BOHEMIA-BAVARIA 98     by John Wolf

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I brew, therefore, I am. It is often said, “Give a man a beer, and he will waste an hour. Teach him how to brew, and he will waste a lifetime.” Well, such it was for my beer drinking buddy and myself. Since the start of our home brewing experience, the need to go to the source was recognized. That being the land of Bavaria. The fact that this trip included Bohemia did not make an initial impression in the shadow of the German beer prestige. This ignorance was soon shattered. The MIR Corp, out of Seattle, Washington arranged this trip for us. This included the hotel reservations, transportation, and a tour guide during our stay in the Czech Republic. We secured the airfare early in the year to get the best discount.

We boarded our LTU airliner limo in Phoenix, Arizona, around 13:30 on a Tuesday afternoon. Get use to the 24 clock. You’re gonna need it in Europe. The great circle route to Germany takes you across Hudson Bay, Greenland, Iceland, Lockerby Scotland, into Dusseldorf Germany some nine and half hours later. The service on this subcarrier to Lufthansa was superb. We had our passports stamped efficiently, and on to the commuter to Münich or München as it should be said.

The München airport is rather a complex looking building with pipe frame walls and glass panels, small busy signs everywhere and tunnels of hallways going in all directions. So where is the subway entrance? We wandered aimlessly, but apparently in the right direction, because we eventually we found a ticket booth for a subway ticket. Then low-and-behold, there was the escalator leading down into the subway. We were looking for the subway to the main train station or Hauptbahnhof in München. Not a problem, since there is only one subway platform at the airport, and that’s where S8 goes. Once at the Hauptbahnhof we now needed to get to the surface and locate our train to the Czech Republic.

We found an information booth with a person that spoke English. Good thing, because I was confusing the heck out of her with my pigeon German. The train was confirmed as waiting on track number 26. So where is the exit. Well, you learn the word “ausgang” quickly. We "ausganged" up into the main station and standing there proud was Zug 167 to Praha. Yes, that’s spelled correctly - Praha.

We had some time, and I don’t know how, after starting out 40 minutes late from Phoenix, so we found a Pub in the train station. We tried our first crack at Europe’s choice of domestic addiction - beer. It was good. A Spaten Helles for me and a Dunkel for Dave. Oh, by the way the tip we got on the Internet before coming over paid off here. You need to have 50 pfenig coins to use the public restrooms. You can’t get more public than the München Hauptbahnhof. We converted our US to Deutsch Marks at Franz Josef Strauss (FJS to the airborne crowd). Phoenix ran out of Marks just before a zillion people arrived wanting to board a plane to Germany. Go figure.

Once underway to Praha we started to realize we have been traveling a long time. Me, the one who can always sleep on a plane, and Dave who never can, both were wide eyed all the way over. The only reason I didn’t sleep all the way to Praha was the fact I was so hungry. We had the foresight to pack a supper of water and granola bars (I had a Ensure drink - I am over 50 you know). At any rate it hit the spot and we did just fine. The Czech countryside is very beautiful. The train station in Praha is not. In fact it is not safe to stop moving once you leave the train, until a couple of blocks away. I don’t think Dave and I looked too much like a tourist group with just the two of us and we only packed one little bag and carried one canvas shoulder carry-all, like the ones computers are tucked into. The point is, you really don't need to pack much, and you have to be able to quickly get on and off transportation efficiently. Don't bring things electrical.  A safety razor and a small mini-can of shaving cream is best, and only bring clothes for a little over a week designed to layer as the temperature varies. Back to the train station. At this point we began to worry. It was 20:00 and we didn’t have the phone number or the address of the hotel with us. John showed up in about 5 minutes. We really didn’t have anything to worry about. He knew how to say, “Hello, Mr. Wolf”, and then pointed a lot. We got to the Mega Hotel in short order and were pleasantly surprised to see a shinny new three story renovated house like a Brownstone in New York. The street was lined with individual houses pushed together, each looking quite different from the next, with big cake decorated fronts with integrated statues, the works. The hotel was nice and it had a little restaurant. We unpacked and went downstairs for a real meal. It was very nice. We had a Radegast beer. Me, the lager, Dave the dark. The locals later told us it was not their favorite, but I think that was because it was from a big company or maybe it was made by Russians, I don’t know; but it was quite good.

