Saturday, June 19 – Brauertag

We woke up as usual and went to the Fruhstuksraum for breakfast.  Only today, around 8:30, we began hearing oom-pah music.  I went outside to investigate, and saw a few bands gathered in the square near the hotel.  The police had closed the road, but I couldn’t figure anything out about what was going on.  I watched for a few minutes, then returned to breakfast.  The music stopped at some point.  We went back up to the room to brush our teeth before heading out around 10:00 for some souvenir shopping before meeting B & I at 12:00.

We rounded the corner from the hotel, and it started to become more and more apparent what was going on.  See below:

A parade for something…

The parade stopped for a VERY loud gun salute (we were extremely close to it)

Shortly after the parade resumed, these folks came around the corner

Any beer lover knows these logos – the six major Munich breweries.  It was starting to look like some sort of mini Oktoberfest parade.  But it wasn’t Oktober.  Maybe they were celebrating the end of spring.  Then came the beer wagons, pulled by huge horses, carrying beer in decorated wooden barrels.

These people represent shepherds

We decided to follow the parade to its destination, the Viktualienmarkt, where we discovered oasis #2.  Each brewer’s wagon pulled in front of a station like this one for Lowenbrau

There was a stage, and we walked up to the band playing and the shepherds (schaeffleren) performing their shepherd’s dance (schaefflertanz).

After that, people started giving speeches.  We decided to walk around a bit.  It wasn’t too difficult to realize that beer would be served at some point, so we proceeded to the Spaten station to wait.  We waited, and the rain started, and stopped, and started again. 

Finally, at 11:30, they mayor of Munich (I think), shouted “O’zapft is!”  (It’s tapped).  And then the beer started to flow.  One of the last things we discovered (and probably the best), is that the beer was freibier (free beer).  Nothing beats a free beer, especially free Spaten. Even in the rain.  It seems as if there are only a few places to get Spaten in Munich right now (most others are biergartens that are closed).

After a little research, we determined that (paraphrased from the explanation at www.toytowngermany.com) Brauertag (“Brewer’s Day”) takes place every two years.  It dates back to medieval times, with the brewers “thanking” their patron saints for protecting them and offering free beer to the people.  It involves a concert at 8:00 (which I heard), followed by a church service (which explained the break in the music), then the parade, and the keg tapping.  2800 liters of beer were donated by the six breweries for the event.  At the event, they are required to renew their promise to brew beer according to the Reinheitsgetbot (German purity laws of 1487).

Unfortunately, this unexpected event made us a little late to meet B & I, but that’s okay.  They forgave us.  Our destination was the “Der Blaue Reiter Aquarelle, Zeichnungen, und Druckgrafik” (Blue Rider watercolor, sketches, and etchings) exhibit at the Kunstbau, which is a division of the Lenbachhaus (which is currently closed for renovations).  It features works by all of the “Blue Rider” artists, which include Wassily Kandinsky and Gabriele Munter. 

It was very very warm in the exhibit hall, which made us all a little sleepy and hungry.  We stopped for lunch at a great little noodle bowl place, and then waded over to the Café Altschwabing for dessert.

After a much needed nap, we met back up with B & I for a night on the town.  Since we inadvertently ate two lunches, we all had decided to skip dinner.  We went to a part of town called Glockenbachviertel, which has a high concentration of bars and night spots.  Unfortunately, each of the places we stopped in also had a high concentration of patron already inside.  We ended up at a nice Bavarian place.  We were trying to avoid a place like that, but the place grew on us as it had plenty of places to sit and didn’t have loud music.  Over the course of the evening, I was able to share with B my love of Bavarian culture.  Being Bavarian, B was very happy to hear this.  He was amused by my Bavarian birthday party last year as well as Oktoberfest in Helen, GA.

Friday, June 18 – Meeting the Erbsloeh Clan

This day has been one that we have been looking forward to this entire trip for two reasons.  Reason #1 is that we were meeting three friends we know well and love.  First, we were meeting B & I, who we met in B’s village last year (Kaufbeuren).  Later, we were meeting D, who my family has known for decades.  For reference, I is D’s niece.

Reason #2 is that this was also the day of the next FIFA World Cup match featuring the German team playing the Serbian team, taking place at 13:30.

