Our second year in a row to enjoy the Kirchheimbolanden Residenzfest. Kibo, as it’s called by the locals, is one of the best small city festivals in our area. It happens each year on the second weekend of August. Good, chilled white wines, plates of tender wild boar with red cabbage and knodels and wonderful, friendly people. We won’t bore you with all the festing pictures since we wrote about this all last year. But, we love Kibo and have so many wonderful memories of the time we lived here, so here’s a few pictures of this years fest.
One of our favorite towns in all of Germany; Kirchheimbolanden.
One the town’s unique manhole covers. It shows the town crest, a wild boar on a green background below a black and white checkered field and also the founding year of the town, 1368.
I’m standing here next to the town’s promotional sign for the Residenzfest. That man’s black silouhette is that of Mozart. One of the Kirchheimbolanden’s claims to fame is that Mozart played in the town Schloss (palace) in the late 1700’s.
The Kirchheimbolanden wine king opens the 2011 Residenzfest.
One of the highlights of the Residenzfest is the 10K run that starts at 1700 (5PM) right after the festivals official opening. They also have a Bambini Lauf (little kids run). After the opening ceremony, if you don’t want to run, the town provides an hour of free wine; one of Kibo’s finer whites and a nice rosé. We didn't run.
Oh yeah, here’s the 10K finish line. Pretty awesome setting for a finish line.
Jeff’s obligatory picture next to the town’s wild boar. He never gets tired of it. Neither do I really.
Year's ago, when we lived in Kibo, Jeff and I walked into this bar and told no Americans allowed. No such problem today.
Kurt Klein and Jeff. Kurt was our landlord when we lived in Kirchheimbolanden from 1987-91. We had lost touch, so one of our first things, when we moved back to Germany, was to visit Kurt’s home. But, because of the numerous new houses in his neighborhood, after twenty years, we weren’t sure which place was his. Then, just last weekend, totally out of the blue, Jeff got a Facebook friend request from Kurt. What a coincidence that we were already planning on being at the Residenzfest. What better place to meet than at the big brass wild boar and pick-up an old friendship?
On the way to the car we stopped here to get an order of pommes frites. Just one more fun thing to go along with a wonderful German street festival.
The Bischoff brewery is in the small town of Winnweiler, near Sembach Air Base on the east side of Kaiserslautern. This past weekend the brewery celebrated the 50th anniversary of their pilsner beer. Their brewery dates back to 1866 but if there's a reason to celebrate then you need to go for it. Having been a part of half of those pilsner fifty years we decided we owned it to Bischoff to make a showing at their festivities.
Here’s a big bill board on the walk up to the brewery. That’s genius, “Happy Pilsday.”
Bischoff set up their festival celebration right in the middle of their brewery grounds. Wonderful weather, fun people, good music, awesome food. Except for the weather part that kinds of standard for a German festival.
They make more than a Pilsner beer. Here’s the list of Bischoff products.
The Bischoff people were great !! They kept the brewery open and operating so that people could walk through and see a real, live operating brewering. Here’s a video showing the march of the green bottles.
This is just a demonstration area, the actual kegs are filled in another part of the brewery but what’s interesting is that Bischoff, like many German breweries, fills various types of kegs; wood, metal and plastic.
Here I am in the bowels of the brewery. Notice how I'm wearing Bischoff green. Big cooling vats, they were quite cold.
It’s always fun to watch a production line like this. How’s that machine know to turn those last four cases?
Stacked to the ceiling. Bischoff beer ready for the masses.
Satisfied customers. Killer, Rowdy (Jeff) and Cajun. These guys and their names. Always something macho, never anything gentle and consoling like Buttercup, Sunshine or Flicka. (Jeff has a vintage Bischoff shirt on we got when we visited the brewery about ten years ago. Only such shirt seen all day. The Pro from Dover.)
