Many European cities are built to be walkable. The United States, in contrast, is not. Doing basically anything in the US of A requires a car, meaning that if you want groceries or to go to a bar that’s more than two blocks away, you’ve gotta hop into the station wagon or hope to God that the bus is running on schedule.


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This divide can cause conflicts when an American travels abroad. Surely, we think, we simply have to drive everywhere — and if we see a place where no one is driving, great! More room for us to put pedal to the metal!


This is not always the case, as a family on TikTok learned.



On a trip to Munich, this TikToker’s family decided to follow their GPS. The GPS, as it turns out, led them straight into Marienplatz — a walking area in the center of the city. “Weird to have a flower pot in the middle of the road,” one of the family members says. Another, younger member of the family seems aware that something is amiss, pleading with her father to turn back around while noting that every single person is staring at them.


This is an area where I can offer some personal insight. I have been to Marienplatz many times, enjoying several overpriced cappuccinos and giant pretzels in the process. I cannot for the life of me understand how this could happen. Most of the time, one literally cannot enter the area by car — and when you can, it’s pretty clear that you shouldn’t, not only by signage but by the intense social stigma you get if you try.



That said, this was an innocent mistake, and the family seems aware of that in the video. They spend the entire runtime trying to leave, and while the video cuts off before they’ve managed it, they probably followed this by shamefully reversing out of there and finding a place to park.


Then again, who are the Europeans to tell us where we can and can’t drive? We’re a driving people, damn it, and I refuse to apologize for dreaming big — even if it means knocking over a few planters in the process.