Stammtisch in the Hofbrauhaus

Stammtisch in the Hofbrauhaus, originally uploaded by nogbad the bad.

Jemma took this one! I'm feeling jet lagged and I've been ripping through the photos to get them uploaded. We've got more than 650 between us and it's great fun looking at them all and then checking the proper name of where they were taken (and the proper spellings!).

What we did (in brief):

Saturday - Train from the airport to Marienplatz and then a walk round the Viktualienmarkt and the Hofbrauhaus and then the hotel and back out for a meal in the Ratskeller and more walking and then a beer next to the hotel.
Sunday - Nymphenburg and then the Olympiapark and up the tower. Lunch at the Chinese Tower beer garden in the Englisher Garten and then walked through to the Hof Garten. Over to the site of the Oktoberfest where we saw a dray and then back to Sendlinger Tor and up to the Assamkirche which is closed for restoration. Over to the new synagogue and up through Rindermarkt to Marienplatz and then Stachus and a few beers in the Shakespeare.
Monday - Train to Kaufering to meet George who took us round Landsberg and then to the Wieskirche (which neither of us photographed!) and coffee in Oberammergau after visiting the Christ Kindl shop. Linderhof in the rain - gorgeous! Down into Austria passing the Plansee and a walk in Ruette before heading back into Bavaria to Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Mad bus ride up to the Marienbrücke for great views and then a walk down to visit the castle. Then we flew up the autobahn to Ottobeuren and on to George and Angie's for a lovely meal before catching the train back to Munich.
Tuesday - Dropped the bag at the train station and then hit town for the glockenspiel at eleven o'clock, three churches, the market again, a stroll down Maximilianstrasse to the Maximilianeum, a walk along the river and up Tal and some shopping and a weissbeir before heading for the airport and home.

I'm uploading the photos in lumps and they will form a set on Flickr

Last of the summer beer

For those who have seen the tweets about beer and the photos I thought I'd just explain what it's all about.

Paul, Phil and I worked together 20 years ago, at that time we were auditors with Berni Inns. For the last few years we've got together to watch some cricket. We've visited Canterbury, Scarborough and Horsham in the past - Phil and Paul are cricket fans and have been doing this for far longer but I muscled in to lower the tone. The venue is planned at the start of the year when the fixture list is released; we aim for somewhere pretty with decent beer and we've now added the "Third Day Trip". The only fixed part of the format is that we park on arrival and don't use our cars until it's time to leave and that determines how far from the ground we can stay. The "Third Day Trip" started last year when we jumped on a train and visited Bognor and Arundel and this year we went to Minehead.

Minehead was a great deal nicer than Bognor and my favourite pub of the week is The Queen's Head in Minehead.

Best pint is a harder call because there are so many to chose from but I think it's the Nutcracker from Cotleigh, a local brewer. We enjoyed that in the Castle Green in Taunton.

Best meal (not too many to pick from) was fish, chips and mushy peas in a lovely place in Minehead.

The service on the West Somerset Railway is nothing short of excellent and I can't remember the last time I went anywhere with such happy and welcoming staff (many are volunteers). Well worth a visit and some lovely countryside on the journey.

If anyone wants to see the rest of the photos they are on Flickr.

Next year? Well we're going to see where Lancashire might play any away games but that's not big deal - I'm sure we'll find something to do wherever we end up.

More government madness

Plans for a minimum price for alcohol

The government's top medical adviser has drawn up plans for a minimum price for alcohol which would double the cost of some drinks in England. Under the proposal from Sir Liam Donaldson, it has been reported that no drinks could be sold for less than 50 pence per unit of alcohol they contain. It would mean most bottles of wine could not be sold for less than £4.50.

BBC News 15/03

Of course, as was discussed this morning on the broadcast media, this won't have an enormous impact on those with a steady income and a controlled alcohol habit. The groups which will be hardest hit are those people who are addicted to booze and those with a low or no income. These groups tend to overlap.

Of course there are some major flaws in the logic here. If I travel for about an hour from here I can be in a Calais Hypermarket stocking up on as much booze as the car will carry. Increasing the differential between UK prices and those on the mainland of Europe is a great was of helping the ferry services and the French economy. As with other drugs those who have a real addiction will turn to illegal means to acquire the means with which to buy their drug of choice - is there any reason to believe that alcohol is any different in this regard?

One of the declared target groups are younger people who binge drink but many of these people have the highest disposable income;first job, living with parents, no mortgage, etc. One of the target groups not explicitly declared is made up of those homeless people who drink cheap cider - they are price-sensitive but without additional support to deal with a wide-range of problems, sometimes including mental health issues, simply hiking the price of White Lightening isn't sorting anything out at all.

Another worrying strand is that this isn't a tax. The government are considering instructing private companies on their charging policies but the government will not get any of the money raised by this policy should it be introduced. This really is the nanny state gone mad.

Nobody doubts that alcohol is a dangerous drug and the damage caused by misusing it can be devastating but this isn't the correct way of dealing with the issues. No personal agenda here - I earn a reasonable whack and if I want a drink I might grumble about the price but I can afford the money. If I decided to binge drink I could still afford it (In fact since I stopped smoking I have a good deal more disposable income). I suppose this also points to the stupidity of this plan - it'll just be the middle-class who can afford to go on getting wrecked but they will keep on drinking regardless of what Liam thinks happens behind the net curtains.

BBC NEWS | England | Dream job? Beer taster wanted

More about "BBC NEWS | England | Dream job? Beer ...", posted with vodpod

Job as a beer taster available - it's in Lincolnshire but the end of the queue is currently just outside Cardiff :-)

Season's greetings

All the very best to everyone. Whether you celebrate Christmas, something else or nothing at all at this time of year I wish you all you wish yourself.

Cricket - Horsham Festival

Have to post a little about the cricket festival. It's actually an excuse for three middle-aged blokes to get together for a few beers. We worked together some 20 years ago. Horsham is a smashing little town with some great architecture and brilliant pubs. We also had a day out to Bognor and a hike around Arundel - no beer in Bognor but we visited a few pubs in Arundel. We dined on tapas in the sun on Friday evening and had a couple of beers in the Beefeater next to the hotel.

A good time was had by all. Click the image to go to the Flickr photostream.

Pint of the week (for me anyway) has to be the King & Barnes' Sussex in The Bear in Horsham but an honourable mention goes to the Harvey's Sussex Best in The White Hart in Arundel (shown in the photo posted earlier). Pub of the week is The Bear - anyone in Horsham should visit it for the great beer and friendly folk. Cricket moment of the week was de Bruyn's straight drive over the bowler's head for a big six which landed among the children learning tennis on the courts behind the Church End. Stickiest Tables goes to the Bar Vin in Horsham. No need to wax your arms, lean on a table here and it'll do the trick - the bar is the same (I'm afraid).

Thoughts from Sy

Sy and I used to share some office space. Suggesting we worked together would almost certainly breach all sorts of laws about accuracy; I'm not sure either of us worked but even if we did the idea that our short bursts of work-like activity coincided stretches the imagination beyond bursting point. Anyways..... Sy is a techy and now he's blogging too!

I recommend his posting extolling the virtues of an environmentally sensible lifestyle as an entry point to the world of Sy but sample the other goodies on display too.