Tag Archives: beer tourism

Eastern Europe

Cheap thrills in the Czech Republic! Part four

I mentioned in previous posts about our Czech Republic trip that this is a country that loves its beer.  Czech citizens drink more beer per capita than any other country, including Germany, Ireland, and Belgium.  This is a country where beer costs less than bottled water and they’ve been making beer since 993 A.D.  So it’s not surprising that a lot of beer lovers come to the Czech Republic to taste their suds and visit breweries.

Bill and I had every intention of touring Pilsner Urquell’s brewery, which is based in Plzen.  On our last visit, back in 2009, we toured Plzen’s awesome Brewery Museum and really enjoyed it.  But as we approached Pilsner Urquell, I noticed how huge the place was.  Then I noticed all the tours were timed, because they are offered in different languages.  We could either take a 1:00pm tour or a 2:45pm tour.  We could tour Pilsner Urquell or Gambrinus… I actually found myself a little overwhelmed.  I need more than a weekend to do all of this stuff!

The big gate at Pilsner Urquell in Plzen.

Bill figures out the map at Pilsner Urquell.

 

It’s a big place!  Free parking is available there, but there’s also a large parking garage nearby that is super cheap.  Bill paid about 70 cents for several hours of parking on Saturday.  The parking garage also has clean WCs.  I was surprised by how civilized it was.

 

“Man, that’s good beer!”

My stomach started rumbling and we decided we’d rather have lunch first.  We walked out of the Pilsner Urquell complex, crossed the large, busy street, and headed toward the Brewery Museum, which has a restaurant.  We ate in the restaurant the first time we visited Plzen, so we knew we’d find English menus there.  It was very busy; consequently, lunch was a leisurely, but delicious affair.  I really love Czech cuisine, which is somewhat like German cuisine, but with more or different seasonings.

The Brewery Museum’s restaurant has very good food.  We were spoiled for choice.

 

I eventually settled on duck leg confit with onion gravy and bread dumplings…

 

Bill had pork with mashed potatoes and gravy.  That pork was delicious!  Very tender and flavorful.

 

Although it’s a good idea for me to eat before I try to sightsee, I also have a tendency to take too long at lunchtime, especially when there’s beer being offered.  We each had a Pilsner Urquell, but then we tried a lovely dark Sladko, pictured below.  It was rich, malty, and kind of like a beery milkshake.

Oh, this was sooo good!

By the time we were finished with lunch, the urge to tour a museum or a brewery had left us.  However, I do want to get back to Plzen if only so we can take the Historical Plzen Underground Tour, which is offered by the Brewery Museum.  I wish we’d done this on Saturday, because it’s only 50 minutes and offers a look at about one kilometer of Plzen’s 14 kilometers of underground tunnels.  Actually, looking around Plzen, I could see that any visitor who likes beer will be kept busy for several days.  Trying to make a choice of what to see seemed overwhelming, although having seen the Brewery Museum during our first visit, I would definitely recommend that to any visitor.  It’s very well-done and translations are offered in 15 languages.  Pilsner Urquell also offers a virtual tour online, for those who’d rather not tour the facility and say they did.

An example of Czech advertising.

I actually took this photo to remind me that there are things for young people to do, too.  Plzen has a zoo and other activities for kids.

One of the prettier views in Plzen.

St. Bartholomew’s Cathedral.  It dates from the 13th century and opened in 1529.

Around the square.

Off in the distance, a brand new bride and groom were having a photo shoot.  I felt sorry for the bride, because it was really cold outside and she only wore a wrap around her shoulders to cover her dress.  Kudos to her for not freezing!

For the kids to play on…

The guys in this photo were all dressed in medieval garb.  Bill said they were probably going to spar with each other.

By about 3:00pm, we decided to go to Kaufland to pick up a French press for coffee and maybe a few odds and ends for dinner.  The Kaufland reminded me very much of a Real on Saturday.  It was packed with people.  Still, we managed to find what we needed, including a bag of “crocketts”.  I’ll explain that in the next post.

I got a kick out of this wienie eating dude.  We bought some of his franks.

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Celebrating 14 years in Ireland! Part six

Our train ride back to Dublin was mostly uneventful when compared to the ride to Kilkenny.  We did sit near a woman who appeared to be rather suspicious.  At one point, she sprayed deodorant on her underarms in front of everyone.  She got on the phone a lot and rode with a guy who was telling her about his living situation while also complaining about how much a pair of shorts cost him.  I had a weird feeling that she may have been a lady of the evening, but I can’t be sure of that.

