Andechs

Some people may be surprised that I've been in Germany almost three weeks and haven't really mentioned the beer yet.  Well the first part of my trip was more in wine country, but now that I'm in Bavaria it all begins.

Basing myself in Munich for a week (I'm having trouble pronouncing München), I made a trip out to Kloster Andechs.

Cycling up the hill.

The view when you're there.

The photosphere that probably doesn't work (but I'm sure the hip kids can get it working).

The mildy baroque interior of the church.  I could have gone nuts taking photos in there, but I was annoying the people who were praying.

And the most important part, the healthy meal at the end.  I might be a few weeks late for the proper time to drink doppelbock, but that's not going to stop me.

I have exquisitely bad timing with regard to attending a brewery tour pretty much anywhere around Munich this week.  I shall just have to try the beer instead.  Most monastery breweries these days are commercial concerns co-located with a monetary.  I'm told Andechs is actually run by a monk, but it's still a commercial business.  It would be nice to find a place where people devote themselves to spiritual enlightenment via the noble art of brewing, but I will have to keep searching.