EuroTrippin’ 4/5-4/15/26, Strasbourg, Böblingen, and Berlin
At 9:40 am I grabbed a bus at the Totum Lake freeway station. It took me one stop to Downtown Bellevue. I rode the 2-line across the lake to the Seattle Chinatown stop. There, I switched to the 1-line and road it to SeaTac Airport. I arrived with plenty of time to spare at 11:00am. My flight was scheduled to depart at 14:10. TSA was no issue, and I breezed through the Clear line. I did get a nice pat-down. The security man needed to use the back of his hands to check my groin, legs, knees, and buttocks. He needed to insert a hand inside my waistline and check it too. Getting molested so early in the trip is a positive sign from God. I look forward to what more the good lord has planned for me on the journey!
The first part of my trip has been a bit of a whirlwind, and we are now on to the vacation part. I spent time in Strasbourg, France, Esslingen, Böblingen, and now I’m in Berlin. (Actually on my way to Düsseldorf, actually, I am finishing this at home.)
The highlights were my first meal in Frankfurt, a Turkish Döner sandwich at Central grill in Frankfurt. It was from an actual Turkish grill and was a bit different than the Berlin street food style. I pared it with a Turkish coffee. It was nice lean muscle cuts of beef. It had a nice grilled character.
In Strasbourg, I was there to try some bieres I missed on my last trip, and I wanted to eat a regional knackwurst sausage. I accomplished all of that, like a fucking champion! Last trip, I walked passed that giant Cathedral several times, but never thought, “hey, I should go inside.” So, now that box is checked too. It was on Easter Sunday, none-the-less!
Kicked off a French Train;
You see, Douche Bahn has some problems these days. The good ole days of “As on time as a German train” are over. You buy your tickets two month ahead of time when they are affordable. Then, by travel time they have changed the time tables. Apparently, inside the app, you can choose a train for which your ticket is not valid for. When my itinerary got fucked. I rescheduled for a French train inside the app. There was a message telling me to make sure my ticket was viable for my alternate choice, but it did not tell me how to do that. So, I just rolled the dice…
Leaving Stasborug, I board a French train and find a seat. Soon, someone politely boots me out of that seat. They had a reservation for it. The train was pretty full. So I found a spot to stand. I noticed a fellow sitting in a double cubby seat situation, but since I did not know him. I was not going to snuggle in next to him. I overhead him speak English to some other lost passengers. I stated up a conversation. This man’s name was Felix “like the cat”. He was a US Army soldier who worked in logistics. He invited me to cuddle with him (sit in the tight seat) we had a good chat, and he was a nice fellow. Soon, there was a Douche Bahn woman (on a French Train?) checking tickets. I showed her mine. She spoke many German words to me, but the two I understood were “Neched gut”, or “not good”. I asked this cute lady if she spoke English. Of course she did. My ticket was not good on this train. I said, “Oh no, what do I need to do?” She informed me that I would need to get off at the next stop. Then, In Germany, my ticket was good for any train headed towards my destination. I suspect, if she had found my on the train after the next stop, she would have had to get assertive with me. I suspect a DB lady was on a French train because this shit happens ofter. Felix got booted off too. No big deal, we found our way to Stuttgart.
In Böblingen, I got to see my old pal Pam. I met Pam years ago at the Black Raven Brewing bar top. Back in those days I was a regular at that pub. Black Raven’s beers are all very solid. They are award-winning, and the harshest criticism I could give any of them is, “They are not brewed the way I would brew them.” The world would be a damn sad place if every beer were. All the beers would taste the same. I telling you this to drive home a point. I went into Black Raven for the people! Regulars like Pam, Tia, Bill, and way to many folks to list. Epic servers like my friends Karen, JayBo, and Heidi. Before COVID, Black Raven Redmond was my place, my “Local”.
After COVID, a lot in the Pub and Craft Beer world has changed. Likewise, I decided to make some changes to my life. I decided if I am going out drinking. I should ride the bus. It is hard to get to both the Black Raven locations on the bus. However, it is easy to get to either one of our Side Hustle Pubs on a bus. At Side Hustle, I get to drink my favorite beers for free.
I think this is also a good time for me to talk about my current budget and travel philosophy. In King Co WA a pint of craft beer at a pub is $8 USD ($7-$9). Back in the summer of 2025. I drove over to Seattle to eat a Berliner Döner Kabab sandwich. The sandwich, a 0,33 l of stale Bitburger Pils, and a 20% tip were $26.50. I said to myself, “Magnus, what the fuck are you doing? In two months, you will be in Berlin. This is an €8 Sandwich, and a proper 0.5 L stale German beer is €1.80.” That is $11.45 USD. It is less than half price, and I get to be in Berlin. These days in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, and Bothell. I see $30 hamburgers in menus. I have a special privilege. At my work, I can eat restaurant food for free. At our Side Hustle, I get a significant discount. On rare occasion, I will treat myself to a Slough Burger at Cut Shop for $11 USD. However, I mostly save my eating out budget for Europe and Mexico. Where I can eat better food for half the price. And if I can watch bottle dates, and if places actually clean their taps. I can drink my favorite beer styles for significantly cheaper than at home.