Germans know how to party and they start training their kids early. Here’s a cute video at the Bischoff celebration of a little girl that’s obviously been to festivals before and then transitions to the kind of festing she’ll be able to do in a few years.
Here’s a comment we hear every once in a while, “Only tourist go to the Hofbräuhaus.” Another one is, “Oktoberfest is just full of a bunch of tourists. The local Germans, the Bavarians, never go there.” Well, we’ve spent plenty of time at both the Hofbräuhaus and the Oktoberfest and neither of these could be further from the truth.
At the Hofbräuhaus, sure, most of the folks there are tourist but there are around 12 tables that are reserved for locals; the regulars. Anyone can sit at these tables but when the Germans that regularly sit there show up, you make room for them. If there isn’t any room, you get up and find another place to sit or leave. Hofbräuhaus also has large, locking iron shelves where regulars can lock up their personal beer stein, awaiting their return. If Hofbräuhaus was only for tourist they wouldn’t have either of these, reserved tables and locked shelves, for the local Germans.
Unless we're sitting with a big group of American friends in the Hofbräuhaus , invariably, we meet some great German people to talk to and spend time with. Last Saturday we met a very nice Stuttgart couple, typical of the wonderful German people you meet in Munich. That's what makes the Hofbräuhaus so much fun; a great mixture of locals and people from all over the world.
Stammtisch (regular's table). We counted twelve tables that have some sort of Stammtisch sign hanging above them. Every one is different and this may be the most ornate. Sitting here is fine but once one of the local folks listed on this sign shows up you make room or leave.
Lock-up shelves for regular customer bier steins. These things are made of solid iron bars and there's hundreds of them located in a couple different places within the Hofbräuhaus.
You think this guy looks like a tourist? This is our third visit to the Hofbräuhaus in the last year and he's been there every night sitting at his Stammtisch. He doesn't seem as happy as Jeff.
We were taking pictures of the locked beer steins when this gentleman walked in to get his mug. We were so happy to see this that we sound like a couple of moronic groupies after he got his beer stein out and locked his shelf back up. Once he'd done that he walked over to this pristine, copper sink to rinse out his stein. You think they'd have all this set up for tourists?
Now Oktoberfest, of course, is full of tens of thousands of tourists, but walk along among the beer tents and you’ll see the local Bavarians, thousands and thousands of them, young and old, dressed to the nines in lederhosen and dirndl (leather pants and traditional Bavarian women's dress). We’ve sat, talked and drank with all sorts of Bavarian/German folks; hop farmers, policemen, military people, shop owners, on and on. The locals are there at Oktoberfest and to say that they're not is completely wrong.
Here's the hops farmers we met a few years ago at Oktoberfest. These are the Bavarian farmers that grow the hops that's used to make these great Oktoberfest beers.
The Germans-don't-go-to-the-Oktoberfest comment(that's like saying nobody goes to the Oktoberfest because it's always so crowded) quite often comes from Americans that have lived here for quite some time and some who have even retired here. Typically, if we ask them if they've ever been their answer is no. I kind of wonder if they say this about Oktoberfest because they feel foolish having never gone.
Beyond that, two other facts. A look at the names on reserved tables, in everyone of the big beer tents, at Oktoberfest will show, by far the great majority, the names of German companies and corporations. Only a small number are reserved in the names of individuals. Finally, in a recent Oktoberfest publication, they state that 70% of all people that attend Munich's Oktoberfest are residents of Germany.
Well, I think I beat those two myths to death. And, as I often say to Jeff (according to him), I don't want your opinion, I want you to agree with me.
Man, we needed a Munich fix. Hadn’t been there in seven months. So Jeff and I left after work on Friday and made the four hour drive to the city. Checked into our favorite Hotel Schlicker and then walked through the Marienplatz to a relatively new beer establishment in the city center.
