**NOTE**: This is will be my first time traveling to Europe, let alone Germany, and I thought getting ideas of the locals would be the best opinion. I’m planning on going in ***mid- to late March for a few weeks***. I know travel between the US and Germany is highly not recommended at the moment, and the current stipulations are in effect until early March; however, I’m fully vaccinated (booster shot included), and am willing to provide PCR tests and comply with other safety checks. I’ll be monitoring health stats and regulations between the US and Germany until then, and will cancel my trip if need be. Just needed to take time to myself with a solo trip ASAP before my mind implodes from school. XD I’ll most likely just go next March instead then.
Anywho, I’m trying to decide between Berlin, Cologne, Frankfurt (*am Main*), Hamburg, Munich to go to first. Aside from hiking, maybe strolling around parks, city centers, and checking out museums and historical sites or experiencing Volksfests and such, I have other goals. So I won’t list any aforementioned activities.
**Inclusive Itinerary**:
* Try out some beer, bread/baked goods/pastries, and coffee. I feel like the whole of Germany would shun me if I didn’t. Or sacrifice me to the football gods. Probably will sacrifice me.
* To be more specific on the beer part, I don’t like alcohol in general, so I’m excited to try beer from the famous Germany! I heard your non-alcoholic beers rock as well, so that’s pretty neat!
* Go into an Aldi and be amazed at how fast the checkout is. I don’t necessarily have to buy anything; I could just walk in, look over to the checkout and see the person ringing up the items working at the speed of light, think, “That’s dope as all get out,” and just leave.
* Make Vietnamese-style soup (*canh*) with kohlrabi. We don’t have this vegetable in my local area, so I’m pretty excited to try to make this. I guess Berlin would be the obvious choice to go for this activity since it has a sizable Vietnamese community there, I’m sure I could find the other ingredients in the other cities, right? (Shrimp, specific Viet seasoning powder (*bột nêm*), spicy red powder (*bột mầu*), etc. I know this seems vague enough, but when it comes to culinary differences, these are very specific. I could end up with regular sad soup, and end up hating myself for the rest of the trip, and that’s not good for anyone.)
* Absolutely fuck with a local or two by going up to a random wall, and going, “Wow, the Berlin Wall…” and just see their brain shut down and they slowly re-evaluate their life.
* Have at least a decent conversation with some Germans. I’m actually pretty honest and good at going with the flow, and with all the American anxiety with German taciturnity, I’m determined with this one! XD I’ll ask “How are you?” and will be absolutely enthralled by how their day is going (I’m not even exaggerating, I find amusement in even the most simplest of things.) My goal is to make a friend (acquaintance for you guys, but I’m down. I’ll take it as a win either way, so we’ll see how that goes. *insert a snort of disbelief here*) Watch the friend be the Airbnb host(ess) because I’ll actually keep the room, bathroom, and kitchen clean.
* At least see the shopping scene. Walk around a shopping area idk. I’d like to be immersed in the mundane culture of the locals of wherever I am, it’s really cute. See what most people will make for dinner, what fashion trends are absolutely poppin’, who’s about to go slay a dragon,
* Watch a German movie or two. Maybe in my room on my phone, or I drag my Airbnb host(ess) to watch something with me. It could be an old or new movie, I don’t really care. I’ll need something with subtitles though because my five and a half German word bank won’t really help me understand the plot, I’m sure lmao. Idk give me some recommendations.
* *Try out staple food(s) of the city/are I’m in. (*More details in exclusive itineraries.*) Obviously, there are German staple foods in general, but these will be specific to the city, mostly due to being named after them.
Berlin Itinerary:
* *Try the Berliner donut.
* Go to a club? Idk if restrictions will limit the experience, but I’m not much of a clubbing person anyway. Regardless, the parties here seem wild, and I can respect that 100%. Probably do the thing with Aldi, and just walk in, and immediately walk out.
Cologne Itinerary:
* As a Christian, I must pay homage to the U-Bahn station that houses the hole created by [Jesus’ cross](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oI9B7qWXV9Q).
