Category Archives: Restaurants

Feb11

Salzburg, Austria

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A very comfortable train ride through the Austrian countryside.  I keep hearing Julie Andrews singing “The Hills Are Alive with the Sound of Music“  We are on a train that will continue off to Zürich and I think of the families that escaped the Nazis by traveling through these very hills.  We are hungry upon our arrival in Salzburg and run directly to the Restaurant Mundenhamer, one of the oldest and very typical Austrian restaurants. 

Our first course is white asparagus soup with a breadstick wrapped in crisp prosciutto.  It is asparagus season in Austria and special menus and dishes appear everywhere.  The soup was creamy and silky –ssooooooo good!

The second course was a typical Austrian Goulash with spicy sausages and potatoes — so wonderful. The people here are so friendly and smiling all the time, such a difference from Prague where they were so sullen and unfriendly.

We just toured Mozart’s home — how incredible to walk the same floors as the Master himself. Many of his original works were on display along with his instruments. The steps going into the home were red marble and worn down through the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We walk the streets of the old city and gaze in amazement at the castle on the hill overlooking us. How grand life must have been during the height of the courts.

We walk about the town square and enjoy the open air market and stop here and there for a snack of weiss wurst and coffee. The surrounding architecture is so beautiful and everyone seems to have a smile on their face.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walking across the bridge over the Danube affords such majestic views!

It is raining fairly heavy now so we decide to relax in the Hotel Ibis, dining on wonderful breads, meats, cheeses, yogurt and granola. The hotels all have the most wonderful coffee machines that by the push of a button make espresso, cappuccino, hot foaming milk and all sorts of various assortments of coffees, all made to perfection.

We ponder our next stop …………….Munich!

Feb11

Vienna, Austria

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On the train to Vienna — what a chaotic scene — a group of loud — (yes and ugly) women have claimed the first class car as their own.  It is apparent they belong in second class car and here come the conductors to remove them.  Immediately the smell and general atmosphere improve.  We decided to move to the dining car and had a marvelous time sitting next to a couple from Kansas (Dorothy’s home planet).  The chef and waiter just had a wonderful shouting match in Czech!  I loved it and could not help myself.  The dining car was full of English speakers so I pretended to interpret and said such things as: “stop bringing me all those orders, I want to sit down and have a cigarette!  I can’t be cooking all the time!”

We have arrive in Vienna!  We check into the Ibis hotel and rest a bit and off we go into the center of Vienna to the Hotel Sacher so that August can have one of his favorite things on the planet — Sacher Torte!  We decide to have complete dinner here, rather than just the Torte.

We begin with Pikante Gujasuppe Czardus Furstin for August and Sacher – Gaseleber Torte for me with a bottle of Grurer Veltliner Kemser Regl.

That is a spicy beef soup for August and a liver pate cake for me with some wonderful dry white wine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Our main course consists of Wiener Schnitzel with turmeric parsley potatoes and salad for me and Edward Sacher’s Tafelspitz for August – a boiled beef steak with veggies and a fried potato cake.

Ending with one of the most famous dishes on the planet…………..The Sacher Torte!

We go back to our hotel after strolling through the streets for an hour or so. We are tired from out travels, but exited to be here. The architecture is so extravagant and beautiful. We look forward to our exploration tomorrow.

We wake early and prepare for our day. After breakfasting at the hotel (Ibis Hotels offer the most amazing breakfast buffets) Our first stop is the most wonderful and breathtaking Schonbrunner Palace (www.schoenbrunn.at). We tour and are humbled by the history through which we walk. We stand in the concert room , where at the age of 6 Mozart had his first public appearance with the Royal Hapsburg Family — amazing!

As we walk the palace grounds the majesty and beauty dwarf our very presence. The day is warm and we venture into a cafe on the grounds for sme refreshment and rest.

Back onto the metro to venture to the heart of the city to St. Stephen’s Cathedral. The stone of the cathedral so finely carved that it seems to be lace stretched into the sky.

