… one should take more pictures.
My husband, without a camera in Rome
I am tempted to simply publish this blog with the phrase,
REED WENT TO ROME FOR A CONFERENCE.
But, that seems silly, so here is another pic.
On a different day, Kim took Eliot to the Salzburg Zoo.
Kim thinks she is one twig away from being another Jim Brandenburg.
Love, your savvy travel reporter, Kim
Just a short drive to Germany is a lovely mountain lake, Königssee, where you can take an old boat to some pretty spectacular sights. It is in Berchtesgaden, Germany, a place I have already raved about here and the Berchtesgaden salt mine here. This is not a long drive from Salzburg, so one Saturday we drove down only to be turned around by rain. Thankfully, we returned on Monday because we couldn’t pass up the sunshine.
This was the first day, actually, I snapped a pic of the boat ride we didn’t take. Notice, no blue sky.
In fact, we took a great walk around the shops and started a little hike…
my little hiker- he made it all the way up to where you see the crane.
Once again, it pains me to take entire weekend day to view something we have in our own country. Cement truck. sigh.
But, from this view, we could see this waterfall in the distance. And, I was determined to get closer…
Huge waterfall, turns out the boat glides right past it.
So, two days later, we are off!
Seriously exciting boat trip for E-man.
Leaving Berchtesgaden in the background
The boat was filled with German-speakers and the captain provided a commentary, all in German so we missed all the jokes. They even stopped mid-way at a huge rock wall while the first mate pulls out a trumpet to play notes to demonstrate the echo. The 35 min ride alone was worth every penny, or, uh, Euro.
He got a hefty tip for this stunt.
But, here- our destination is in sight! We approach the end of the lake, St. Bartholomew.
The red-onion domed building is the icon of the lake. It was once a monastery, now a Bavarian beer garden, of course. It is surrounded by hiking trails and pristine mountain cliffs.
Off the boat and onto the trails…
View from trails-Bertchesgaden National Park
The mountain kept giving off these avalanches that made the most incredible sound!
View of the boat dock at St. Bart’s
Love this Lake!!!
We could have stayed there all day and taken in the pristine scenery.
But, alas, a nearly-three-year-old prevents such things.
You can pick out what I think is the Bavarian flag floating on the Bier Garten sign…
Could you possibly have a nicer place to have lunch!?! Quite popular is the fish caught out of the lake, super fresh!
Does it get any better than this?
Ah, this place. I just love it.
So, back on the boat, we arrive at the dock with a little Sunburn too!!! yeah! This place is a haven for German tourists too, and the down hill ski area is only 10 minute walk through this little street of fun shops selling authentic German clothing and apple strudels.
Poor little guy is wiped out as you can see here… and so am I tonight, so that is a wrap.
Yours in avalanches and beer gardens, Kim
Although the past 24 hours has taken a down turn, (not as bad as MN, of course!) we had a couple of beautiful days last week, which made me thankful again for our accommodations. I am working on a post about our last weekend where we visited two incredible places, but it is taking me quite awhile, so until then, here is a short post on some of the things that keeps Eliot and Mom entertained in the afternoon.
Spring brings babies
We have baby goats, baby bunnies AND kittens! I can’t tell you how much fun it is to see these little buggers running around playing in the field. They are adorable.
I like them easily as much as Eliot…
another view of our apartment and swings and ‘kids’
Now, if we can just get some blooms on those trees, it will really feel like spring.
“Traktor”- some words aren’t so hard to learn…
Lovin’ it here, but will also be very glad to get home. Love from all of us kids.
They have this wild plant that grows here in the spring that I don’t believe we have on our continent. It is pronounced like a bear, and that is the literal translation as well, “Bear-garlic” or “Bear-Leek”
It tastes a bit like Garlic and a bit like an onion or a leek. It is offered in all the restaurants now…in soup, as pesto and in gnocchi. Apparently the English term is “Ramson,” but I had never heard of it until Christine explained it to me. With a quick Google search, recipes abound. I don’t have food processor, though, so I thought I would just chop it and put it on pizza…
Being that one could go pick this out your back door, it only costs a Euro for this huge bunch of leaves…
This is in NO way a fancy-schmancy-cooking blog, but the pizza came out so good, I just had to share. And, it is about all I have time for today…
fancy-schmancey picture of pizza ingredients, missing the tomatoes and fresh mozz!
