We were graciously invited by Matthias (from the Schlenkerla Brewery) to join him and some of his friends at this year's Weihenstephan Freibierfest.
Background - once a year, alumni and students of the Weihenstephan Brewing University in Freising (just north of Munich) gather together to have a beer festival on the lawn of the university. Each alumnus donates a keg of beer from the brewery they're currently working at. In exchange, they're given mugs to bring to the beer fest. Beer is free, but they'll only fill this specific mug. Since each attendee only has one mug, you need to guard it like buried treasure; if it breaks or is stolen, your night is over.
A time line of the evening convey the night's events well.
5:00 - Kev and I jump on the train from Munich to Freising
6:12 - bus from Freising train station to Weihenstephan University
6:30 - arrive; we discuss bus/train schedules for the return trip. it's crucial we get back to the Munich train station by 10pm, where we shall meet the guy who's house we're staying at this evening.
6:50 - meet up with Matthias at a nearby restaurant, meet the crew, and get our mugs for the evening
8:00 - stroll back to the university
8:15 - the anticipation climaxes as we fill our mugs with our first beer of the evening
8:20 - Prost!
8:45 - second beer of the evening
9:10 - third beer
9:15 - Kevin and I decide that we can take a faster train back to Munich
and arrive just after 10, giving us 15 more minutes at the beer festival
9:30 - I convince Kevin to let me get one more refill for the road. when i return to the group, kevin also managed a refill
9:45 - having too much fun hanging out with everyone, and the lawn looking quite comfortable, Kev and I vote unanimously to spend the night on the grass instead of going back to Munich
9:45-10:00 - Kev tries his damnedest to contact the guy we're supposed to meet. it's quite the challenge, given that we don't know his phone number or his name...
10:15 - fifth beer
10:xx - camera battery dies
11:00? - sixth beer
later - seventh beer
???? - eigth beer?
2ish/3ish - beer runs out...
little while after - head to restaurant for another half a beer and 3 garlic pizzas
4ish - Matt burns lip on scalding hot pizza. He won't feel it till tomorrow
after 4ish - guys we've been hanging out with offer us the floors of the hotel rooms they're staying at. while less comfortable than the lush grass, they're far warmer. kev and i vote unanimously to accept. head back to hotel.
later - super drunk dude vomits up some pizza/beer mix, a portion of which splashes onto Kevin's shoe. He doesn't remember the event, and won't solve the mystery of the pizza stain on his shoe till tomorrow.
4:30? - crash on carpet. excellent evening.
9:30am-ish - wake up, breath reeking of garlic.
10:00 - whole crew gathers in hotel lobby, we head to a nearby restaurant for a typical bavarian breakfast - wiesswurst and a glass of hefeweizen. (we both order something else**)
11:30 - part company with the crew, quickly purchase a large bottle of water, stroll back through downtown Freising to the train station, and board the train back to Munich.
All in all a magnificent outing. Prost Weihenstephan! Prost Fellas!
**edit: i was still a little dazed or something, i actually ordered a weiß - kev
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1 comment:
this sounds awesome! i endorse your decision, even if it meant that you missed meeting with lisa. now you will just have to come back to pittsburgh to visit again, to make up for it.
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