First Impressions of Munich

The Nice Bits 1️⃣ It’s true—there’s beer with almost every meal! The beer is not only delicious but also cheap, and the beer mugs are super big 🍻. 2️⃣ Germany has an incredible variety of bread, and it’s genuinely tasty! Every loaf we bought from a small shop had both of us raving about it 🥐. 3️⃣ It’s no lie that Mercedes and BMWs are everywhere—even the taxis are Mercedes 🚗! 4️⃣ Bikes rule half the road—you’ll see cyclists everywhere! Every traffic lane has a dedicated bike lane next to it, and in new districts, the bike lanes are just as wide as the car lanes. Cyclists aren’t just solo riders, either—there are cargo bikes all over the streets, with dogs or kids in the cargo area 🚲🐶👶. It’s still a bit cold for cycling this season, but Germans love biking and the outdoors. They always live by the saying: “There’s no bad weather, only the wrong clothes” ❄️. 5️⃣ It’s true that Germans face their history head-on. We went to the BMW Museum mainly to let Mr. Luo look at vintage cars, but I lingered at one exhibition area for a long time. There, they openly acknowledged using labor from Nazi concentration camps and child labor during World War II, and vowed to do better in the future 📜. The sincerity in their words made me wonder: Did their unruly past—as a cautionary tale in human history—shape their current culture of strict adherence to rules? 🤔 6️⃣ What I envy most is that dogs are allowed on the subway, in airports, and in all kinds of shops! This is even better than New Zealand 🐕. When I saw dogs in malls and clothing stores, I almost wanted to start learning German right away 😂. The Less Nice Bits 1️⃣ There are so many smokers—you can smell cigarette smoke on the street anytime. I checked the cigarette prices, and sure enough, they’re not high. The cigarette packs don’t have those shocking warning images either 🚬. New Zealand takes tobacco control more seriously: it mainly relies on raising tobacco taxes and using large warning pictures. 2️⃣ Public toilets cost 1€ to use 💶. #Germany #Munich #Travel #Europe