Hinterbrühl and Brückenwirt (Maybe the most historic and unique biergartens)

Here we biergarten hop to two biergartens in the same night. These two (in our humble opinion) are the most unique and historic biergartens on our top 20 list from indispensable The Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich. They are a bit of a challenge to get to with out a car, so we ventured to find them when we had a rental car with handy GPS on Friday, August 26, 2011. 

Follow us to Hinterbrühl and Brückenwirt. 

First up, Hinterbrühl. This was the preferred haunt of Hitler and his top ranking officials, like Gerhring and Gobbels, before and during WWII when they had to be in Munich, rather than in their opulent mountain chalets. I do feel a little eery walking in.

Here's their website with more great pictures: http://www.gasthof-hinterbrühl.de/

It is right near the Isar River and on weekends between 12 noon and 1:00 pm, you can see people on traditional "floss", party raft, which originated from the times when the loggers in this area floated down the river after logging up river all day. 

Here we go...think we'll find a spielplatz for Colin?!?

It's a perfect warm summer evening and it's a beautiful place to be. 

It's not too crowded tonight...fine with us!

Get your eats and bier here. 

Cool kegs in real wooden barrels and brass taps. 

Scott gets helles. I have a weissbier.  Most foam I've seen on a bier since we've been here...must be a rookie pouring?

They have a trampoline and a pirate themed playground--SWEET! Colin even coordinates with his little pirate shirt on. 

Toys galore to play in the sand too!

Inside the gasthof (restaurant), so warm and cozy with all the wood paneling and banquettes. 

Dining room in the Gasthof Hinterbrühl

The bretze (pretzel) had JUST come out of the oven and was SO GOOD! Best bretze we've eaten in Munich ever. 

Colin was mixing it up with all the other little ones and having a blast!

They had this cool wicker chair decked out with shade cover, foot rest, and a tray for food and drink.
Must look into this thing... The Alabama coast and Florida panhandle could use some of these, I think!

Below: Floß or party rafting.

We drive about 10 minutes on up the river to Brückenwirt.
Here's a link to their website http://www.brueckenwirt.de/wellcome.html

And, here's what "the biergarten book" says about it and a link too: http://www.beerdrinkersguide.com/BDGWebsite/Mainframe.html

Bavarians who know how to mix business with pleasure love Brückenwirt. On the banks of the Isar River and in the shadow of Grünwalder Bridge, this small beer garden is home to one of Munich's most venerable traditions: Floß (Floh-es). The plan is simple: gather together about 60 people on a 22-ton log raft, lay on an Oom-pah band, and a whole lot of beer. Then ride down the river, dip your feet in the water now and then, drink the beer and enjoy the day. What a concept! Of course, if you can't book passage, then you can always enjoy it from the shoreline beer garden at Brückenwirt. This beer Mecca is a little outside the urban Munich area and features a great walk (not that long really) to get there. That's why we've devised two separate routes for this one, coming and going, to add some variety. Brückenwirt gets a top rating of 5 beers.

It's a very romantic place at night with all the lights and flowers.

It's a lovely place and the river is right near the string of lights. We will have to come back here during the day and see all the drunken rafters coming down the river who stop here. I'd love to raft down the river, and though you do get lunch and all the bier you can drink, it's 130 Euro when we checked, plus we've have to pay a babysitter, so it's just not do-able for us here and now. For now, we'll just add it to our combined bucket list! 

Thank you Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich! There are coupons in the back of the book for at least 6 for free beers, and this is one of them! At around 7 Euro per mass bier or Russ/Radler, this book has paid for itself many times! Scott, the tightwad accountant, loves this and reminds me each time we use one. It's also exposed us to many cool places that only locals may know and has been a fun adventure and a list to "check off" with Scott and Colin. 

Prost!

We are drinking Russ'n--half weissbier and half lemon soda. Very refershing and a good way to moderate your alcohol intake!

Sneaking sugar from Colin

Watching Kung Fu Panda. Very serious...

YUM! Almost for got to take the picture before we wolfed this down--warm apfel strudel in vanilla sauce! Best in Germany/Austria that we've had so far!

Guten Nacht! Auf Wiedersehen, Y'all!

We're going to Freiburg and the Black Forest tomorrow so I have to go to bed now! 

