Alyssa Zito, Moving the Cities: Germany Fall 2023
I knew from the moment I left Germany that I would want to write about the food I ate, mainly because in my opinion, food is the window to the soul! Since we were living in a hostel with no kitchen and only staying for 9 days, we did not experience cooking in Germany, but we did experience many different local cuisines.
The first night, right after we arrived in Münster, and settled in our hostel, the whole program from Pitt decided we would go out for dinner together. We decided we would find a Germany cuisine-based restaurant, which given it was a Saturday night, was slightly hard to do. However, after interacting with some locals we found ourselves at a lovely place where we sat and ate outdoors in the beautiful night time weather. We all struggled to decide on our orders given how large and tasty the menu sounded. But I personally settled on ordering a creamy potato soup and a fruit and goat cheese salad. I can honestly say that I think the two together was a perfect first night meal. The soup was warm and kept me cozy as the night got cold, and the salad was just the perfect amount of sweet and savory. The location was also perfect, as it was in the center of the city, with plenty of traction around it, setting a perfect mood for the rest of the trip.
The next morning, all 7 of us girls woke up early, intending to grab coffee and breakfast and explore and shop before the school program started on Monday. We quickly discovered that on Sundays, all stores and most restaurants/ cafes are closed. Luckly we were able to find one restaurant that was serving a buffet brunch, and a festival that was open all day. We did not participate in the buffet as we were not that hungry and instead ordered dishes off their regular menu. I, being someone who loves avocados, made a very smart choice to order avocado toast and a croissant on the side. The avocado toast was absolutely delightful and fresh, and the croissant was again the perfect amount of sweat to start my day. We also as a group decided we wanted to order a charcuterie plate to share. We planned to get 2 to feed the whole table, but the waiter quickly informed us that 1 would fill us all, and she was definitely correct. The plate was massive and filled with an abundance of cheeses, meats, crackers, jams and more. I can say it felt like a breakfast for champions, we honestly felt like we were being spoiled for how amazing the food was.
After this day, our daytime meals were provided to us by the schools. We were given breakfast, typically a small roll with butter, or a croissant, as well as lunch provided by their school’s canteen. The canteen’s options varied every day, but we were allowed to have a entre, side, desert, and drink free of charge. Some of my favorite items being … I would say it was comparable to the options offered at Pitt’s Eatery. Overall, it was a great way to try a variety of new foods, while also meeting other students that actually attending the university.
During the nights all of us girls stuck together, and dined at as many different local restaurants as we could within our week. What I found very interesting was that most of the restaurants around were not German cuisine. There was quite a lot of Italian, or middle eastern restaurants. That being said, I had the opportunity to dine at an Italian restaurant very close to our hostel. It was a lovely place with a dim lighting atmosphere, that felt very classy. I decided to have a creamy pesto pasta with pine nuts and 2 miniature deserts, a … and a…! The food tasted very authentic and was a great option for us to dress up and eat a “fine dining” dinner while on a budget.
And as a quick dinner before running over to a Munster soccer game, we stopped at a Kabab place, also just down the street from our hostel. It was just as fantastic and had options for everyone to create their own meal!
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