Helm
This page is dedicated to the rest of Europe - Bars, Beer and Culture
BUDAPEST June 2014
Another new city ticked off the list
Myself and Carson, the Butler spent a few days soaking up the culture, the sun, the rain (occasional) and quite a lot of beer.
I told Paul that I would walk the legs off him - he came back on two stumps after I wore him down the first two days. Third day I relented and allowed to use the buses.
Myself and Carson, the Butler spent a few days soaking up the culture, the sun, the rain (occasional) and quite a lot of beer.
I told Paul that I would walk the legs off him - he came back on two stumps after I wore him down the first two days. Third day I relented and allowed to use the buses.
St Stephens Basilica
Stupendous, Baroque edifice which really shows just how much money the church stole from the poor
Stupendous, Baroque edifice which really shows just how much money the church stole from the poor
Budapest Parliament
A magnificent building modelled on our own Westminster - Sits on the banks of the Danube
A magnificent building modelled on our own Westminster - Sits on the banks of the Danube
Varosligiet - Heroes Square & Vajdahunyad Castle
Hősök tere : Heroes' Square) is one the major squares noted for its iconic statue complex featuring the Seven Chieftains of the Magyars and other important national leaders, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The square lies at the outbound end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park (Városliget)
Vajdahunyad Castle (Hungarian: Vajdahunyad vára) is a castle in the City Park of Budapest, Hungary. It was built between 1896 and 1908 as part of the Millennial Exhibition which celebrated the 1000 years of Hungary since the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895. The castle was designed by Ignác Alpár to feature copies of several landmark buildings from different parts the Kingdom of Hungary, especially the Hunyad Castle in Transylvania (now in Romania). As the castle contains parts of buildings from various time periods, it displays different architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Originally it was made from cardboard and wood, but it became so popular that it was rebuilt from stone and brick between 1904 and 1908.
Hősök tere : Heroes' Square) is one the major squares noted for its iconic statue complex featuring the Seven Chieftains of the Magyars and other important national leaders, as well as the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The square lies at the outbound end of Andrássy Avenue next to City Park (Városliget)
Vajdahunyad Castle (Hungarian: Vajdahunyad vára) is a castle in the City Park of Budapest, Hungary. It was built between 1896 and 1908 as part of the Millennial Exhibition which celebrated the 1000 years of Hungary since the Hungarian Conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895. The castle was designed by Ignác Alpár to feature copies of several landmark buildings from different parts the Kingdom of Hungary, especially the Hunyad Castle in Transylvania (now in Romania). As the castle contains parts of buildings from various time periods, it displays different architectural styles: Romanesque, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque. Originally it was made from cardboard and wood, but it became so popular that it was rebuilt from stone and brick between 1904 and 1908.
Castle Hill
This is on the Buda side of the Danube Hosting the Royal Palace, Fisherman's Bastion and the Matthias Church
This is on the Buda side of the Danube Hosting the Royal Palace, Fisherman's Bastion and the Matthias Church
The Danube
The Synagogue
BERLIN
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Deponie No 3 The bar. You'll notice that to maintain the "atmosphere" and to avoid annoying other punters i try as much to shoot without flash. Nothing worse when sitting having a nice beer is to have everything spoiled by bright lights.
I have a feeling that I am a vampire at heart - dark and dingy suits my mood and you can't see my dilated pupils at the end of the night
The railway arches that have been converted into the bar were orginally used as storage for tanks and armoured vehicles during the "Cold War"
I have a feeling that I am a vampire at heart - dark and dingy suits my mood and you can't see my dilated pupils at the end of the night
The railway arches that have been converted into the bar were orginally used as storage for tanks and armoured vehicles during the "Cold War"
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**** Ecke
The beer font depicted here is reputedly the oldest still currently in use in Germany
A quiet locals corner pub, simple, unassuming, playing German soft/pop rock in the background. We had a feeling from the signed photos adorning the walls that the owner had once played in one of the bands. Unfortunately my command of German, and the waitresses' harsh Berliner accent meant we never found out for sure
The beer font depicted here is reputedly the oldest still currently in use in Germany
A quiet locals corner pub, simple, unassuming, playing German soft/pop rock in the background. We had a feeling from the signed photos adorning the walls that the owner had once played in one of the bands. Unfortunately my command of German, and the waitresses' harsh Berliner accent meant we never found out for sure
Some other bars
Momsen Ecke Der Ein Hundred Bier
Momsen Ecke Der Ein Hundred Bier
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Lemkes Spezialitaetenbrauerei
Momsen Ecke Der Ein Hundred Bier
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Lemkes Spezialitaetenbrauerei
Momsen Ecke Der Ein Hundred Bier
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The Fernsehen Tower
This is the TV tower in Alexander Platz -
230 mtr high and visible from nearly everyhwere in the old centre - both East & West - It really does dominate the skyline, reall handy as a navigation mark as it appears around nearly every corner you turn! Only problem being that as it is round you can.t make out whether you are North, South, East, or West of it!