There was a group of ladies who were clearly going out on the town.  They were drinking beer and talking very loudly about their evening plans.  Another lady sat with a group and proceeded to have what sounded like a live Dr. Phil session.  She talked a lot about all she’s done for people and how no one appreciates her.  She even mentioned working with people in prisons and how she went unacknowledged for her work.  I was pretty glad to get back to Dublin and into a cab so we could hit the sack, pronto.

On Sunday, we had big plans to visit the Guinness Storehouse.  I had booked us tickets for the 4:00pm Connoisseur Experience, which involves having a private tasting of several Guinness products.  You pay a bit extra for this experience, but I had read it was well worth the euros.  Also, Bill and I are dedicated beer lovers who enjoy beer tourism, so it was natural that we’d splurge.

After breakfast, I did some writing, then Bill and I thought we might go have tea somewhere.  Unfortunately, although there are places that offer tea in Dublin, they mostly seemed to be booked.  Bill asked someone at the hotel for a recommendation for a place.  We were told we should go to a little place called The Queen of Tarts.  We started walking and ended up in Dublin’s shopping district, which was teeming with people.

I spotted this sign on the way downtown.  I thought it was interesting.  

It was posted right next to this plaque…

Unlike Germany, Ireland allows shopping on Sundays.  Consequently, the whole area was a madhouse.  I don’t generally enjoy being in huge crowds of people, especially when I don’t necessarily know where I’m going.  I did take notice of a couple of really good buskers who were playing music by the stores.  But as we continued to walk, I started feeling cranky and hungry.  We finally ended up at a bar called The Banker’s Lounge.  It had a TripAdvisor seal of approval on it, so I figured we would at least enjoy a pleasant dining experience.  I was half right.

Utility box of some sort painted like a candy machine.

Cool building.

We walked into the restaurant and were directed to a tiny, low table with two little stools.  I have very short legs, so this wasn’t a huge deal for me.  The restaurant itself was rather crowded and, curiously, most of the people sitting in there were speaking Spanish.  Although the bar was typically Irish, the staff definitely weren’t.  But since I really needed some protein, I ordered fish n’ chips and Bill had Irish stew.  

Bill checks out the menu.

My fish n’ chips.  The peas were supposed to be mushy, but weren’t.

Bill liked his Irish stew.  It was made with lamb, though, so I didn’t care for it.  

 

My mood was slightly improved once we’d eaten.  But then I looked up and realized I was having a little crack with my lunch.  This dude was apparently oblivious and I think I had the best view in the house…

Say no to crack.

Anyway… I don’t think I’d eat there again, although it certainly wasn’t my worst experience in a restaurant.

We kept walking toward the Guinness Storehouse and I took some pictures along the way.  Not long after our crack filled lunch experience, we saw The Queen of Tarts.  If we’d only walked a few more minutes, I could have been spared the accidental mooning.

As we approached the massive Guinness Storehouse, I took note of the horses and buggies, as well as  the many taxis waiting for people coming out of the museum.  Trust me… you are liable to be exhausted after you tour the Storehouse.  It’s HUGE.  We had been advised to see the museum before the beer tasting experience, so we started our tour at about 2:00pm.  Having been to a lot of brewery and whisky distillery tours, I already know pretty well how beer is made.  Consequently, we moved through the exhibits on the first floors rather quickly.  I probably would have done that anyway, since the place was so crowded and overwhelming with people.  But then we got to the advertising section, which I found pretty cool…

The Whistling Oyster.  It was whistling when I took this photo.

The Storehouse has a couple of restaurants.  One of them featured some live musicians playing in a corner.  The other one appeared to be slightly more upscale.  Since Bill and I had already eaten, we headed up to the Gravity Bar, which was where we got our free pints.

Check out the crowds!

These guys were crowded around a guy dressed up like a bottle of beer.  At first I thought maybe he worked there, but then I saw him take off his costume.  Maybe it was just a bunch of lads out on the town.  

Bill finally managed to get a pint.

And I snagged this photo of the view.  It’s actually panoramic, but there were way too many people to get more photos.

We went to the somewhat quieter fifth floor to enjoy our suds.

At about 4:00, we waited in a bar for our fellow connoisseurs.  A friendly guy named Ian took us to a hidden bar, where we spent the next hour learning about Guinness.

The Connoisseur Experience was very interesting.  I learned, for example, that the term “P’s and Q’s” came from pints and quarters, which were the measures of beer back in the day.  Our guide was basically great, except he seemed to forget there were a few of us sitting on the other side of the room.  But what he had to say was very informative and he was otherwise an excellent speaker.

