Eine kleine nachtmusik

We all parted The Cheese Incident with the intent on meeting up later, but I think we had worn our friends out, so they went home and we walked to the Augustiner Brewery. The walk down the river was lovely; the rain had stopped, and the riverside park gave color to the gloom.

We followed the river for twenty minutes or so, stopping at 6pm to marvel at the number of church bells that rang out over the city at the same time. (Chris has a video of it somewhere.)
It was quite impressive to hear.

We soon arrived at the brewery, not quite sure what to expect of it. The beer has been brewed in that neighborhood since 1621, although the present structure opened at the beginning of the 20th century, with additional beer halls added throughout the century. The fifth and last hall was built in the sixties. The beer halls add up to 5000 square meters inside, and there are 1400 seats in the outdoor beer garden, which isn't used in winter for obvious reasons. The beer was started by Augustinian monks and still uses the original recipe, is brewed mostly by hand, stored in wooden barrels, and served in stone mugs, which you grab off a shelf, wash in a big tub yourself, and hand to a guy to fill from a wooden keg. Half of the brewery is still owned by monks, though they are Benedictine.

The place was pretty full but the system worked quite well. Although it is rather touristy, it is still full of locals and Austrians from other parts of the country. We talked to an American couple at one of the few free tables in the first hall we entered before following our ears to a music hall. We found spots at a table across from some older women, who became enamored with Chris as he sang along with the band. There were a few people who never stopped dancing, including a man who can only be described as an Austrian Boy George. As the night progressed, people began to dance on tables, as they are wont to do in German beer halls.

Snippet of a German song:

Snippet of Rolling Stones:

Snippet of a German song after everyone had been drinking for quite awhile:

We stayed until the band finished. I worried we'd miss the bus and miss the last train to Oberndorf (11pm? Are they run by Metro?) Sure enough, we did miss it, as we were unable to find the bus stop in time. One of the band members hooked Chris up with another American who gave us a ride, but we arrived much later than we had planned, and our friends were already asleep. Thus was the end of our day in Salzburg and Day 5 of our trip.

In the morning, we'd head for the Alps...