a foggy day in Friesing

I did not type a dyslexic misspelling of “Firenze.” Freising is a beautiful town near Munich where fewer people speak English. This worked out really well for someone like me whose knowledge of the local language is things like “Hi, my name is,” “God bless you,” and uselessly “Do you speak German?” Thanks to Sylvia and Ben – and their phonetic pronunciations – I did learn two options for the word “brewery.”

I’d never been to Germany (airports aside) before, and Freising was a nice first impression. It’s built between around two hills. Atop one hill is elegant St. Georg Cathedral; incidentally Freising is the current pope’s hometown. Like a good catholic boy, I stopped in to briefly admire it, but atop the other hill was the goal of my real pilgrimage: What claims to be the world’s oldest brewery.

Hence the importance of the words “brewhaus” (Sylvia) and “brawerie” (Ben).

Hofbrauhaus Freising was officially established in 1160 but first started brewing over a millennia ago. The church was an easy find to me (belltower!) but the brewery took a little discussion with the locals. Sadly I did not get a tour because it was nine in the morning on a Wednesday, but I did go to the biergarten next door. They only open at ten, but the staff was kind enough to let me sit there and drink beer for an hour when they realized I did not want directions to a coffeehouse. Practice, in this case a millenium’s worth, does make perfect. The beer was spectacular. They enjoyed my singing the American songs on their radio and seemed to adore that I knew the words to “Du Bist Nicht Allein” when it came on. Music aside, we chatted in broken English and even more broken German. Around ten, they served me a hearty breakfast of wienerschnitzel while the regulars walked in for their morning brews (not coffee). I would have gladly stayed late into the afternoon, but I had a plane to catch.

So without knowing the German language, I sped through Freising, visited the two prominent sites, and made my international flight. I would dominate The Amazing Race if it involved drinking.