* Smell some cologne around Cologne, duh! Goodness gracious, imagine if I ran across Jeremy Fragrance here, I’d laugh my balls off. Granted, I am female, but still, that’d be so fucking funny, my dudes; he just rambles on about how to be my best self and how to choose the perfect scent. The stars truly will have aligned.
Frankfurt Itinerary:
* *Try Frankfurter green sauce (that actually looks so good wtf), Kranz (this cake looks so pretty, I’ll eat it anywhere, ALL DAY!), and all the damn sausages named after this place lmao.
* Find a guy named Frank and build a fort with him. Sand, tree, toilet paper roll, I don’t care; we’re gonna build a fort, and it will bring about miracles.
Hamburg Itinerary:
* *Try Hamburg fish soup, and because I am a darn American, a hamburger (patty or with the bun and all, either or is cool. Why not both, who knows?)
* Pretend to be rich. Not gonna lie, I only put this bullet point down because the other city-specific sections had two bullets, and I felt bad for this one. 😛
Munich Itinerary:
* *Try Bavarian cream and the various sausages that originate here that scare other Germans (or I guess *Prussians*, as the Bavarians call the rest of you).
* Watch some people slap each other because apparently that’s how the dancing works here. That’s wild. You guys are wild.
Also, I’ve tried looking for answers to these questions, but couldn’t find definitive answers to my case, so here they are:
* If I’m in a cafe, for example, could I just turn to some people next to me and ask them for recommendations on where to eat out, or buy a certain whatnot, and where the best stroll would be and what time, etc. Or is starting a conversation with “Excuse me, but…” be too intrusive in Germany? (I was gonna make a joke here, but I really want an answer to this because I feel like I’ll do this a lot. A lot of Americans like asking locals for recommendations instead of looking it up on Google Reviews/Yelp lol).
* I know you guys don’t like wearing PJs out into public, but where do sweatpants and sweatshirts lie on the spectrum? In America, for the most part, home clothing and public clothing can honestly be the same. It’s gotten to the point where my mom sometimes asks me if she can wear a certain clothes to the store cuz ain’t nobody know.
* I have an Adidas sweatshirt that I’m scared to bring along. 1. It’s a size L, and I’m a 5’3″/160 cm, Asian-American female, so the bottom reaches my mid-thigh. Since European fashion is more form-fitting than American fashion, I don’t know, will it freak you out? 2. Pair that with the fact that Adidas is a German brand, I feel like Germans will give me the stink eye for it, like I’m desecrating the sacred brand by being an uncultivated American. But like, if my wearing an oversized Adidas sweatshirt will make the kids cry and think I’m the devil, ~~that’d be really funny~~ I won’t bring it.
* I know most transactions in Germany use cash, and I’m totally prepared for that, but it got me thinking. . .what places *DO* accept cards?
Welp, I think that’s it for now. I’d absolutely appreciate it if you guys gave me some more obscure activities to do, so if you have a recommendation that fits into what I listed above, please do share! I took a look at the resources on the side of the subreddit, but I’m feeling uninspired.
Thanks in advance, and props to you for getting to the end of my rambling! 🙂
9 comments
I live in neither of the areas you mentioned but I feel people coming from there should advertise. I’ve been to all of these cities and the people and the vibes there differ a lot imho, so you will have a unique experience in either area.
Making the vietnamese soup should work in any larger city where they have an asia shop that sells the spices you need, but just about any normal supermarket has Kohlrabi. If you want to be special, check if there’s a local market in a city or town you’re in, those are usually on a specific day of the week and have really good and fresh vegetables and loads if other stuff.
Don’t worry about bringing and wearing your Adidas sweater, you can walk around in it as much as you like. Going full sweat suit is alright for going shopping or to the bakery in the morning, but if you’re visiting tourist attractions and want to ask people stuff and get recommendations from them, you’ll have better chances not wearing that or PJs (Bonus points when you wear weather-specific clothes, we frickin love that shit).