And yes, we got to pour our own pints of Guinness, too.

 

As we walked out of the Guinness Storehouse, we stopped to pick up engraved glasses that I’d ordered in honor of our anniversary.  On the way through the line, we picked up a few souvenirs.  You can really go crazy at the Guinness store.  I recommend proceeding with caution!

After we left the Storehouse, we found a cab and another entertaining cabbie.  More on that in the next part.

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Celebrating 14 years in Ireland! Part five

Bill and I were still laughing about the boys on the train as we walked into Kilkenny, a town that appears to have recently exploded in population.  I was reminded of towns like Chapel Hill, North Carolina, which was once a rural place and eventually became very popular.  Kilkenny appeared to be  the kind of place that was very small for a very long time and then became busy.  As we headed for the the Smithwick’s Experience, I was surprised by how many people were there, trying to get around us and/or otherwise in a rush.  On the way to the beer museum, we decided to stop for lunch.  We ended up at a place called Petronella, which I spotted as we were passing an alcove.

One of my favorite bits of travel advice is to pay attention to alcoves.  It’s easy to find stuff if you’re on a main drag.  But I have found the best places are often tucked away, and Petronella turned out to be one of those places.  It was a bit of a hole in a wall, tucked away off the main road.  We arrived just in time for lunch.  Indeed, I think we were the first customers of the day.

Bill checks out the menu.

 

Kilkenny beer.

The first version of my lunch.  I tried to make it work by switching with Bill.

Our waitress directed us to the second floor and I took a seat by the window.  Right as I was noticing the piped in music on the sound system– mostly music from the 70s and 80s– a busker was warming up outside.  The busker was quite a talented guy who played guitar and sang, sounding a bit like Bob Dylan if Bob Dylan could actually sing (and this is no disrespect to Mr. Dylan’s overall talents as a musician.  He writes wonderful songs and plays guitar, but he is not a singer).

So, we came in and sat down… and I ordered a steak sandwich and Bill ordered the special of the day, which was a chili flavored tagliatelle.  I ordered a Kilkenny beer to go with my lunch, while Bill had a glass of cabernet.

The food came… and unfortunately, my steak sandwich, which was served open faced with fries and a fried egg on top, also came with mushrooms and onions.  No problem, Bill and I thought… We switched plates and I tried his dish…  It, too, was loaded with mushrooms.  So the waitress came up and I had to tell yet another person about my ridiculous mushroom hatred/phobia.

Bill called her over and said, “My wife can’t eat mushrooms.”

Bill’s lunch.  I tried to eat that instead, but the mushrooms were awful.  Otherwise, this was almost like a really nice chili mac.  It was quite good and I would have loved it minus the fungus.  

 

Rebooted steak sandwich.  The potato salad was surprisingly good.

The waitress was wonderful.  She quickly took the food away and had the chef make me another sandwich without ‘shrooms.  She brought me a clean sandwich sans egg, onions, and mushrooms.  Instead, it came with a surprisingly good potato salad.  I got to tell the waitress about why I hate mushrooms so much.  To make a long story short, I have a bit of a phobia.  Even as I told her how I knew how ridiculous this story sounded, she was patient and understanding.  And she also confessed feeling the same way about baked beans.  I like to think she appreciated that I told the truth, rather than tried to tell her I’m allergic.  The truth is, I am not allergic to mushrooms.  They just really freak me out in a bad way.

At one point, the piped in music was a song by Bruce Springsteen circa 1985.  The busker outside was playing a 90s Springsteen song.  Synchronicity!  (truthfully, it was a bit weird)

Petronella… in case you ever find yourself in Kilkenny.

After we had lunch, Bill and I went to the Smithwick’s Experience, which was very entertaining from the get go.  We entered the beer museum and were immediately greeted by a good hearted lady who said we could use the kiosks to pick up our tickets or just talk to her.  She immediately recognized my name, since I had just ordered tickets and got engraved glasses in honor of our anniversary.  The lady who did the engraving personally wrapped our glasses for us and wished us a good time in Ireland.

At 2:00, we had our tour, along with several other folks.  There were a couple of Irish folks on the tour, but the majority of us were Americans.  An adorable lady named Ide (pronounced Eee-dah) guided us through the museum, gave us the long history of the brewery, explained the process of beer making (which Bill and I know very well), and led our tasting.  Bill and I had a paddle tasting, which included several beers by Smithwick’s.  We ended up chatting with a couple from Ireland who were really friendly and wanted to talk about politics!

