Months later, I continue this series I meant to finish back in July. My Europe trip continued after London to Munich, Germany. My stay in Munich was VERY short – two half days for travel to and from Munich, and only one full day in Munich. And really, it wasn’t even really a full day in Munich because most of it was spent at the Dachau Concentration Camp/Memorial Site.
Thursday, June 13
My flight from London to Munich was smooth and uneventful. Once I got my luggage from baggage claim, I found my way to a ticket machine to take the S-Bahn from the airport to where my AirBnB was. Thankfully the machines and S-Bahn system have English in addition to German, because as hard as I tried, I could not get a grasp on the German language. (I learned French in high school, so my brain understands the Latin languages much more easily than the Germanic ones.)
My AirBnB hosts weren’t home, and it was a tad of a struggle to get into their building with the keys they left for me. But I figured it out and got settled into my room. Then my goal was to go out and have dinner at the vegan cat cafe that I had found while researching vegan restaurants.
Cafe Katzentempel ended up being closed by the time I got there, even though their posted hours said they closed at 8:00pm, and it was about 7:30pm when I got there. (I’m guessing that if they don’t have anyone there, they’ll close early?)
So, then I walked up and down Türkenstraße a bit, because there were a few other vegan-friendly restaurants I had bookmarked there. But the other problem was that they were cash-only, and I had not yet had a chance to find an ATM to get Euros.
Okra Gemusekebap
Finally, I turned onto Schellingstraße and spotted Okra and decided it looked vegan-friendly enough to inquire if they accepted credit cards. (I was too hungry to go looking for an ATM first.) Thankfully, they did accept credit cards! (I found out later that most restaurants in Munich actually don’t accept cards and only accept cash. So, it was a happy accident that I found Okra.)
Okra Restaurant 
Falafel Plate from Okra
Okra has falafel, kebabs, and other Mediterranean-/Middle Eastern-style food. Good thing I love falafel! I ordered a falafel plate and enjoyed the crunchiness of the outside of freshly made falafel balls that are also soft and fluffy on the inside. Plus fresh salad veggies to balance it out … yum!
The plate also came with a couple pieces of bread. I was going to move the bread aside and hope that the gluten hadn’t contaminated the rest of my plate too badly, but then I remembered that many people who are gluten-intolerant in the United States have no problem eating wheat/gluten-containing foods in Europe. Something about the different kind of wheat used in Europe. So, I ate a piece. And OMG … considering I hadn’t had a real piece of bread in … maybe seven years? It was amazing. At that point, I was in such bliss that I decided that even if I ended up getting sick from the gluten later, it would have been worth it.
I decided to walk back to my AirBnB. It ended up being quite a long walk, but it was nice. The weather was warm, and it is the best way to see sights in a new city. I was able to stop at an ATM in Karlsplatz and took out some Euros for the next couple of days at least. And then I walked back to my AirBnB, passing the Munich train station on the way.
As I was walking, I started to feel congested in my sinuses. It lasted through the rest of my stay in Munich, and I figured that it was just a reaction to the bread. I thought maybe I did have a reaction to European gluten after all, and that I really should stick to being gluten-free for the rest of my trip. (Spoiler alert: I ended up getting HORRIBLY sick when I got to Salzburg. Not a gluten kind of sick. An almost flu-like sick.)
Friday, June 14
The main activity for Friday was doing a guided tour to Dachau Concentration Camp/Memorial Site. I bought the ticket online well before I even left for this Europe trip, and it was one of the things I definitely had to do on this trip.
I walked from my AirBnB to the meeting place in Marienplatz, stopping at the Starbucks inside the Munich Hauptbahnhof, mainly because I didn’t know where else I could find coffee with soy or almond milk on the walk to Marienplatz . But then finding the exact meeting spot and the group was not exactly easy. I worried I wouldn’t find them and they would leave without me. But I managed to find them 10 minutes before it was scheduled to start. I had my iced coffee, bottle of water, and lots of snacks because they told us we would not be allowed to eat or drink inside the Memorial Site.
I’ll leave the details of the tour elsewhere (or you can see my Instagram post about it), but it was haunting, sad, and depressing. Hearing about how many souls were tortured and killed at Dachau was as disturbing as I’d expected, but it also was something I’d been wanting to see with my own eyes for a long time.
After the tour returned us to Karlsplatz in Munich, I met up with a friend who I’d met in NYC years ago and had moved to Munich several years ago. He was willing to give me his own personal guided tour of Munich, and then get dinner afterward.
Katzentempel München
My friend and I managed to get to Katzentempel München, the first cat café in all of German that also happens to be almost entirely vegan, before they closed. It was cutting it close, though, and we had to order within a couple of minutes of walking in because the kitchen was closing.
I decided to get the Small Breakfast, which comes with spelt bread, “butter,” two jams, and one optional “salty” spread (I opted for Baba Ghanosh), plus a few slices of cucumber and pear. I also got a side order of roasted tofu since there wasn’t much protein in the breakfast dish. It was a nice, light meal. The roasted tofu was kind of dry to eat on its own, but it was marinated to have some flavor at least.
Katzentempel 
Small Breakfast from Katzentempel 
Roasted Tofu from Katzentempel
There was only one cat out and about the dining area, and it didn’t really come close to us. The others were probably in another area of the cafe.
Ice Date
Our next stop was for dessert. We went to Ice Date, which is an ice cream shop where all their ice creams are vegan. They’re made from fresh cashew cream, sweetened with only dates, and fruit. You can get one main scoop of one flavor, and a tiny little scoop of another flavor if you so choose. I got almond vanilla for my main scoop, and chocolate hemp for my taster scoop. They also use 100% organic ingredients and compostable cups and spoons.
Ice Date 
Almond Vanilla and Chocolate Hemp ice cream from Ice Date
My friend continued our walking tour around Munich. My feet definitely hurt, but it was so worth it. Having a local’s perspective of the city was great, especially an ex-pat who grew up in the United States but who has come to love Munich.
We also stopped at the Chinesischer Turm (Chinese Tower) Beer Garden in the English Garden. I don’t drink beer, but my friend introduced me to Johannisbeerschorle. It is a spritzer made with currant juice mixed with seltzer water, and it was delightful! I didn’t get a picture of it because it was very much night-time then, and very dark out. The beer garden had very minimal lighting.
Chinese Tower in English Garden
After that, I said goodbye to my friend and headed back to my AirBnB. And yes, I walked. My poor feet.
Saturday, June 15
The next day, I checked out of my AirBnB, headed to the train station, and headed to Salzburg, Austria.
It was a very brief stay in Munich, but I got to see a lot around the city, and accomplished my goal of visiting a former Nazi concentration camp to satisfy one part of my World War II history curiosity. I wish I had more vacation days allotted, because I would have loved to stay in Munich longer. My friend was telling me how even though Germany is very much a meat-and-potatoes culture still, many people are becoming vegetarian or vegan, or at least looking to eat more of their meals vegetarian or vegan. It seems to be out of concerns for the environment, animal welfare, and health, which is great to see!
Up next: Salzburg, Linz, and Prague!