Ravensburg, and not Tettnang

Yesterday: Kressbronn-Tettnang

Since I was planning to go to Ravensburg anyway, I thought I'd give Tettnang another try. I'll be really displeased if Tuesday is Ruhetag in Ravensburg.

Bus: Konstanz-Fähre-Ravensburg

The Bürgerliches Brauhaus Brauereigaststätte at Hotel Storchen opens at 10:00am. It's on Friedhofstraße, but not at number 20-36 where Brauerei Leibinger appears on my list. In fact, there doesn't seem to be a number 20, a number 36, or anything in between on that side of the street. The bartender here insists Leibinger is on Friedhofstraße, on the right side of the street, but I sure didn't see it. But the Brauereigaststätte has a good lineup of Farny beers, so it was worth stopping. The beers were €2,60 apiece (not bad) and for €4,70 I enjoyed the daily special of Hirsch Gulasch that was absolutely outstanding.

The Stammtisch was occupied at 10:00 already. I heard one of the old-timers exclaim, "Ich rauch' zu wenig" after the bartender accused him of smoking too much. And it must get pretty feisty in here sometimes; the bartender's phone rings so loud they can probably hear it in Ulm.

A lens popped out of my glasses while I was at the bar, but I wouldn't let that interfere with my beer-drinking. There has to be an Optiker around here somewhere. (I knew it — I should have just had them fix my right eye two years ago, and got a monocle for the left.) Some discussion with the bartender and a patron at the bar got me pointed in the right direction.

And finally, after my fifth beer, it's time to go. I got my glasses fixed quickly, easily, and friendly at Die Brille on Kirchstraße, then walked the rest of the way to the Bahnhof.

The next bus to Tettnang doesn't leave for 2¼ hours. Unless there's an earlier one at another Haltestelle, I'll head back to Konstanz. (There wasn't, and I did.)

But I did in fact find Leibinger beer at the Ravensburg Bahnhof; apparently, the trick is that you have to ask for it. And as I drank it, I realized...there's nothing like a good German beer. A real, fresh, German beer is as good as beer gets. (Although the beers here in Baden-Württemburg seem a lot more fizzy than elsewhere in Germany.)

So, an Edel-Spezial and a Hefeweizen at Ravensburg Bahnhof, then back to Konstanz. Here's another gross generalization: the Weissbier in Baden-Württemburg don't seem to have anywhere near the banana and clove character as their Bavarian counterparts.

Trains: Ravensburg-Friedrichshafen-Radolfzell-Konstanz, or at least that was the plan. I missed the connection to Radolfzell at Friedrichshafen-Stadt by nine minutes. (Unheard of!) The next train to Radolfzell is over an hour from now, so I have time for a beer at the Speisegaststätte Stadtbahnhof. They have the complete range of Königsegger WalderBräu and Härle beers, of which I've got time for two. Or maybe three. The bartender reminded me of Christine Parolek, a colleague here at Gottberg; she said she was surprised that I was writing my notes in English!

Fell asleep on the train. Woke up in Singen. Missed the train to Konstanz by ten seconds; next one leaves in half an hour. Had to buy a beer (Becks in a 14-ounce "pint") to get a 50-Cent piece for the toilet. Finally got back to the hotel at 7:15 to find a note from Paris saying "meet us at Johann Albrecht at 7:00". So off I go...

After dinner and beers with Paris and her cohorts from Altana, we stopped by Bierstube zur steinernen Kugel (Hohenhausgasse 8) for more than a few beers. Owner/bartender Olaf Dietrich is a tremendously friendly man, lately moved to Konstanz from Dresden, who loves good beer. We had a great time at the Kugel, and I intend to stop by every time I'm in Konstanz!

Tomorrow: Wädenswil-Rapperswil