Bears & Beers

The last couple of days were pretty quiet. Wednesday morning we went to the Pinakotheke der Moderne (Modern Art Museum) to see the permanent exhibits. We didn't take any photos inside, but the buildings and it surroundings are impressive.

We then met Bene over at the Minihofbrauhaus, also known as the Hundebiergarten, for its welcoming attitude toward four-legged guests.

This little guy had allergies, and wore a vest to let people know they shouldn't feed him people food. The Minihofbrauhaus is located in the northern part of the Englischer Garten, and is one of a handful of biergartens throughout the whole park. We decided to continue our afternoon at a few of them. One was the Chinisischer Turm (or Chinese Tower), which is one of the largest biergardens in Munich with nearly 10,000 seats. There was a folk music band playing in the second level of the tower.

We also stopped in at Hirschau. While smaller, this facility was equally beautiful and impressive.

Like most of the biergartens, this one was equipped for public viewing of the EURO2012 (the European Football Championships)

PROS'T!

On Thursday, we continued our biergarten tour down at the southwest end of the S8 S-Bahn (commuter train) line, about 45 minutes outside of Munich. We started at the Seehof Herrsching, on the souteast coast of the Ammersee (lake).

It was truly a beautiful spot, with spectacular views of the lake and surrounding villages and mountains.

Adjacent to the biergarten was a park, with this facility that served as a tennis center.

Some storms the night before had knocked out a few trees.

After a quick walk around, we hopped back on the train and rode two stops back toward town to the Wörthsee, and another biergarten. This one is called Augustiner am Wörthsee Strandbad Fleischmann. We walked through the countryside for about 1.5 km before arriving.

We then returned to Munich, and spent some time relaxing by the Isar River. Even though we are on vacation, we have been very busy and were very much in need of a couple of days to do nothing!

On Monday, our friends Bene and Ina shared a bit of the countryside with us. Here are some shots on our way to Alatsee, a small lake just inside the German border with Austria.

It was a beautiful day, one of many we've had here, and the views as we drove closer and closer to the Alps got better and better.

Here's the lake! (Or See, as lakes are called in Germany.)

A lake that is in the Alps is bound to be very cold. The case was no different for Alatsee. Ina, Bene, and Josef enjoyed a brisk swim a couple of times, but I never could get warm enough to warrant dunking myself into the cold water. All the same, it was refreshing, and we enjoyed a lovely picnic on the bank of the lake.

After our time at the lake, it was time to head into Füssen, which is just east of Alatsee. Josef and I enjoy a small town in Georgia called Helen, and it just so happens that Füssen and Helen are sister cities. Each town has a marker denoting this relationship, and as we have seen the sign in Helen many times, we vowed that the next time we were in Germany, we'd have to go to Füssen.

It's quite a bit larger than Helen, but charming all the same!

I noticed that a majority of the town's fancier buildings were painted to look this way, rather than using the sculptured marble or mill work to achieve the look they were going for.

Here's the entrance to their Rathaus, or town hall. Their coat of arms features three legs, called triskelion, according to some sources.

What's that over there? Could it be? Have we found it?

Yes! We have found the plaque honoring the relationship to our dear Helen, Georgia! :)

Very cool.

After this momentous occasion, we walked about town and took in the sites it had to offer. The beautiful weather had harkened to the locals and tourists alike to come out and enjoy Füssen.

More painted finery:

The mountains were so beautiful it was hard to believe they were real.

This is part of the courtyard of the castle. Again, more paint was used to craftily make the architecture seem grander than it really was. All the same, the effect is nice!

We were already in the area, and we've avoided doing the traditional touristy visit to the one place that draws the most tourists in this part of the countryside: Neuschwanstein. Known as the home of "Crazy King Ludwig" and even more so known as an iconic castle after which Disney fashioned Cinderella's castle, Neuschwanstein has a lot to attract attention from visitors who want to see it. Upon our approach, though, the castle seemed to be in the middle of a makeover:

Whoops! We've caught you on a day when you aren't your normal presentable self! Oh well, we sallied on and enjoyed the area all the same. This place absolutely reeks with the scent Eau de Tourist Trappe, but we knew that going in.

We hiked the hill to see the castle from above, along with 3430423098423 of our closest friends. But, it was worth it.

Our very own obligatory shots with the castle:

Ina and Bene got in on the fun, too:

Quite a plunge from the bridge, eh?

A very royal view, indeed:

The rest of the walk takes you closer to the castle:

We saw lots of para gliders out on such a clear day, too.

Back down in the town, we stopped for a beverage before heading to Kaufbeuren, Bene's home town.

I guess we were tired of taking pictures, so you'll have to take our word for it that we had a great visit with Bene's parents and brother. The four of us headed back into Munich via the train. We were pretty tired from a long day!

Tuesday was a full day of touring biergartens! Josef's been trying to figure out how to visit as many biergartens as possible during our visit. We started in Freising, home to the Weihenstephan brewery. Freising is a very pretty town, full of rose bushes.

Going to Weihenstephan is a bit of a pilgrimage for beer lovers. It's the oldest brewery in the world! Plus, it's my very favorite beer, period. I'll turn down other drinks for it. :)

Your hunde (dog) is welcome here!

Biergarten #2, also in Freising, was the Hofbrauhaus Freising. Very pretty spot!

This young man really wanted another pretzel, but no one would help him. Finally, he took matters into his own hands!

More shots of Freising:

Biergarten #3: Schloss Wirtschaft (Castle Wirtschaft) Oberschleißheim

This place is not far from Munich at all, and it is absolutely incredible! I was shocked to see how sparse the crowd was compared with similar spots in Munich.