Truly madly Munich
Relaxing with a few beers – oh, and maybe a chicken – is part of the Bavarian way of life for men and women, young and old. Andrew Burnyeat reports
Imagine a public park filled with row upon row of tables and benches. Now imagine those benches heaving under the weight of the collective backside of the local populace.
The weather is bright and sunny, everyone has a two-litre jug of beer and is chatting quietly to the people around them. Away from the tables, children are playing happily on the grass. A brass band is playing under a large bandstand.
Sat on the chairs are young women, old men, young men and old women everyone seems to be here.
Our dream takes us to the Chinesiche Turm, the beer garden known in Munich as the Englischer Garten. The bandstand is a large pagoda by a tiny, rather makeshift-looking bar which serves several different types of beer and a range of delicious meals to crowds of up to 7,000. Its a remarkable feat, reminiscent of a certain story involving loaves and fishes.
The people of Munich are proud of their beer and occasions such as these are commonplace. In the United Kingdom, it would be an annual beer festival; the glasses would be plastic; there would be twice as many men as women and there would be litter everywhere.
And the scene is not restricted to the park. Right in the centre of the city, another makeshift bar is selling chicken and beer to rows of local people.
What strikes the British tourist is that everyone is represented its not just football fans or middle-aged men and the volume of the crowd is strangely muted. People are talking, but not in an animated, drunken way.....
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By Andrew Burnyeat
Section : Beer Journeys
Page number : 43