About everything else, go try everything you want to, just don’t be overly annoying or an asshole and you’ll be just fine. I don’t know about finding a Frank that would build a fort with you, but good luck!
Edit: about paying with a credit card: By now, most places where people will routinely spend more than like 40€ (supermarkets, gas stations, clothing stores,…)will take at least debit, credit could be a little harder to find. Especially in smaller towns or places away from the usual infrastructure the shops and bakeries might prefer cash and your chances of using a credit card get very narrow.
Hamburg: eat a Franzbrötchen (sweet cinnamon bun)
You can ask locals for recommendations. They’ll be a bit puzzled, but will try and help.
Be prepared for a bit of staring, Germans don’t perceive it as rude and it startles foreigners a bit. Prepare for a lot of staring if you are not wearing appropriate clothing ( happened to my Asian-Canadian couchsurfers who wore flip-flops in autumn).
>Go into an Aldi
Be aware, there are actually two companies: Aldi Süd (south) and Aldi Nord (north). I don’t know if both are equally proficient at ringing up groceries.
>I’ll ask “How are you?”
And you might even get an answer. In English, “How are you” is really just a meaningless greeting that nobody honestly answers. So if you ask a random German “how are you?”, they will either think you are very strange, or actually tell you how they are (or both).
>Try the Berliner donut
There are lots of different berliners… different fillings, different toppings, etc. And you can find them at most bakeries in Germany.
>If I’m in a cafe, for example, could I just turn to some people next to me and ask them for recommendations on where to eat out, or buy a certain whatnot, and where the best stroll would be and what time, etc. Or is starting a conversation with “Excuse me, but…” be too intrusive in Germany?
There’s no harm in asking. The stereotype is that Germans are very direct, which can be misinterpreted as rudeness. But like anywhere else, look for the social cues as to whether a person actually wants to talk to you or not.
>I know most transactions in Germany use cash, and I’m totally prepared for that, but it got me thinking. . .what places DO accept cards?
You can pay by credit card at most big stores — grocery stores, department stores, etc. The rest varies. Also, be aware, some places might accept EC Cards (a European debit card), but not credit cards, so better to ask if you can pay by “credit card” (or “visa” , etc.) instead of just “card”.
For Berlin> Vietnamese experience I could recommend the [Dong Xuan Center](https://www.dong-xuan-berlin.de/) it’s huge.
Clubbing- nobody knows what will be in March, at the moment it’s forbidden to dance in clubs.
Do not worry about clothing, you will be travelling to big cities, the people are used to different fashionstyles. Talking to people- will be also ok, my personal review says that the people in cologne are really talkative and open.
> Go into an Aldi and be amazed at how fast the checkout is.
They use ordinary barcode readers now. At least, they do in my area.
> Absolutely fuck with a local or two by going up to a random wall, and going, “Wow, the Berlin Wall…” and just see their brain shut down and they slowly re-evaluate their life.
There will be two possible reactions to this. Either a dead serious “Um, actually…” followed by an hour-long lecture on 20th century German history, or nothing at all except maybe an eye-roll.
> Smell some cologne around Cologne, duh!
It smells the same as it does anywhere else. Cologne, on the other hand — well, in the 19th century, Samuel Taylor Coleridge said this: “I counted two and seventy stenches / All well defined, and several stinks,” and: “The river Rhine, it is well known, / Doth wash your city of Cologne. / But tell me, nymphs, what power divine / Shall henceforth wash the river Rhine?”
> Try Frankfurter green sauce
Traditionally eaten on Maundy Thursday, although the season lasts all spring and summer.
> Try Bavarian cream
What is Bavarian cream? Or is it literally just ordinary cream made with the milk from Bavarian cows?
> Watch some people slap each other because apparently that’s how the dancing works here.
