My oldest daughter is on her 3rd trip to Europe (also her 3rd time to be in Germany). She is with her sister who has not been to Europe before. They, of course, are different personality types, but my eldest has been very disappointed in her trip to Germany this time. The last time she was there, about 4 to 5 years ago, she went to the same cities and same pubs/places, and traveled at this exact time of year, but she said whereas last time everyone was so friendly, you could always find a card game or something fun going on at night, that the German people were interested in them being Americans and talking to them about different things, etc. - that this time she has encountered very few tourists and that the people in the very same places are borderline rude.

This daughter is not a very emotional person so when she described them this way, she was about ready to cry (which she hates to do!), because during the day she is trying to ensure her sister enjoys her time and was looking forward to a taste of the nightlife and fun that she has always found on her other 2 visits to Germany.

Anyone have any idea why the radical change? I realize that things change over the years, but she even tried new places, in addition to the old places and the reception was the same. They have been in Frankfurt and Nuremberg and will be in Munich later, so I'm hoping to find someone who has been to Munich recently or lives there that can let us know where the friendly, warm, welcoming people she found the first 2 visits have gone. Looking for SAFE but FUN night life. Nothing on the unsafe sides of town (have heard that they should stay away from places near the railways) and have heard that some places are hard to get into (i.e. bouncers, etc.) so I'm not to thrilled about uppity places either.

Also, does anyone have a recommendation on where they can buy a deck of cards? They left theirs behind and would love to find someplace to buy them. They''ve tried at least a dozen local stores but have had no luck.

Any suggestions for salvaging a very sad daughter's trip would be greatly appreciated!!

Thanks so much!

Well, I don't know if two visits to the same pub 4 years apart let you tell if it's a good place or not. They probably had a good night back then, and a lame one this time. Happens all the time. You go to a bar one night and there is a chatty crowd, next night you sit alone with your beer. That's life. No guarantee for fun. As a very rough rule of thumb, I'd say that few people go to a pub to chat someone up, but go with friend(s) to have a good time.

Deck of cards can be found in any department store (toys or stationary dep.), and almost every drug store or supermarket has them in the non-food section, usually near the stationary stuff (notebooks, ballpens, etc).

Munich is a very safe place. Even the miniscule "red light district" near the central station is nothing that can scare anyone.
Most places they might like will be in Schwabing (one block west of University and Münchner Freiheit subway stops) or Glockenbachviertel, which is the neighborhood south of Viktualienmarkt. Only few places have bouncers (which would be deadly boring "in" clubs, so they don't miss a thing).

If they are in Munich on a weekend, there are some party locations they can check out (they should be under 30, though, to not be taken for some disoriented senior citizen lol). The major one is m-park (west of the city center, starts 10pm on weekends only and nights before public holidays) or the area behind the Munich East station (yes, railways buh). But I am far too old to give advice in that field.

Munich (as well as Frankfurt) are pretty much international tourist destinations. So for most local people it will be nothing but the complete ordinary that 2 girls from the States drop in for a drink. As well as the guys next to them from Australia or Japan. It's very normal that you hear chatter in three to four languages at popular places, so hardly anyone will find it fascinating that they came from Chicago or Sacramento (or Hamburg or Brussels).

One of the reasons why I usually recommend hostels in Munich for anyone under 30 is that you hang out there with people in your age group and can hit the bars with people you met there and are not on your own.

I salute the citizens of Munich for their extreme patience in guiding two 60plus South Africans through the ins and outs of buying Underground tickets, finding the Marianplatz, finding the English Gardens, directing us to the correct train to the airport, finding the location of our hotel The Meier, and so on. So kind and helpful to the extent of a young lady abandoning her cake & coffee to guide us to the "validation" machine at the Main train station!

Munich is a terrific place to spend a day or two or use for a springboard to other places of interest in Bavaria.