One of our favorite places in Germany is Kloster Andechs which sits on a hill about a half hour southeast of Munich. Because it consumes most of the day to get out there and back we can’t always visit the Kloster when we go to Munich. Now, however, there’s a great alternative just around the corner from the Marienplatz. Andechs has opened Andechser am Dom at the foot of the Frauenkirche, the famous, large, double-domed church in the city center. Now you can get all their great beers right in the heart of the city.
Jeff drinking the flagship brew of Kloster Andechs, Doppelbock Dunkel; considered by many beer experts to be the best beer in the world. Had a fun evening at our table talking with a native Münchener, Ed. He loves the U.S., has a house near Sarasota, Florida (he spends most of his time in Germany though), drives a Corvette and can't understand why we enjoy Germany so much.
Next morning, Saturday, we’re in the world famous Hofbräuhaus for a traditional Munich breakfast. 1000 (10 AM) bring it on!
Fine German craftsman ship in cabinetry and glassware. Shelves of one-liter glass beer mugs.
The traditional Munich frühstück (breakfast), weißwurst, sweet mustard, bretzel and beer.
How to circumcise a weißwurst (white sausage).
On the west side of Munich is the world’s largest biergarten, Hirschgarten. The biergarten is on the north side of a park with the same name. Outside, Hirschgarten sits 8000 people. In their gasthaus another 320 can sit in beautiful Bavarian décor.
They serve Augustiner, one of Munich’s “Big Six” breweries, at Hirschgarten. Many consider Augustiner the best beer made by any of big Munich brewers.
Huge, it sits 8000. The table outside seem to go on forever. They have a nice playground for kids and an enclosed deer and goat area.
Next stop, just a short tram ride away is the Augustiner Keller. It’s another very large biergarten seating 5000 and is heavily shaded by large chestnut trees.
One of the bier stations at the Augustiner Keller. Poured right out of the wooden keg. Just right of the keg is the round hammer used to tap the keg. Our beers await.
Perfect, half a chicken with spices and herbs to make it something special. Hey, they serve Augustiner here too.
We arrived at the Augustiner Keller around noon but because it was a bit cool, 60 degrees, overcast and, although it never happened, rain was threatening. So this video shows an interesting view of a near empty biergarten.
The J. W. on the Augustiner sign is for Joseph Wagner, who took over the brewery in 1862. The J. W. on the new hat stands for Jeff Wickstrom. Always one of Jeff's favorite beer logos.
On the west side of Munich's English Garden is Osterwaldgarten. Small it only seats 350 outside but a very nice place. Inside the gasthaus it's quite pretty.
They serve Spaten at Osterwaldgarten.
Our last beer garden of the day. With a visit here we have accomplished a lifetime achievement of visiting all four beer gardens in the English Garden; Chinesicher Turm, Seehaus, Osterwaldgarten (just visited), and now the Hirschau.
Breakfast at the Hofbräuhaus and now for the evening meal there too. Great seats in front of the band and, typically, we met some great German folks to spend the night with, Ober and Vonne.
A nice German band at the Hofbräuhaus. Interestingly, the clarinet player and the accordion player were both blind.
End of the night in front of the Hofbräuhaus we ran into a real a dick. Actually, it's a bachelor party and he's the groom.
Munich is always soooo much fun!! Great places to visit (yes, we've done all the museums, churchs and palaces), intriguing history, amazing places to eat and drink, and wonderful people to meet and talk to; can't ask for more than that. One more little item to discuss about Munich in the next blog. PROST!!
A friend of ours from Texas, Mike Franklin (Porker), worked an American Airlines flight into Frankfurt last weekend so we drove up to Mainz to pick him up at their layover hotel and then spent the afternoon in Wiesbaden. The planned events of the day were to visit some beer gardens and ride the Nerobergbahn (Nero hill train).
After picking up Mike we drove from Mainz over to Wiesbaden to have a bratwurst and beer at Walters. Walters is a long time imbiss that’s across the street from the old USAFE Wiesbaden hospital and the Amelia Earhart military hotel. Both of those establishments are no longer in US hands but for those of you that were stationed at the hospital or Lindsey Air Station, you’ll remember Walters;. still the same quick, quality German food.