Next morning about 08:00 we emerged from the restaurant after a nice breakfast, which came with all the accommodations on the trip. It really saves you a lot of time and confusion, when you don’t have a clue where to eat in the morning. Our guide was waiting in the lobby, a wonderful lady that was very organized and knew the Czech Republic and its history very well. She took us all over Praha during the next few days, a city that proved well worth the extra six hour train ride. Praha was a party town to many a generation of royalty that includes many Archbishops. Always in style until the Communist put a lid on it and made time stand still. Just after WWI European leaders came here to preach for world peace, then Hitler shattered all hopes of that, a few years later. The Germans are an enigma, a paradox to the Czechs. They were all important to chase out the Ottoman Empire, but the Germans never left. They were an occupying force you tolerated, but didn’t really care for.

Our hotel was on Jeseniova street located in the middle of the Zizkov district. We thought we were a million miles from the old town, but Silvia (our guide) got us on Tram number 9 from our neighborhood of apartment buildings, through the city to Senovázné nám. I couldn’t pronounce or spell anything in Czech. I caught myself wandering, if this language was a product of poor people that really never got a good education and just scribbled down letters in a random fashion pretending to be writing something. It started to make sense, once Silvia taught us “pivo” and “pivovar” - beer and brewery. We were now in Staré Mesto or the old part of town among many elegant old buildings. We passed ancient churches and tunneled through passageways into the main square, which is a feature all the cities on this trip had.

We worked our way south to Prvni Novomestsky Pivovar. Well, you can read the last word - a brewery. This was great fun. The brewmeister showed us the whole operation that covered several layers down under the streets where the tanks and vats were hidden. We sampled his product from the aging tanks and it was tasty with lots of yeast flavor. Then upstairs with Silva, we ate lunch and had the final product beer. This girl could put away a lot of beer we found out as time went on. I don’t recall what the beer was named, but we got a neat coaster and a picture of us with the brewmeister in front of the copper kettle, mash tun set.

Next pivovar was U Fleku. What a place. A German’s beer hall for sure and they were all there too. We could hear Um-pa-pa bands coming from this very old and beautiful hall and garden. The brewery is a collection of buildings wedged into the middle of a block of buildings on a side street. We toured the brewery with a group of Finish women. They really didn’t know why they were doing this, but they did like the free beer. MIR had arranged for us to join booked tours to see these various breweries. Otherwise, we would have only had a drink in their Kellers would miss the chance to learn about the beer making process. We now had the brewmeister to ourselves and Silvia translated all of our questions. Dave recorded the whole process on paper down to the last detail. They cool the wort by pouring it about 2 or 3 inches deep onto a copper floor of a special room, then pipe it into oak vats to ferment down a floor, then into large stainless steel tanks to age. Later that night on our own, we found our way back over to the old town on Tram 16 and had a big dinner at U Fleku, which was part of the tour. We ate in a room off the big one (occupied by loud happy Germans and their band) with a batch of Japanese tourist. They like to dropped their Cherry blossoms, when I blurted out, “Kunbanwa, O genki desu ka?” It helps to be a G.I. in Japan for several years. What a strange sight - two Americans sitting in a room full of Japanese, next to a room full of Germans hooping it up in a Czech Pub eating Hungarian Goulash!

The beer at U Fleku is very unique. A dark, sweet, slightly licorice flavored beer with a tan foamy cap. Very tasty. U Fleku opened in 1499 as a malting house. It had a rocky on-and-off history, but survived in tact to be one of Praha’s main events. Somehow they continued to stay in the brewing business.

The sun comes up early and goes down late at 50° north latitude. So, early the next day we headed for the underground to get across the Vltava river. We then took Tram 22 to the very top of the hill. This is important, because it is a very steep hill, and at this point, all you want to do is walk down. You are now in the Hradcany district at the seat of the government both old and new. The castle, monastery and cathedral complex has been a center of learning for centuries. The monastery houses a massive book collection and artifact collections from around the world that the monks gathered to learn all they could about the world, while in Spain they were burning people at the stake for talking about this same information. It’s no wonder that Tycho Brahe, Johannes Kepler and Albert Einstein were just a few of the great minds that studied and taught in Praha (or maybe it was the beer). It is also the city of Dvorak not to mention good king Wensalis.  Check out Strahov Monastery.