Again, thanks to Christine, our neighbor, for finding me pizza crust…you can’t imagine the difficulty of searching the refrigerated section with a hyperactive toddler for things when you can’t read the labels…there was no way I was going to try to make my own, finding yeast was more than I could bear. Who would have thought it would say “Blech” on it!? Thankfully, this one is made with all natural ingredients and was DARN good!
I barely got a picture of the pizza before it was inhaled by our little family of 2 and 1/4! Here, one remaining piece.
Watch out, Rachel Ray….Bärlauch-Margarita pizza is here to stay. Well, at least through spring!…
yours in cheesey-leeky-yumminess,
Kim
Anyone else out there under the impression that the Edelweiss is the National Flower or even the National Anthem for Austria? Anyone else know that it isn’t actually spelled Edelweiss in German? (But, Edelweiβ?)
Ich auch (me too).
Anyone not aware it is flower to begin with? Well then, YOU can join my husband in that group. He also, get-ready-for-this, HAS NEVER SEEN THE SOUND OF MUSIC.
This was not made aware to me prior to our wedding vows. I know, call me a saint, I put up with so much!
Artificial Edelweiss, turns out there is a good reason for that…
It is the country flower and is on the 2 cent Euro coin.(is also the national flower of Switzerland)…but, it also turns out the song was written for the movie, so we can purge our brains of thinking it is some kind of ancient Austrian folklore.
The Lovely storefront, in Halstadt, where Kim could spend a good portion of Reed’s income on artificial flowers and such…
Other fun facts about Edelweiβ that you may or may not want to know…
It is strictly protected in the wild, as it seems to be endangered. It is scarce and short-lived only in high alpine-areas.
from gardenguides.com:
“Edelweiss” comes from two German words. “Edel” means “nobility” and “weiss” is the German word for “white.” The meaning of the name is probably what gave rise to edelweiss’ traditional meaning in the Language of Flowers. The small white blossoms represent daring or noble courage. The association with courage may also have to do with the fact that obtaining edelweiss from mountain crags for a bouquet took skill and courage on the part of the flower gatherer.”
So, there you have it, a simple post about a lovely flower, something I thought we could all use in the aftermath of a tragedy in Boston.
Sending love from across the miles,
Kim
It is hard to believe, but we are running out of weekends to spend in the greater Salzburg region! Determined to make the most of every free day, we headed back to the Salzkammergut Lake District. How do I say this…IT. IS. Spectacular. Per Rick Steves, “Idyllic and majestic, but not rugged, it’s a gentle land of lakes, forested mountains and story book villages….(Germany & Austria 2008)” I hope to try to capture that description in our photos a bit here and in an upcoming post on Konigsee.
We spent the whole weekend chasing the sunshine around two different mountain lakes. As if Hallstatt (also the Salkammergut region) wasn’t enough, we just kept coming back for more. So, this particular day, we started in St. Gilgen on Lake Wolfgangsee. It has been titled “Mozart Village” (as if he wasn’t everywhere enough) and has a rich history, but to get to St. Wolfgang, one would have to drive all the way around the lake. So, we thought we would take the scenic boat route.
Lake Wolfgangsee, started out cloudy.
So, we took a walk around St. Gilgen while we waited for the boat to arrive and the clouds to clear.
The Parish, St. Ägydius, was refurbished in the 18th Century. That means it is really old.
It had a breathtaking cemetery.
I feel as if I have not captured the architecture of this country nearly well enough, here an attempt to remedy that.
A lovely part of town, with a typical Gasthof for eating and drinking.
Finally, the boat arrives to take us to St. Wolfgang across the lake.
Boat approaching- it was rather large boat with, of course, a fully stocked bar.
Leaving St. Gilgen
There are amazing hiking trails everywhere, imagine them here above the rock…and even a running route around the lake, must be near marathon length!?
We approach the lovely town of St. Wolfgang (Volff-gahng).
