7/9/2023
Although Germany was not originally on our itinerary, since Salzburg was only a couple of hours from Munich by train, we took a quick day trip to check it out and were pleasantly surprised. It is a really great city with a huge pedestrian zone in the old town and hip vibe. They also have designated bike lanes everywhere, so it’s easy to explore the sights on two wheels.
After returning from our day trịp, we carried on to Innsbruck, a town in the Austrian Alps. Even though the city was lovely, it was too quiet for us, and so we decided to cut our stay short and headed back over to Munich the next day. This turned out to be one of our best decisions ever. We were lucky to snag a last-minute room at the Aloft, and HUGE bonus that it was directly across from the train station. Having lugged our ever-growing bags and bodies all over Europe’s cobblestone streets, this convenient location made us positively giddy.!
Another bonus, we had not been able to find Black Forest cake (German: schwarzwalder kirschtorte) anywhere during our prior day trip, so this was our second chance. But, it was Budapest all over again- strangest thing that all the locals and front desk agents had never even heard of it under either the English or German name. Well, Google was our friend and we found a few local reviews where tourists had mentioned the dessert. Turns out, it was on the permanent menu of the famous Ratskeller restaurant. The name rathskeller means a restaurant or bar in the basement or cellar of a town hall, not the rodent cellar like it sounds; rat means “council” in German.
The Ratskeller Munich is about 150 years old and is a sprawling, massive underground restaurant that can seat over 1000 people. I tried their traditional roast pork (schweinebraten) for the main entree and had the schwarzwalder kirschtorte for dessert. The portions were generous and the prices fair. However, I have to say that German meats are very fatty and potatoes in every imaginable form is a mainstay, so not my favorite cuisine. The sausages and brats sold everywhere taste really good, but I’d be seriously afraid of heart failure if I lived here.
Regarding our dessert taste-testing and rating, following is our review:
German Black Forest Cake (Schwarzwalder Kirschtorte) Rating: 4.38