We penetrated the various walls and courtyards until we were in the courtyard of the Prime Minister and the great cathedral Vikarska. A most impressive site both inside and out. Once you are past the church, the hill quickens and you can walk the little side streets where the soldiers lived (now small shops) to the bottom of the hill. The area below the government buildings contains embassies and homes of wealthy people of long ago. One has a very decorative garden in the French style, which we wandered through. We curved around the streets until we found the St. Tomas Pivovar. This is a fun place. We grabbed a snack and had the house dunkel. It has a room decked out in a style of ancient times with skins and animal skulls on the walls.

Then back towards the river, we walked by the John Lennon Wall. This is a graffiti covered wall, where the youth of Praha vented their need for freedom. Most of it is still there. Then down along the river towards the Karluv Bridge that spans the river back to the old town of Praha. The imposing gate tower at the castle end is very symbolic of Praha and you will see this image everywhere. Once across the bridge of statues, we wandered the old Jewish neighborhood and ended up at a Gambrinus sponsored restaurant. The beer was good and the food was good (I’m beginning to love goulash). We also went to the Pivovarsky Dum, which is a upscale microbrewery very western looking and brand new. The brew was not up to par, but the brewmeister did show us the whole operation. He was using an electric kettle and mash tun. I’d hate to have to clean that one after a stick and burn.

Now it is Friday the 22 of May and my birthday, so I got special treatment. I chose to go to a concert in an old Palace to listen to a sextet of strings plus a solo violinist. The bill was Mozart, Tchaikowsky, Dvorak and Bach. It was very good and in such an elegant room. I was surprised to see nearly a hundred people in this not-so-big room. The group was standing in front of a white marble fireplace and we were about six or seven feet away. Great time. Just down the street is the Golden Tiger Pub where the Prime Minister brought President Clinton and Madame Albright earlier this year. We had to see that, and get a coaster. The place was packed with German tourists doing the same thing. Couldn’t get a seat, so we settled for a strong coffee at the corner café across the street. This was a long day and we were running out of steam.

Now the trip widens in scope as John the driver reappears and we auto out of town towards Ceske Budejovice the home of the “real” Budweiser. It is so interesting just to see the city back streets and countryside. On the way south we hit a detour into a small village. It was also full of detours, because they were having a 15k walk-a-thon. We wandered around the village with about a half dozen other cars trying to find the escape route. It was into another village and then back to the main road. Oh well, we didn’t hit a cow, so I consider that good driving. On the approach into Budejovice we went to Hluboká castle. Very nice place to visit and has a great history. The family emblem says it all. It has a hawk gouging the eye out of a Turk. After the Ottoman Empire was driven from Czech land, German military experts were left in place to represent the Habsburgs of Austria. And no doubt double their sphere of influence. This castle became the headquarters for the Schwartzenberg estate. Then we ventured into town, to Budvar, and the Budweiser brewery. We joined a German tour group and saw it all. Their beer hall restaurant was wonderful. Budvar is very clean and tasty. Once again I couldn’t stop saying, “Good beer goes down fast”.

We stopped at the Budejovice town square that was particularly nice place to take pictures (Budejovice Square). Then we were on our way north to Plzen. This is the most beautiful countryside I have ever seen. Once in Plzen, we found the Skota Hotel and said our good-byes to Silvia and John. I gave John a bottle of Samuel Adams Triple Bock as a parting gift and Silvia a big tip. I also gave her a copy of Arizona Highways that was very interesting to her. I don’t think the desert land of the Navajo is believable to anyone who hasn’t been there. She gave me a bottle of Czech Champagne to celebrate my birthday. I carried this 5 pound bottle half way around Germany before we had time to dispose of it. With all the beer we were drinking I did not have the fortitude to down a quart of Champagne. Sorry Silvia. I left it with the receptionist at the Hotel Bayescher Hof in Bayreuth. Thanks for the thought.

