Munich Germany - July 2026

For work, I was tasked with traveling to Munich, Germany for a week. I didn't have a ton of time to myself, but I certainly made the most of this trip. This was the first time I've EVER left the continental United States. I've never even been to Canada (which I regret because I used to live in Seattle).

The trip to Munich was uneventful. I watched a handful of movies which you can see on my Letterboxd. Unfortunately we had a layover in Istanbul but it wasn't too long. Most noteworthy thing in the layover was how nice the coffee was in the shops. IST is quite a nice airport. 

Upon arrival, jet lag was very strong so I immediately took a several hour nap at the hotel. This was without a doubt the worst jet lag I've ever experienced. It took like 2 days to adjust fully. I did wake up and wander around for a bit. The hotel we stayed at was right near the old Olympic Park so that was fun to walk around. 

For dinner, I had currywurst. This was quite good but a very simple dish. Just pomme frites and two sausages. According to some locals this is basically a "fast food" dish. I also had a weißbier. I love hefeweizen beers. That's easily my favorite flavor of beer so I was in the right place for that.

The following day was the company's meet and greet for the event. Not to much to say there. What was eventful that day however was the World Cup game. A local coworker took us down to an Irish pub in downtown Munich to watch the game. Unfortunately it wasn't the result we wanted but this was an experience I will never be able to recreate and one I'll never forget. Being in the home country during a world cup game was such a fun energetic time, especially when the game goes all the way down to a 6th penalty shot.

The fun didn't end there though. The game finished at around 1:30 AM. The trains weren't running. My phone was about to die and two other people I was with also had dead phones. I and another coworker who had about 40% battery were both able to unlock one of those electric bikes that are all over Munich. We had to bike back to the hotel through Munich in the dead of night. This was kind of magical. It had just stopped raining too so it was especially pretty with the lights. The other two coworkers managed to get back via hitchhiking. They have more guts than me. 

The next day, dinner was once again in downtown Munich. I went down a bit earlier to walk around. What amazes me about this European city is how storied the architecture is compared to anywhere in the US. We just don't have this kind of history. It's really pretty. 

The restaurant we are at was called Donisl. What's interesting to me about pubs/restaurants in Germany is how they only have one brand of beer. Like this is a Hacker Pschorr place, or a Paulaner place. I'm not complaining though because it's all good. 

On Wednesday, the company event was to visit a transportation museum. This was neat! Lots of cool old cars and trains and such. They also had a huge model train setup and I love these kinds of dioramas. The detail is always so charming to look at.

Thursday was the final work day. There was nothing planned for dinner or anything but a coworker who's more familiar with Munich took us down to Augustiner Keller. This was awesome. This kind of open air beer garden reminded me a lot of being at the Renaissance festival. Lots of tables and people drinking beer. I had a plate of sausages and a maß of beer which is a whole liter. 

The funniest part of this dinner though was when I went to the bathroom. I was cleaning up, and someone asks me if I'm a foreigner. I say yeah I'm from America. He then proceeded to ask me if I had... "something else...y'know cocaine?' I GUESS I GIVE OFF THAT VIBE. That was extremely funny. 

Friday was the day we had to ourselves. I went to the BMW Welt. This was basically a big ad for BMW but it was kinda neat. Lots of cool cars and a clanker cafe. 

One of my goals with this trip was to get a bottle of German spirits, be it gin or whiskey. I took a trip out to a small neighborhood on the outskirts of Munich called Ascheim. This was where a gin distillery called The Duke was located. The people there were super nice and I was able to taste everything they had. I ended up getting two bottles. I know for a fact I will never be able to get this in North America so I'm going to savor it. 

For lunch I had döner. This was probably the best thing I had this trip. It was located in the apartment complex in the Olympic park. That whole area was super charming. Just a nice little market within this series of repurposed apartments. 

The last dinner on Friday, I had a pork knuckle or schweinshaxe. This was delicious. Very fatty and tender. Absolutely amazing. 

So yeah that was the trip! I had a great time seeing a foreign country. While I was partially using this to get experience traveling internationally before Japan, this was also a place I wanted to visit. I really hope to visit Munich again.