Last one for this trip - some recipes

RECIPE SUMMARY NOT LISTED ABOVE
Butternut /acorn squash risotto with onion, cherry tomatoes balsamic vinegar drizzle and parsley

Pan fry with salt pork, zucchini, green pepper, onion, summer squash, potatoes, mushrooms and bacon - no eggs, but could add them!

Risotto with goat cheese, parmesan, parma ham and arugula garnish

Baquette hollowed out and filled with mushrooms, goat cheese, spinach...mushrooms were also stuffed with the goat cheese and spinach

Peppersauce over every kind of meat possible - great with pork tenderloin!!

That's all folks!

Sunday evening and Monday – October 9-10
Martine picked us up Sunday afternoon ad we headed out to Grinzing to ample some red Sturm and a meal at a Heuringen.. These little spots are supposed to serve only the wine they make, I think. We had a lovely meal and a drive around the Grinzing area and Vienna Woods before heading back to town for Eis at Zanoni & Zanoni, a special ice cream place. Always good.
We got up late and lazy this morning and headed out to finish up some shopping, getting receipts for the tax return at the airport which we neglected to get on Saturday. Then we headed off to have lunch with Jarred. Jarred is an attorney at a firm which does international arbitration – this is stuff between countries or between major multinational companies. A very small nitch of the law, only 5-6 cities in the world are accorded the “neutral” status that can supply this type of process. There are 6 firms here that act as arbitrators or represent the unhappy parties and not many more worldwide. He took us to the Supreme Court’s cafeteria on top of the Austrian Supreme Court building for lunch. They treat their judges to some pretty good food and excellent views of the old town of Vienna. We’ve really enjoyed seeing Martine and Jarred again and getting to know Jarred better. A truly enjoyable visit with two delightful talented people.
Off for more shopping and a bit of a nap before heading out to one final dinner in a wine cellar (1600s) with music. Then it will be a pack job and early trip to the airport with Martine. See you all soon!

Friday/Saturday October 7/8 Sunday morning

So the last two and one half days have been unremitting, mainly non-touristy, things to do. We got up early in Krumlov and headed back south toward Austria. Trusting nuvi on this trip, we directed her to find the Melk Abbey by the fastest and shortest route. Expecting to head south by highway, we soon found ourselves heading SE like a hound after a fox. Over hill and dale and through the cow patch, over creeks, on one (maybe not that big) lane roads we saw parts of Austria we bet even some Austrians have never seen (or wanted to), and certainly not the standard tourist visit. Gorgeous hills, prosperous farms, and green velvet fresh growing fields met our eye each time we topped a steep hill before we fell down the side into sharp little tree covered valleys “Turn left in 1.3 km, turn right in 700 meters” – we did it all; some roads had no name but were simply called “gutter weg” or “good road”- questionable as we truly worked the car’s suspension and brakes. Mark was lamenting not having the TT while I held on for dear life. Oh my, we did make it to the Abbey in relatively good time, but…hmmm…next time we may change the directions to something slow and steady.
Melk Benedictine Abbey has been substantially fixed up in the past 10 years – they sold their original Gutenberg Bible to Yale to finance the reconstruction. In existence since the 500s, in its current form pretty much since the 11th century, with Baroque additions added where parts were destroyed by fire in the 1700s, we toured through the artwork on display, parts of its massive library, and its glorious church. Throughout the Abbey, the Benedictine ideas are painted on walls and carved in stone, honoring law, medicine, theology, philosophy, wisdom, justice, fortitude and recycling. The overall arching theme here was that victory is not achieved unless the battle was just…or something like that. The size of the library was impressive – at a time when knowledge is power and few could read, the books symbolized a lot of power! Down the spiral staircases and back to the car.
Then we took off down the Wachau Valley of the Danube into Vienna. The Wachau Valley was pretty much hidden by rain, but looked to be a cross between the Mosel and the Rhein … vineyards with a more commercial air. We stopped briefly in Durnstein, a very small town near Krems which looked lovely. Almost inaccessible by road, we didn’t realize we were driving on bike paths to get into it…blame it, again, on nuvi…they looked like the roads we’d been on for the last 2 hours! Durnstein was lovely with its little cobblestone streets but, alas, it has been overrun by the large tourist boats, 2 of which were arriving just as we did. Each cute little store was setting out its Stuerm bottles and knick-knacks. We quickly left before the hordes could crush us. Stuerm, by the way, is Austria’s version of the early just pressed wine (federweissen) we had in Germany, only now after 2-3 weeks it is developing some kick…lovely stuff and we get it every chance we can.
We pulled into Vienna and Martine found us and drove us back to her apartment for a pre-dinner drink. They have a lovely hardwood floor furnished place that is in a building hundreds of years old - 3 big rooms plus kitchen and bathroom – 14 foot ceilings. Apparently the owner died about 18 months ago, which they didn’t know. They pay rent into his account and they figure someone is collecting it as they hadn’t been kicked out yet. After some fun conversation, we took off for Sven’s, a very small restaurant that probably wouldn’t/couldn’t be found by anyone without the proper compass and secret password. Tremendous inexpensive local (read pork and dumplings) food. A tram ride home and sleep.
Woke up early Saturday with plans to do lots of touristy things…total failure of plans. Instead, we shopped and bought ourselves some new bedding, pillows, comforters, duvet covers etc. Then had to go buy another suitcase to get it all home…the dogs will like the feathers, as do we. Went wandering through the Naschtmarkt and found this marvelous stall that sells all different types of vinegar. Pomegranate was my favorite, with asparagus and black current running close in the competition. Met Jarred and Martine again and walked all over town, found a great little restaurant again (Wickerl), watched a bit of the Missouri Kansas State football game and then took off into the night to walk home across a busy town at midnight. Ah, sleep, perchance to dream.
Got up this morning to play tourist, just a bit. First went to the Hofburg Chapel to listen to the Vienna Boys’ Choir – not that impressive in this locale for some reason, too few of them for the chapel? Next we went to the 11.00 high mass at the Augustine Church…conducted by the Cardinal for the area. There was a photographer documenting everything he said or did, which took some of the glory off the actions. The real reason we were there, though, was to listen to their spectacular choir and orchestral accompaniment. Wow, so beautifully done it brought tears to my eyes, made the 18 chandeliers swing in time to the music, and then we walked out and stumbled onto the Lippizaners returning to their stable across the courtyard…perfect morning as far as I was concerned. Topped it off with a brief snack at Demels, a café sweet shop with a history centuries long. We had a vanilla crème schnitte (think napolean with Bavarian cream), a milk custard strudel, hot chocolate and a hot wild berry rum punch (oh yeah!). Off to sleep it off. Meeting Martine and Jared for a trip to the wineries this afternoon….as usual, more later.