That’s just for the tourists. The famous dance is the Schuhplattler, which isn’t a Munich thing at all: it comes from the Alpine regions of Upper Bavaria and Tyrol — most of Tyrol is actually in Austria, not Germany — so it’s a rural dance. It’s a Ländler — similar to a waltz — except that at certain points the men (and *only* the men) accentuate the beat by jumping up and slapping their own thighs or knees. If there are men and women on a stage leaping about and slapping themselves and each other like goons, that’s not authentic: you’re watching either entertainment for clueless tourists, or a screwball comedy starring Chevy Chase.
> could I just turn to some people next to me and ask them for recommendations
I think if you’re polite about it, it’s probably fine. This is especially true if you’re in a popular tourist destination like Munich or Berlin: locals will be used to people doing this, and many will be only too pleased to recommend something in their city that they take particular pride in. Of course, there’s a high risk that the people you’re talking to are themselves tourists, but that’s okay too.
> where do sweatpants and sweatshirts lie on the spectrum?
I think that’d made you look like a student, or poor. It depends on what your sweatpants and sweatshirt look like, and where you’re going — wearing faded and threadbare sweatpants to the opera, for example, would raise a lot of disapproving eyebrows. Depending on the time of year, of course, you may be more comfortable in jeans and a T-shirt, which is standard summer wear for most Germans anyway. And of course, if you do go clubbing, there will probably be a dress code.
> Since European fashion is more form-fitting than American fashion, I don’t know, will it freak you out?
No. I might think you have self-confidence issues, but it wouldn’t freak me, or anyone I know, out. Honestly, as long as you’re not wearing something covered in swastikas, most people would consider what you wear to be entirely your business.
> I feel like Germans will give me the stink eye for it
No, why would they? It may be German, but it’s still only a brand.
For the general questions:
* Sure you can. Be prepared for people not speaking English or flat out telling you that they don’t have time. I’d guess most will try to be helpful, though!
* „Wer eine Jogginghose trägt, hat die Kontrolle über sein Leben verloren“. Just kidding, you’ll be fine. Wear whatever you want, especially in the larger cities.
* Again, you’ll be fine. Wearing an oversize Adidas sweater is very, very low on the list of things people wil freak out over.
* I’d actually disagree by now, at least in the big cities most shops take credit card. It’s usually Visa or Mastercard, though.
* One more thing: If you actually stay several weeks, you can fit a couple of cities in there. I’d go for, say, 4-6 nights per city.
For the specifics; I’ll comment on Cologne, as it’s clearly the best city on your list:
* Of course you have to visit Cologne Cathedral and take the stairs all the way to the top
* The local beer is Kölsch, served in small 0.2l glasses, best enjoyed in a brewery (“Brauhaus”). The waiters (called “Köbes”, famous for their banter) will keep on giving you a new beer until you put the beermat on top of the empty glass.
* Local food would be “Himmel un Ähd” (my personal favourite), “Rheinischer Sauerbraten” or a “Halve Hahn”. Best google before what these actually mean, though…
* You’ll just about miss cologne carnival (ends beginning of march). Pity.
* Cologne hs some cool museums, I’d recommed the Museum Ludwig and the Römisch-Germanisches Museum
* If you are into sports, going to a 1.FC Köln home game would be well worth it (corona restrictions willing, of course)
* Cologne is very close to Düsseldorf, Bonn, and the Ruhr Area (reachable with public transport) with their own cool stuff to do.
Have fun!
> I have an Adidas sweatshirt that I’m scared to bring along. 1. It’s a size L, and I’m a 5’3″/160 cm, Asian-American female, so the bottom reaches my mid-thigh. Since European fashion is more form-fitting than American fashion, I don’t know, will it freak you out? 2. Pair that with the fact that Adidas is a German brand, I feel like Germans will give me the stink eye for it, like I’m desecrating the sacred brand by being an uncultivated American. But like, if my wearing an oversized Adidas sweatshirt will make the kids cry and think I’m the devil, that’d be really funny I won’t bring it.
I’ve lived here for 5 years and still live in sweatshirt/sweatpants in the winter. No one gives a shit. And if they do, whatever that’s their problem.
You sound exhausting. Don’t be surprised when most Germans you confront with your hilarious ideas just ingnore you.