While Texas has had its share of snow over these past few weeks, Bavaria shows itself from its green side. With temperatures in the 50s, all the snow around Munich is gone and it looks like spring. Flying in from London yesterday, the only snow I saw was in the Alps to the south.
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| The oldest brewery in the world, since 1040 |
The flights to München were quite comfortable, but unfortunately my checked luggage has not shown up so far, and the tracing service shows no results. Not good. So, with the way the weather situation is my friend Sabine and I will head for some area close to the mountains to try to find snow for some XC action. We could have also done some hiking, but my hiking boots are in the cehcked luggage. So, I will live out of my carry-on for the foreseeable future and hope that they find the luggage and deliver it to wherever we may end up.
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| Vitus Weizenbock, 7.8% alc |
Sabine lives in Freising, only minutes away from the Munich airport. Just around the corner, in Weihenstaphan, is the world's oldest brewery, dating back to 1040! No kidding! Sabine received her degree in Weihenstephan, and she showed me around last night. The beer, the Vitus Weizenbock, was extra-yummy, similar to some of the Belgian abbey beers.
I have no idea when another update may come as we will simply head south and hope for snow and then find a small place to stay. Internet connections may not be a given, so I'm signing off for a few days. Servus!
Jürgen
Ah;
ReplyDeleteJurgen, my vicarious-travel agent! I sit now in lovely Northern California, not so lovely today with the nice rain as it is with a spring morning in its embrace, but nonetheless lovely... and in front of me an empty pint of Weihenstephan Hefeweissbier, courtesy of my local Whole Foods market which, in its infinite wisdom, decided to install its only tap room in its new store, which is a five minute walk from my home!
I actually was here a couple weeks ago and had a beer and cruised by the blog to see what The Wanderer was up to when a pic in this post caught my attention.
"What", I asked myself with no minor incredulity, "is that the same beer I just saw on tap?"
I went back to the bar and saw that it was. After following the link to the Weihenstephan website and reading of the oldest existing brewery, I was driven to try it, though wheat beer is not my usual thing living in the heart of Sonoma County in general, and Santa Rosa in particular, where, some say, one of the best beers on the planet, Pliny the Elder, is brewed. (Certainly in my not-so-humble opinion, as a card-carrying IPA fanatic, THE best double IPA in the world!)
But, I digress...
I tried it and it was very good stuff. I could taste the candle wax from the brewery's walls and noticed an odd smell that, for some reason, brought to mind oyster, cod, and sturgeon-laced Benedictine monk-farts. I have no idea what that was about...
Anyway, it was an experience.
So many stories of Jurgen's travels, and I'm so glad he is able to enjoy them without Judy as much as is possible (I'm sure it gets rough at times!), but it gets me remembering Judy's wonderful humor and incredible ability to draw people to her which, after knowing both of them for such a short time, became so apparent and wonderful to experience. It compelled me to make note in this public forum, just a "shout out" to Judy:
Wherever you are, babe, hello from us here in wine country. You are THE SHIT! We still think about you a lot. What an inspiration you were.
And Jurgen, thanks for the heads up on Weihenstephan! I wish I could travel the world's breweries and pubs as you do. Short of that, all I can offer is my couch again, next time you're in town. If I can find a way to upload the pic of the pint (is that like the best part of a glass of beer?) I will. Otherwise, you'll have to trust me.
Cheers from Santa Rosa!