We wander the streets of old Vienna and visit the Hofburg Imperial Palace and enter St. Michael’s Church — we marvel that outside the doors are hundreds of people from all over the world walking the streets as like ants on a slice of sweet bread — inside this grand church built in the thirteenth century, filled with the most incredible huge marble carvings and so many chapels, I do not bother to count them, there are no people.

As we exit we move about the streets and stop at many a sidewalk cafe to watch the people go by and to take a refreshment. The buildings that surround us are works of art all in themselves.

We stumble upon the famous golden Strauss statue just 40 meters away from the Kursalon Wien.

The following morning we forego breakfast and hop the metro to explore the Danube. First we cross to the island to the marina area, which we find quite charming. We have arrived too early and all the cafes are closed.

We make our way, by metro, to the station in the center of the bridge over the Danube and disembark to admire the beautiful river.

Back onto the metro to the Naschmarkt, the largest of 26 permanent street markets in Vienna. We meander among the booths offering all varieties of fish, fowl, cheese, olives, produce, nuts and spices.

We stop at the sausage hut and enjoy some very fine sausage, bread, mustard and olives. We are surprised to find so many Asian and Turkish restaurants and vendors here.

We have an early dinner at the Vietnam Bistro and enjoy our spring rolls and pho. The owner is a very nice man who visits with us often during our meal.

We spent the evening sitting on the back patio of the hotel Ibis, enjoying a great Chardonnay from Venice that was only 2 euros at the grocery store! It has been a great stay here in Vienna, but now it is time to head off to Salzburg!

Feb11

Prague, Czech Republic

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Today we are traveling to Prague.  We awoke early full of excitement for the next leg of the journey.  Of course, we had breakfast at our favorite gas station in Berlin and then headed for the Hauptbahnhof to await our train to the Czech Republic.  The train was very nice.  The first class cabin is almost empty so it is nice and quiet. We pass through beautiful countryside.  It is so green and lush here — not like our poor parched Texas.  We move to the dining car for a change of scenery and some wine.  We are now in Dresden and have stopped to allow passengers to embark and disembark it is 11:00 A.M., the wine made August sleepy and he is dozing off.  As we enter the Czech Republic the route becomes so scenic and beautiful we follow the course of a river to our left with charming villages nestled along its banks.  The hillsides are so verdant and lush.  We just passed a beautiful castle on the hillside overlooking the river.

 

We will be in Prague in one hour. We arrive in Prague and disembark our train, we make our way to the taxi stand and the driver wants to charge 980 crown to take us to the hotel — $98 U.S. dollars, we decide he is a bandit and walk away, before we get far the price has dropped to $30.00 so we keep walking and find the tourist information center. Behold — we find that the hotel is within walking distance! So away we walk and find our hotel in the midst of an old town square. We rest and change clothes to venture out. It is very beautiful here. The war has not hurt this old city.

We find a lovely traditional Czech restaurant, Nostalgie (www.restaurace-nostalgie.cz) and promptly plant ourselves on a back patio and dine on sausage cooked in vegetables with rye bread and herbed butter accompanied by a Czech beer — yummy.  We await our second course; roasted pork served with potato dumpling, cooked cabbage and bread dumplings — marvie!!!!!

 
The food was delicious, the pork cooked to perfection and the cabbage so tender and tasty. We barely spoke during the meal. Teh pastry all looked so wonderful, but we were so full from the meal we passed………….for now. We stopped at the grocer and bought some wine, water and pastries. Back to the room to relax, drink wine and eat pastries!

We decide to have breakfast at the hotel and catch the early train our of Prague. this city has been the least fun in our trip. It seems that perhaps the East has not been able to shake off the cold war. The people are dowdy, ugly and unfriendly. On to Vienna……..

Even the breakfast was sad…………….