After the tour, we walked around the town, then headed to a bar.  We had to kill some time before our train, due to leave at around 7:00pm.  The first bar we went to seemed geared toward hen parties.  There were a couple of groups of younger women who were cackling over brews.  I finally got annoyed enough to tell Bill we needed to move on to the next place, a pub affiliated with a hotel.

We stopped into the pub, which had the soccer game between Austria and Ireland playing.  We sat down and started drinking local brews.  A bald guy working the bar came over to talk to us.  He was obviously a local and very cool.  After a couple of hours, I think we became friends.  And yes… there was more talk about Donald Trump.

Shots of Smithwick’s, which has a surprisingly long and interesting history in Kilkenny.  This tour was absolutely worth doing.  It was very personal and informative.

Shots of Kilkenny…

He told us to come back if we ever made it back to Kilkenny.  Somehow, I have the feeling he’ll still be there if we ever do make it back to Kilkenny.  He might even remember us!

We got to the train station about fifteen minutes before we left Kilkenny for Dublin.  More on that in part six.
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A whirlwind trip to Austria, Italy, and probably Switzerland, part 3

We decided to have lunch after we visited Crystal World.  Although we could have gone to the restaurant on site, we thought we might have a more peaceful meal in the town of Wattens.  Sadly, it was not to be…  But we did come away from our lunch at Pronto Pasta with a fun story.

I’m not sure what the restaurant scene is like in Wattens.  I do know that it was a Sunday and Pronto Pasta had lots of signs around town, advertising their restaurant.  I don’t usually like to go to restaurants that are so heavily promoted because they are usually tourist traps.  Indeed, Pronto Pasta has signs in five or six different languages… a sure sign that they cater to the clueless who visit the little Austrian town of Wattens.  We went anyway.

Now, usually when there are lots of signs attracting tourists, you’d expect a huge restaurant with lots of tables.  As it turned out, Pasta Pronto is a very small place with a menu in English and German.  We noticed that they’d set up a couple of large tables which took up most of their tiny dining room.  We were directed to a pub table near the front door.  I eyed the large tables nervously, figuring that a big tourbus was about to arrive.  Bill tried using his rudimentary German, but our waiter immediately switched to flawless English.  Just as well.

 

Bill ordered a nice glass of red…  I had white.

Bill had penne pasta with truffles, cream sauce, and ham.  I had a salmon filet with cherry tomatoes and a side of tagliatelle.

Another shot of the food.  It was very good.

 

Just as we were about a third of the way into our meals, a large tourbus full of Chinese people showed up.  A small, nervous looking little Chinese guy who spoke English hustled into the restaurant.  He had a large plastic bag full of individual packets of spicy Hunt’s brand ketchup.  Bill overheard him explain that a number of the tourists with him were “addicted” to the stuff.  The Italian bus driver took the table next to Bill’s and mine, meaning he shared a bench seat with me.  He seemed a bit “over it”.  I couldn’t blame him for that.  The tourists all sat down at the tables that had been prepared for them.

The little tour guide approached one of the waiters and started asking about the menu.  He wanted pizza.  The restaurant doesn’t serve pizza, though they do apparently have a pizzeria in a separate location.  Then the guy was asking about sausages.  The waiter seemed to be doing a good job maintaining his cool as he explained to the tour guide that they had ordered a set menu, so they were all going to be served the same thing.  It looked like they were having some kind of soup with a dollop of cream on top (sprayed into a decorative etoile), Wiener schnitzel, and tiramisu for dessert.  From what I could see, the food looked good and everybody was reasonably happy.  The two waiters were hustling and Bill overheard one of them complaining about their boss, a plain clothesed man who dropped off a couple of plates and claimed to have been helpful in the process.

 

The waiter deals with the tourists.  Bill and I were, of course, no trouble at all…

I got up to go to the bathroom, but it was occupied.  I stood and waited, feeling more and more intrusive.  I wasn’t sure what was going on in there, but the lady ahead of me had some issues.  At one point, I figured maybe I shouldn’t try to use the toilet at that time, but then she came out…  It was a tiny girl, looked no older than fifteen and no bigger than a size zero, apologizing profusely.  It was no big deal at that point.  Poor thing.

A shot of the outside of the restaurant.

The above signs were all over Wattens.

