I’ve not had a shave in over a week. And I’m on a train which is waiting twenty something minutes before we leave York.
My face is quite itchy.
We did manage a couple of bottles of Erdinger in the Draper’s Arms, Peterborough.
Category Archives: Travel
Becks
Well, we’re now back in the UK. Or Stansted. Sort of the UK. We’ve some time to kill before our train, so beer seemed like a good idea.
It had to be Becks. Germany, I miss you.
Aventinus
I have fond memories of Schneider Weiss Aventinus from many years ago. My now son-in-law sampled a little too much of the 12% Aventinus Eisbeck when I was last in Munich, while the 8.2% Aventinus proved to be a safer option.
I’m now back in the Schneider Weiss Brauhaus after twelve years. This visit was only for the purposes of a single Schneider Weiss original. And it was very nice.
As is the Tap 6 Aventinus I’m now drinking.
Mr McCarthy in Munich
There were no technical issues this evening, so we’d anticipated a less random performance than in Berlin. But that wasn’t to be the case.
In a good way. Don’t get me wrong, Berlin (as broken as it was) was great. But this evening was astounding.
After the gig, we had a nice conversation with the man himself. We mentioned seeing him next in Newcastle and he told us that he’d heard that girls don’t wear coats, carry their shoes and piss in the street there. I suspect that Rob (Augustines’ drummer) may have told him that.
I deeply regret the end of the Augustines, and hope that they’ll perform as a band again one day.
Meanwhile, though, I hope that Mr William J. McCarthy has success as a solo performer. And I look forward to pissing in the street with him next month.
A couple of short videos, I’ll put others on Youtube.
A pee in a bush and a bit of synchronicity
My second in command made a new friend in Erding today. A lady called Jieun. She’s from South Korea. And very nice too.
So let’s talk synchronicity first. When I was last in Munich, with Lucy and Ian (Otherwise known as the only man in the world to have a ladybird poop on his shirt) I met a man from South Korea. A businessman. A very nice man. He gave me his email address, but I wrote it down incorrectly. I hope he wasn’t offended that I never kept in touch. I tried.
Today was also largely about a beer I developed a taste for a dozen years ago. Erdinger. My second in command and I ventured to Erding today. We’d booked a brewery tour at the Erdinger brewery. We met the tour outside the fan club , after buying stuff we don’t need.
Well, maybe we do. We can drink our Erdinger in the garden this sumner, from the proper glasses.
Anyway, the tour was amazing. At only €15, you get a beer while you watch a film to give you some background information. Followed by a walk through the whole process.
While they produce 200k plus bottles a a day, the process still takes a month. The place is huge, I mean huge.
No fish are involved in the process. None at all. Which is good since the brewery tour ends in pretzels and sausages and (lots of) beer. The pretzels were very nice, with some pretty heavy duty mustard. I did decline the white, floppy penis-like sausages though.
Anyway, we, with a group of gentlemen from Nottingham (and my second in command’s new friend), left long after the tour had ended. The brewery called us a cab to the station, where we had two minutes to wait for the train to leave.
Unfortunately, my bladder required me to pee before the S-bahn to Munich. Which meant that I needed to find a bush near the station. I’d barely started to pee before people started to shout that the train was about to leave.
So I had around six pints of fresh beer, which meant my S-bahn limit wasn’t great. We’d aimed fot Munich hbf, but I couldn’t quite make it, so alighted at Marienplatz. Where, soon after, we found a nice (local) bar, where we seemed to be accepted. Franziskaner (from a drawer under the bar).
We enjoyed the brewery tour very much. A video of bottles of beer. Many bottles.
Spaten
My second in command needed to pee en-route to our hotel, so we found a nice little bar. Where we found some Spaten pilsner.
I’ve not been in Munich for twelve years, but have recognised some places within minutes. Some things have changes though; in common with Berlin, there’s a lot of building work.
Fiio
Although it’s once more been stolen by my second in command, my Fiio X1 is an excellent train companion.
Three
My second in command and I were considering the purchase of euro-friendly SIM cards for our forthcoming trip to Germany.
We had been somewhat disgruntled during our last trip to Berlin because our network (Three) didn’t cover roaming costs in Germany. So we relied on wifi and, occasionally, took a hit with data costs. Germany was pretty much the only country in the world not covered by an arrangement for Three customers.
Happily, while looking for SIM cards this evening, I’ve discovered that my search is now unnecessary.
Three customers can now use their data allowance, including texts, at no additional cost in Germany.
Autoreise
After last October’s numerous trips to see Augustines during what became their final tour, we’re now planning something of an autoreise to see their former front man, William McCarthy, as he embarks on a (second) solo tour.
Gig tickets have been purchased for Berlin and Munich, and flights booked (after lengthy discussion).
National Express
I’m quite enjoying my National Express experience today.
Not only did I find a seat with masses of leg room, there has been an interesting conversation across the aisle; two women sharing crocheting tips. I may also have laughed a little when a lady locked herself in the toilet, although I did produce a 50p coint with which the door was opened. And a man is wearing slippers; he seems to have brought them for the journey, since I’m certain he had shoes when boarding.
I made the obligatory National Express comment on Twitter and was pleasantly surprised with a response.