Plzen is an very old town, dark and mysterious. We saw very few people for such a big place. This is the home of the Skota ironworks and Urquell beer. The original pilsner brew that the world went nuts over in the mid 1800’s. It was created by a German (Herr Josef Groll) hired to come to the town and brew beer using bottom fermenting lager yeast like in Bavaria. He considered this first batch to be a big mistake because the gain bill was short and had only light grain until everyone around found this new light golden beer very appealing. And history was made. We had an appointment to join yet another German tour group and see the brewery. This was a little tricky, because there was a biathlon going on and Urquell was the bikes-to-running switch point. Everyone in Europe is on the run it seems. We finally got into the brewery. This being Sunday everyone was out interested in watching the race and blocking our view of where the brewery entrance was. Well, we got there just as the tour started. Destination Tour office, that set up all these little rendezvous and did a great job. Our names were on their list and we got shuffled right in.

This brewery has nine kilometers of tunnels crisscrossing under the main plant site to ferment and lager the beer at a steady cold temperature. Once again, open oak fermenters and oak barrels coated on the inside with pitch, was the standard fare. We went down into the tunnels and saw the whole operation. We stopped at one point to see a movie of how the barrels were built and handled. We sampled the beer straight from the barrel and then later up in their beer hall, where we sampled the filtered final product. Very clean solid tasting pilsner style. The best. After all we were at the "original source".

Next morning we out smarted ourselves and got on the bus going the wrong direction to get to the train station. Anyone watching us at the hotel must have gotten a good laugh as we zoomed by going the right direction about 15 minutes later. The rail system in the Czech republic is good. It is old and the stations are very poor, but the train pulled out only a few minutes late and made it to the border just fine. The train stops in Cheb. We were a little bewildered, because we thought we could stay on the train all the way to Nürnberg. Nope, you have the find the train to Marketwitz and get a ticket. The German train conductors get on at this point and they switch to a Deutsches Bahn engine. Once on our way out of Marketwitz, we started our Rail Flex ticket and the scary looking border police faded into the past. The American Passport was always greeted with polite expedience.  No one really said a thing. A quick check and that was it.

Nürnberg was a surprise. We didn’t know what to expect, but the hotel was across the street from the train station and the old town was across the street from the hotel. A short walk, and using Michael Jackson’s Beerguide to Nürnberg, we were soon sitting in the Altstadthof brewpub quaffing a Schwartz bier and a Mai Bock. This was excellent beer. On our way back across the old town we stopped to read a menu on the wall, when someone started talking to us in English. It was the owner of the place in fact. She said, “You should see the cellar restaurant”. We did and ate there. It was great. I think that was our first Kaiserdom lager. Nürnberg was destroyed in the war, but it was totally rebuilt including the old city. You can see the old and new bricks mixed in the walls.

The next morning we exchanged some money into Deutsch Marks at a local bank and headed back to the station to catch the train to Bayreuth, the home of Wagnerian Opera. By the way traveler's checks are a waste of time.  Our credit cards worked perfectly at the Deutsches Bank ATM's. Our Rail Flex ticket was good for any five days of travel in 30 days from the first day of use. It took all five to get to Munich, so there wasn’t anything wasted there.

We stayed in a French style hotel in Bayreuth, the Bayerischer Hof. In fact the whole district was French oriented, thus the district name of Franconia. It showed. A little stuffy and the restaurant prices in the hotel were sky high. We went into the old city and found a keller and had Schweinebraten mit Spargel und Kloss at the Shinner brewpub. We were like rabbits darting deep into the woods, where we knew we would find a good meal as we dissolved into the old parts of town. This pub was in Jackson’s book also, and it served a nice Brown Beer. The gardens and parks in this old city are beautiful. Wagner’s house museum and Franz Lizt’s house next door were very beautiful. In general it was a very nice place.