 

Finally, after more wine, Bill paid the check.  We headed back to the car, bypassing the tiny little Christmas market going on.  As Bill paid for the parking, I noticed a ladies room.  I ducked in and waited again.  I didn’t really have to go so badly, but I remembered the arduous mountain drive and didn’t want to have to pee while Bill was stressing over the drive up the 16 degree grade.

Christmas market in Wattens.

Graffiti on the bathroom door.

We stopped by Spar for more wine, which we didn’t end up drinking.  I took a photo of the Williams pear schnapps because Bill has a funny college story about it.  He and a buddy were once held hostage in a DC bar by a mischievous bartender who wouldn’t let them leave until they could explain how the pear got in the bottle…

Beer tubs at Hotel Diana.  I didn’t have a chance to get a shot of Bill and me this time.  If you want to see us in a beer tub, I recommend checking out my Moorhof writeup.  

 

Our appointment for our beer bath was set for 5:00 pm.  I had Bill go ask at the reception if the bath would be with or without bathing suits.  When we were at the Moorhof, we did it with suits.  While that preserved our modesty somewhat, it also got hops and other debris in our suits.  I would have been fine doing the bath naked.  But the guy at the front desk either didn’t understand the question or didn’t care one way or the other.  Bill came up and told me we should wear our suits.  I had brought my “spa robe”(which I like so much that I wear it around the house, too).  Bill only brought his bathing suit.  Since I also brought a cover up, I let Bill borrow my robe (Santa will bring him a spa robe for Christmas).  I wore the cover up.

We showed up at the beer bath and the lady from the video I posted in the first of this series said we should bathe naked.  I was game, but I think Bill was a bit bashful.  The whole thing was kind of awkward because she was telling us to get undressed and we’re typical Americans who aren’t used to being nude in front of strangers.  Finally, she told us to just get in the tub.  I think the tubs at Hotel Diana are a little smaller than the one we used at the Moorhof.

Bill and I were not as cramped in the one at the Moorhof as we were at Hotel Diana.  It was ultimately okay for us, but Bill and I are short people with short legs.  If this writeup makes you want to try a beer bath at Hotel Diana with your partner and you have long legs, you may want to go for separate baths.  Also, I recommend this treatment without bathing suits.  The barley they use in the tub gets stuck in your suit, plus you have to undress for the straw bed, anyway.

So anyway, we got in the tub…  this time, unlike at the Moorhof, the beer spigot was not purely for decoration.  We were allowed to drink as much as we wanted.  The water was a little too cool for me at first, but I had access to the tap, so I was able to heat it up.  The hotel owner was kind enough to light candles and dim the overhead lights.

Later, we told her that we booked Hotel Diana because of the beer bath.  We explained that hers was the fourth beer spa experience we’ve had.  She then told us that Moorhof was the first hotel to offer the beer spa experience in Austria.  The family that owns Hotel Diana went there to check it out and decided to offer it at their hotel, too.

After the lights were turned down.

 

After about thirty minutes in the tub, we lost our bathing suits and got in the straw bed.  I mentioned in my review of Moorhof’s beer spa that the oat straw seems like it would be itchy, but it’s really not.  In fact, it’s very relaxing to lie there next to your loved one and enjoy the smell… and the softness.  But remember, I grew up in a barn with horses, so it makes sense that this experience would especially appeal to me.  Overall, it was a nice experience, though it seemed like Hotel Diana hasn’t done as many beer baths as Moorhof has, so things were a little less smoothly run.  Still, we managed to leave the beer baths very relaxed and contented.

Bill in the straw bed.  I shared it with him until I needed to use the potty.

 

After our beer bath, we went up to the room, showered, and dressed for dinner.  I was feeling a little nervous that the militant waitress would be helping us, but she was off that night.  Instead, we were waited on by the guy who had checked us in.  He told us to pick one of the first three tables, all of which had been set for two.  I liked that.

Bill enjoys the pleasantly decorated restaurant.

And orders us a nice bottle of Austrian red…

 

Our waiter apologized for the menu in German.  We said it was okay because we live in Germany and can speak menu somewhat.  We started with the same salad as we had the night before…

Then a very nice cold tuna appetizer, followed up a cup of chicken noodle soup.

I had the Cordon Bleu which came with cranberry sauce and parsleyed potatoes.

Bill had pork with a pepper cream sauce and a baked potato with sour cream.  

And for dessert, we had rice pudding…  It was very good!

 

The same two ladies who had snickered at us the previous night showed up when we were halfway through our dinner.  Fortunately, they sat two tables down from us, so we were spared having to serve as their source of entertainment.  After dinner, we went to bed and slept well until morning.