Feb11

Berlin, Germany

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We sit in our cabin on the train to Berlin with a very kinky middle-aged woman in short boots, black lace stockings, short denim shorts and a sexy black & white top, she looks ready to hit he cabaret stage, but is actually a business traveler working on her computer. We have moved to the dining car — now there is a surprise! I have a wonderful plate of Nurnberg sausages and bread whilst Augustine has his favorite Goulash Soup. We dine and sip a lovely chardonnay while the German countryside goes by. The beautiful lush green fields filled with the most beautiful dairy cows. I so love the Fatherland and the lush bounties it offers.

I must confess that this train trip has turned tedious. We expected a fast train to Berlin; however, our train stops many times with many passengers getting off and on. We finally settle in the dining car for even if it is full of the sounds of clinking dishes and many conversations; it seems calmer than the up and down of passengers and luggage. Berlin will not come soon enough for me. We arrived fine and will rest well in our large comfortable room at the Hotel Ibis. We go to the grocery store and purchase 3 bottles of wine — one of which I promptly drink and off to bed!

Awoke early and begin our adventure in Berlin. We began with a wonderful breakfast at a gas station! Yes, a gas station. Wonderful food, exceptional coffee in a nice dining area served on china! Who would have thought! We make friends with the manager who loves her new American friends.

We then hopped on the tram and headed off on our exploration. WE switched from tram to train at Alexander Station and made our way to the Brandenburg Gate – Check Point Charlie. What history lies at our feet — it makes one realize how fleeting freedom can be. We watch as people walk freely back and forth from East to West and reflect on how many lost their lives attempting to cross this place. We find a young man who stamps our passports with the verfication stamps no longer necessary and gives us a day visa to cross into the West.

We sit under the flowering Linden trees and I quickly sing an old East German song “the branch of the Linden is leafy and green, the Rhine gives her gold to the sea; the morning will come with the world is mine — Tomorrow belongs to me!” We enjoy a Berliner Beer and I write post cards to the United States. We continue our walk to the Berliner Dom — a beautiful church that ws bombed during the war, and explore the crypt full of coffins from teh German Kings and Queens, many are coming apart and the crypt smells of death.

We enjoy a marvelous dinner at a sidewalk cafe: August with schnitzle and asparagus and I with knockwurst and kraut and a beautiful bottle of dry Riesling, sitting in the sun, remembering our day of exploration in Berlin. The transportation system is very interesting here. You buy a ticket that entitles you to the tram, bus and subway — both of which are necessary in order to move about the city. We explored every inch, I do believe.

Our last day in Berlin. We awoke at 6 A.M. and took a leisurely time getting ready for our day. Of course we had breakfast at our favorite cafe — the gas station! I must say the food is better than many a restaurant and the staff is so very pleasant and friendly. We hop the tram and then the train to West Berlin and find ourselves in the midst of some marathon being run in the city. We want to see the ruins of a bombed church, only to find it has been encased in aluminum for restoration!!! They do allow us in and it is spectacular.

We walk about and enter a chapel that has been constructed of the broken stained glass from the original church — what majesty shines though this glass and what pain it reflects.

We hop the train back to Alexander platz and switch to the tram to go back to the hotel.

 

 

 

 

 

We find a cafe down the street open and decide to dine at the “Do The Pop” (www.cafe-do-the-pop.de).

We sit outside with a white wine and a Berliner beer and have some luncheon, a spicy carrot soup and wonderful German bread.

Feb11

Amsterdam, Holland

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We arrive at the Amsterdam train station and find our hotel is within walking distance. The station is called Central Station and rightly so, from here you can step onto a train, bus, trolley, water cab or land cab. We are set to take a tour of the city on a water trolley tomorrow. What fun!!! Today we stroll through the streets and enjoy visiting many shops and also take a moment to dine at a sidewalk cafe having mushroom soup and the wonderful hot dogs on a lovely bread with Gruyère cheese and mushrooms along with Heineken Beer.