Next day we got out early, because we had to see Kulmbach and get to Bamberg the same day. At Kulmbach we stashed our luggage into a big locker right on the train platform and hit the streets with a map provided by the DB (Deutscher Bahn) Service counter, which we always found to be superb. We found EKU brewery right away. It was next to the train station. We walked there to find it was just a huge factory. We discovered a Union Hall and went in there. The receptionist made a call to somewhere in the factory and found someone who could speak English. We were in the wrong end of town. We got directions and walked to the other end of town maybe 20 minutes away. We were headed for the Zunpfstube Keller, once we stumbled onto the correct street name. It was “Geschlossen am Mittwoch”. We now know what that means. No fear. Fifty feet away the Ratskeller was “Offenlich”. We had the Mönchshof Original, a dark and moody beer. It was rich and malty with a little roast taste. Very good. We walked the streets until lunchtime and stopped at Wolfrum’s. Why not. Maybe it was owned by a distant relative. The food was great again and I did a lager and Dave did the dangerous EKU 28 one of the strongest beers in the world. We both tried this stuff and found that it was a good tasting brew and very subtle. It didn’t reek of alcohol as expected. It was quite good. So good in fact on the walk back to the station we went into a grocery store and found it on the shelf for just over a buck a bottle. I now have a bottle for some special occasion back in the US.  We are old pros at the train stuff now, and we grabbed our bags out of the locker at the train station, and on to Bamberg the jewel of the trip.

We had to walk a long way to get to the Messerschmidt Hotel from the train station compared to the other stops, but it really isn’t that far, besides we had a good map, again from the DB Service counter. The Messerschmidt is a 165 year old building nicely decked out in antiques and creaky hallways. It was a French style and once again stuffy and very expensive. I lost interest, when I found out they didn’t do laundry, and told me how to go to a place several blocks away. I went there, but it would take a week to return my clothes. They had a place near the train station, but that was not near me at the moment. So we just used extra deodorant and pressed on. We were near the old city. In fact the whole city was old and looked like the architect was a Disney artist. It is a very lovely city with the Main and Pegnitz rivers converging in the middle. We walked until near darkness creeped in and decided to try a garden restaurant for dinner. Basically we ate in this lady’s backyard. We entered via an arched passageway into the center courtyard not unlike most of the buildings in the city. They had Rauchbier. Dave was in heaven. As usual I started trading beer coasters and the conversation got fun. Trading American beer coasters for German ones really worked well especially when they realized they were from American microbreweries not unlike the ones we were visiting. In fact, this owner was so thrilled, she gave us a couple of bottles of Süffiges Starkbier a special dunkel bock. We took this back to the hotel after the meal. I had a Krug Alt Frankische Dunkel with dinner (Wienerschnitzel this time). What a country, what great food, what great beer. Wow, look at the calories and cholesterol! I don’t think it was any great threat. We walked all of it off every day.

We spent a second day in Bamberg. We found the information booth. Always look for the blue signs with an “i” in the middle, but big in size. We got good directions, good maps and a list of the nine breweries in Bamberg. Now we had a mission. To make a long story shorter, we went to all nine. Several Kellers, some beer gardens, and some brewery sampling rooms, all in a day’s work. All were great and nine new coasters! There is a tenth brewery, Kaiserdom Export, which is a large factory, but the locals didn’t care much for their Rauchbier, so we didn’t either. Besides they were 10 km away from the main action.

On Friday, we headed for Regensburg. We now knew how to read the train schedules and got on a train that went through Nürnberg to Regensburg without changing trains. It was a big double decker train that went all the way to München. The extra deck was needed. It got full. Regensburg was a surprise, because is it very modern and the old town was a great distance from the hotel. The hotel was in the middle of an industrial park with convention centers all around and a good taxi ride from the train station. We walked to the old town, but couldn’t make it back. Had to taxi it. Well, there was another factor. Regen means rain in German. It rained to beat the band on the way back to the hotel. We ducked into an indoor shopping mall and thought we could wait it out. We gave up and took a taxi. Later the rain stopped and we wondered where we could eat. The desk clerk mentioned a Chinese restaurant behind the hotel and around a little lake park. We ventured out and there it was attached to a bowling alley of all things. In fact, there were two Chinese restaurants side by side. We made a choice and found that the food was excellent.

The old part of Regensburg, at least what we could tell, was just around the old cathedral. So what’s new. Everything else nearby was quite modern. The little hotels and outdoor restaurants were very nice. We had Italian ice-cream and watched the people wandering the area. We got a good look at the Danube or Danau river as we walked the area. Somehow we missed locating the large Thurn and Taxis brewery that was there somewhere.

