trying to get home for xmas. New traffic extension for Google Chrome: https://t.co/MXy7N9dU
| 05 December 2011
I love to travel, but I sometimes crave something unique. This past year I managed to visit, learn more about and taste the wines of Germany, the Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary. All this without a rental car, train tickets or even getting lost. Almost a first with my lack of map-reading skills. I didn’t even have to pack and unpack constantly, the bane of many holidays.
How did I accomplish this amazing feat? It was simple: I booked, and very much enjoyed a river cruise along the Danube. The ship, the Avalon Tapestry, was, as is typical, smallish. It offered buffet breakfasts and lunches, but featured served cuisine as well as dinner wines, not to mention the bar wines from some of the regions I cruised though — a must, in my opinion. One plus is that the package included three days in Prague, a beautiful city full of wonderful architecture, and of course sidewalk cafes offering interesting Traminers, Pinot Blancs, and even a variety of wonderful Czech beers.Aboard the ship, I explored (which admittedly didn’t take long), and found the bar. While the cabins, and alas, the dining room, are on the smallish side — read, crowded — the ability to watch vineyards glide by while tasting Sylvaners from the nearby Main Canal area helps make up for the crowding at dinner. Similar Franken wines were served that night, complimentary and generously. As I sailed through this part of the Danube, the evening wines naturally were predominantly German. The first night our dinner included a Müller Thürgau and a Dornfelder, a red typically on the lightish side. The next evening featured a halbtrocken Riesling from the Rheingau and an Austrian Merlot. The Merlot went well with the Muscovy duck, and my notes suggest it was a pleasant dinner wine with nice cherry and plum accents.
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| 01 December 2011
Recently, a friend of mine followed a job opportunity to the Czech Republic. Moving there didn't require a stretch of the imagination for her. She's actually originally from there. In fact, much of her family still resides there.
Except for some basic information, like the fact that Czech and Slovakia split years ago and that the country was once a communist state, I really didn't know very much about it. Before she left, my friend showed me brochures of the area around Prague where she will be living. Have you ever been bowled over by the ingenuity and creativity of a people? That's how I felt poring over those pictures. That taste inspired me to do further research. It's nice, too, that my friend provides me with up-to-the-minute happenings in the country.In the first weeks after arriving, my friend embarked on a tour of re-acquaintance. She travelled over much of the country before settling into her new home. Of all she saw, the mountain town of S̊tramberk managed to pull at her heart strings. This little town sits off the beaten track in the eastern corner of the Czech Republic. It borders Poland to the north and Slovakia to the south. As a result, the region shares certain delicious aspects of the other countries' cuisines, like S̊tramberk ears (ginger cookies in the shape of ears).