Austria - Day 1 - Salzburg

We're on the road again. As usual, we are hopping on the bus to the train station to the airport. This time is was bus to Liverpool station and the train up to Stansted Airport. They may call the train the Stansted Express, but it stops 4 or 5 times along the way making the ride almost an hour to get there.

We are riding RyanAir, which after our trip to Stockholm last summer, I thought I'd never see Tony ride again. However, this time we simply paid the extra money to check our bags from the start.

We arrived in Salzburg Airport aka Mozart Airport without any troubles. The terminal was the Steigl Terminal named for the famous brewery in Salzburg that has been brewing since 1492. It is still privately owned. It's fun to think that a brewery is so vital to a community that they have an airport terminal named for them.

We hopped on the city bus, and were whisked up to the town center. This was certainly one of the easiest transfers we've done. In 15 minutes, we were there. Our hotel was the Elefant Hotel, which was right in the heart of things. It is a very nice hotel, and our room had a view of the fort/castle on top of the hill above Salzburg.

We rested for a moment, and then took off on a walking tour of the city. Our first stop was of course, Mozart Square to pay homage to the city's favorite son.

Directly facing Mozart on the Square is Demel. It is a famous Austrian chocolatier. They also are known for making the famous Sacher Torte, (a chocolate cake with Apricot Jam filling), better than the actual one served at the Sacher hotel. We knew immediately, that we were ready for a Cake Brake. It was delicious and not too dry, especially when eaten with some of the whipped cream. I knew I'd be eating more of it on this trip.

Tony and I wandered through the small streets and came across a cute Christmas store. It had all these piles of amazingly painted eggs. We found this really cute one that had some peti-point on it and bought it as our official Christmas Decoration of the year.

Looming over Salzburg and visible from almost every street is Hohensalzburg Castle. It was never conquered until Napoleon, and given its placement on the top of an almost sheer cliff, it is understandable.

Directly in the center of the large civil square between the new and old palaces, which now serve as the city hall is he fountain featured prominently in the beginning of the "Sound of Music" during the "Confidence in me" number. It is a beautiful Romanesque fountain reminding me a lot of the fountains in Piazza Navona in Rome.

We wandered into the large Salzburg Cathedral. Mozart had been an organist here and wrote some of his masses to be performed here.

It has a beautifully impressive interior with lots of plaster detail ornamentation.






The dome had been damaged in WWII, but has been completely restored.


A short walk from here is the St. Peter's cemetary, which was the inspiration for the cemetary set used in the Sound of Music film.

Parts of it come right up to and actuall burrow into the cliff face.

It is a very different style of cemetary from what we normally see in the states and from what I've seen in other parts of Europe.




In some cases, metal shields are used in place of a stone headstone.



One unique aspect is that family members are required to continue to pay rent to have their loved ones interned here. When they stop paying, the remains are removed, and the plaque is moved to the wall. I guess that is one way to keep people paying the rent.



We stopped for a quick break at the local farmers market, where Tony had the largest fig he'd ever seen. It was very tasty, and gave us a bit of a boost in our walk.




We wandered on to the royal stables where there is a beautiful fountain, that was actually used as the pool to wash the horses.





It made me think of how humble our system is for washing our dogs, and how we should come up with something similar for them. A joke. . .

Our walk took us on a big loop, and before long, we were back in the narrow alleyways with shops leading us back to our hotel. The fun traditional iron signs explain through pictures what is sold in the various shops for people who were illiterate.

Even McDonald's has a classic iron sign.





Salzburg's historic district is a very compressed easily walkable area. It makes for a very pleasant strolling experience.

That evening, Tony and I walked down to a restaurant called Barenwirt. It is known for cooking the best Schnitzel in town. We each had it and a good local beer called Augustiner Brau, which is made at the local Abbey. Schnitzel is basically a breaded and fried piece of beef or pork. Delicious.

For dessert we had the first of what would be many strudels. This one was made with seasonal berries. Yummy.


We also had to try the local after dinner drink, Schnapps. We each had a small Pear Schnapps with our dessert. Wow. You could start a fire with that stuff.

After dinner, we took a leisurely stroll back along the Salzach River enjoying the beautiful views of Salzburg. It was coolish and rainy, but we're kind of used to that by now.

BBQ in London

Tony and I have tried the 3 top BBQ places in London now. Two more traditional American BBQ style (a fusion of the 3 different regional distinctions) and a third a well regarded Argentinian style BBQ. We've had three fun meals with different groups of friends.


BoDean's is often regarded as the best BBQ in London. I've heard this from several people. We went there for Thanksgiving, but what impressed me most that evening was their Clam Chowder. We decided that we needed to return to try their specialty - BBQ.

BoDean's does serve good BBQ. One can see the redness from the smoking, and the meat is tender and falling off the bones.



I tried the BBQ Baby Back Ribs and the BBQ chicken. If I have one complaint is is that the portions were smaller than what have come to expect from a BBQ joint. The chicken looked small, and the half rack of ribs looked like they came from a baby pig.


We also tried the Baked Beans and the Cornbread. Also two classic BBQ side dishes associated with good BBQ. I thought he Baked Beans were good, but the Cornbread was AWESOME! Tony really loved the Cornbread. They do also have the best darned New England style Clam Chowder in the whole of Britain. I know, quite a claim, but I haven't seen it served anywhere else.




