Alright, that's it...

I apologize to everyone. It is official--I'm not coming home.

You might be asking, "But Will?! Why!? Why are you not coming home?" One answer--beer gardens.

It is like an amusement park for adults. It is the most wonderful thing that someone could imagine. What do they have at beer gardens? Beer and trees and food. What a combination! The food is good hearty Germany food like bratwurst and potato salad and various mini-steaks, and giant pretzels. The beer, most of the time, doesn't come in weenie glasses but great looking mugs with thick walls and sturdy handles. Mugs that are built for slamming against other mugs, spilling beer all over the place and yelling, "PROST!"

Here's how I came to this realization--Today was actually shaping up to be a less than remarkable afternoon. Like usual, I dallied too long at lunch with my classmates, and that cut my "me time" this afternoon a bit short. (It was kinda worth it, though, because our Japanese classmate took us to this restaurant that she had found, and I ate some killer sushi.) When I got back to my place, I had to prepare my talk for tomorrow. Yes, I'm giving my speech on the last day of class. At least I'm giving one--that's more than some of our classmates can say. So, seeing that I got back to my room at about 4:30 and I had to prepare my speech, I thought this afternoon wasn't going to be too hot. I thought I'd take a few hours to prepare my talk, walk down to Kaiser's, pick up some ham and some rolls, make a sandwich, and watch the Liverpool v. Aston Villa match on my computer. Boooy was I wrong.

I managed to get my speech done reasonably quickly, and I picked out a new part of town to visit--Dahlem. I had aims to visit an old church there. I didn't find it until about 8pm (I went the wrong way out of the UBahn station. It was actually about a 4 minute walk from the Dahlem-Dorf station). Dahlem is lovely. It is an older part of town, and all of the houses are giant and old with ivy growing all over them. They look like they're all traditional German houses with peculiarly shaped roofs and dark brown frames against white stuccoed walls. It really is quite a site to see. Among these houses, I found the Alter Krug.

Around the time I found the Alter Krug, it was about time for dinner. I was thinking to myself, "Ohh, a beer garden! That'd be nice if I had other people with me." So I passed. In doing so, I found the old church I was looking for, but it was too dark to take pictures. I also thought, "Will, you're going to eat alone anyway. Who cares if it is a beer garden or not?" Good thought, me! I turned around, and marched up to the bar and said, "Könnte ich ein mal Berliner Pils mit Bratwurst und Kartoffelsalat bestellen?" Before I knew it, I was enjoying my beer, wurst, and potato salad. Here's a lovely shot of the Alter Krug:

The beer was good, the food was delicious, the weather was incredible, the atmosphere was beautiful. It was smaller than the other beer gardens I had visited and tucked away a little more. It was a little more secluded than the ones that I have been to in Tiergarten and Prenzlauerberg. I don't want to go on about how it is "untouristy" because I certainly heard some American English, but I do think it was a little bit more off the beaten path. I just got a really good vibe. Maybe it was the weather. Maybe it was the beer or the food or the name (the old mug), but I couldn't complain one bit--except I wish that you all could've been there with me. I'm glad I went. It was a lovely place to experience, but to make the night perfect, the Alter Krug needed good family and good friends.

So ultimately, I'm kidding. I'm actually coming home. I will be back on Friday. I must say this though, if graduate school doesn't work out, I will seriously consider my hand at being a German beer schlepper in Dahlem. I don't have to know about any fancy-pants cocktails. All I've gotta do is take money and dish out beer and wine. So America, I have a request. Can we get a few more places like the Alter Krug before I come back? Thanks

Deutsches Wort des Tages:

der Biergarten -- heaven