Waldwirtschaft Großhesselohe Biergarten

On Friday night, September 2, 2011, we picked up a rental car for the weekend trip the next day, and since we have a car, we headed to a hard-to-get-to biergarten, which happens to be my favorite of the 20+ (yes, literally!) biergartens we've visited in and around Munich since arriving on June 28. 

Waldwirtschaft Großhesselohe (Biergarten) 

http://www.waldwirtschaft.de/

It's romantic and has live jazz bands that regularly play in the permanent stage in the middle of the garden. The kids playground is awesome and they have the best Hendl (roast chicken) we've tasted in any of the biergartens so far too. It's the closest to a date night I can get without a babysitter, and this is a fitting place to start off our weekend before we hit the Romantic Road to Rothenburg tomorrow. 

And here's the review and recommendation for this place on Scott's other guidebook, The Beer Drinker's Guide to Munich, http://www.beerdrinkersguide.com/BDGWebsite/Mainframe.html

Jazz and Big Band tunes in a beautiful biergarten with great food and bier, with my boys too...doesn't get much better than this! Really wish my parents could be here--it's so up their ally, and they'd probably have join in the other few dancers for a spin. Makes me miss them even more.

It had just rained a bit and was getting a little chilly, otherwise, this place is PACKED with very few available seats. 

Colin was getting his groove on dancing on the benches with his lovey on his head...

Colin has a bit of a disgusting nose-picking habit...
He's watching Kung Fu Panda I bought on iTunes and downloaded onto Scott's phone.
Glad he's not touching my phone with his booger fingers! Ewwww! Blech!

We plan to drive the Romantic Road to Rothenburg ob der Tauber tomorrow morning. 


Guten nacht! Auf Wiedersehen, y'all!

Obernai, France - day three of three day weekend in Alsace

September 11, 2011

We head out of Strassbourg to the recommended nearby town of Obernai. We realize it's September 11th, and it feels a little weird to be away from home on this day. It's a crisp September morning with clear blue skies like it was on the morning of September 11, 2001. It's hard to believe it was ten years ago. And, since we are traveling abroad, I recall that my grandparents were also away from home when that happened. They were on a tour in Ireland and their flights home were delayed for a couple of days before they came back to a forever changed USA and world. Grandmommy and Papooh, my grandparents who both passed away very suddenly--Papooh in June 2010 and Grandmommy in March 2011, were world travelers and always valued travel and its experiences. I definitely got a lot of their values watching them work hard, save and invest their money, and then spend and splurge on travel. They cruised at least once or twice a year, went to the beach, took European tours. Each time I see a bus load of gray-haired (although Grandmommy never had gray hair--she was stylin'!) AARP types, I think of them and have to smile. 

Maybe the day will come when Scott and I are too tired to rent cars and use GPS and maps and find seek out recommended restaurants in our travel adventures, but for now, a bus load of folks who are just like us and all eat dinner at a pre-arranged buffet isn't our style. 

So, off we go to explore Obernai!

Driving into Obernai. What we've learned so far: if you find the hôtel de ville (city hall) or the church in the town center, you're on the right track. Usually, there's public parkingin a deck or underground...park and get out for a walk around the ville! 

Gorgeous painted shutters that I'd like to take home with me for wall art or put them together and make a little table! Think they'd miss them? 

a fleuriste...très élégant...I'll have a one or two of those cool twig lamps too, s'il vous plaît!

Hand painted advertisement for this store...a grocer

And this painted sign for this boucherie (butcher)--the pig with the Alsation head scarf is pretty funny

Half-timbered building with turquoise shutters with heart motif and overflowing flowers in the window boxes, and shop on the first floor...very typical Alsace. I love it!

Obernai, France

Statue and fountain in town center with a church and town hall facing into the main square. 

Obernai, France

The tourist information center where I ran in to get information on a good winery open for tastings...score! Off we go!

We drive about 1 km to Robert Blanck Winery...

We go into their tasting "room" and we immediately spot...the kiddie picnic table with crayons, markers, books, legos, and a Papa Smurf! Colin is so happy! I tell you, these Europeans have it figured out--if the kids are occupied and happy, the parents will come and stay and spend money!

Let the sampling begin! 

And let the coloring and playtime begin!