I take August to the red light district and we stroll through as the women try to tempt us from behind the glass — if they only knew! My only disappointment is that there were no men! Who ever heard of such a thing!

Today is Memorial Day in Holland. We are well rested and eager to be off on our exploration of this city that offers such adventures. We buy tickets on the boat to tour the canals and for entrance into the Van Gogh Museum! The museum was most wonderful and filled with the works of many Impressionists! It was so incredible to be within inches of the works that I have studied all my life. The works of Van Gogh were accompanied by Monet, Manet, Pissarro and so many others that I have forgotten. I so wish I could have viewed these when I was young and attempting to paint. No reproduction or text-book ever came close to these originals. The way light and shadow were brought to life by these incredible artists was breath-taking.

Our tour of the canals was most interesting; the canals lined with houseboats that are actual residences.

As we walked the city after our tour we learned that the Queen, Beatriz, herself, would be visiting Amsterdam in a few hours to place a wreath on the tomb of the unknown soldier; we immediately made plans to participate. It is not everyday that one is able to be within a few feet of a royal family. The ceremony was quite beautiful and the entire city shuts down and observes two minutes of silence. It was almost unnerving to have this loud and boisterous city fall under a complete hush. We dedicated our silence to our friend, Gordon Smith. The youth gave us commemorative torches to wear. Here is Queen Beatrix and the Royal Family!

All in all this has been a most amazing day in a most amazing city. We are now settled in our room for some much-needed rest. Oh! I almost forgot, we also went to the city flea market and purchased so many beautiful antiques! I purchased some old coins for Jose. We found marvelous shirts from the teams of Germany, Argentina and Spain and some great Capri pants from Italy. Oh what fun we are having. My dreams shall be filled with memories of all the fantastic images of the day. Our last day in Amsterdam. We are a bit fatigued from our event filled day yesterday. We take our time in the morning and venture out for a nice breakfast in the street cafe of omelets, toast and cafe latte. Very relaxed and the sun is very nice to sit in as the days still tend to be quite chilly. We enjoy a trip to the grocery store and marvel at all the delightful dishes available. Off we go to the post office to mail our post cards and were given a wonderful commemorative bag by the post master…….what lovely people!

In our journey we find a delightful restaurant offering traditional Dutch food and decide this will be our dining spot this evening. We go back to the room and August takes a nap while I explore options for the rest of our travels. We decide upon the following: Berlin, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Munich. We make hotel reservations for Prague and will investigate the others during our dinner.

We have walked to our restaurant Fogata and sit outside in the warm Holland sun. Our first course is mussels cooked in tomatoes and mushroom OMG — how delightful!…….along with fried calamari and a bottle of white wine!!!

We end the meal with a traditional Dutch stew. The stew is beef, seasoned with onion, bay leaf and a hint of allspice, separate bowls contained boiled potatoes, as soft and flavorful as one would want, sprinkled with fresh parsley and nutmeg and a second bowl of cooked red cabbage, wonderfully rich and creamy. We finish our meal and sip on our wine as we watch the people go by. We hear all the languages of the world spoken as they engage in their conversations. Our journey is halfway over and we reflect upon all the adventures we have experienced thus far and ponder on those to come.

Feb8

Tendilla, Spain

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After searching for a place to sleep in Penalver we have now gone to Tendilla to find a place to sleep…and eat. We pull into the town square and what lies before us….a hostel…. with rooms!


next to and I mean next to (within 20 feet) of an ancient church

the ancient walls had crumbled and fallen…

We came into a lively restaurant where the bartender was also the innkeep….he scurried up two flights of stairs (you begin to see a reoccurring theme in this trip) past beautiful antiques…oh my….hopes of a grand room danced in my head.

He flung open the door to proudly display a CLOSET containing two of the smallest beds ever seen — “we’ll take it”, we proclaimed.
the thoughts of the cold rain of the bus stop too fresh in our thoughts.

