Hello again for another one of Amy’s Tips! I hope you enjoyed the last one, I know it was quite long! This time, I will write tips on Munich!

1.We arrived on a Sunday. Everything is closed! Maybe this is indicative of the Monastery history of Munich (Munich is, after all, named after the German word for Monk in Old German (if I remember correctly): Munichen. The Germans now call Munich “Munchen”). Only eateries are open, so it’s probably a good idea to get all the food related activities over with if you have nothing to do on a Sunday. We went tried Pretzels and Sausages and went to the Hofbrauhaus.
2.Eat a sausage! It’s very good. It tastes a lot better than what you might get in the States! I have seen people just walking around and eating a sausage. They have many “fast food” type stores that just sell varieties of sausages and hams. I asked for a sausage and they automatically asked if I wanted it with bread, and I said, “sure!” and they cut the bread and gave me a hot dog. Try to ask for Sauerkraut in the beginning of your order so they can let it heat up in the oven while they prepare the rest of your order. The first time I ordered from a “fast food” place, I think I annoyed lady by asking for sauerkraut after she had already finished everything else. Some sausage varieties are quite salty, though…(next tip…)
3.Be careful when you ask for water at a restaurant. They might give you fancy mineral water. This happened when we got a sausage sampler plate our first day in Munich. We were still parched afterwards! (see post on our search for fluids) Unknown to us, water from the tap is completely drinkable. The Hotel Jeddermann receptionist said that everyone in Munich drinks it. At a restaurant, the word for tap water is pronounced “Lightons vassa.” Don’t ask me how to spell that in German. We learned this from the bike tour guide. He is Hawaiian but speaks German Just ask the waiter for “lightons vassa” and he will bring you a delicious glass of cold tap water. Free. This tip is particularly useful. Otherwise Brian and I might be dehydrated after the first day!
4.For bike tours, make sure you bring gloves! Even though it’s April, it’s still very cold! The bike tour guide told us that it’s not usually that cold, but always be prepared! If you’re stuck and you can’t find any gloves for less than 50 euro, walk towards Karlsplatz on the main street. You’ll see a discount corner store on the left (when you’re walking away from the main Marienplatz). Buy gloves for 2 euro here! And whatever you might find useful Scarves are sold readily by newsstands with tourist gear. 15 Euro. They just might have “Deustchland” written everywhere. And be careful about buying a scarf that has the soccer/football emblem for an opposing team. They’re pretty serious about that kind of thing… ^_~
5.Free walking tours: Even in London, (and unfortunately, we missed the one for Bath), Brian and I have found walking tours to be the best way to explore a city. Bike tours are nice because you get to go to farther places, but you really speed by a lot of things and the guides aren’t as detailed with the history and information. It’s also difficult to take pictures while on a bike. There is a free tour for Munich available, operated by NewEurope (tip courtesy of Karen Cheng). They meet at 10:45AM everyday, rain or shine, all year, by Mary’s pole in Marienplatz. (the big pole with the four cherubs killing various enemies of the church). Our tour guide was Meghan! She was great. Lots of historical information, and fun too! NewEurope has tours for London, Berlin, Amsterdam, and some other cities. Check their website! You pay on a tips only basis.
6.Cell phones in the European Union: The O2 phone that we had from the UK now charges 35 Pence per minute to calls within Europe and (after experimentation) 3 USDollars a minute to call the US! Don’t do it!! Try to find an Internet Cafe. The New Europe tour suggested one that had 5 cents per minute international calls, but we didn’t have a chance to go before we had to head to Fussen. The O2 in Germany didn’t have the nice free international calling perk that the one in the UK had, so we didn’t get another O2 card. Also, you had to pay 30 Euro to get a 40euro bonus. If you paid a lower denomination, you wouldn’t get any bonus. This is in addition to a (I think…) 20 Euro fee for the SIM card. We checked Vodafone, and they had 19.90 Euro for SIM packet with a 10Euro credit, so we got this. It’s about 90 Euro cents to call other countries in the EU, 20-30 euro cents to call within the country, free to receive, and about 1.90 Euro to call the US. The rates change relative to the country that you are physically in, so you can theoretically buy a card in Germany and have the same rates apply when you are in Italy. Theoretically Unfortunately, my phone did not get any Vodafone reception when we were in Fussen or St. Goar. This might be because the SIM card was improperly activated, but it could also be that Vodafone doesn’t have as good reception as O2. We wound up using our O2 card in these places. We’ll see if Vodafone still has a problem when we’re in Berlin.
7.Do not do the high Hitler Salute! It is illegal and you might get arrested!!! This is probably true for all of Germany as well. Nuff said.