Mini Hofbrauhaus

[Edie was skeptical about this trip at first ("dogs at dinner? why can't we just be civilized for once?") but we won her over.]

Our go-to-many-many-beer-gardens enthusiasm has not yet waned in the week since we decided on this goal. And that is something. This time, we went to the Mini Hofbrauhaus, which is a small beer garden in the English Gartens. It is known for being dog-friendly, so we brought along Billy and Sugar for a change. It is hard to imagine what constitutes being dog-friendly here in Germany, since dogs are allowed in most everywhere except grocery stores. They are on the trains, in restaurants and cafes, taking themselves for walks, and generally being treated not at all like creatures who eat poop and then try to give you a kiss. Which they all are. Even when they wear Loius Vuitton collars, like the beagle at the park who out-classed my mangy mutts.

What made this beer garden dog-friendly then, when there are dogs at every beer garden? Off leash mayhem and extra-tolerant humans. Billy dealt well with his freedom, bounding off to meet and greet and then rushing back to pick up Edie's refuse. Sugar, on the other hand, was a bit overwhelmed. The whole experience seemed to short circuit her tiny and ineffectual brain, causing her to forget who her people are and instead snuggle in between two people she'd never met and on several occasions to walk quickly in an inexplicable direction away from our group. So she ended up tied to a stroller.

Beers, fizzy apple juice, and guacamole were consumed in large quantities. Edie forewent tortilla chips entirely, using them only as guac transport devices. Toward the end she regaled us with her new skill of standing. And, not one to rely on others for congratulations, gave herself some great big cheers for it. Hooray for standing! Hooray for beer gardens! Meh for bringing the dogs out to dinner.