Starkbierfest, Munich, Germany

Here are some photos from our trip to Munich (Munchen), Germany to see the Starkbierfest (and some architecture too). Starkbier is a strong beer which is consumed in Munich during Lent. The "strength" of the beer is not referring to the alcohol content; instead it describes the concentration of dissolved solids: the starch, sugars, proteins and minerals. It was developed several hundred years ago in order to provide sustenance to the Paulaner monks as they fasted during Lent. Even today, the starkbier (also called doppelbock) is only brewed during for a few weeks during this time of the year, which is known as the "Fifth Season." Beer and the monks that produced it are so important to the city that it is literally named for them - Munchen, the German name of the city, literally means "monks."

Here we are entering the Augustiner beer hall. Augustiner is one of the breweries that produce a starkbier each year. Their particular starkbier is called "Maximator."



The following few shots are from the Hofbrauhaus beer hall. It is the biggest, most famous, and most touristy beer hall in Munich. And it was loads of fun, even though this particular beer hall didn't serve starkbier. And the food was incredible (as it was everywhere in Munich).


Will, Nick, myself...



...and Brian doing his best impersonation of the magazine article that inspired our trip.



Of course, we saw some architecture too. Here is the famous 1972 Olympic Stadium designed by the architect Frei Otto. It is a beautiful facility that does not look 36 years old. As a matter of fact, almost everything we saw in Germany was amazingly clean and well-maintained.



BMW's world headquarters building. It's not an exaggeration to say that almost half of the cars on the streets of Munich are BMWs.



The Swiss Re building outside Munich. The whole outer facade of this building is covered with vines and ivy. To bad it was winter and they were all brown and leafless. But the inner courtyards are absolutely beautiful. We were able to explore them quite a bit before we were run off.



Munich's famous Glockenspiel.



On our way home from Munich, we drove through Innsbruck, Austria, home of the 1962 and 1976 Winter Olympics.



For this trip our car was an Opel Astra. It was a bit slicker and sportier than our last ride. That's a good thing when driving over 180kph (115mph) on the Autobahn. Once again, we returned our rental without a scratch.

Camogli, Italy

Back on Sunday, February 11, after we returned from Vals, Switzerland, we still had the car for a day, so we drove about 40 minutes to the east of Genoa to the small town of Camogli, an old fishing village. As you can see, the town is incredibly beautiful. The grey building at the end of the outcrop is the Castel Dragone, the small fortress that has defended the town since 1130.

This is the town's parish church and its heavily gilded interior.


I hope I can be as grizzled as this old, bearded, one-armed sailor one day. I bet this guy has some stories to tell.

Maranello - Home of Ferrari

You know good things are to come when you are greeted at the front door by a prancing pony.


Things such as this... the pinnacle of all automotive technology - Michael Schumacher's 2005 Formula One Championship-winning car, the F2005. This is what over $50 million of design and development will buy you--the finest race car ever built.



The Enzo Ferrari - the bastard child of a Formula Car and a Stealth Fighter. 399 of these $650,000 cars were built. Ferrari (being the kind of snotty company they are, unlike the much more friendly Lamborghini) determined that their were 400 people in the world who would buy this car, so they built one less, just to ensure that everyone who wanted one would not be able to have one.


The F50, the direct predecessor to the Enzo Ferrari:



Cameron: The 1961 Ferrari 250GT California. Less than a hundred were made. My father spent three years restoring this car. It is his love, it is his passion.
Ferris: It is his fault he didn't lock the garage.



Here are some more photos of some of the various other cars on display.