Built by the East Germans before the fall of the Wall to show off their building prowess
230 mtr high and visible from nearly everyhwere in the old centre - both East & West - It really does dominate the skyline, reall handy as a navigation mark as it appears around nearly every corner you turn! Only problem being that as it is round you can.t make out whether you are North, South, East, or West of it!
Built by the East Germans before the fall of the Wall to show off their building prowess
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Berliner Dom - A little bit of Culture
A Church has existed on this site since 1451 - the current building is the 4th incarnation - basically a restoration of the 1905 church after WW2 which was finally completed in 1993
The church has been United Protestant, originally Roman Catholic, from 1539 on Lutheran, Calvinist since 1613, from 1817 on Evangelical Protestant
The organ has 113 'stops', the largest being 32ft high The dome stands 115 mtrs high
The church has been United Protestant, originally Roman Catholic, from 1539 on Lutheran, Calvinist since 1613, from 1817 on Evangelical Protestant
The organ has 113 'stops', the largest being 32ft high The dome stands 115 mtrs high
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And now back to my favourite subject - BEER
In Germany they have a strict law governing the production of beer - The Reinheitsgebot literally "purity order", sometimes called the "German Beer Purity Law" or the "Bavarian Purity Law" in English, was a regulation concerning the production of beer in Germany. In the original text, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley and hops.
The law originated in the city of Ingolstadt in the duchy of Bavaria on 23 April 1516, although first put forward in 1487 concerning standards for the sale and composition of beer
In the original text, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley and hops. The law also set the price of beer at 1-2 Pfennig per Maß. (1.5 ltrs) That's a Scooby Doo size glass,Shaggy
The Reinheitsgebot is no longer part of German law: it has been replaced by the Provisional German Beer Law which allows constituent components prohibited in the Reinheitsgebot, such as yeast, wheat malt and cane sugar, but which no longer allows unmalted barley.
Note that no yeast was mentioned in the original text. It was not until the 1800s that Louis Pasteur discovered the role of
microorganisms in the process of fermentation; therefore, yeast was not known to be an ingredient of beer. Brewers generally took some sediment from the previous fermentation and added it to the next, the sediment generally containing the necessary organisms to perform fermentation. If none were available, they would set up a number of vats, relying on natural airborne yeast to inoculate the
brew.
Hops are added to beer to impart flavors but also act as a preservative, and their mention in the Reinheitsgebot meant to prevent alternative methods of preserving beer that had been used before the introduction of hops. Medieval brewers had used
many problematic ingredients to preserve beers, including, for example soot and fly agaric mushrooms. More commonly, other "gruit" herbs had been used, such as stinging nettle and henbane. Indeed, the German name of the latter, Bilsenkraut, may originally mean "Plzeň herb"; that this region was a major centre of beer brewing long before the invention of (Reinheitsgebot-compliant) Pilsener.
The penalty for making impure beer was also set in the Reinheitsgebot: a brewer using other ingredients for his beer could have questionable barrels confiscated with no compensation.
German breweries are very proud of the Reinheitsgebot, and many (even brewers of wheat beer claim to still abide by it.
Which now leads me on to Kettles - No not ones for making a cup of tea, but much more imprtantantly - brewing beer. Many of the brewhauses in Berlin are what we would deem 'home brew' pubs - brewing directly on the premises and usually with the brewing kettles (usually copper, hence their name, Coppers) taking central stage in the pub.