Cowboy,

Thanks so much for taking time to reply. I agree with you about timing being an issue from night to night. They are staying in hostels but not the same ones as before and I think this has been part of the problem in Frankfurt and Nuremberg - the hostels have been more like hotels with private rooms.

This changes when they get to Munich. I know she stayed at Wombats before but that was totally booked this time, but this will be their first stay in the type of hostels she was used to last time. This is also where she and her friend she traveled with before, met groups of people in her age range and they often paired up and ventured out as a group, to the extent of even doing daytime things as a group and seeing if their next destination was the same as anyone else's.

I also was very puzzled about how they could not find a deck of cards. I figured Germany could not be that different from the US in where one would buy a deck of cards.

As to the "accent" thing, I agree with you, with so many tourists coming through it is not normally anything out of the 'norm' for people, particularly any locals, to want to meet/talk to someone based on their accent, but even in the US there is a certain desire/interest when someone with a very southern accent is around, to have them speak (people from the "East Coast" side of the US find the southern accent particularly entertaining...lol).

Just as in the US, some of the accents we most like to hear (also because they are more easily understood), tend to be Australian/UK type accents. We would also be fascinated with almost any other type of accent we don't "normally" hear as some of the other accents we are more accustomed to with our diverse population. Maybe this is why their accents seemed intriguing to fellow travelers and locals last time..

I will pass along your tips to them. I know she loved the friendliness of the German people and the good memories she has of Germany which is why she makes sure to visit there each time she goes to Europe. I think Munich will give her more of what she is looking for, particularly with change in style of accommodations.

Best Regards,

Overly Concerned Mom (lol)

Tell them to look on Toytown. Munich has an active group of people with all kinds of get-togethers, and they will be able to meet up with some folks. Other cities in Germany are on the website too, so if they are moving on to the next town, they will be able to meet up with some people or at least know where the good spots are to meet others.

Believe me, an American accent in any of the big cities of Germany is fairly boring. There are so many expats over here working, let alone all the tourists. I know this sounds odd, but I know a lot of Germans who cannot distinguish between American, Irish, British, or Aussie accents. So, people may not even hear your daughters southern accent. Just as an example, do you hear the different accent in people from Berlin, Frankfurt, Köln, Stuttgart, Munich or even Switzerland or Austria?
Hope your daughters find some friends. Are they trying to speak German at all?

Sorry! I forgot the website.
http://www.toytowngermany.com/forum/index.php

Mainhattengirl,

I'm not sure if I could distinguish between the accents listed, but not being someone in the US (i.e. I am way too old for the night life scene) who would go to places where travelers from other countries would frequent, I would probably be intrigued at hearing any of those accents, but that is because I don't often hear the ones you listed.

However, I can definitely see your point. I am not sure why the last two times it became such an interesting thing to do to have her and her friend say different sentences...maybe it was a "teen thing" among fellow travelers in the hostels since they'd be more likely to talk about where each other hails from. No clue to be honest in the end why this was a popular thing the last times.

I figure the accent is the least of the issues and is more like what Cowboy said - possibly the right places, but not the right time, just like over here and I imagine anywhere in the world..on some nights a place is hopping with activity and some nights it isn't. I also wasn't sure if the global economy..well, if it had impacted the number of tourists and possibly that was part of the issue.

Thanks for the link to Toytown, I will pass it along to them. Yes, they are speaking German...lol..kind of. My youngest actually has had 3 years of German, in an accelerated class, but she has told me she obviously learned the "wrong type of German"..lol, because most of the times the local people cannot understand what she is saying. We have this issue in the US quite often, in a high school a teacher will either be teaching a very formal version, for example, of a Spanish class, and then you try to speak Spanish to someone from Mexico and while it is "close", it isn't quite the way they speak so you have to make all sorts of adjustments.

Her German classes, however, do give her the ability to translate things in writing or posted as signs and figure them out so it is still good that she took the classes. They also are both very bright so when corrected, then strive to keep saying things in German because they have great memories and great ability to pick up and mimic pronunciations.

Best Regards from the US!

US Mom