The Hirschgarten

Greetings from the world's largest Biergarten - the Hirschgarten! I'll have to update this latter, because I don't have the stats with me, but I believe the grounds seat around 8,000 beer lovers. Augustiner is the favorite beer of people from Munich - and here they serve it directly from the Holzfaß. (wood barrel) In the 1800's this park served as a place where deer (Hirsch) were raised to be released for the royalty to hunt. It is near the Nymphenburg castle, part time home of the Wittelsbach, and at the time in the countryside - outside of the city of Munich. Now this park is part of Munich proper, and the deer need not be too worried - they are fenced off to amuse the children while their parents drink Maß after Maß of Augustiner Bier.

We concluded our day here after hiking all morning and afternoon through the Bavarian Alps. Elfi and Stefan took us up to the Rotwand (near Spitzingsee) for a wonderful hike with spectacular scenery that was somewhat subdued, or possibly enhanced, by the thick fog. After two hours of hiking through land that seemed to be in the middle of nowhere, we popped into an Alm with a large Gaststätte packed full hikers drinking beer and enjoying a lunch of bacon dumpling soup. That is one of the things I love about Germany, no matter where you go, and no matter how remote, you can always find a good meal and a great beer!