Munich, Germany. April 6th-19th 2017.

Munich is the capital of Bavaria, and is quite different to other places in Germany. Munich offers many different activities and places to visit, for all types of people, but as I am a broke student, my focus will be on cheap (ish) places to visit in Munich. 

First of all, Munich was definitely made better for me because one of my best friends lives near there, so having a best friend with me really made the trip more memorable. 
Our trip consisted of so many laughs, and trying to take the "perfect" Instagram photo, which made me realise how weird this generation is. 

Katzentempel Cafe. 

Katzentempel literally translates into Cat Temple. Being the first vegan cat cafe in Germany, it is very popular, and would be best to book a table beforehand. The cafe is relatively small, and has 6 cats, Ayla, Balou, Gizmo, Jack, Saphira, and Robin. Even though I am a meat lover, going to my first vegan cafe and trying vegan food for the first time was definitely a great experience, the food was delicious. 

While I was in the cafe, my friend and I ordered a salad to share and an avocado sandwich with tofu meat. I wasn't the biggest fan of the tofu meat, but that is just my personal taste. It was probably the best mayonnaise I have ever had in there, and even going for the food is worth the experience. 

The cats weren't too fussed about the guests, which is kind of expected since they always get attention and are probably tired of it. While we were there, we only saw one cat move and that was to jump onto the counter and get some food. 

I definitely recommend going there just to even try out the food, but don't expect too much from the cats. The food I found was quite expensive, but a lot of vegan cafes are, so going for just a lunch as a "treat yourself" activity, will definitely help. 

TMU Forum Cafe. 

Definitely the best place for hot chocolates. They present it in a very unique way I thought, you get a mug with warm milk and then you get another little glass that has chocolate chips in, and you have to pour in the chocolate and mix it ourself so it melts and makes your hot chocolate. I thought this was a great way to make hot chocolate, because some customers will like it more sweet than others and in this way you can choose how sweet you want your hot chocolate. I had the milk chocolate chips but they also have white chocolate, and dark chocolate. 

Although, the hot chocolate was definitely a great part about the cafe, it’s not the best. The best thing about the cafe is that it has a rooftop view of Munich. On a warm day, the view would be amazing, but even though the weather was cloudy, it was still a cool place to hang out. The cafe is located on top of a university, so it can be tricky to get to but most people do speak English, so it’s always worth asking someone as to not get lost in the university. 

Englischgarten. 

The English gardens get their name from the fact that the park looks like a park in England. There are lots of thing to do in the English gardens, since you’re in Germany, you have to go to a Biergarten, it would be a sin not to. There are various Biergartens, but I would suggest going where the students go, because it’s most likely going to be cheap. 

On a hot day, you can go into the river, the English gardens are most famous for surfing, although you will have to be very skilled to surf there, it is definitely not for beginners. For those who don’t want to or like to surf, you can lounge in a ring and have the water take you down. It’s quite similar to the rivers in aqua parks, except all natural which is always better. 

The English gardens are also very good places to have picnics, the park is quite big, so everyone has personal space and can enjoy their own and their friends companies. 

Acai Bowls. 

Until my friend told me what an ace bowl was, I never heard of it. Once I saw a picture, I recognised it from Instagram posts, and honestly, it was delicious. For those who don’t know what an acai bowl is, it’s basically a bowl with chia seeds, coconut flakes, raspberries, bananas, granola and this was all sitting atop a raspberry sauce thing (it’s difficult to explain, halfway between raspberry sauce and jam) obviously other places might do it differently, but this was what we had. There are a few places in Munich that do ace bowls, the one we went to was Bite Delite, the cafe was a very cute place. Customers can also buy food to takeaway there. The staff are really friendly and nice, and most of them speak English. The acai bowls were 6.95 euros per bowl, which for how filling it is, is quite cheap. 

Art Galleries. 

I wish I was the type of person that could go to galleries and understand all the modern art, I try to be that person, but I also fail. While in Munich, we went to 2 galleries, the modern one, Maxvorstadt, which I didn’t enjoy at all, and Brandhorst-museum, which was a lot better. 

Maxvorstadt is a modern art gallery, and I did not see it as art. I am more of a paintings that actually look pleasant to look at. For those who like modern art, this museum would definitely be good for you. Entrance for under 18’s is free, you just have to show them your passport. 

The Brandhorst-museum I definitely enjoyed, but I was still a bit bored by the end of it and felt like I stood out like a sore thumb. Everyone in the museum seemed to know everything, everyone looked so smart, I just tried to pretend to know everything. The paintings were so pretty, and there are a lot of rooms to go through, but it can be done in an hour if you’re like me and don’t stand to long looking at one painting, if you like to enjoy the whole experience and take your time, I would suggest to come earlier on in the day. 


For more about Germany, look out for my article on thetravelmagazine.net