And now to some examples (:-
The law originated in the city of Ingolstadt in the duchy of Bavaria on 23 April 1516, although first put forward in 1487 concerning standards for the sale and composition of beer
In the original text, the only ingredients that could be used in the production of beer were water, barley and hops. The law also set the price of beer at 1-2 Pfennig per Maß. (1.5 ltrs) That's a Scooby Doo size glass,Shaggy
The Reinheitsgebot is no longer part of German law: it has been replaced by the Provisional German Beer Law which allows constituent components prohibited in the Reinheitsgebot, such as yeast, wheat malt and cane sugar, but which no longer allows unmalted barley.
Note that no yeast was mentioned in the original text. It was not until the 1800s that Louis Pasteur discovered the role of
microorganisms in the process of fermentation; therefore, yeast was not known to be an ingredient of beer. Brewers generally took some sediment from the previous fermentation and added it to the next, the sediment generally containing the necessary organisms to perform fermentation. If none were available, they would set up a number of vats, relying on natural airborne yeast to inoculate the
brew.
Hops are added to beer to impart flavors but also act as a preservative, and their mention in the Reinheitsgebot meant to prevent alternative methods of preserving beer that had been used before the introduction of hops. Medieval brewers had used
many problematic ingredients to preserve beers, including, for example soot and fly agaric mushrooms. More commonly, other "gruit" herbs had been used, such as stinging nettle and henbane. Indeed, the German name of the latter, Bilsenkraut, may originally mean "Plzeň herb"; that this region was a major centre of beer brewing long before the invention of (Reinheitsgebot-compliant) Pilsener.
The penalty for making impure beer was also set in the Reinheitsgebot: a brewer using other ingredients for his beer could have questionable barrels confiscated with no compensation.
German breweries are very proud of the Reinheitsgebot, and many (even brewers of wheat beer claim to still abide by it.
Which now leads me on to Kettles - No not ones for making a cup of tea, but much more imprtantantly - brewing beer. Many of the brewhauses in Berlin are what we would deem 'home brew' pubs - brewing directly on the premises and usually with the brewing kettles (usually copper, hence their name, Coppers) taking central stage in the pub.
And now to some examples (:-
Brauhaus Mitte
Linednbraue Am PotsdamerPlatz
GeorgeBraue
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Brauhaus Mitte
Georgebraue
Lemkes Spezialitaetenbrauerei
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The Effects of beer
Funny how people change after a few beers
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And now back to a little bit of culture
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Checkpoint CharlieCheckpoint Charlie (or "Checkpoint C") was the name given by the Western Allies to the best-known Berlin Wall crossing point between East Berlin and West Berlin during the Cold War.
Checkpoint Charlie became a symbol of the Cold War, representing the separation of east and west. The wall stood from August 1961 until November 1989 and the checkpoint booth removed on June 22, 1990 - What you see here is a re-construction of the original hut circa 1961 One really disappointing thing which i refused to photo was the Macdonalds restaurant directly alongside the checkpoint 
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The Berlin WallThe wall stood from August 1961 until November 1989
Number of watch towers 302 |
Total length around West Berlin 155km 91 miles
171 people were killed or died attempting to escape over the Wall |
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Brandenburger Tor
The Brandenburg Gate is a former city gate, rebuilt in the late 18th century as a neoclassical triumphal arch, and now one of the most well-known landmarks of Berlin and Germany.
It was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and built by Carl Gotthard Langhans from 1788 to 1791.
Having suffered considerable damage in World War II, the Brandenburg Gate was fully restored from 2000 to 2002
During the post-war Partition of Germany the gate was isolated and inaccessible immediately next to the Berlin Wall, and the area around the gate featured most prominently in the media coverage of the opening of the wall in 1989
It was commissioned by King Frederick William II of Prussia as a sign of peace and built by Carl Gotthard Langhans from 1788 to 1791.
Having suffered considerable damage in World War II, the Brandenburg Gate was fully restored from 2000 to 2002
During the post-war Partition of Germany the gate was isolated and inaccessible immediately next to the Berlin Wall, and the area around the gate featured most prominently in the media coverage of the opening of the wall in 1989
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As already mentioned this is all about beer and bars - Having just visited Berlin and found some great bars I'll add some as samplers for you. As you will start to notice I am not a "group photo" person - I much prefer to get the atmosphere of the bars more than people. This bar is the Deponie No 3 - a great bar under the arches of the S-Bahn railway, low lit and rattling from the trains passing overhead!!
Our late nite watering hole, handy for staggering back for the train.
Our late nite watering hole, handy for staggering back for the train.