From Walters we drove out into the countryside just east of Wiesbaden to Hockenberger Mühle, a wonderful restaurant and beer garden. What could be better than sitting on the edge of the forest, talking with old friends and drinking a crispy German beer?
Mike and I at Hockenberger Mühle beer garden.
Back into the city, we parked at one of Wiesbaden’s many parks and walked to the bottom station of the Nerobergbahn.
How can this happen? In the park on the way to the Nerobergbahn.
The Nerobergbahn is a funicular railway which is a train with two cars connected by a cable that move up and down steep embankments where the weight of the descending car counterbalances and pulls the ascending car up the hill. The Nerobergbahn is one of the few water powered funicular trains in the world. After a car reachs the top station, 7000 liters (1800 US gallons) of water are pumped into the a reservoir in the car. At the same time, at the bottom station, the same amount of water is released from that car. That water will be pumped back to the top for use there. Once the passengers are loaded and the brake is released the weight of the car at the top will cause it to begin rolling down hill and simulaneously pull the lighter car at the bottom back up the hill.
The bridge from the bottom station of the Nerobergbahn to the side of the hill. A lot of work to get up a hill to another park. The Nerobergbahn was built in 1888. The city had planned to convert the train to electricity prior to WW II but that was put on hold for the war. From 1944-48 it was inoperable do to war damage and when it was repaired the city never again considered a conversion to electricity. The average gradient of the track is 19% with a maximum of 26%.
At the bottom station of the Nerobergbahn and one of the two cars.
View from the top. Germans like to lay around on the grass. The top of the Neroberg (Nero Hill) is a park area. Very nice.
A little down the hill at a viewing point. A nice view of Wiesbaden with the red brick Marktkirche. That's where we'll be heading next, right next to the city Rathaus and it's beer garden.
WWI Memorial at the top of Neroberg.
An outdoor performing arena at the top of the hill. There was some performing art going on. Of course, it was in German but you could tell it was art. At least that’s what Jeff said, “Art is kind of like pornography, you’ll know it when you see it.”
On our way back to the bottom of Neroberg.
A car coming up to the top station.
A good view of the track. You can see that the middle rail is shared by both cars. Half way down, the tracks split so that the cars can pass but otherwise this is the track layout. On the left you can also see the steel cable that is attached to both cars and will pull the ascending car and lower the descending car. The Nerobergbahn is 1440’ long, and so, of course, is the steel cable. Up ahead, it kind of looks like the track just drops over the side.
Video on the descent. It takes 3.5 minutes for the cars to go from one station to the other but we cut out some to shorten it. You can see the cars pass in this video. At the very end you can hear as we pull into the bottom station and, almost immediately, water is released from the car.
Water releasing from the bottom car.
Seeing the houses around the park also made the walk to the Nerobergbahn well worth the trip. Wiesbaden is a very wealthy city and homes like these are common and indicative of well-to-do people, both past and present.
Our final stop of the day/evening was the Wiesbaden Rathaus beer garden. After some delicious Kloster Andech Doppelbock Dunkel we walked down into the Rathaus basement restaurant for some excellent German food.
Mike and Jeff flew A-10’s together 27 years ago in the 511th Tactical Fighter Squadron at RAF Bentwaters, UK. Man, they didn’t wear those cheater glasses back then and they certainly had more hair. Well, in at least in Jeff’s case there was more hair.
All the goals for the day were accomplished; beer gardens and Nerobergbahn. Both, along with seeing a close friend, made the trip to Wiesbaden a very good day.