We've also tested Big Easy, a BBQ joint in Chelsea. They actually get their beef from the same provider who raises the beef for the queen. That's pretty cool.




Tony and I shared a half BBQ chicken and a full rack of Baby Back Ribs. I really liked their BBQ. I thought the meat was tender and that it was tangy and flavorful. Tony however found them to be lacking. So we split on this restaurant.



We also tried an Argentinian BBQ Steakhouse called Santa Maria del Sur that my man Gordon Ramsey recommended on his "f" word show. It really was delicious, though different from the classic US BBQ that we get to craving now and then.


Tony and I both had steaks, that was cooked perfectly on an open grill. It was a bit of a journey for us as it was all the way down in Battersea, but well worth it for something of this quality. Of the BBQ places I've gone to, I would most like to return here.

All this BBQ talk reminds me of the BBQ festival that Tony and I went with our friend Pete to in Santa Monica before we headed over.









It was a remarkable afternoon filled with numerous BBQ joints showing off their best wares from Ribs and Tri Tip to sides such as Baked Beans and Mac and Cheese. We ate so much BBQ, that I think we were going to burst.

A Blading Adventure

We'd heard of Rollerblading in Europe on city streets long before we came here, and we'd often fantasized about joining a group that took over the streets of Paris for a mass rollerblading party.





That was until I saw one go passed me in London one Wednesday evening in Piccadilly Circus. I quickly realized that Tony and I were not qualified to join a group of bladers that could travel at 30+ miles an hour.



Thankfully, there was a Sunday afternoon group for slower people like us who might like to "stroll". I dragged Tony down to Hyde Park, and we strapped on our roller blades. I'd already practiced on the pothole infested road by our apartment, so I had a relatively good idea what to expect. We'd only ever rollerbladed on the cement bike path in Venice Beach back home - pot holes and cobblestones would create all new fun and excitement.



The group organizing the event did an amazing job of blocking off the 8 miles of streets and parts of streets for us to skate through. And 8 miles of skating over rough pavement and cobblestones was a real challenge.





We were very excited when we finally arrived back at Hyde Park and were able to take off our blades and sit down on the soft grass. I think the highlight of the day was our celebration Ice Cream Cone. A fantastic way to spend an afternoon, and we will do it again.

Luxembourg - Day 4 - The Moselle Valley

Before heading to Luxembourg, we made a reservation with a bike touring company called Feel for an afternoon of Biking and Winetasting in the Moselle River Valley. Our guide met us at our hotel, and drove us up to there. It was a beautiful day, and very warm.




We met up with another couple who were also joining us, and picked up our bikes. The Moselle Valley has been used for cultivating wine going back all the way to the Romans and is known for growing some of the finest Reising grapes in the world.




Everywhere were the signs of wine making in the little villages lining the river.










Traditional presses of all shapes and sizes.









Tony loves to bike ride, and you could clearly see how much he was loving this.



The vineyards were bright green and loving all the warmth. They are absolutely stunning right now lining the valley walls.


























It was an idealic setting with families of swans swimming near the beautiful grassy shore.




The Moselle river divides Luxembourg from Germany. And it is fairly distinct as one side is the laid back relaxed Luxembourg, and the other is the developed and more productive German side. (this was commentary from our guide - I'm not trying to offend).











We crossed the river into Germany, and biked to Apel Vineyards, a small Inn and winery, where we would have our wine tasting. It was nice to sit in the shade after biking quite a ways in the bright sun. They were having a BBQ, and it smelled wonderful. I'd like to come back here for a lazy long weekend sometime.

We tried several different wines, but the ones we liked best both came from the Elbling Grapes, which were they type of grapes the Romans were cultivating in the valley. It is a bright sweetish white wine, and particulary refreshing after a good hot bike ride. We also tried a late harvest dessert wine made from the Elbling grapes. We ended up buying a bottle of each.








The Inn was very nice and laidback. I could see sitting here eating BBQ and drinking some nice wine for the perfect Sunday afternoon.

The bike ride back to where we started was much easier than the bike ride up as we followed the flat path along the rivers edge. This did however afford us some beautiful views of the vineyard hills that we'd ridden through earlier.




Magnificent.










It was so nice to be bike ridding in the countryside, and enjoying the color of green.



We ended our bike ride at a wine processing, tasting, and dining facility back on the Luxembourg side of the Moselle.



We really enjoyed the bike and wine tasting tour as it gave us a completely different experience of Luxembourg from the city and castle side of it.





That evening, we had a well deserved Ice Cream Sunday to celebrate our last evening in Luxembourg.

Luxembourg - Day 4 - American WWII Cemetery

Luxembourg is home to a US WWII Cemetery. Tony and I got up early and took the bus as close as we could get, and then walked the last bit to it.






Though most of the fighting took place outside of it, following the war, Luxembourg gave the US this land in perpetuity.








It is a beautiful and moving tribute to the men and women who gave their lives in the war.









It was a grey and overcast morning, which seemed to only enhance the solemnity of the location.






General George Patton, upon his death had requested to be buried with his men in Luxembourg. He is buried facing them as if he is addressing them. He is the only 5 star general to be buried outside of the US.

The Luxembourg American WWII Cemetery is definitely worth a visit when in Luxembourg.