View of St. Wolfgang church from the boat
Like so many towns here, narrow with fabulous architecture. We had quite a few hours to stall, until the boat took us back…
So, we stopped into the chuch, circa 976.
976?????? Did you read that right?? For my German- fluent friends, a close up:
But, Wikipedia sheds further light…
For the history buffs, from Wikipedia: “Saint Wolfgang erected the first church at the shore of the Wolfgangsee after he withdrew to the nearby Mondsee Abbey in 976. According to legend he threw an axe down the mountain to find the site and even persuaded the Devil to contribute to the building by promising him the first living being ever entering the church. However Satan was disappointed as the first creature over the doorstep was a wolf.” So…is that how he got his name!? How do they KNOW this!?!?!
For our pics of Mondsee Abbey, see here.
View from St. Wolfgang church.
Other view from the church. Note to self, STAY HERE NEXT TIME.
Lunch on the lake!
We found a lovely American couple to take our picture. They were from Portland, practically our neighbors. We made it back to our boat with an exhausted toddler to boot. What you don’t see pictured is our nearly 3 yr old, melting down due to fatigue, and 2 parents trying to keep him happy, but I digress. Our next post will be about a boat trip across a mountain lake, where we had a lovely lunch and of course, beer.
Hope you don’t mind the redundancy.
Doesn’t this look photo-shopped? But, I don’t know how to photoshop, so there you are.
Yours in pristine mountain-lake-taverns (and churches from the 10th century),
Kim
Guinness, of course! What were YOU thinking?
Men are pretty simple, for the most part. We all know what makes them happy. In addition to the basics, my Scotch-Irish hubby loves a good pub. Since Austria is light-years behind (ok, I am exaggerating a little) in the non-smoking night-life scene, we have had a hard time finding places for a pint. Secondly, the drinking age is 16 for beer & wine, 18 for liquor, so we face the possibility of entering a scene of teenagers in high-heels smoking Chesterfields. We have had a hard time finding hops in the pints as well, but that is a different story.
However, after nearly 3 months of living in Salzburg, we have FOUND AN OASIS in a local Irish pub! Guinness on tap, non-smoking AND a frequent beer pint card (drink 10 pints, get one free). What luck!
Murphy’s Law!
A Lovely Day for a Guinness
I know. It seems completely superficial of me to post, day-after-day about food, drink and architecture. I have dear relatives that write or preach often of much deeper topics, those with an eternal focus . This however, is not that kind of blog. I have pondered over this, and come to the conclusion, this is all about my family experiencing a new culture and enjoying life. As superficial as it may seem, it is what it is. So, let’s move on to more hoppy topics.
Go Mariners! (This one is for you, Levison)
Please note the cave-like appearance. This too, is within the Monchsberg.
Who knew you could fit so many establishments with in a rock wall??
Let’s finish by saying this wasn’t actually pint-day, but a day-date at the Salzburg Museum and Panoramic Museum. The former being the larger one, and quite interesting…although I took few photos. Let’s end with the most cheesy.
Does it get any better than this?
The Panorama Museum mostly contained an incredible panoramic painting of historic Salzburg, oh and this Sound of Music exhibition. I would have stayed longer for Reed to fix the resolution, but I felt like a moron.
Your Guinness Loving-Gal,
Kim
A museum of toys, not only to play with, but a full history of toys…they a really know how to do a kiddo’s museum right here. I had to tear Eliot away to get home for naptime and all for only 1.5 Euros!? We joined our new friends Christine and Jakob for this morning trip and Eliot had a blast. Although the history here is not nearly as ancient as the architecture in the rest of Salzburg, just thought I’d share some of the fun pics of this museum…(I have to say, this isn’t my most exciting post for those of you that have recently started following, but if you have kids, or perhaps are still a kid yourself, you may have a stronger appreciation for the joy of this day!)
Eliot is literally jumping for joy, I caught him mid-air…
Like some other restaurants and such in Old Town Salzburg, it is built into the Monchberg Cliff (the one with the Fortess on top!)…so every so often you are reminded of the huge rock wall that makes up one side…
Rock wall, just hanging out, forming one side of the building. No biggie.