A half hour northeast of Kaiserslautern is the small wine town of Einselthum. When we were stationed here in Germany during the late 80’s and early 90’s Einselthum was one of the favorite winefests of the summer. They had a rather unique format for their annual wine event. For 10 Deutsch Marks you got a .1 liter glass, complete with the unique Einselthum design, and a coupon sheet that allowed you to get a .1 liter sample of wine from ten different Einslethum vintners. The Einselthum winefest became extremely popular and, although a small village, the crowds were quite large with a good portion being American. So, not having been to Einselthum in twenty years, Jeff and I had been looking forward to this year’s festival which was scheduled for 15-17 July. We were so excited that we invited a number of friends to meet us there at 1700 (5PM) and share the fun.
Well we arrived at 1700, parked on the edge of town, met our friends and walked into the village. It was nearly dead. We did quickly come upon one vintner station that was just starting to open. We had some wine and a little cheese plate. Walking up the street a couple blocks there was another festival area. After a wine sample there we continued on a short distance to the opposite side of the village and found a third and the last area; good wine and food though. So just three festival areas instead of ten, one bumper car ride instead of a carnival area, certainly no crowd, just locals and we were probably the only Americans.
At the first festival area on the west side of the village; Harpo, Jeff, Mike and Dan. Mike is our neighbor in Colleyville, TX. He and Dan were on an American Airlines layover in Frankfurt and came down to meet us for the winefest.
We certainly had a fun time with good wine and good food but we were puzzled as to why there was such a change. Later in the night we had a nice conversation with some local Germans and asked them how the past became the present. They told us the crowds had gotten so large and there had been problems at other festivals with skinheads causing fights with Americans. That got the village a little concerned. They consciously decided to cut back. Instead of 10 vintner stations, they would have just the three we saw and each separated by a few blocks. They would not advertise either. So over time the Einselthum winefest drew fewer and fewer people, fewer and fewer Americans, until it was attended mostly by just the local Germans.
One of the three remaining festival areas in Einselthum. It was inside this vintners courtyard; very nice atmosphere and fun people. Outstanding wines and great food!!
So that was Einselthum. The good thing though, the winefest season marches on.
Our Scandinavia trip complete we had a long drive home from Stockholm. To break it up we decided to stop in Rostock, Germany and visit the business establishment of a couple of retired Luftwaffe fighter pilots that are acquaintances of Jeff’s. To get to Rostock we made the seven hour drive from Stockholm, Sweden to Gedser, Denmark. From Gedser we took the hour and forty-five minute ferry to Rostock.
After a six hour drive from Stockholm we're approaching the Øresundsbron bridge that connects Malmö, Sweden to Denmark, just south of Copenhage. From this point we're about an hour from the ferry at Gedser, Denmark that will take us on the crossing to Rostock, Germany.
On the ferry. That's our car front right. First ones on, first ones off.
Arriving in the Rostock harbor.
Until 1990 Rostock was in East Germany and the predominant shipping port for the German Democratic Republic. Following the collapse of the Eastern Bloc the Luftwaffe inherited the air base at Laage, east of Rostock, and the MiG-29’s stationed there. That’s where Jeff’s friends, Hurrell and Hooters, come in. As Luftwaffe fighter pilots they were assigned to Laage and the MiG-29 where they stayed until their retirements. That’s when they decided to go into business together; and what better business for two fighter pilots than a bar?. Hurrel and Hooters are the proprietors of Schallmauer (Sound Barrier).
Unfortunately, Hurrel and Hooters where out of town but their staff of bartenders took care of us quite well. If you consider free drinks for the night “quite well.”
Drinking Rostocker pils in Rostock. On the house at the Schallmauer for friends of the owners.
Schallmauer was a great fighter pilot bar. Fighter plane, jet and pilot memorabilia hanging all over the place. We had fun night.
Next day, finally home and the end of a wonderful trip. Here's a picture of the 42 beers we collected along the way from northern Germany, Denmark, Norway and Sweden. With these the vacation won't be over for a while.
Well, that's it. Our Scandinavia extravaganza complete. Time to rest up and get ready for the next big adventure. August, September and October already planned. Can't wait!!
