The Grande Finale Beer Fest, Austrian roadtrip and Munich with fantastic friends!

In early October, we were fortunate to have a superb crew of friends visit from Chicago and Charleston.  We had a table reserved for Volksfest, the Stuttgart Fall Beer Festival, so the timing was fantastic!

Julie, Jamie, and Dayna arrived a few days early so I got to show them around Stuttgart's cobblestone streets and parks.

Jamie, Megano, and Julie in front of old timber buildings in Bad Canstatt

We enjoyed the sunshine as we walked to along the park.

 Jamie, amused by the German park rules, decided to sprawl in the pristine grass, later she realized she was lounging in duck feces
We checked out the famous Wilhelmina Zoo and observed a few creatures.

The handsome white one is called Lorenzo Lamas

We brought the gals to our favorite neighborhood bistro,  Il Pomodoro, the BEST pizza in Germany and I would wager the best pizza anywhere outside of Italy.

Vegetarian pie with onions, olives, tomatoes and mushrooms & Arugula pie with fresh buffalo mozzarella


Dayna (a real Italian broad), Megano (falling into a food comma) and Scoots post dinner

The next night, Joe arrived from his work meeting in Munich and Leigh-Ann arrived from Charleston.  Our crew celebrated Joe's birthday at Cavos Taverna, a lively Greek restaurant turned nightclub.

Ouzo and sparklers to celebrate Joe's special day

We shared a smorgasbord of flavorful Greek specialties.

Pita, Zucchini, Hummus, Beans, Tzaiki, Lamb kebab

Unsurprisingly, after a night of hookah bars and general debauchery on Stuttgart's "club" street, we were not in optimal shape.  The next morning, we had a table reserved in the Gockelesmaier tent at Volksfest for 11 am and were told that they would give it away if we were late.  The Germans are very punctual so we did not want to break their sacred rules and risk losing our table.

8 of our 10 ppl, including Jose (Spanish teacher friend), Scott, Lou, MPS, Jamir, Jo, Julie, D

Thus, our "team" rallied and woke up early to get to the fest by 11:25 and continue celebrating German style.  Fortunately, a massive beer before noon is the perfect cure for a potential hangover.

Julie claimed it was the "greatest day ever" as she clank her stein and sang songs of joy.

Our expat friends Moose and Ken joined us at the table and taught our friends the traditional German drinking songs and fest dances.

Julie was in her element as she danced and shouted it was the "happiest day" of her life.

Moose and Julie seriously doing the Macerena seriously out of sync

We scarfed down massive hot pretzels, delicious even without senf (mustard), a crucial condiment.  

Jamir (Jamie's alter ego) coming out to play, Leon and Phoot in the background

Dayna enjoyed using her pretzel for a variety of charades.

Dayna came to Europe for 3 short days but made the most of her trip

So great to see my pal D letting loose

Dayna calling home to check on her lil babies - JJ and Evelyn

What a glorious day...

It seems like the fest is filled with preteens but the drinking age is 16 years old.  Binge drinking is not only a problem among American youth.

My pals harrasing this suffering german toddler, poor guy had 1 too many

One of our favorite fest rituals is non sober bumper cars.  Jamir enjoyed it as much as we could have hoped.

Notice poor Scoots and D in the background because they were too slow to snag a car this round

Leigh-Ann befriended an adolescent German and joyfully jumped in his car.

A few days later, Julie, Jamie, Leigh-Ann and I took a roadtrip to the Alps. 

We went to Berwang, Austria and took a cable car up to the Zugspitz, Germany's highest mountain peak.  

View from the cable car

The alpine lake looked surreal below us from the top of the peak.

Pic with Leon's handy selfie stick

Julie, a fearless ER nurse, braved a rugged staircase to get to the highest part of the Zugspitz but the rest of us were chickens and scared of falling to our demise.

Julie raising arms victoriously in the distance

It was mighty cold on that peak but we came prepared with backpacks and warm hats.

My sister from another mister (aka Louis) finally in the Alps with yours truly

We had a scrumptious snack of kraut and wursts on top of the mountain.

 Jamie loves meat of all sorts

Photo collage thanks to Leigh-Ann's @bonafideproductions Instagram

Later that day, we went on a hike in search of a waterfall.  Instead of finding the waterfall, we found a teeny hut/bar and stopped for local (aka basement brewed) beers.

Leon and Juicy chanting "Prost" and "the Hills are live with the Sound of Music"

The next day, we drove by hundreds of cows in green meadows to the Kloster Andechs Brewery in Bavaria.  Next stop, Munich's famous English Garden.

The gals slurping hefeweizens and pilsners at the beergarden in the English Garden

My last night with Jamir, Julie, and Leigh-Ann was a night we will remember.

Heading out for the night in a Marriott elevator, pic above is reflection in mirror - LA has sick camera skills

We devoured tapas at a cute restaurant and met some friendly Portuguese expats who were living in Munich.

Me, Tiago, Diego?, and LAB

Tiago told me tales of his childhood, living in Lisbon, as a "bastard" child of a wealthy Dutchman.  Tiago's grandfather, who he never had a chnace to meet, was the inventor of ... (wait for it)... PEANUT BUTTER.  I was blown away by this PB revelation but skeptical until he revealed a picture of his famous Dutch Grandfather's statue located in the town of Delft in Holland.

 If you want to learn about the Dutch peanut butter dynasty more check out: http://dutchcommunity.com/2014/09/24/the-history-of-calve-peanut-butter/

 One of the Shank's most ambitious life goals is to karaoke in every country in the world.  Thus far, France, England, Austria, Italy, Spain, Czech Republic, and the Netherlands (and soon Portugal) have had the pleasure to hear our melodies but and we had yet to sing in Germany.  

Luckily, the Portuguese gents told us that Shamrock Pub had karaoke so we went and sang our hearts out to a rowdy crowd of Brits and Irish las.  It was a glorious last night before heading back to Stuttgart.  

We are truly grateful to share experiences and visits from such wonderful friends!  Thank you Jame and Julie for the gifts, especially my favorite hard to find Hungarian spicy dark chocolate (and American dry shampoo - hooray).

Jules at the fancy chocolate store