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Tags: Summer-Signature-Cocktails-Map / Beer Travel / Drinking Travel / Germany Travel / Munich Travel / → All Tags

The Secret To Summer Beer Bliss Sits In Munich

To avid beer drinkers and expats, this super summer beverage might be pretty familiar; it's the Radler, a mix of light beer and lemonade which also goes by the names of panache in France and clara in Spain. Since lemonade never fails to refresh, the Radler is a way of both adapting beer for summer bingeing and offering a refreshing beverage.

Since Oktoberfest in Munich actually takes place in September and the city is usually still experiencing summer temperatures, tucking into a Radler is a way to continue drinking into dusk without suffering heatstroke and passing out from a combo of booze and sunlight. In town and away from the Oktoberfest tents however sits Donisl Restaurant, a bastion of Bavarian cuisine for over 200 years, which happily serves up fizzy steins of Radler to those looking for a meal with their beer.

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Tags: Beer Travel / Oktoberfest / Germany Travel / Drinking Travel / → All Tags

Not All Beer Drinking Leads to Munich: Try Straubing

Munich is definitely not the only place in Germany that knows how to celebrate with beer, and this weekend's Guardian UK had a great alternative Oktoberfest tip: head to Straubing, home to the second largest beer festival in Germany and one that might be more authentic than the one we know and love.

Located not too far down the Danube from tourist destination Regensburg, Straubing gets in early by celebrating its love of beer (and all things cultural) in August—this year it's August 7 to 17. The official name of the fest is the Gäubodenvolksfest and it gets about 1.2 million visitors a year, who pay a lot less for the beer here than down the road in Munich a month or so later. Seven beer tents offer only locally-brewed beers and we recommend getting there for the opening day of the festival for the "Bierprobe"—the first tapping and trying of the beer. Prost!

Related Stories:
· Here for the Beer [Guardian]
· Oktoberfest Post-Mortem: The Five Things You Need to Know for 2009 [Jaunted]
· Germany Travel Guide [Jaunted]

[Photo: bugmonkey]

Tags: Bruno the Bear / Bears / Germany Travel / Museums / → All Tags

The Belated Return of Bruno the Bear

We haven't heard much of Germany's ill-fated-yet-lovable Bruno the Bear recently, but of course, the Germans can't let sleeping bears lie. Bruno's hit the headlines again, even though he's long dead.

(In case you missed it, Bruno terrorized locals and tourists alike last year when he escaped out of the Italian alps and went on a rampage in Bavaria, eating sheep and chickens before an anonymous hunter shot him.)

Now Bruno's stuffed body has found a home. He's going to be displayed at the Man and Nature Museum in the Nymphenburg Palace in Bavaria, a popular summer attraction. If you're passing through, expect to find Bruno there--in a "scientifically accurate context", no less--from spring 2008. Long live Bruno!

Related Stories:
· Itinerant Bear Gets Stuffed and Displayed in Munich [Deutsche Welle]
· Bruno the Bear Remembered [Jaunted]
· Bavaria Travel coverage [Jaunted]

[Not a Photo of Bruno: Hop-Frog]

Tags: Animals / Bruno the Bear / Hiking / → All Tags

Bruno the Bear Remembered

Avid Jaunted readers will remember our coverage a year ago of Germany's Bruno the Bear problem: an escapee bear who tormented Bavaria by randomly killing sheep and chickens, Bruno was eventually--controversially--killed.

So now, in honor of Bruno, the Bavarian tourism authorities have marked out a walk through the woods named the Bear Strategy Path. It follows the very same rivers, woods and autobahn paths that Bruno took and is scattered with "Bear Tips" on how to live a happy life.

Kind of ironic, as nobody can accuse Bruno's life of being too happy. And as for Bruno himself: his corpse is waiting on ice for a promised spot in a museum.

[Photo: philipyk]

Related Stories:
· Obituary: Bruno the Bear [Jaunted]
· Hikers in Bavaria Follow Bruno's Trail [Guardian]

Tags: Spas / History / → All Tags

Resort Not Afraid to Mention the War

It's fair to say that Berchtesgaden, a Bavarian resort town since the 1800s, has a lot of baggage. During the Third Reich, this idyllic spot was the site of the "Eagle's Nest," Hitler's private retreat.  Nazi buildings were razed by the Allies at the end of the war, but it was nevertheless a gutsy move for Intercontinental to build its impressive and beautiful spa here. The history has not been ignored -- the nearby Obersalzberg Documentation Center, built in 1999, covers Hitler's popularity in Bavaria as well as the Nazi planning and plotting engaged in right here.

Related Stories:
·   Springtime in Hitler's Bavarian retreat [London Times]
·   Where Hitler Played [NYT]
·   Intercontinental [Official site]
·   Berchtesgadeen [Official site]