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. 

Vegan Bavaria

I have to say that I’m in stunned by the change in vegetarian/veganisn in Munich since I was last here, twelve years ago. 

I was a vegetarian then and I mostly ate pommes (chips), falafel (hard to find) and (once) an omelette. Being vegetarian was pretty difficult in Munchen then. 

But, I’m happy to say, things have changed. I was shocked to see vegan food everywhere in Nuremberg (past visits to Berlin showed that city to be very vegan friendly), but amazed at the extent of vegan food in Munich. I’m currently eating a very nice vegan pizza. With no cheese. 


The falafel’s still nice though. 

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. 

An average station bar

We’re a little early for our train, so sought out the bar in Nuremberg station. This bar isn’t anything like the average UK station bar. 

We’re currently sitting outside the bar, with ice cold Landwehr-brau in the sunshine. 



A few minutes ago, I had a conversation with a local bloke about fussball. He said hello and asked where I’m from. When I told him I’m from, he asked if I was from Sunderland or Newcastle (in that order). Apparently, he follows the premier league (I think that’s something to do with football). I was impressed that he was aware of geography in the UK. He also mentioned Middlesbrough. I worked there for a little while when I was 16.

Nurnburg

We’ve made a discovery of great importance today. 

Several years ago, I came across Tucher, a delicious weissbier, in (of all places) Peterborough. Wetherspoons were selling it for £1.50 a bottle, I’d assumed it was something of an experiment since it disappeared after a couple of months and wasn’t available in other towns. At least none I’d frequented. 

It made a reappearance a couple of years ago though, across the chain. While the price has substantially increased, it’s still a preferred choice. 

And, today, while wandering the streets of Nuremburg, My second in command pointed out the numerous pieces of Tucher artwork adorning the exteriors of various establishments. 

On closer inspection, I found that the stuff is actually brewed here. How didn’t I know that?


One could have attempted a brewery tour. I wonder where said brewery is located. 

We enjoyed some other beer here too. 

Bi Nuu

I have to say that I was very impressed with Bi Nuu, a really cool music venue pretty much underneath Schlesisches Tor metro station. 

We were there, of course, to see Mr William McCarthy. Despite some major technical issues, he put on a great show, with lots of Augustines’ stuff, some new material and a couple of covers. 

As always, he showed himself to be a true artist – and a gentleman. 

Before the gig, we briefly explored the area, finding a nice Indian restaurant with a pretty extensive vegan menu (and a huge vegetarian one). There was a vegetarian/vegan cafe opposite too. The whole area was packed with bars and cafes, and had a good atmosphere. We plan to return when next in Berlin. 

During and after the gig, we met a bunch of nice people, with whom we enjoyed some decent beer. 

A couple of short video clips from the evening. 

Rathaus Spandau

I believe that Spandau metro station is the most beautiful of all metro stations. I still recall being taken with it at first sight several years ago. 



However, all of this metro travel is tiring, so we’re having a sit down with a nice beer.