You must not go on Sunday. As...
You must not go on Sunday. As with the rest of Germany, most things are closed! I was in Munich for a month and had planned a day trip to Augsburg since I arrived there but things always seemed to push it off, whether it was the weather or lack of someone to go with. It sounded a bit lackluster to me but there were some interesting beers to be hunted and that would only be fun if I had a partner in crime. When push came to shove, only Hanna was really willing to take the time to accompany me, and glad she did. The weather was dreary and once we arrived on a Sunday morning, it was soon apparent that most things were closed. It was bad planning on my part but we made the best of it and went on a small photo shoot despite the gloomy skies. I’m sure under better conditions, the town would hold its own but it was not so spectacular to override the bad weather. I soon was consulting my beer guide for places to drink/eat and we made our way to my first choice, only to find a dilapidated and obviously out of business Mexican restaurant. I had to admit my 1994 guide was a bit out of date though it had served me well in other cities around Germany. Another place was close by and this one looked more promising but on arrival it was obvious it was closed as well. It still existed but it was closed on Sunday! Having a look around at it, I noticed a sign for Hasenbrau on a small pub up the street and though it was lunch time and we looked for a nice place to have one, I had to at least see if they had the beer in question as it was the main reason for my coming to Augsburg in the first place. We ventured into the small one room dive much to Hanna’s dismay and sat at a table as three locals filled the small bar. I was ecstatic once I saw the menu, as they appeared to have the full lineup of Hasenbrau products. There was weisswurst on the menu as well so I was quite satisfied with my choice and Hanna was good-natured if not enthralled with the place. It was awful out and they had five beers I had never tried so we spent a couple hours there and soon the locals became bemused with my trying every beer on the menu and asked where we were from. Hanna spoke with them in German at first, but once they knew I was American, they answered in English. I found this very polite and funny but Hanna kept speaking in German, and was a bit annoyed at their answering her in English. They got a kick out of my beer guide and the outlandish number of beers I had sampled over the years on my travels around Germany. Eventually, I had tried them all and we decided it was time to move on. We bid farewell to our new friends who gave us directions to a cemetery, as this was Hanna’s favorite thing to see. It was a bit out of the way, but it was my turn to be a good buddy and accompany her there. I still had two more beer places to visit and couldn’t count on such an easy time as in this one. I just might need some help later, and Hanna was not only a good drinking buddy that spoke the local language, she had a good sense of direction too.


Bastion Lueginsland, Augsburg, Germany 2010
Maximilianstraße
Little Sister and Big Sister
Fuggerei: statue of St Joseph