It is full of trains…
lots of trains…
Magnifying things…
funky floating, antique toys.
Eliot dressed to ‘disappear’ into the polka dot wall
The first room actually was all about marbles. ( Ben, I am really thinking this is something for you to build in your basement, dude, get on it!)
First, Place marble in the lift.
Crank…
marble drops into tube
Marble travels around room…
and into the coolest Marble maze, as it hits little triangles that makes a lovely chime sound…. And, you do it again.and again and again.
Dolphins just for my sea-loving land-locked son.
Not pictured- tea for moms to sit and drink while their kids construct and destroy. It was the easiest museum I have ever taken Eliot. I didn’t bother to add the pics of the shadow maker, toy maze, construction site, cinema or slide! It was quite a day.
SpielzeugMuseum- a must-see for parents that visit Salzburg!
Yours in dizzying dots~
Kim
Upon a particularly dreary Friday morning a bit ago, I considered taking Eliot to the local inside playground. For 1.5 Euros, he can wear himself out without me having to stand around in the rain. But, darn it! I am tired of living in Europe and doing things we can do in our own country. Energetic toddler at my side or not, I was determined to discover a new town. Enter MONDSEE. If you think you are pronouncing it properly, you are probably not.
Following my trusty Ipad GPS co-pilot system, we arrive in Mondsee, which promises spectacular views, if it wasn’t so hazy.
There is a lake and mountains beyond all that fog…
Site of the wedding scene in The Sound of Music- Collegiate Church of St Michael at Mondsee
Oh, and here is St Michael himself, standing outside…
I don’t know if he is a priest or not, but I dig the robes.
I honestly didn’t know the church was the wedding scene as we were visiting… but sure enough, I spotted it in the 1965 trailer on youtube! Good thing, I might have broken out into song during our tour…come on, everybody now…”How do solve a problem like Maria?”
It is really gorgeous inside, I am so glad we made the trip.
Eliot looking angelic in the 15th Century sanctuary
It was very ornate and the stations of the cross were incredible elaborate. Good choice, Robert Wise.
Just to show you the massiveness of each station- Eliot posing by one of the Stations of the cross
Close up view of one of the stations.
There are so many beautiful and really really OLD churches in Europe. I sure wish I had the energy to photograph them all and write a post of all churches! But, I don’t.
Pulpit in the Basilica
After a sandwich at a cafe, we headed home just in time for Eliot to nap. I am not sure it will ever stop raining before we leave, but at least we didn’t get 8 inches of snow like Minnesota! Sorry to hear that, MN peeps!
Yours in gold-plated beauty,
Kim
In one of my first posts, “Surprise View”…you may recall the view from our top floor. There was a great mountain I incorrectly describe as ‘not as popular’ as Untersberg. I must have been fatigued, it may not be as popular because it wasn’t mentioned in the Sound of Music, but it is very popular for hiking, biking, paragliding, driving or busing up and drinking at the top. Gotta love those Austrians!
This is Gaisberg on the right- from one of my previous hikes. The weather was teasing us with warmer temperatures this day, snow appears to be melting….
So, although the weather was far from ‘balmy,’ Reed took an early lunch on a weekday (how else will we get to see everything if he doesn’t leave work somedays!?) and we drove to the top as a family. It PAINS ME that we had to drive. Although I am far from a mountaineer, I do love to hike. So to see others reach the top (poles in hand), my heart ached a little. Still, it was great fun to be together on a Wednesday to see Salzburg from a different view.
The drive up 1, 288 meters was exhausting! Here I am at the summit.
Reed, admiring the view. Yes, this dog to his far right was gargantuan. I think I saw it rescue a small child from falling down the mountain….
But, seriously, the view of the Alps here is astonishing- even if we continue to evade bluebird skies.
Here, you see downtown Salzburg- the Salzach River below, Castle on the left and the big brown hill on the right is Kapuzinerburg hill!
I reported on Kapuzinerberg hill here…
Once again, Watzmann, the 3rd highest peak in Germany (yes, not Austria, it is that close)…viewed from the top of Gaisberg
And of COURSE a place to grab suppe and bier at the top! We do not lack for places to eat in this country…
Leben Lieben! 