Thursday Oct 6
Cesky Krumlov is a jewel…somewhat undiscovered so far. That is bound to change. To understand this town, a bit of history is needed. I think my compilation of history here is fairly correct, though pulled out of various things I have read the last 6 months. The Hapsburg empire owned and ruled this portion of Europe for hundreds of years. This is the so called “Sudentenland.” The area spoke German mainly with other ethnic groups rolled in and was as much Germanic as Germany and Austria. After World War I, this area was lumped together with Slovakia and held to be a separate state, removed from German control; it was still, however, Germanic in many ways. The Munich Accords of 1938 gave Germany control of this area again. That’s when Chamberlain returned to England claiming he had arranged “Peace for our time” … yeah, right. At that time, Germany forced all Czechs, Romanys, and Slovaks in the area (25% of the population) to leave; it became a purely Germanic state. Many of those forced to leave did not survive the war, whether due to their ethnicity, placement in concentration camps as resistance fighters, or their death due to other collateral damage related to WWII 10 out of 700 Jewish people from the area survived. The town of C.Krumlov was not damaged during the war, never a focus of any battles. In 1945, when Germany lost the war, the powers that be decided the Germans, Austrians, and Czechs could never get along, so all of German heritage were expelled, as had been the Czechs earlier (the remaining 75% of the population). C. Krumlov was left a ghost town. The communists relocated some troops here, but in 1993 when the communist system failed, the Czech and Russian troops returned to their home states and this area was left with minimal population … without its people a town has no life or history. In order to repopulate the area, local tenants who had been forced to live here were offered the right to buy buildings and homes for 10% of their value, provided they secured financing to repair the homes within 5 years and completed renovations within 15 years. Some other people whose family were originally from here but had been forced to relocate by the communists also came back. As of 2010, the changes to the town are indescribable and almost complete. Even 5 years ago, the neglected buildings and streets looked impossible to repair. Now, the town is a wonder of gothic, renaissance and baroque buildings with a plethora of cobblestone streets, history lessons, inexpensive restaurants and bed and breakfasts. We landed in a tour of the old town with Karolina Kortusova, a Rick Steves recommendation, and heard not only about the history of the town repair, but she shared her personal experiences of growing up Czech in a Russian cage. They are now quite rightfully proud of the town, which they have made their own, and their new found freedoms, with all the potential and responsibility that comes with freedom.
On to the town itself. It is really two towns nestled into adjacent curves of the river. In one medieval town, a castle rose and housed the gentry of the area who had a license to make a special beer sold only to the rich. The castle has 5 courtyards, brown bears in the moat (really) more than 40 buildings and a huge garden. In the other medieval town, they made better beer. Hence the two towns were joined so each could profit from the different beers. There were more than 5 breweries in this tiny area. After the war and relocations, only one continued to operate … Eggerbeer. Even I liked their dark sweet beer…shock! The two towns cover a very small area with every street only a few minutes walk from each other. Hand crafts, and especially wood working, are now the major items available for sale. Before too many years, it will likely become a Disneyland of kitsch. At the moment , though, it is truly a marvelous place. Come see it now.
Time for a post prandial dumpling nod…heavier and deeper than other such post lunch naps…

