Munich Local Customs

...Bavarians might treat you more friendly when you say:

- "Gruess Gott" (when enetring a store)
- "Wiederschaun" (when you leave it)
- "Mahlzeit" (when you meet colleagues during lunchtime)
- "A Guadn" (when you start your meal)
- "Prost" (when you drink a beer)
- when you don't wear a grey tourist hat with a blue and white ribbon around it ;-)
- when you can deal with their a little bit grumpy humour

This is another example of beer leading me to greater things. I love Kaltenberg's dunkles beer but had read about a Ritterbock, only served at this medieval festival. I checked up on it and it was a bit expensive to go but we figured it was maybe the only chance we would ever get. Well, it turns out, the beer is no longer brewed but the event itself was just great. It takes place at an actual castle and everyone is dressed in costume. The jousting is quite entertaining. Oh, and they did have the dunkles, and that was just fine too. Cheapest ticket is 16 Euros. Check out the website for more details.

Starkberzeit, or time of the strong beer, heralds the coming of spring. Many of the Munich breweries come out with their versions of this strong beer. They generally weigh in at around 7.5% alcohol and are surprisingly served in liter mugs. The grandaddy of them all is Paulaner's Salvator, a marvelous mix of hops and malt that is dangerously drinkable. To show respect, most other breweries at the -ator suffix. Lowerbrau has Triumphator. Augustiner has Maximator. Spaten has Optimator. Hofrau has Delicator. Both Paulaner and Lowenbrau have elaborate festivals, much like Oktoberfest with music, food and their strong beers on tap. The Paulaner one is so popular that on sunny days, the overflows into the beer garden. It looks odd as it is before there are any leaves on the trees! But it is a good thing as you need all the sun you can get if you are sitting outside in March.

Well...I would be stupid not to mention it even if I have never been myself. Some people say it is a tourist trap, others love it. Suffice to say that it starts in mid September and goes on until early October and is held in the Theresienwiese which is a park not far from the centre. Here you can frolic with thousands of Bavarians and tourists alike. Book your accommodation well in advance.

well, I didn´t see this before.... a Freudenhaus (house of pleasure) combined with Sotheby´s.... unfortuantely I didn´t get the chance to check this out....maybe with a bit of luck you can get a nice girl here for a real good deal...;-))...is there anybody with experience out there?

I was told that to fondle the paw of the lion, this heraldic animal of Bavaria shall bring you luck. Well...;-) ...it doesn´t cost me to do so....so I did at every Lion paw I pased by, hope I didn´t missed one.....

As already under restaurant tips mentioned, the Donisl is a great place to get traditional bavarian food for a reasonable very fair price AND to experience this in a typical bavarian ambience. Part of this is this accordion player who has his fix place here but also goes around from table to table to put guests into good mood ;-))

Probably the most local food you can try in Munich is a traditional Weißwurst. It's a white sausage that you eat for breakfast and that is served with a tasty sweet mustard. You only eat the inside of the sausage not the peel. Now how do you eat this thing? You can either peel it or do it the "a bit disgusting way" and suck it. I chose the peeling version of course. You just cut the length of the sausage and then use your knife, your fork, your fingers or your whole body to get the filling out. It works after a while and it saves you the embarrasment to sit there sucking a sausage ;)