This post is a part of the 2015 New Beer Every Day Beer Diary Challenge, #ottbeerdiary. Over the course of 2015, I will be trying a new beer every day. Please read the background in the link above, and enjoy reading about the most recently tasted beers below. If you’d like to join the challenge as well, let me know in the comments below, and be sure to check out Grown-up Travel Guide and his #grownupbeerdiary, where Andy Higgs came up with the diary format in use below. You can catch up on all of our posts as part of the challenge under the tag ottbeerdiary.
Day 164: June 13, 2015
Diary entry:
Today we begin our road trip down to the Emilia Romagna region of Italy for this year’s Blogville project. We’ll be staying in Bologna, Rimini, and Reggio Emilia over the next two weeks, sampling the local foods, beers, and wines of Emilia Romagna. Follow along with the hashtags #Blogville, #inEmiliaRomagna, and #ViaEmilia.
But first, we have to get there.
Today we start our drive from the Netherlands to Italy, with a goal for the night being Montreux, Switzerland. A long day of driving planned, but we booked a hotel in Montreux right on the shores of Lake Geneva, and visions of cheese fondue are filling our head as we head off this morning.
A mostly uneventful first day of driving. Plenty of construction on the A61 in Germany causing a few backups, but nothing terrible. We did see the aftermath of a pretty impressive car fire right at the A61 – A5 interchange in Walldorf, where the fire even burned the tires totally away! That was a scary sight.
We made it to the Eurotel in Montreux in very decent time still, and proceeded up to our room, which they upgraded to a superior room on the 15th floor with a great view of the lake and town.
Unfortunately, a really nasty thunderstorm rolled in, so we decided to save the fondue for tomorrow, and had a nice dinner of local specialties (with a but of an Asian twist) at the Safran restaurant at the hotel. The food was delicious, even if they didn’t have Fondue.
The Beer:
Name: Cardinal Spéciale
Style: Pilsner
Producer: Feldschlösschen
Alcohol content: 5.2%
Bottle size: 0.33l Can
Purchased from: Minibar in our room at the Eurotel in Montreux, Switzerland
I was thrilled to see a new Swiss beer sitting in the hotel minibar, even if it is from a brewery that is part of Carlsberg group! Cardinal Special is a decent Pilsner.
Special? Perhaps not. But it’ll do! Someone commented, “Any port in a storm,” and considering the thunderstorm we had tonight that was a fitting comment!