I met us in the morning.  B had to meet up with us later because he had to work.  We didn’t have much of a plan, so the three of us went to get some coffee.  Since I am not a coffee drinker, I got extra bitter hot chocolate.  We went to the Trachtenvogel, which is a former department store selling traditional Bavarian clothing that has been converted into a coffee house.  For reference, this place would fit in well in Decatur, GA or Asheville, NC.

After that, the girls wanted to go shopping.  The shopping route took us back through Marienplatz.  We were just in time for the playing of the glockenspiel (carillon), complete with mechanical figurines that come out and dance as part of the “show.” 

The glockenspiel is cool, but what was much more fascinating to me was the thousands (literally) of people that had gathered to watch.  It goes off at 11:00, 12:00, and 17:00 daily, and there is always a crowd like this, regardless of the weather.

After shopping, it was approaching 13:00, and we decided that we should head toward a location that would be showing the game.  We knew that just about everywhere would have a television set up.  I sure would love to be a TV salesman this time of year.  But we knew there was only one TRUE place to watch the game.  Yes, that’s right, the Hofbrauhaus.  Earlier in the day, prior to meeting up with I, Susan and I had noted that they were going to be showing the game in their “Schoener Biergarten” if the weather is nice.  However, it wasn’t.  At all.  So instead, it was in the festhalle.  We entered the festalle a little before 13:00, and found it just about packed.  The only seats we could find were at the 2^nd to last row near one of the sides, with our backs slightly turned away from the screen.

Here’s the view form our table, which really doesn’t give a clear indication of the number of people there.

There’s a little museum up behind where the screen was set up (on the stage), so I went up there to get a bird’s eye view shot.

We estimated that there were 500-600 people there.  Everyone stood up when they played the German national anthem prior to the start of the game.  And of course they cheered with great exuberance every time the Germans did something good.  And oh man did they tell the referee where to stick his yellow and red cards when he issued one of each to one of the German players.  Since Germany had to play a man down, Serbia promptly scored. 

We ended up leaving around half time, partly because of this, but also because it was a little difficult to see the screen and not all of us were big football fans.

10 bucks says this woman’s there only because her husband wanted to go.

But we still got a few hot photos

Susan and I bid I (not me) a temporary farewell so that I could feed another habit

Yes, we have decided to add this fellow to our family of smoking men (and women).  I also purchased a pair of lederhosen, which I’ll put on and display later on in the blog.

We met back up with I, and joined B and D for dinner at an Italian restaurant.  I used this meal to cross of something else on the list – spargel!  It’s still asparagus season in Germany.  You can get the green ones, but I like the white ones, apparently grown in the dark.  Many of the venders in the Viktualienmarkt are selling them by the kilo.  Some of the stalks are huge – Barry Bonds huge – maybe an inch in diameter.

Here’s my dinner – Spargel with potato salad and German prosciutto.  It was delicious.  The spargel was completely drenched in olive oil – so bad, but it tasted so good.

Susan had a pasta dish with salmon.  Also, delicious, I am told.

We then split a tiramisu

And managed to get a decent photo of all the happy people with full bellies (B took the picture).

Susan and I said our goodbyes to D, I, and B, and took the U-Bahn back to Marienplatz determined to have a night cap.  No falling asleep at 22:30.

I guess the determination paid off, as we ended up having two nightcaps.

Nightcap #1 was at Zum Franziskaner, located across from the State Opera House and the Residenz.  It was a cool place, but very expensive.  So we had a couple each, then left.

Nightcap #2 was at the Weisses Brauhaus, home base of Schneider-Weiss Brau.

This place was winding down too.  However, we went in I think around 23:45, and they were open until 1:00, so we wanted to be served.  Only, they gave us the stink-eye on the way in.  The frau (woman in blue and white plaid toward the left side of the image) begrudgingly came to serve us, but cracked a smile a little when I ordered in German.  At that point, we, too, rock stars that we were, were tiring, and decided to return home.  I think we made it back close to 1:00.

Tomorrow would bring something very unexpected – for now what we will call oasis #2.

