Water for You, Water for Me. Except for In Germany.. Cuz Water Ain’t Free | Neyah Johnson

When I first started paying for my own food at restaurants I always ordered water in an attempt to save a few bucks. Since it was free, it was a great way to stick to a budget while eating out. Europe is quite the exception when it comes to the free water policy at hotels and restaurants. Not only do you have to pay to use public bathrooms, sometimes up to one Euro, but you also have to pay for water! About 3 years ago I had to privilege of traveling to Europe with my family, and on our trip these cultural differences were astonishing to experience in person. Our water bills weren’t too high, but that was a result of the wine being cheaper than the water at most restaurants. My E3 water experience was a little different however.

I never knew how particular I was when it came to water until I was served a particularly small glass of warm tap water at a German restaurant and was then charged almost four dollars for it. I came to realize that Germans hold their water in high regard. I was told quite frankly that “Germany has some of the cleanest water in Europe. It’s so clean that you can drink straight out of the street faucet without any consequences” by a local. Mind you, while at home in the U.S., I never drink tap water. There have been too many cases of contaminated water as a result of burst pipes or improper trash disposal, so I drink strictly filtered water. Obviously in Germany this is not the case. There are such high standards for recycling, trash disposal, and food that the water in the country is truly one of the cleanest that I have ever experienced.

During dinner one night in Munich, I decided to keep track of the amount of water that our group had ordered. Our group was comprised of fourteen students, and Herr Myers, who is our designated translator. Just to give you some brief insight into our activities during the day, we left our hotel at 7:45 to embark on a thirty-minute walk downhill to the train station. Our BMW FIZ Research and Development of Automobiles tour was scheduled for 10am and it lasted for about two and a half hours. After our tour, we had lunch and then broke off to venture around Munich. Needless to say, by the time dinner rolled around everyone was tired, hungry, and, of course, thirsty.

Back to the restaurant, we start off by ordering six bottles of water along with our food. About thirty minutes pass by and all of the bottles are empty. We managed to get about four tiny glasses of water per bottle, with everyone having about two glasses each. Once our food arrives, we order another four bottles of water, so were up to a total of ten at this point. These water bottles lasted our group for about forty to forty-five minutes and once they were finished we asked for the check. After ten bottles of water, forty or so glasses in total, our water bill alone came up to be seventy-five Euros. The amount we paid for water just for this one night was such a shock to me, since I am not used to paying for water at restaurants. I’m very glad that our program fees covered the cost of water since it’s such an expensive necessity, especially considering how much walking we do on a daily basis. The one thing I look forward to the most, is the free water I’ll be able to get once I return to the United States