Life After Work: Beer & BMWs

Due to some major internet glitches, the post I had written for Wednesday got lost in the ether somewhere. Some less than mixed company muttering might have happened. I'm now writing my text on the iPad and will copy/paste.

I'll see how much I can remember about Wednesday. At the beginning of the trip, we had scheduled a Bavarian Beer and Country tour. The idea was to drive through the countryside to a brewery and sample their beer. All good. But, we didn't realize that it was an early morning trip. Our guide assured us that Bavarians often drink beer in the morning! In the end, the tour was quite long and we didn't actually start sampling until 11:00! And, as our Aussie friends told us, "It's 7 pm in Australia so, no worries!"

This map shows most of the 600+ breweries in Bavaria.

This is one of the first pieces of art that we saw. It represents the elements involved in beer making. The Bavarian Purity Laws say that beer can only be made with water, hops, malt and yeast.

The brewery was quite eclectic at first sight. The owner had a bit of an obsession with Da Vinci and even wrote a book explaining The Last Supper. More on that later. When building the brewery, the owner wanted something different and artistic. After much cajoling and bargaining, he convinced a famous German artist named Hundertwasser to design a tower for the brewery. He also designed much of the inside of the brewery. As you can see from the photos, Hundertwasser was not fond of straight lines, even surfaces or muted colours. This is a model and the actual tower.

This cave like construction is in the lower level. You can see the 5 beer dwarves that are prominent in the brewery. The owner also likes dwarves and they are used to explain the brewing process. They move and talk. It's kind of like a beer Disneyland!

In an old beer storage tunnel, the owner had a shrine to Da Vinci. This rather large copy of The Last Supper dominates the room.

It was our first really rainy day and the tower climb was partially outside. As a result, only a few of us climbed to the top. It was worth it to see more of the artwork and the views.

Artsy rain shot.

We finally were taken to the beer hall for some samples. They told us that we could each drink three bottles of beer if we wanted! Given that we only had 20 minutes, that would have been a challenge I think. I sampled a number of beers but did not drink my quota! As we were leaving, Marilyn came back to the bus with a large box containing 6 bottles of beer and a glass shaped like the brewery tower! Somehow, we'll have to drink all the beers before we leave.

Marilyn with our Australian friends and a few beers.

The afternoon activity was a tour of the local BMW plant. We were told before we left that photography was not allowed. I should have figured that from the start I guess but it was still a bit of a let down. So, no cool shot of robots making Beemers! It was still a really great experience as we were shown the whole process from stamping of parts to chassis assembly, painting and final assembly. The best part was the final assembly line which was staffed by humans, not robots.

Tonight, we had the Chef's Signature Dinner

Avocado Tartar