The next day was Saturday. We got going early and caught the same train to München that we had come in on the day before. We arrived in familiar territory. We had studied the city map earlier, so out the side exit, across the street and around the next corner we found the hotel. The Cristal is a Best Western. The counter people spoke good English. It was too easy. We finally got our laundry done! We hit the streets by first going to the Karls Tor entrance and down Neuhauserstrasse, the pedestrian way to the Marianplatz. We found Max Krug’s stein shop right where he said it would be from the Internet Web site description. A million steins, krugs, cups, plates, coo-coo clocks, you name it. I noted some prices and we continued past the Neurathaus just as the Glockenspiel started up. A huge crowd was there gazing at the figures moving around in the big clock. I frankly couldn’t see the great attraction, but people have been coming here to witness this for years with amazed looks on their faces. The Glockenspiel in Praha was much more interesting at least to an engineer. It had extra dials and wheels that track the phase of the moon and the signs of the zodiac. It even had a skeleton waving his fist at you. If it could talk, I assume from all the warriors that have pillaged Europe, he was saying, “You’ll get yours soon, buddy!” The large crowd came back into focus in front of us. We figured in 10 minutes all these people were going to make it down to the Hofbrauhaus and fill it up. So we took off like a shot and got there ahead of them. Besides thirst was becoming a factor. We explored the whole Hofbrauhaus building. Very interesting. We took the standard, “I was there” photos and headed for the beer garden.  The house beer was served in one liter “jars” or Maß and was flowing profusely. Dave was still into the dark beer. We had a light lunch and load of beer. I was impressed. It was good. The establishment was jumping with happy people, bands were playing, and the temperature was a balmy 70°F with the typical blue and white checkered sky that inspires the Bavarian flag. We had a lot of fun. On the way back I found a stein store with great buys, one half Max’s prices. Sorry Max, I bought two. A crystal glass one and the regular “this is the Bavarian national emblem” one. You probably have one. I didn’t.

Our laundry had to be picked up at the store built into the front of the train station by 15:00. The next two days were holidays, so we picked our clothes up fast, and went back to the room to rest. By 17:30 we were back on the streets again looking for the Augustiner and Paulaner Kellers. That was easy to do. They are everywhere. We ate dinner at the Augustiner restaurant just inside the Karls Tor. It is very elegant and the meal was great.

That night I secured passage on a bus day tour of the castles from the hotel lobby. The cost was very reasonable for all we did ($45). The busses gathered people from various hotels, and at a park people were shuffled onto the bus matching the language they spoke. We ended up with a Spanish tour guide that was married to and Englishman that traveled Europe and ended up in Germany speaking English for a living, and 35 psychology students from the U of Michigan all working on whether Ludwick II was really crazy or not. We traveled south down to the Austrian border area stopping first at Linerhof castle. Not a bad pad for a bachelor. A little gaudy, but the grounds were beautiful. Ludwick didn’t like to be served at meals, so he had the table drop down into the kitchen to be set, then raised up into his dining area to eat alone. He patterned his building schemes after Louis the XIV of France and the grandeur of the French palaces. I was starting to side with the students claiming he was nuts. Good Germans must have been outraged.

Next, we drove to Oberammagau where the passion plays are held each 10 years. During the off years, the bus tours feed the stores with ample supply of tourists going to the castles. The city is named for being the district above the Amma river. You can pull the name apart to match its appropriate description. By the way, there is an Unterammagau - below the Amma river. See how smart you are. This town is delightful. All the houses are ginger bread style, but I’m sure the natives would prefer them to be called Bavarian Alpen all painted up with Frescos of Brothers Grime fairy tales. I felt at home with Little Red Riding Hood when I saw the wolf. The shops were very nice. And I fell in love with yet one more stein, this time in pewter. Guilt overcame me, so I did my shopping for the girls back home. This was about the last opportunity becuase all I was going to see from here on out was Kellers.

Next we visited Neuschwanstein castle. This is a wonderful place, full of people, landscape that is unbeatable, and a wonderful place to experience. There are some tricks you need to know, since an average of 10,000 a day go there from all over the world. If you drive in on your own, you loose. The tour busses own the space. Our guide called ahead on the cell phone and got a section of Müller’s restaurant reserved for us just before we got there. Don’t hesitate to use those reservations, because they only last until the next tour bus arrives. Some of our students never got to eat. Well, eat real food. They were more into snacks. I had a wonderful Italian fare and good Helles lager. Dave was still into meat and potatoes with a dark beer. I kept telling him he needed to “lighten up”, but he considers Helles for wooses. “If the foam doesn’t stick to your face, it’s not real beer.”

