Not all who wander are lost

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Krakow

In August, my friend and I visited Krakow for a couple of days and I just kind of fell in love with this quaint town. It reminded me a lot of Prague, but more cozy. The pictures really speak for themselves!

Cramped quarters on our overnight train - actually we had the whole carriage to ourselves, but it was an adventure to have the top bunks. Kind of like college again!

In a church

We just happened upon this church and it was really pretty!

Main market square area

St. Mary's Basilica

St. Mary's

Market

Pierogi - potatoes and cheese dumplings covered in onions

Synagogue

Cool cafe

Another cool cafe

Castle

We took a 3-hour bike tour on our own and basically rode along the river the entire time. It was incredibly relaxing and a fun way to see the city!

Castle

Wonderful Polish Wodka

St. Mary's by night

Our apartment we rented

Apartment

We went on a Communism tour and rode in the red car. It was pretty old and falling apart, but it was fun! We learned a lot about life in Krakow during communism and how this one area was built specifically for workers in a huge factory. The propaganda and design were interesting to me as a city planner.

The vision of life in this area

The reality

They aren't sure why it's called Ronald Reagan street

Wodka tasting

Apartment we saw on our tour - it was common for people to have a distiller in their bathrooms.

Lenin statue

Outside the massive factory that the town was built to support

Learning to drive

Castle in Krakow

Pope John Paul

Eclectic cathedral

Krakow Castle

Friday, December 2, 2011

Brauerei Härle

Growing up, I always thought it was incredibly cool that there was a beer with my name on it in Germany. In August, I made my first ever trip to the only remaining brewery for a personal tour with my friend who was visiting. My cousin (I forget how many times removed) runs the brewery - Gottfried Härle and gave us an amazing tour.

Gottfried Härle

He explained that his great-grandfather started the brewery (he and I are of the same generation of Härle's). His great-grandfather and his four brothers (one of whom was my great-grandfather) each started their own Härle breweries in southern Germany. Today, only one remains, in Leutkirch im Allgau (very southern Germany). I learned a lot about brewing bier and specifically Härle bier. He told me that one of the Härle brothers visited the Czech Republic in the early 1900's and tasted Pilsner Urquell (the number one beer sold in the CR and first Pilsner style bier in the world). Mr. Härle came back and said, "I can make that too." He made the first pilsner style bier in Germany. Pretty darn cool! In addition to that, the brewery is incredible eco-friendly and it was a true treat to learn about all the efforts they take to brew bier and respect the environment.

Where bier begins

I need these tables!

The brewery won a top award and was selected as one of the top 3 environmentally friendly companies in Germany. A huge thing as Germany is very into environmentalism, and this is a small brewery. They only distribute 50 kilometers (about 30 miles) around the city of Leutkirch.