The A Word: Food and Travel: BAYREUTH, GERMANY

Guten Morgen,

I get updates on all the food truck round-ups here in the area. They always let me know when and where they are having them. This past weekend we had made plans to go somewhere else and instead i found that there was a Bockbier vs Craftbeir food truck round up in Bayreuth. We have been wanting to visit the city but haven't had the chance.

My husband loves, loves, loves trying new beer, so this was the perfect time to go and check out the city. We took the train just to make it easier so we didn't have to drive back. It was an easy train ride and only took about 30- 40 minutes to get there.

Pressath Train Station

Now a little about Bayreuth. The towns roots date back to 1194. Bayreuth is the capital of Upper Franconia. It is world famous for its annual Bayreuth Festival. The festival features performances of Operas by the 19th century German composer Richard Wagner. The festival is held every year for a month from July- August.

The Tourist information office provides lots of very detailed information. They are located at Luitpoldplatz 9, between the city center and the train station. Hours are M-F 9 am - 6 pm and Sat 9:30 am- 1 pm yearlong and Sundays 10 am- 2 pm May- Oct. For visiting the sites and taking the buses, they offer the Bayreuth Card, which provides 3 days of free bus travel, the city tour and entry to 9 different museums. The cost is 11.50 Euro. available at the tourist information office, at many attractions and at some hotels.

We visited Maisel and Friends Brewery where the food truck round- up was. This was our second time going to one of these and there was only 5 food trucks. The last place had probably about 20 of them. My husband tried the oxtail sandwich which he thought was pretty amazing. I just had doughnuts, which were ok.

I have given up alcohol for lent so was unable to drink but Pat tried a few of the beers and thought they were pretty great. We walked around the brewery and its very nice. We plan to go back sometime for food and drinks.

We walked around the city did some shopping and visited the Richard Wagner Museum. We stopped to see the Opera House but it was closed when we got there.

A little about Richard Wagner, he was born May 22, 1813 and died February 13, 1883. He was a German Composer, theatre director, polemicist, and conductor. He is mostly known for his Operas. Wagner had his own Opera house built, the Bayreuth Festpielhaus.