Today I wandered around the “Old Town” section of Salzburg with a furiously growling stomach. On one of the main shopping streets I found myself in front of McDonald’s.
I honestly don’t remember the last time I ate at a McDonald’s. I generally stay very far away from fast food, with the exception of In-N-Out.
However, I have been told that because of very strict food laws, Austrian McDonald’s are of far superior quality to American McDonald’s—although we all know that’s really not saying much. The ingredients are fresher, are not over-processed, and are free of trans fats.
So I went in, stood in a line, and anxiously tried to figure out how to order in German. Of course I could have gone up, done my requisite “Sprechen Sie Englisch?” and ordered in English, but for goodness sakes, I am taking German here. I just had my German midterm. If I couldn’t order at McDonald’s in German, then I would be a failure of a human being.
I ordered a Big Mac because what else is more representative of McDonald’s? I wasn’t sure whether to say “ein Big Mac” (masculine) or “eine Big Mac” (feminine) and decided on “ein” because Big Macs just seem masculine to me. I also got waffle fries (Gitter Pommes) because someone had told me they were amazing.
I was amused by all the unintelligible (to me) German on my Big Mac box.
The Big Mac actually looked pretty appetizing.
And it tasted pretty good!The waffle fries were honestly some of the best fries I have ever had. Seriously, if you ever find yourself at an Austrian McDonald’s, get the waffle fries.
(I didn’t get a drink because I couldn’t figure out a way to order it with my limited vocabulary without making a fool of myself, which is probably the stupidest reason to go thirsty. Oh well.)
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