MIKE AND JESS' TRAVEL DIARY
Germany and Austria Trip
Day 2 - December 7 2016
We woke up around 7:30 AM and thankfully were not feeling jet-lagged at all. After getting ready, layering up, and swallowing our nerves, we headed out to Cotidiano – a cafe recommended by our Airbnb host. {5 years and numerous countries later, this remains one of our favorite breakfast spots. There may come a time we travel to Munich just to savor this cafe again.} I, Jess, was determined to blend in, not look or act like a tourist, feel oh-so-worldly. We walked in to the cafe and I gave her my best German “Hallo!” to the hostess. What I wasn’t prepared for was the friendly conversation the hostess then tried having with us. It took only a second for her to register the ‘deer in the headlights’ look on our faces and realize we did not actually speak German.
So, we are seated with English menus – thank goodness – but I am undeterred by the hostess-conversation-debacle and decide I am going to order in German. What were all those hours learning on Duolingo for, if not this? So, determined, I ordered, “ein mineralwasser bitte.” It definitely sounded like I had marbles in my mouth and truth-be-told, I didn’t even want a mineral water, it was just all I could remember from my lessons.
She smirked and wrote down my order. Here I am, proud of my terrible order in German and Mike just goes, “Coffee?” Why didn’t I think of that?! Anyways, the waitress actually spoke English and I decided that should be the last time I try speaking German unless I really need it. I just made everyone’s job harder!
Our first European meal was delicious. I ordered a fresh croissant with goat cheese, eggs, and chives… Mike’s was fresh baked, crusty brown bread with bacon and eggs. Super duper yummy. The Americano and Cappuccino were perfect as well.
You would think after this giant breakfast, we would be done eating, right?
Our next stop was Cafe Frischnut for pastries and more coffee! Known for their fresh and flaky donut-like pastries, the Schmalznudel, this cute bakery and cafe had great garden views upstairs. It lived up to the hype with the first bite of pastry and sip of cappuccino.
After finally getting our fill, we decided to make our way around the city, hitting the tourist spots as we went. I had a grand idea to make paper maps, with stars marking the stops and even laminate them, in case of rain. Within 10 minutes of using them, we were lost. So, out goes the hand-laminated, color coded maps, and on goes the phone and international data.
Lesson number two of the trip: don’t be cheap, just pay the $20/day for data!
We walked past the Sendlinger Tor, the Marienplatz, and found the Alter Peter church tower. For just a few Euro, we climbed the steep steps (roughly 300 steps, but we certainly weren’t counting after donuts and coffee) and got gorgeous views from the top, overlooking the Marienplatz.
We then walked through the English Garden towards the Chinese Pagoda and unexpectedly found a small Christmas Market right next to the Pagoda and enjoyed our first gluhwein and brat.
After spending the day wandering around the city, we made our way back to the Marienplatz Christmas Market for some beer, gluhwein, brats, a soft pretzel, and potato cakes served with warm applesauce.
A few mulled wines in, we started slowly making our way back to the apartment and stumbled across another small Christmas market. It was only a few stands, just across the street from Cafe Frischhut. So, of course, we stopped for one last mug of gluhwein.