Tues/Wed October 4 and 5th
On Tuesday, we decided to just spend sometime around town (Hallstadt) buying souvenirs, riding a boat around the lake, and then drive around to some of the smaller towns in the area. We got as far as Bad Ischl, Strobl, and St. Gilgen, the closest lake side town to Salzburg. None were anything special but the lakes themselves were beautiful nestled into the steep high mountains. This area has about 13 lakes which range in size from a mile across and 2-3 miles long to double or triple that size. The Hallstattsee where we stayed appears to be one of the smallest and the hardest to get to. No real motors allowed other than 2 small tour boats so the serenity is amazing…small electric boats, paddleboats, canoes, kayaks and lots of ducks and swans. Apparently the lakes are only about 50 meters above sea level and were first formed when the supercontinent Panagea was bumping around and the alps started getting pushed up. Now snow melt rivers keep them full and calm..and a bit cold!
Wednesday found us driving up to Gmunden for a quick peak at where Martine got married and then onto Mauthausen concentration camp. As with our trip to Dachau in the past, man’s inhumanity to man is unbelievable. The scenery is peaceful rolling green hills and then, in the middle, rises a crematorium smokestack. This was mainly a labor camp where political prisoners, opposing army prisoners, partisan/rebels, and jews were forced to labor up high stone steps (186 of them) from a quarry with rocks on their backs to supply stone to build the third reich monuments. Most were fed 5 tablespoons of food daily, and most died within a few months of arrival. If they fell on their trek uphill, they were simply shot. Close to 100,000 died here from 1938 till May 5, 1945 (7 days after Hitler’s death) when the camp was liberated. The prisoners continued to die for days after liberation because they were simply too far gone to save…60,000 in the last 9 months, 15,000 in the last few days. This is a powerful and moving memorial to those who died here and elsewhere in such camps, and a powerful reminder or education for the rest of us.
Off to Cesky Krumlov in the Czeck Republic after that solemn visit to Mauthausen. I was a bit worried as we drove into the Czech Republic. The first young lady was hitchhiking, I thought. Standing by the side of the road miles from anywhere. Then we passed 7-10 more nicely spaced out along the road….ohhh. Guess it is something different than a car ride they are seeking. That was very discouraging, somehow. Lots of “American Chance Casinos” and “Sin City” buildings. The iron curtain has certainly rusted away (no customs or border visible) and all the buildings are painted in bright colors. In addition, there are babies and children everywhere. In 73, the situation was so grim (no color literally or spiritually) there were no children being born – the future was too grim. What a difference. We rolled into Cesky Krumlov about 6p.m. – lovely color, lots of babies and young children…smiling laughing locals everywhere. No hookers in sight and lots of fun places to walk.
More tomorrow after we have explored.

Sunday Monday Oct 2-3
We left Rothenburg od Tauber early on Sunday, ready for a long leisurely drive through the German countryside…not. The first weekend of Oktoberfest in Munchen and an Allianz soccer match against Dresden (I think) led to a 30 mile back up of traffic around Munich. Our expected peaceful drive took all day and was anything but. We finally got south of Munich and headed up into the foothills of the alps. That means we wound through little valleys with mountainsides that went straight up, with sheep, calves and cows wandering the steep hills – with bells clanging on their necks - under the watchful eyes of their owners’ homes half way up the hill. The beautiful alpen homes look like swallows nests perched on the sides of barn roofs.
Coming through Aptenau we heard an oompah band and saw a town gathering, so of course we stopped. They were all in their lederhosen, felt hats and fancy dirndls; we were in our jeans, sunhats, and orthopedic walking shoes. I am sure they wondered who the hell we were partaking of their beer, wurst and drinking songs. A fun time was had by all – perhaps at our expense. We made it into Hallstatt at around dinner time, stuffed our faces full of goulash, spaetzle, and wiener-shnitzel, all washed down with wunderbar white wines of the region. Then we fell into bed. Mark got up early, got dressed and headed out to explore, only to discover it was 2 a.m.. Guess we went to bed too early! I got up about 4 hours later. After our typical muesli and fruit, ham and cheese breakfast, we hiked off to the new part of town and took the funicular up to the Salt Works – mine. This mine has been worked for 7000 years and salt (“Hall”) has been an important part of history, not only here but for the world. We got to taste the salt rock, red from iron, and twice slide down long wooden bannisters that the miners used to get to the different levels of the mine. We made over 23 km per hour and would have been faster if I hadn’t ended up accidentally dragging my feet when we went double. Fun laser shows on an underground lake and demonstrations of different mining techniques ended with a “train” ride out of the mine. This train, though, was a wooden bench 8”wide which we straddled and then got pulled out of the mine through narrow little tunnels the ceilings of which were low enough to give you a headache if you sat up too high…no litigators here!
Breakfast is always a never-ending source of entertainment, full of characters who don’t know how to keep their voices down. Yesterday morning we shared tea and coffee with one fairly flamboyant gay man, his partner, his mother and a third man (brother?). Each had brought their small dog on the trip with them from Camano Island. After a pleasant sharing of experiences, mom said to her son: “What were you doing last night? It sounded like you were moving furniture!” Stunned silence…We quietly tried to act like we were otherwise involved in a discussion of the menu…
Hallstatt is a tiny OLD town crammed onto a ledge held hostage between the cliff and the lake. Swans circle the long stretch of waterfront threatening you with glares if you fail to throw a little extra spaetzle their way from the terrace restaurant. We didn’t want them to plan a hit on our lives, so they got plenty from us.
The lovely weather continues…70s every day and 50s at night. We understand that will end this week and Vienna will be in the mid 40s. We’ll get to wear the other 75% of our packed clothes then! As you can tell, not much happening these two days. More later!

