Can you find food in Münich?
You betcha! I was wondering before going down there if there would be as many bakeries as in Denmark. There aren't. There are way, way more. I have found at least three chains of bakeries (Rischarf, Müller and Wimmer) that have bakeries all over the place, plus some independent ones, plus every cafe has a selection of bread and cake. The main problem will be to not gorge myself on yummy bready products. Mmmm... bread... speaking of, let's have some.
That's some great bread. Where was I... oh, yes, food. I'm staying at a hotel in a room with a kitchenette. As such, it has a fridge, a stovetop, a sink, a pot, some plates, and a spoon. That's it. No oven, no utensils, no cutting board, not even a dishwashing brush. I don't know what you're supposed to do with this. I got a knife and bought myself a bread knife, so now I can have bread with various things on top, at least. Thereto various fruit that does not require tools. It should come as no surprise that I have been eating out a fair amount here. Trouble is, for someone who's previously been happily vegetarian and whose stomach is happiest with plenty of veggies, this is the wrong place. These are the realms of the bratwurst and the bretzel, meat and bread in a myriad ways. While I like both, a steady diet of them are not good for me.
Google to the rescue! Fortunately for me, Google provides me with breakfast, lunch, optional dinner and assorted snacks, fruits, deserts, ice cream (Ben & Jerry's in reasonable portions, for instance) and a variety of drinks. And while I'm at the hotel, I can get a good breakfast here. If I'm not careful, I will gain some size from that as well - there's apparently an equivalent of the Freshman Fifteen at Google. The food varies from slightly better than dorm food to really quite good, though there is some German influence: Lots of meat, creamy sauces, deep-fried things (yes, here too) and potatoes, and veggies sometimes cooked to an unsavory death. But there's also always salads, frequently some good veggies dishes, and plenty of variation, so I have not had a desire to go elsewhere for lunch yet. I can particularly recommend mashed potatoes with chestnuts. And, of course, there is a desert of the day.
I figure I'll mostly keep long hours until I'm out of the hotel at least, and then start making myself large batches of veggie-rich dinners, making lunch the main meal of the day. Might have to find a good place for a post-prandial nap, though, or go for a walk after lunch. Despite the general dearth of such in restaurants (especially the more traditional ones), it's not hard to find good vegetables. The supermarkets of course have plenty, but there are also great open-air markets, in particular the Viktualienmarkt (about 200m from work) is worth going to if you don't mind paying a little extra for the experience and the incredible variety of things to buy there. In fact, it could be the subject of a post all of its own.
Tomorrow (early) we all go to Zürich for a pan-European engineer's conference. It'll be fun, I'm sure!
That's some great bread. Where was I... oh, yes, food. I'm staying at a hotel in a room with a kitchenette. As such, it has a fridge, a stovetop, a sink, a pot, some plates, and a spoon. That's it. No oven, no utensils, no cutting board, not even a dishwashing brush. I don't know what you're supposed to do with this. I got a knife and bought myself a bread knife, so now I can have bread with various things on top, at least. Thereto various fruit that does not require tools. It should come as no surprise that I have been eating out a fair amount here. Trouble is, for someone who's previously been happily vegetarian and whose stomach is happiest with plenty of veggies, this is the wrong place. These are the realms of the bratwurst and the bretzel, meat and bread in a myriad ways. While I like both, a steady diet of them are not good for me.
Google to the rescue! Fortunately for me, Google provides me with breakfast, lunch, optional dinner and assorted snacks, fruits, deserts, ice cream (Ben & Jerry's in reasonable portions, for instance) and a variety of drinks. And while I'm at the hotel, I can get a good breakfast here. If I'm not careful, I will gain some size from that as well - there's apparently an equivalent of the Freshman Fifteen at Google. The food varies from slightly better than dorm food to really quite good, though there is some German influence: Lots of meat, creamy sauces, deep-fried things (yes, here too) and potatoes, and veggies sometimes cooked to an unsavory death. But there's also always salads, frequently some good veggies dishes, and plenty of variation, so I have not had a desire to go elsewhere for lunch yet. I can particularly recommend mashed potatoes with chestnuts. And, of course, there is a desert of the day.
I figure I'll mostly keep long hours until I'm out of the hotel at least, and then start making myself large batches of veggie-rich dinners, making lunch the main meal of the day. Might have to find a good place for a post-prandial nap, though, or go for a walk after lunch. Despite the general dearth of such in restaurants (especially the more traditional ones), it's not hard to find good vegetables. The supermarkets of course have plenty, but there are also great open-air markets, in particular the Viktualienmarkt (about 200m from work) is worth going to if you don't mind paying a little extra for the experience and the incredible variety of things to buy there. In fact, it could be the subject of a post all of its own.
Tomorrow (early) we all go to Zürich for a pan-European engineer's conference. It'll be fun, I'm sure!