Robert Blanck Wines...sadly for us, not exported to the U.S.A.

Also for sale was their house made jams and fruit liqueurs. 

dégustation (tasting) room...check out the huge display of the Crémant d'Alsace, the sparkling wine of the region made in the method of Champagne

Wine barrel seating with a cushion...I could use a couple of these in our house for extra seating!

We sampled their range of wines--Pinot Gris, Gewurtraminer, Pinot Noir, Riesling, Rose', and my favorite, the Crémant d'Alsace (bubbly!)

Colin sampled all their toys

And he sampled their grape juice. It was REALLY sweet. I'm telling you, these folks have it FIGURED. OUT.

Wish I could afford to have cases of this stuff shipped home!

In the boutique...I'd buy more if I could get it home.  

Need to try to recreate this at home--half framboise half l'orange marmalade--my two favorite jam flavors in the same jar! So pretty too. Mmmmm

Merci! Au revoir, Robert Blanck winery!

Bad picture of a beautiful storefront...I was loving all the lamps and tables and home accessories. Most shops are closed on Sunday, except for restaurants, a few bakeries, and souvenir shops. 

Here's a boulangerie that sells pretzels (Bretze in German) and looks like you can get your French/German bread needs for the day met here--a French baguette and German pretzels. 

Jewish synagogue in the town

Time for lunch...we are roaming the streets looking for our next meal...

A pretty building that has delicious smells coming out of it...

They sell all types of macaroons, the typical kind you may know in the US, with coconut and maybe some other flavoring. We got a sample and Scott was all in--he loved his grandmother Mimi's macaroons! We sampled and bought...

Other confections...so yummy, so pretty!

Large kugelhof cakes for sale too

Decisions, decisions...

Someone is ready to go...

We walk around the corner and into a park...then come back out toward the town to find our meal... 

Temporarily happy and coopertive boy! 

Thought I was ordering a raspberry soda...it was raspberry syrup in flat water...not so great...wah wah!

A French beer, Meteor, for Scott and juice and a puzzle and Thomas for Colin

I have a salade with my tartine (French open faced sandwich) with fresh cheese, mushrooms, and local ham. Colin gets most of my ham...and he has an apple which he dips in strawberry flavored applesauce that I swiped from the hotel breakfast. 

Tarte Flambee with muster, lardon, and onions for Scott. It was good but a bit over flambee'd. 

Cooking the tarte flambee's....

This is our sweet tarte flambee with pommes (apples) and calvados (apple liqueur).

Their "oven" for the tarte flambee cooking. Scott said he'd like to tell them that it's a 50 gallon drum they're cooking in, but they wouldn't know what that was (not metric!)...guess it'd be a 100 liter drum?

Colin playing tug o war with a cute little French girl old chain on a post in the town square. 

Les Halles aux Bles, Obernai, France 

That's my face and part of Colin's in the wooden cutout of a man and lady stork....

Checking out the old town well...time to roll out of here!

Church in Obernai, France

Obernai, France

Obernai, France

Another pretty antique carousel we've seen this weekend. This one in Obernai, France.

Lingerie shops were plentiful in Strassbourg, Colmar, and here in Obernai....a true French stereotype? 

And then we saw this sign...the French version of Hooters? I'm just speculating....rolling out of Obernai! Au revoir! Peace!

So, after a long three day weekend, we're coming back into Munich and the weather is still really nice, so Scott suggests we head to a biergarten since there's not much to eat at home and Colin has had a nap so he could play, and we have a car so we could go to my favorite out of the way, neighborhood biergarten with my favorite weissbier...twist my arm...why not?!? I'm trying to mentally stockpile as much gemütliche as possible.

Franziskaner weissbier is my fave!

Colin's Crocs and a rock...I'm such a mommy of a boy...rocks and sticks (not this time) and stinky crocs (yes, crocs can get stinky, I assure you!)

One last time on the slide...

Cute little public Bavarian house we pass on the way to the Franzikaner Biergarten

Random--this polar bear is painted on the side of someone's house...and you know what I think it looks like that polar bear is doing? Um, yes, I have toilet humor and enjoy it. This cracked me up!


What an amazing weekend...do you think "normal" life may be a little too boring for all of us when we get back?

Guten nacht...home to bathe Colin, unpack, download pics, crash!