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The beer and Fucking tour…

Photo courtesy of Benjamin Dauth at Wikipedia.com (public domain)

That’s what I’m calling our next planned trip.  And no, it’s not because we’re planning to do a lot of boots knocking during our travels.

Since we’ve been back in Germany, Bill and I have been determined to try to see more.  The last time we lived here, we didn’t travel very much during the first year of our stay.  We thought we were going to get the standard three years.  We ended up with just barely two years.  Since Bill is now a contractor, we have decided not to take living in Germany for granted.  It’s entirely possible that we’ll have to move again a year from now.

Bill has been wanting to visit Gruyeres, Switzerland since we lived here last time.  We meant to go in 2008, but circumstances did not line up for us to make it to the land of chocolate, cheese, and weird museums.  On Sunday afternoon, I was trying to come up with a plan for a weekend in Switzerland next month.  Once again, the cards of fate seemed stacked against me.  I had a hard time figuring out exactly where we should go.  Then my attention shifted to Austria.

There is a hotel in a small town about twenty miles from Salzburg that offers a beer spa.  I have been wanting to go to that hotel since our last long term stay in Europe.  During our five years living in the States after our first Germany tour, I thought about how we could get there so I could take another beer bath.  I wondered how I’d justify visiting Franking, Austria when we’d have to travel thousands of miles to get to Europe and there were so many other, bigger, more exciting cities we hadn’t yet seen.  Salzburg itself is a great town and Bill and I were only there for a day back in 2012.

Anyway, I was looking at the hotel in Franking and noticed on the map that close to Franking, there is another town called Fucking (pronounced Fooking).  Naturally, that tickled me, since I have a filthy sense of humor.  I looked it up and discovered that this tiny little town has become the subject of much mockery from English speakers.  Town officials have had to put up theft proof signs and closed circuit television in order to discourage tourists from stealing the signs and/or having intercourse in front of them.  The town has been so rattled by tourists disturbing them that they even tried to get the name changed.  It was not allowed.

Well, that piqued my interest.  I told Bill about it and he agreed, Fucking is a town we need to visit, if only so I can get a photo of the theft proof signs.  Maybe we’ll just drive through.  Maybe we’ll stop for lunch.  And it’s not far from Franking, where we can take beer baths and relax in a country atmosphere.

Then I started thinking about Austria’s famed Starkenberger beer pools.  They are located at the Starkenberger brewery in Tarrenz, Austria.  Looking around the Web site, I see that Tarrenz is a very picturesque area.  Though a dip in the beer pool will be very costly, it’s the kind of thing that is often on a beer lover’s bucket list.  Having already enjoyed a weekend at Chodovar’s beer wellness land in the Czech Republic, this is just the kind of activity for people like Bill and me.  And it definitely fits in with the beer baths we hope to enjoy in Franking.

I started looking for lodging in Tarrenz and found there were slim pickings there.  However, the area is well saturated with lodging in other towns.  I chose a hotel in Lermoos that looks pretty damn awesome.  Lermoos is about ten miles from Tarrenz.  Better yet, because it’s not ski season time, the hotels are reasonably priced.

We have been to the Tyrol area of Austria, but in the past, we’ve always stayed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the Edelweiss Lodge.  Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as we all know, is in Germany, and the Edelweiss Lodge is not exactly authentically European style accommodation.  The only reason we went down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen was because Bill had conferences at the Edelweiss Lodge.  I’d go with him and take day tours with other bored housewives.  Now that Bill doesn’t go down there for work, it’s time we visited the area as tourists and checked it out more thoroughly.  It will be nice to stay in Austria instead of Germany, too.

I have to admit, my first impressions of Austria back in 1997 were not all that positive.  I thought it was a very pretty country with little soul.  I was wrong about Austria.  Every time I’ve been back, I’ve found more to like about it.

As for Switzerland, we are still planning a trip.  I think maybe we’ll try to go to Gruyeres in October.  Or maybe we’ll finally get to Ireland, which is another place we’ve been wanting to visit.  These plans are, of course, not in line with our usual champagne bucket method of choosing places to go.  The champagne bucket method should really be used in times when you can’t decide where to travel.  This time, we know we want beer and Fucking, so there’s no need to involve fate.

Hopefully, this beer and Fucking tour will turn out beautifully.  I look forward to blogging about it.  Incidentally, I have also written about this on my main blog, but that post was composed before we made up our mind to actually visit this fabled part of Austria.

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