On August 20, 2023, I wrote a blog post about how we took our Kosovar street dog, Noyzi, to the Birkenhof Hofladen’s Biergarten, the Bembelschänke. Noyzi had a great time during that visit. I was thinking we’d go back there more often this year, but we’ve been so busy that we never got around to it. Yesterday, the weather was warm and sunny, and we decided it was time to go back to the Biergarten. Charlie has now been with us for three weeks, and we wanted to see how he’d handle a car ride. We already know that Noyzi is always up for a road trip!

We arrived at the Bembelschänke at about 3:00 PM. The Biergarten had plenty of empty tables, so we chose one far from the crowd. I noticed the owners had put in a sprinkler/fountain that kids were playing with. It wasn’t there last year. Other than that, it was a comfortingly familiar place, as I recognized several of the wait staff who were there last year.

There was a large family in one corner of the Biergarten. They were having some kind of celebration, as they were singing a song together. This isn’t the first time Bill and I have stumbled across a celebration in a public place involving some of kind of performance. I found it charming!

Bill had a cheese plate, while I had wurst with farmer’s bread and a nice fresh salad. I don’t usually get that excited about wurst, but I really liked what they had… and I especially enjoyed the salad. I’ve noticed that cherry tomatoes in Germany are sweet and delicious– almost like candy! In the states, tomatoes taste kind of sour to me and I don’t enjoy eating them raw. But here, they are completely different and vastly superior. As someone who needs to eat more produce, I appreciate that tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce are so lovingly grown here.

The boys behaved pretty well, although Noyzi was barking a bit. Charlie was completely chilled out and at home. He’s going to be the kind of dog we can take anywhere. After we enjoyed some beer, we stopped by the Hofladen’s self-service fridge and picked up a couple of farm fresh items for home. You just pick out what you want and you’re on your honor to pay for it, although that particular Hofladen has security cameras.

Below are some photos…

Our visit to the Bembelschänke was an excellent way to cap off a memorable weekend in Germany. I hope we can do it again before fall arrives. But… actually, we’re going to be in Iceland very soon, so maybe our next visit will have to wait until 2025.