The Last Supper in Germany

I thought I’d better update one more time because we just finished with our authentic German meal. One thing I forgot to mention that I found funny today was that during the tour on the bus, the guide talked about how Germany is surrounded by 9 different countries and that’s a lot.  He compared other countries and mentioned that the United States was “only surrounded by 3: Canada, Mexico, and TEXAS.”  He was completely serious! I obviously don’t know my United States geography that well. The cultural barrier is so different here and we have had many problems with communication.

Waiters and bartenders don’t always recognize the word “water” right away so we find ourselves always repeating it.  Then we were introduced with the problem of having to choose between sparkling water and still water.  Most of us found out that we are not a fan of the sparkling water, it just tastes too carbonated.  Another difference we found was in what we believed to be traditional German food.  One of the girls on the trip is from German decent and said that she gets really good Kuchen at home.  (Kuchen is like a sweet pie filled with custard and fruit, and is also the official dessert of South Dakota)  She was determined to try to Kuchen before we left Germany and we finally found a place that had a special- Kuchen and Koffee for 1,99 euros.  She went up to the counter and said I’d like some “Ku-gen” and they lady had no idea what she was talking about.  She kept repeating herself and pointing to the sign that said the special and goes “ohhh you mean “kug-han.”  It sounded exactly like what we had been saying.  It turns out the Kuchen here was just chocolate cake….nothing like what we expected but still delicious.

We headed over to Mario’s bar to get our authentic meal.  Mario is a very nice bar owner and is actually from Bulgaria but is working here in Frankfurt because his daughter is very sick. Whenever we walk in the door we all yell “Mario” and wave our hands around and all the locals think it’s hilarious. He promised he would make us something good.  The meal was huuuge.  We had a salad first which was just chopped tomatoes and cucumbers covered in cheese.  As he served it to us he said “you will not get salad like this again anywhere” because it was his specialty.  The cheese was white, and so soft that it melted in your mouth.  Delicious, actually it was probably the best cheese I’ve ever had. (sorry Uncle Joe…Valley Queen’s is awesome but not quite comparable J)  We told him the cheese was great and he just smiled and said “I know.”  Next he prepared us schnitzel and french fries.  Schnitzel is like pork and can be made many ways but ours was breaded.  We dipped it in mayonnaise, something very popular over here.  Lastly, he made us a Bratwurst.  It came on a plate with mustard and was very white compared to the ones we eat in the United States.  The outside coating was hard to get through but the inside meat was delicious, almost seasoned with pepper-like spices.  By the end we were stuffed. Of course we had beer and Mario even bought us a shot before we ate. 

                                                 the salad we were served first

When we asked Mario for the bill he kept repeating “oh no, it’s my gift, it’s for free” and we knew we were going to leave money no matter what.  Once we finished our drinks and were ready to leave one of us went up to the counter again saying we would pay, he waived us off and said no again.  We all pooled our money together and though ten euros or so would suffice for the meal.  We had about 120,00 euros all together which is quite a bit. Mario then walks over with the bill deciding maybe we can pay for our meals.  We look down at the bill expecting it to be pretty reasonable because Mario has been treating us well on our trip.  Those closest to the bill including me have wide eyes and open mouths.  The total was 218,80 euros! Whoops! We sat there for at least ten minutes scraping euros together in our purses, wallets, and pockets as Mario sat behind us amused.  After scrounging through all of our stuff we only had about 190,00 euros.  Embarrassed some of us walked a block down and grabbed some more cash.  Many places don’t take credit cards, and keep in mind it was the last night there and we didn’t want to have a lot of extra European currency.  In the end we all paid our portion and were satisfied with the meal.  It was probably one of the most expensive things I paid for in Germany, but it was definitely a funny experience and it was great to try local German cuisine. 

the boys in deep concentration while counting our money meanwhile Mario overseeing in the back (striped shirt)

Finally, we went out for one last German beer before it was time to head back to the hotel to repack our suitcases.  I tried something new tonight and had a “Schoffer-Hofer Grapefruit Beir.”  It was really delicious and had a tangy citrus flavor.  Well, that’s all for now…I’d better pack my suitcase!