Thursday, June 17 - Cold and Rainy

Thursday started a lot like Wednesday – a tease of sunshine in the morning before giving way to thick clouds with on and off light rain.  The rain has not been hard, but it has been persistent, which is worse.  Unfortunately, a quick look at the forecast does not offer much improvement for the last few days of our trip.  We are trying (and succeeding, I think) to make the best of it.  I just hope it lets up enough so that they will open some of the big biergartens.

Anyway, Susan and I decided to have another happy wanderer day.  On the way out, we noticed the display case near the main entrance.

 That’s a display for the other pension in the building, indicating how they have performed renovations.  The display is set up with Playmobil, which are basically German legos.  Playmobil isn’t so much about interlocking multicolored blocks, but you still assemble buildings, cars, boats, etc from a big box full of plastic parts.  Playmobil was one of my loves when I was younger.  I created many displays very much like this, as the city and road construction lines of Playmobil were my favorite.  I remember building my creation similar to this one, taking pictures of it, and sending them off to the USA Playmobil office, and they sent me some keychains in return!

First we stopped at Alte Peter again, but the tower was closed again!  At that point we opted for the Rathaus tower, which is about the same height.

Looking almost straight down at Marienplatz

It sure is grey and messy, which seriously limited the view, but that’s okay.

The gold colored church is the Roman Catholic Theatine Church, St. Cajetean.  We visited it later on our walk.  It is as ornate as some of the other churches, however the inside is completely white.

The Frauenkirche

After descending the tower, we made our way toward the Theatine Church.

Across from it is the Feldherrnhalle, a monumental loggia built at the behest of King Ludwig I in 1841 to honor the Bavarian Army.

For now, the rain was holding off, so we decided to walk through the Engilsher Garten.  Last year, we walked through what we thought was a large portion of it, but turned out only to be a small sliver.  This year, we managed to cover the whole southern half.

The garden was filled with a wide array of waterfowl

We then walked over to the Eisbach (a man-made creek), where, yes, it is possible to surf in Munich.  All this is made possible by a man-made wave.

Here’s how the wave works (and how it can kill you) for all you engineer-types reading this.

Normally, this time of year, this part of the park would be COVERED with sunbathers

Normally, this biergarten, the Chiniesicher Turm, which has 6000 or so seats, would be full.  Today it is closed.

However, we did come across this red squirrel, who seemed not to mind the weather.  We don’t have these in Atlanta.  The flash on my camera makes him look a little demonic.

As the rain began to pick up again, we decided to leave the garden, and find a place to eat that was reasonable, and open!  The Osterwaldgarten promptly appeared around the corner.  While their outdoor seating was not on offer, they had plenty of seats inside.  And they also had a mittagsmenu (mid-day cheap menu) with two options, one carnivorous (fried pork cutlet – Munich equivalent of a Wienerschnitzel) and the other vegetarian (some sort of omelet-type thing with potatoes, veggies, and of course cheese).  Osterwald was also the first time we experienced one of my favorite German biers – Spaten Munchen. 

After lunch, our walk took us back south, in the direction of the center of town (Marienplatz).  We came upon oasis #1

That’s right, Das Residenz-Sommerfest.  Think sub-mini Oktoberfest.  Beer tents, junk food, souvenirs.  But a slim crowd, unfortunately.

That just means more beer, pretzels, and sausage for us!  On the way out, we saw something we never thought we would see.  look near the bottom of the back window of the car...

That's right, a faded Braves hat!  Whodathunkit?!  The ATL in the MUC!  We decided to return to the room for a nap before heading to our dinner destination, Wirsthaus in der Au.

This is a restaurant located on the same island in the Isar River on which the Deutschesmuseum is located.  It’s also near several of the major American hotel chains, so it is a very popular spot for business travelers.  In traditional Bavarian fasion, we were seated wherever there was open space.  This time that happened to be at a table with 3 United Airlines pilots and a flight attendant.  They were nice enough, and good for conversation, but I was a little disappointed in them that they didn’t attempt to order their food and drink in German. 

Anyway, the food was absolutely delicious.  Susan had a Knoedl mix plate – one each of spinach and cheese, beets, and "regular" (cheese and breading).

And I had the sausage mix plate

The potato salad was absolutely delicious.  I love German-style potato salad.  I can’t say the same for American potato salad.

After dinner, we ended up coming back to the room to pick the location of our nightcap, but we ended up falling asleep and just decided to pack it in for the night.