Next tip. Go up the hill by the minibus, even though you have to stand in line with a zillion Japanese tourists and their $7,000 Nikons hanging on each hip. The minibus takes you above the castle to the slender little span of a bridge hanging precariously over a 1000 foot drop into the path of a raging waterfall that is perfectly positioned for the best view of the castle. Then it is all down hill from there. Next the castle and another set of lines. One for each of the major languages of the world. Yes, Japanese is a major language. We stupidly stood in the English line. French was a tenth the size. Once past this right of passage, the castle is really very nice to see and the view across the valley is breathtaking. Ludwick was in love with Wagner to the extent that ladies didn’t make an impression on him. I will say one thing, he had style. The castle is brilliantly positioned. The upper floor of the main section is a large hall. It is a typical Bavarian beer hall, except for the Wagnerian opera themes on all the walls. On three sides you can see out to the wonderful view of the valley on one side, the moss and tree covered granite mountains out the end of the room, and the beautiful waterfall out the other side. There is a corridor along both the long sides of the room with a set of open arches that allow the view to filter into the room. Ludwick wasn’t crazy, maybe a little foofoo, but not crazy. The time was about 1870 and Bismarck was trying to unite the country for the first time in its history and Bavaria was the crowning jewel. Ludwick’s brother was declared mentally gone and was out of the picture, Ludwick II was never going to have an heir and he was spending all the money of the Kingdom on fashion plate castles (an maybe a hopeful rendezvous with Richard). Ludwick’s doctor suddenly certifies Ludwick crazy and two days later they were both found drown in the Starnsee, a near by lake. I think it was an inside job, even though, the incident was 16 years later from the start of construction in 1886. Bismarck’s problem was gone and the path to the Republic secure. All great castles have a few skeletons in them (probably more than one).  

The drive back to München was nice. The farm land countryside is beautiful. The Germans raise deer or small elk for their meat. I had Hirschbraten one night and found out later it was deer, and then on the tour learned about this horticulture as we passed a pasture of deer. We got back to the hotel and rested, but the sun was still up. So across town to the Ostfriedhof (east grave yard) we went. It is not as strange as it sounds. On a little side street we found a Paulaner Keller beer garden found by locating the graveyard first. I had the Weiss and Dave a liter of Salvator. I don’t know how he walked away. Salvator is a stout doppel bock. Now that we were pros on the Tram/subway system, we decided to have our last dinner in München at Löwenbrau Keller and garden way up at the other end of the city. We got there in about 15 minutes. The old hall was very interesting and the meal was great. We both had the Triumthator another very strong bock.

The next morning at 04:00 we were on our way back to the Hauptbahnhof groping in the dark trying to find the Subway entrance. I got a little turned around, but down in the bowels of the system, a subway official directed to S8. I guess they expected a few sleepy Americans to be trying to get to the airport each day. The ride was uneventful mainly because we were asleep. The München Flughafen is very complex and confusing looking, but following the signs backwards from when we arrive two weeks earlier, we found our way to the LTU counter and checked in. Then on to bag check, and then to personal check. Once inside the system we found a nice snack bar right at our gate and had a light breakfast.

The flight home was interesting. We passed right over the tip of Greenland, which could easily be seen from the plane. Its mountainous interior was impressive and the glacier flows to the sea were magnificent. I looked down on the ice choked Hudson Bay and then the Rockys. Home at last. Customs was a snap unless you have more than $400 worth of goodies. We were under that, so on to the Arizona shuttle with a quick stop to purge our Deutsch Marks. We got a ride back to the house from my wife Sue, who arrived just as soon as the shuttle pulled into the station at Tucson to conclude what I would say was the trip of a lifetime.

The first question, of course, was, “How was the trip?” And the reply was always, “Good beer goes down fast!”

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Side note for Dave: “Friendship is hard to define without the entanglements of traditional stereotypes, but travel with common cause can be said simply and truthfully, thanks for a great trip Dave. It would have been very dull without you, and the beer just foamy water.”

Prosit!

Next year - the Ales.

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