Fri-Sat September 30-October 1

Friday-Saturday Sept 30- Oct 1
Took off early from Beilstein on Friday, leaving the misty morning river and rising up onto the high plateau in more brilliant sunshine. The weather has been Fantastic – mid to upper 70s each day. I’m running out of warm weather clothes and sunscreen – that is NOT a complaint. We drove west and slightly south toward the German “Romantic Road” which runs south from Wurzburg to Fussen. Destination Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
RodT was one of the largest and most important medieval cities in Europe. A strategic stop on both the North to South and East to West trade routes, it had everything until the 30 year war between the Protestants and Catholics (the fight at least at the start of the war). At one point a 40,000 strong army of the Catholics overran the city of 6000 and impoverished them with bribe payments to let them live – then killed everyone anyway. Over the next decade, the town was overrun repeatedly, losing 70 % of their population to war or disease, all their funds, most of their farmlands, and many villages or buildings once under their control. For the next 200 years, the town wasn’t much of a prize and languished as a city. This poverty prevented any reconstruction or improvements to the town…and then came the tourists – another type of invader, but one that pays!.
Last night we took a tour given by the German Jerry Seinfeld…in the form of a 14th century Night Watchman. Informative, funny and a great way to spend Friday evening learning some warped history. Today, we took a hike around the top of the town wall and ramparts, then another historical walking tour which filled us in on more history. In March of 1945, the US bombed the stink out of this area – destroying 40%of the medieval town. An American general whose mother had a picture of RotD hanging in their living room as he grew up, and who told him stories about the town as a boy, apparently stopped another bombing of the town the next clear night and arranged a surrender of the German troops hiding here. After the war, the people of RotD published a plea in every major newspaper around the world asking for funds to rebuild; those funds are still pouring in from visitors. For 1000 Euro, you can get a plaque put upon 1 meter of the reconstructed wall.
Food sampling here has run from the weird to the delicious. Federweisser is a cloudy drink available only at this time of year. It is apparently grapejuice dregs prior to, or left over from, filling the wine kegs. It looks like a pulverized white feather, hence, we think, the name. The other, strange, food that has struck us here is something called a Schneeballen (snow ball). Rollout some pie crust into a rectangle, make a bunch of slices through the middle of it, leaving the edges intact. Then play cats cradle with the inside “strings” folding it into a ball and deep fat fry it…then add flavoring like, chocolate, amaretto, cinnamon sugar, peanut butter, coconut---use your imagination. Seems to be a bit of an addiction around here. However, pie crust is still just pie crust…
Architecture adds another bit of info to the pix included. It was required that everyone inside the town walls maintain 2 years of food, so each home has a high pitched roof inside which lots of grain could be stored. Didn’t help the town much with the 40,000 army as some idiot inside the walls entered the gunpowder storage tower with a torch and blew down the walls for a good distance. They’ve been reenacting the 2 day siege all day with cannon fire, Hungarian mercenaries, and little children dressed in period clothing running and screaming through the streets. Final act is when the town supposedly offered the conquering general a 6 pt “glass” of wine as a welcome and he offered to spare the city if the mayor could drink it all in one continuous swallow, which he did. The “Meistertrunk” action occurs on the hour with the town square clock providing the scene and show. No mention of the condition of the mayor afterwards…Of course, this story was made up in the late 1800s to entice more tourists. Off to Austria tomorrow.