A week after Mike left, the family started on a 9 day adventure through southern Germany and Austria.  For my beer friends that don't like sappy family pictures, I have some beer commentary at the end of this long blog, so you can fast forward to the end.

First stop was Koblenz, where the Rheine and Mosul rivers merge.  It is just outside this town that Burg Eltz sits.  This is considered the most well preserved castle, with original furnishings and artifacts from the Elz family, who have owned this castle since its construction in 1100 a.d.  The behind the scenes story for this was the 2.5 km walk through a forest on a dirt path with M in a stroller.  This was an uphill journey on a path with mud puddles, fallen trees, and eroded path.  This was not paved or stroller friendly by any means.  At the start of our walk a German man coming the other way stopped, patted me on the back, and said something to the effect of "it is straight up, rocky, and good luck with that stroller!"  Well...he thought it was funny.  He was right however, it took over an hour to get to the castle, only to find we had about 60+ steps to climb to get to the entrance of the castle.

2.5 km up hill and 60+ steps later:

 We made it!  We grabbed a bite to eat, got the last English speaking tour of the day, and then shortened our return trip to only 50 minutes. For those of you that would like to visit Burg Elz, and are willing to do the most minimal amount of trip planning, you will find out that you can drive to the castle and park nearby, and a shuttle will drop you off at the door.  Yup...we found out about that at the Entrance!

Next day we were off to Ettal, and small town south of Munich, and close to Neuschwanstein.  This is the castle that inspired the design of the Walt Disney castle.  But first, Ettal.  It is a small ski resort town with a Benedictine Monestary at its center.  And yes, they have a Klosterbrauerei to support the monastery.  Their beer is called Ettaler.  During our stay in Ettal, I decided to do God's work and try almost all of their beers.  I also bought 2 of their distilled spirits.  The following is a picture of the Monastery, set at the foot of the alps:

The next morning we went to Neuschwanstein.  You may be able to see the resemblance to the Disney castle:

One little know fact is that the Nazis stored some of their stolen artwork in this castle during WWII.  This was not mentioned on the tour for some reason ;)

And we can't miss an opportunity to "take a load off" and ride the horse drawn carriage up to the castle.  We have a 3 year old afterall...

Although we did not get any pictures that would do it justice, I must say that the Bavarian region is the most beautiful area I have ever seen.  Just driving through the region was amazing!  Every turn was a new view of the lush green countryside, with the Alps as the backdrop.

Next day, on to Salzburg, Austria.  This town, known largely in America as the "Sound of Music" setting, is also very beautiful.  Our first order of business after checking in to the hotel was a stop at the Augustiner Braustubl (beer garden and food court).  This place was close to the hotel and was a perfect first stop (and second stop).  This is again a monastery that makes beer to support itself.   It sits atop a hill, with a park across the street.  So a few pictures of each, as well as a video of M:

M likes to do "cheers", she is such a daddy's girl!:

Next up:  Daytrip to Dachstein to ride a cablecar, and tour an ice cave.  This destination has so much to do that it really takes 2 days, but we only had one.  We took the long cable car ride up to the first stop.  M really liked the ride, and had no fear of looking out the window.  Upon arrival, we were again faced with a long uphill walk to the cave entrance, but at least this one was mostly paved.  We had to leave the stroller at the entrance of the cave, so M had to walk the 1 km cave (although we picked her up a few times to help her up some icy steps).  She did very well, and the tour was very interesting.  Here are some pictures of the views and inside the cave:

 Does this look like a dog to you?:

 That's the town of Hallstatt,12,000 feet below of Dachstein mountatin, next to the lake:

After one more day in Salzberg (and another stop at Augustiner), we were off to Rothenberg ob der Tauber.  Rothenberg is a German "walled" city, that was the very few cities that did not get leveled completely after WW II.  We stayed in a small B&B just off the center of the town.  We happened to be there during a Renaissance type festival, so the atmosphere was great and festive.  We toured the city, which included a garden where I caught H & M relaxing.  And then a shot of the wall that surrounds the city.

It is also home to a very famous Christmas store and museum called Kathe Wohlfahrte's, where it is Christmas all year.

