A few of our favorites we were able to explore were: St. Peter’s Church in Marienplatz, St. Ursula’s Church in Schwabing, and St. Martin’s Church in Landshut. 

Fun tip! For only a couple of euros, you can climb the roughly 13 flights of stairs to the top of the St. Peter’s bell tower! While the stair climb is tight and narrow, the views of Munich above are truly beautiful. 

Food 

While there were quite a few surprises when visiting Germany, the food most certainly became one of them. Everything we had was delicious and definitely lived up to all the talk I had heard about it, so that is not so much what surprised me. More so, it was the process of ordering that was surprising. Rarely did I fully understand what I was getting either due to language translation barriers or lack of signage. Likewise, I was never asked “how would you like that cooked” or “do you want the sandwich with everything on it”? Thankfully I am not a picky eater and they are known for good food! What I found was that however they had it planned, was how you received it. While this might be perplexing to some, I found this very refreshing and it allowed me to fully experience the meal most authentically. Everything I ate, whether wurst, schnitzel, sandwiches, pizza, soup or anything else was spectacular. As traditional Bavarian food can be quite heavy, Charlie and I found that mixing it up with other cuisines like Italian (or their plethora of middle eastern, Asian or other restaurants) was very refreshing. If you are looking for a traditional Bavarian restaurant however, Der Pschorr and Augustiner am Dom were some of our favorites. Both are a close walk from Marienplatz, so you can be sure to feel in the heart of the city. 

Things To Do 

The fourth thing that I absolutely loved right away was the plethora of adventures to have and things to explore. If you are coming from a highly metropolitan area already, this might not seem as big of a change coming to Munich, but since we are not from a city, it was exciting to have so many places to explore at our fingertips. While much of our time was spent house hunting and setting our details in order, we did have the opportunity to visit Alte Pinakothek which is one of their lovely art museums. Home to the old German, Flemish, Italian, French and Dutch masters, the works of art throughout the museum are wonderful. Alte Pinakothek, Neue Pinakothek, Pinakothek Der Moderne and most of the museums throughout Munich are available for a 1€ entry fee on Sundays, so exploring the many different museums is a great way to spend the afternoon. 

Learning German Culture

Last, but certainly not least, I loved getting to know German culture! Of course, this is one of those things that you can spend decades doing, but even within a short period of time it is fun to explore how another part of the world lives. Here are a few of my favorite things I experienced: 

• Because of the dark and gloomy weather with such cloudy skies, Bavarians frequently will keep up their Christmas décor to provide more light and cheer until Candlemas on February 2nd. Traditionally a holiday to celebrate when Jesus was taken to the temple, it officially signals the end of the Christmas season and is when the days start to brighten again. While many don’t put up their Christmas décor until a week or two before Christmas, they tend to keep it up much longer!
• When house hunting and staying at our hotel, we discovered that it was common to have two duvets on a king bed instead of just one large one. Similarly, many beds don’t use sheets, just the individual duvets, so no longer do you have to worry about the blankets disturbing your spouse! 
• Growing up, my mom always talked about the little wooden sleds they used on snow days as kids. I thought that this likely had changed, but sure enough, the first day we landed it had snowed quite a bit and all of the parks and greenspaces like English Garten were filled with families and kids using their wooden sleds in the snow.
• Bicyclists have the most right of way. Period. Everyone has heard about driving on the autobahn, but if you are driving in Munich: BEWARE! Driving is a bit crazy with the many cars, trains, bikes and pedestrians converging together, so be sure if you are a driver or pedestrian that you keep a close watch out for the bikes and bike lanes as they will not stop. Thankfully, the city is set up really well to allow for biking to and from most places which provides a great option for transportation, however keep very alert especially if you are not the biker. 
• While many shops, hotels and restaurants take credit cards, cash (in particular small bills or coins) are still the preferred form of payment for many bakeries, parking garages and small shops. Charlie and I learned this the hard way trying to leave a parking garage in Landshut when we discovered we only had large euro bills on hand and the parking garage only accepted small bills or coins. Thankfully we were able to find an ATM throughout the city, but from now on, we will be sure to only enter a parking garage if we are prepared! 
• They have flowers everywhere! Even in the cold of January, we frequently found flower shops or stands lining the streets bursting with blooms and saw people making their way onto the Uban with bundles of color. Even in the winter, this brought so much joy to my flower loving heart!

Final Thoughts

Experiencing Germany for the first time on our look and see trip was such an exciting time and I am so looking forward to the countless stories I am sure we will have ahead. Traveling to a new culture can be challenging in getting your bearings and determining how things operate (aka our Landshut parking garage adventure!), but on the whole, it is wonderful to learn and have new stories to tell. If you have been to Germany, what was your favorite part? Did you have any funny run-ins (in hindsight! lol) like our parking garage situation? I would love to know in the comment section below!

Happy traveling!

Chloe

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