Haselbach

 5 May

Aaron and Lucy met us at Schwandorf rail station and we drove back to the village of Haselbach, where Aaron and Antonia live with their two children Lena and Lennard.

It was a beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed lunch outside overlooking their garden.


After being fine and sunny all day, it started to rain as we headed off to the special beer house. Aaron and Antonia took us to a Zoigl beer house.  Zoigl is a bottom fermented beer brewed by private individuals in Oberpflaz, eastern Bavaria.  These brewers take it in turns to declare their keg ready to drink (the one we went to is open once or twice a month).  They also have food.  Antonia ordered a selection of food for us to try and of course we all had the beer, which was very nice.  Before we went home we also had some schnapps shots, to warm us up!



6 May
Aaron took Greg and I for a walking tour of his village.  They are having a festival soon - 150 years of having a fire station in the village - and everyone is making sure that their house and gardens look great.  There are some seriously big houses in this village - inter generational Aaron says!


Then we headed off to the big sand mountain that has been turned into a sort of amusement park.   The highlight is the Monte Coaster, a luge ride.  You are pulled up the mountain by a pulley then off you go, haring around the corners with a brake in either hand!  I first went up with Greg - he kept complaining that my hair was obstructing his vision!  He had a solo ride, then everyone had a final go.  Of course there was some competition to be the fastest (Greg won, with Aaron and Lennard a close second!).  I was pleased not to be in last place!!  Afterwards we went to a nearby village to see if we could get some of the rich dark German bread I remember (no luck) and had some icecream.  There was some sort of street fair happening with BMX  and Calisthenic displays.  Lena, who loves to do cartwheels all day, was mesmerised!  Finally that night Antonia's parents, Andrea and Karl, joined us for a Bavarian backyard BBQ! Aaron and Antonia had a huge amount of sausages, steak, chicken, and lots of delicious veggies for dinner.  After dinner Aaron fired up the old washing machine fire pit for the kids to toast some marshmallows.  As is the case world wide it seems, they preferred "raw" marshmallows but were happy to cook them to order!  We enjoyed some nice champagne and beer, of course, and finished the evening with a nip of Aaron's 20 year old whiskey.  Then Greg took Aaron and Karl off to the pub up the road for a quick drink... I don't think Andrea was too impressed!!  They didn't take too long luckily!





7 May

Andrea and Karl had kindly invited us over for a traditional Sunday Bavarian lunch in their "summer house" in their garden!  Andrea had been cooking since the day before - a huge feast of a variety of pork (belly, shoulder, knuckle, cured), her amazing sauerkraut which Greg really loves, three different types of knodle (potato, bread and pretzen), grated radish and kolrabi.  All produced from a tiny kitchen up four flights of stairs!  We did help carry some things down and collectively carried everything back up again, the very least we could do!


After lunch Aaron suggested a stroll along the Steinberger See.  This lake was created after the open cut coal mine was closed.  Creating a much nicer environment for those living there than a dirty coal mine!  Apparently the water is cold (I took Aaron's word for it) but there is sailing, stand up paddle boarding and swimming happening on fine days like today!



Last time we stayed with Aaron and Antonia was in 2013 with Liam and Bella.  They made us very welcome then and we were happy to repay their hospitality last year in Darwin.   Now we owe them again - they are fantastic hosts and so welcoming, making sure we enjoy all that this part of Bavaria has to offer!
Tomorrow.... we are off to Iceland!

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