Off we went, down the stairs to eat the most famous tapas of Spain — various local sausages, pig belly fat cooked to a tender and tasty state, potatoes,onions, a tiny empanada filled with tomato and creme and of course a plate of local olives.
Walked about this quaint village and found the ruins of castles nestled among the hillside. Went into the ancient church and sneaked a peek at the huge golden altar through an open window.

Back to our hostel for a beer and a very nice young man from Bulgaria gave us a complimentary plate of steamed blood cakes…………oh the delights of strangers!!! We ate it — what could one do. Now in the room in our tiny beds of spring coils for a much needed nap.

6:00 P.M.
Next to our hostel the monks have just played Beethoven’s “ode to Joy” on the bells in their ancient tower signaling the time for evening prayers….what beauty and tranquility one can find nestled in these hills! Worth suffering through the steamed blood cakes!
Easter Sunday
We awoke to the church bells ringing….all is very quiet at the Inn. I am not surprised, the revelry lasted until the wee hours of the morning. At one point it sounded as if every child from the village must be on the ground floor shouting and singing (the next morning we learned that this in deed was the fact!)
Today I must investigate an observation that I have made over the last two days…..the lack of animals of any kind. I have yet to see one dog or cat, a flock of sheep or even the lone milk cow. I am curious as to why (but an too afraid to ask anyone)…..of course all sorts of twisted reasons have gone through my mind.
Well we finished bathing in a tub that once belonged to Barbie — accomplishing this by standing and spraying ourselves with a hose on which was attached a shower head of some sort.

I suppose we are clean. I was tempted to merely sit on the bidet and take it from there…it did indeed seem a simpler approach.
We have ventured out into our small village.

I am constantly vigilant for any animal and have developed a theory….whereever one goes the markets are hung with the wonderful legs of pigs that have been cured into ham, I envision the pigs hanging from slings in various barns — LEGGLESS!!!!……awaiting the day the rest of their bodies will be made into bacon!
We have just ordered breakfast — I await my next culinary experience. The food was wonderful!!! and even saw a cat outside!!! We had wonderful crusty bread with eggs and Iberian sausage…..all dripping with the marvelous olive oil. I was so hungry that there will be no photo. The camera remained tucked away. We sit now and wait for Easter Mass to begin The bar is filling with locals awaiting the same. They promise a great procession circling the church three times to ensure luck for the year to come.


We attended the mass. Upon our arrival inside the church, we were so enthralled in viewing the beautiful altar (I, myslef….planning how to run a plank from our room window into the window of the church so that I might be able to reallocate some of the marvelous artifacts to our wine cellar back home)….anyways, so taken by the surroundings, that we did not realize that all the participants, other than the priest, were women! We began the procession out the door of the church and through the streets of the village….

……and suddenly behold — the men were in a SEPARATE procession moving towards us!! Our statue was covered in black lace, of course (!!!), the virgin in mourning — the men carried the statue of Christ….

When the two parties met our statue was uncovered and given a beautiful white veil of lace and a crown of gold (that would look very nice in the wine cellar, I might add).

I chuckled all throughout the rest of the service, remembering the strange looks the women were giving us during the procession — now they became all too clear!

After Easter services, we joined all the villagers at our hostel for beer and tapas. The Jefa (boss lady), mother of the innkeeper (Raul), makes the most wonderful olives, which we ordered. The generous Bulgarian waiter (who previously gave us steamed blood cakes) brought us a plate of fried fish and shrimp — of course they were fried whole.

I decided not to partake in this, having observed a barrel of these same fish outside the front door that the local fishermen purchase as bait and feared that as these fish passed on, they were moved from the water barrel to the frying pan. I am sure my fears were not reality; however, the idea of crunching on the heads and innards of these creatures of the sea did not appeal to my desired for culinary exploration. The remembrances of the steamed blood cakes lingering in my mind and on my palate!
***
A miserable night. We both had nightmares and woke each other up. The beds felt as if each spring was attempting to burrow into our very bones, a revenge, no doubt, for having a fat American reside on its delicate surface!
We did enjoy a wonderful movie about Juan Carlos and Sophia and their son Philip falling in love with a woman (divorced!!! OMG!!!) and therefore considered unfit to one day be Queen of Spain.
Went off to a local store and purchased yogurt for breakfast and within moments were in a car bound for PENALVER!!!….FINALLY!