And that concludes the family version of the trip.  Nine days in total, 2000 km of driving (1,243 miles).

Now for beer highlights:
Ettaler:  Standard Weiss and Dunkel Weiss beers, all were good, but nothing stood out as exceptional.  They made spirits as well, with one flavored with Hallertauer hops, and one with spices and honey.  There was a "gin" sort of spirit, and a Jagermeister type.  I bought the Hop Flavored and the Honey flavored as novelty.

Salzburg was the beer winner of the trip.  The Augustiner was a Maibock, it was the only one being served.  It was poured from a tilted wooden barrel with a spigot at the bottom.  No forced co2.  The beer was mild, perfectly balanced between malty and slight hoppiness.  In fact, it was the easiest beer to drink I have ever had.  It was rich, but light, and while it had taste, it did not have any bitterness, just a light nutty and malty flavor.  The head, having been poured from a barrel, was thick and stayed with the beer to the last drop. We drank from stone porcelain mugs (as seen in the earlier pictures), so it had a very "old world" feel to the experience.  If you are ever in Salzburg, Augustiner is a MUST!

We also went to a brewpub called Die Weisse.  Also a must if in Salzburg.  They had 3 different Weisse beers, the Original Wiesse being the best.  All of their beers were great, I even brought home a Christmas ale they had bottled.  The food was outstanding here too.

 
Finally in Salzburg, we rested in a cafe that served the following beer.  It was Organic, but quite tasty nonetheless.  It had a slight bready bite to it in the body, which made it unique.  Get it if you are touring around.  It is a nice day beer:

Finally, while in Rothenberg, the local Kloserbraueri made both a Weiss and a dunkel.  I preferred the Weiss, but both were good.  I love the bottle's label too:

So, if in Bavaria, do God's work and drink lots of beer made by the monks in the monasteries.  You will not be disappointed!

It has been a while since the last post due to my return to the U.S.  Special Thanks to Ken and Cheryl, Anh and Gary, and Mark and Danielle for putting me up over the course of my stay (or more appropriately "putting up with me" over the course of my stay!). I cannot thank you guys enough for your generosity. 

Upon my return we had a visitor, Mike, my homebrewing buddy and neighbor from Philly.  After a couple of days showing him Dusseldorf, Mike and I drove to Leuven, Belgium for the Zythos Belgian Beer Festival.  We had two days of tasting Belgian beer, with over 500 to choose from.  They had my beloved Poperinge Hommel beer on tap, as well as St. Bernardus Abt 12.  Both of which brought back memories of our trip to St. Bernardus last year.   We had some amazing beers and even noticed that the American hoppy ales and IPA's are catching on in Europe.  Many were made with American hops imported from the Pacific northwest.  We met some folks from the Netherlands, including a guy that was at least 7 feet tall.  There was also a surprising amount of folks from the U.S. there, to the point that we avoided them, opting to hang with the Dutch instead.

When we returned from the Beer Festival, Mike and I jumped on a train to Amsterdam.  I returned to the Beirtuin, Windmill Brewery, Beir Fabriek, and DePrael, and then we also hit some other pubs along the way.  Mike found a cigar shop with a very cool speakeasy in the back.  Since I do not smoke cigars, he introduced me to high end Port wine, which was a nice surprise and very enjoyable.   Amsterdam has so much, I just love that city.

Upon our return from Amsterdam, I packed up Mike and the family and headed off to Achel Monastery and Brewery.  Yes, another one of the 11 Trappist breweries.  It was a beautiful day to enjoy lunch and a beer in this beautifully restored old farm and stable complex.  It is only about an hour and 15 minute drive, so we may be back! 

From there we checked into our room at an Alpaca farm.  It was fun for Marissa to pet and feed the Alpacas.  There was also an artist that lived next door, who created a garden filled with copper sculptures.

And Mike's visit was not yet complete.  We had an extra couple of days to finish showing him around Dusseldorf, including visiting the Schumacher, Uerige, Fuschen, and Schlussel breweries, all known for their altbeer.  Throw in some schweinehax from Schweine Jane's (best in DD), and Mike's trip to Dusseldorf was complete.