In Berlin, I became a regular at a cute Kneipe (a German neighborhood pub) called “Blauer Affe”. Literally “blue ape” or monkey. Blue is German slang for drunk. I went there four times. Twice, Emmi was my bartender. She is a cute, 26 year old German woman. She was an exchange student for a year in Michigan, and spoke perfect English to me. She is studying Landscape Botany, and could understand my beer science-speak. She was fun, funny, and really made me feel welcome.
Emmi introduced me to a nice man named Ben. He spoke as much English as I do German. So, we mostly just exchanged “Hallos”. I like Ben. He had good energy.
After the great people, the other thing that was great was the beer. Blauer Affe takes great care of the draught beer system. Emmi told me it was professionally cleaned every two weeks, and they worked hard to keep the faucets clean in between. Some German places, both divey and fancy, don’t always do this. Inside of our/my own company, I have had problems. It took some tenacity to get our Side Hustle pubs to do proper maintenance, and more than once I had some very sad pints of my own beer. At Blauer Affe, the Guinness (€6.00) tasted as good as any I have had in Ireland. The Schultheiss Pils (€4.50) was delicious, as were all of the beers (most were €4.50-5.00). When I told Emmi I had never had a Berliner Kindl Weisse served the traditional way with the Waldmeister (woodruff) Syrup. She let me know they had it. There was one (1) regular who drank it regularly. It was fun to try it, and I am glad I got to do it with such a delightful bartender.
My experience at Blauer Affe re-stoked my fire to learn German. I can navigate ordering food and beer. I can ask for the toilet, but I could not follow the conversation of the regulars. I kinda quit trying to learn German because I can navigate my way through most of Europe with my English. However, now I see learning conversational German as a priority. I wanna chat with those bar regulars!
If you want to love the world, travel it. If you want to hate the world, watch the news….
My other regular spot was even closer to my Airbnb. Kalle Halle bar was an odd bar inside of a modern market hall with 12 food spots and 2 bars in it. There was a grocery store down stares. I found it one day while grocery shopping. Luckily, the bar was not open that day at 10:45am. I was feeling tempted for just 1…
After my Leipzig day trip. I bellied up to the bar. There were 3 bartenders on during a shift change that day. They all spoke English to one another. One was Polish, Adrian was French, and another fellow was from somewhere inside of the old Ottoman Empire. I was having a session that day, making my way through the tap list. Adrian started to assemble a round of cocktails for the bartenders to drink together. He offered me one, but I declined (you gotta be careful with cocktails. If you try to drink them at the same cadence as I drink liters of bier, you will get fucking wasted!) As I watched him shake them up, like my Homie Miss Hannah from our Bothell Side Hustle pub. I asked Adrian if I could just have 5-10 mL, and I acknowledged that I had just declined. He fixed me right up. It was delicious! It was very reminiscent of my Grandma Frare’s pineapple upside-down cake.
On my last day in Berlin, I was trying to check as many boxes on my travel list as possible. After a long day of it, I was ready to drink some beers close to home. I knew Emmi was not working at the Blauer Affe. So, I decided to do my drinking really close to home. Adrian remembered me from my first visit. We had a great chat and exchanged names. He had done some craft brewing in his past, but it was the Belgian/French kind that involves wood, fruit, and funk. At some point, he asked if I wanted one of the cocktails from the other night. Hell yeah, I did! I told him my homie, Hannah, makes cocktails and had asked me for the details. So, he called out the ingredients for (1) cocktail as he assembled 4 of them (There were a couple of ladies at the bar top from a coffee chain down the way. They were both from Argentina, and one was quite cute.)
Madeleine Cocktail, France.
Madeleine is a famous pastry
Adrian (From France) at Kalle Halle Bar, Berlin.
1 shot Triple sec
1 shot Amoretto
2 shots pineapple juice (good turbid kind)
2 shakes orange bitters
1 shake Angostura bitters
Shaken up then ran through a strainer to make “good foam”.
Dots of Angostura on top. He used a toothpick/skewer to make pretty “latte art” in the foam.
The Leipzig Day Trip
Leipzig is a sexy-as-fuck, East German city. I have always recognized it in pictures by it’s “pointy-topped buildings”. It is the home of a sour bier style called Gose (go-zuh). Leipzig is in the German state of Saxony, and that is one of the two states from which Schwarzbier comes. Leipzig is only 1:15 from Berlin via ICE train.
I arrived in Leipzig just before 10am. I followed a sightseeing journey that my AI app created. At 11:00am, Zum Coffe Baum opened, and I was there for it. Coffe Baum is Germany’s oldest coffee shop. It opened shop in 1711 and has been serving coffee ever since. I ordered a Schwarzwälder Kirsch Torte, Cafe Creme, and a 0.33 L pilsner. After my indulgence, I wandered around town some more. Soon, it was time for a bier. This is when I started to struggle. I bought a ticket. I rode a tram in the wrong direction. Then, I gave up and used the Über app. I went to a ~famous brewery called Bayerischer Bahnhof. I was struggling. That sugary meal left my bloodstream, and I went brain-dead. I could tell I needed a good meal. At the Bierhall, I order a sampler, a 0.5 L pils, and Schnitzel mit Pommes Fritz. I am not sure how I missed my words, but only a plate of Fries (Pommes) showed up. I was looking at the train schedule, and If I did not catch a 16:00 train, I would have to wait a couple of hours for another one. I Ubered to the Hoptbahnhof (train station) and rode an ICE from 16;13 to 17;30 back to Berlin.