Feb8

Guadalajara, Spain

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We took the train from Madrid to Guadalajara — WOW less than five euros round trip!  The taxi from the airport in Madrid to the hotel was 50 euros!  The train was quite charming, a young man played the guitar and sang very happy songs.

Madrid Train Station

Guadalajara Train Station

We see “La Estacion del Gourmet” across the street so, of course, we run directly there…….for some wine
……..it was a long trip!

August just learned that tomorrow is Easter (BFD) and there will be no buses at all! Also, the cabs are not allowed to take us to the train station. Perhaps we shall sleep here in the street tonite. We found a bus back to the train station and went to visit our friend Antonio who was having a coffee with his friend, Valentin, who upon hearing of our trials and tribulations, is now going to drive us to Penalver!!!! Here we now sit in his very fine car on our way to our destination with his mute uncle, who is rapidly telling wonderful stories with his hands. Evidently there is a tradition in Penalver to find the fattest politico and weigh them and upon doing so present them with their weight in honey! ….charming…perhaps!

……..the owner, Antonio Francisco Gallego Moraza had the wait staff come right over to assist us….

Our night was spent in a hostel in a very, very, very, very, very…….okay you get the idea, smallllllllllllll bedroom with very, very, okay…okay…small beds – yes TWO, with August’s wet…from washing!….people please, stay with me….underwear hanging outside our window.

In all our frugal wisdom (stop laughing), we decided to take the city bus to the central terminal to investigate passage to Penalver (yes…..there is also a town by the name, August’s family was very important and influential in Spain) only to find the bus station CLOSED!!!!! Here we sit in the cold and rain awaiting a bus BACK to the train station to reclaim our luggage at the hotel of many winding stair cases, and find some means of transportation to Penalver. (I was thinking:”If you are so important — where is the royal carriage!!!) Perhaps we will find ourselves in the backof some hay wagon!…at least we would be warm! Still we wait for our bus — now for over an hour!

I went out in the middle of the night to have a Spanish cigarette. The room was on the second floor, up a tiny staircase — yes with our luggage in tow. Imagine it all people!
The next morning we returned to Antonio to seek assistance (no not for our headaches from the wine!)
We did have a most wonderful breakfast of of skirt steak, eggs, ham, mancheco cheese and all was bathed in the most wonderful, fragrant olive oil. Served with the most wonderful, rich coffee and fresh squeezed orange juice all served by our new friends. They presented us the most wonderful pots of local honey in handcrafted pots……OMG….to get this kind of attention back home….one would die!

What vistas we see along our way! Beautiful small villages, with ancient buildings surrounded by rolling hills covered with olive trees and hither and there….ruins of ancient castles! What history these hills hold. We are coming upon the turnoff for Penalver………….looks like our fortunes will hold…..we will see what shall be. Upon our arrival at our most sought after destination, the road has become a one lane rough country road. But, here we come upon the Village of Penalver!

How much can we suffer! There are no rooms available in Penalver! We went into the town square and were immediately surrounded by all the townsfolk — all who attempted to assist us. Calling the cousins and the bells of the village were sounded……….but to no avail. No rooms wer to be had. Off we went with Valentin to his car, cour faces long and sad. We scurried off to the village Tendialla…………will the madness never end…..

Feb8

Madrid Day Two

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We explored Madrid on foot – beautiful, charming and filled to the brim with people.  We found Calle del Conde de Penalver, a street named after Count Penalver, a relative of August’s.   His family name ‘in lights”         Museo de Jamon – Yummy Museum!       We enjoyed all the […]