I ended up having to check my bags due to solid honey, grr. It took forever to get my bags. It also took forever to get through immigration at jfk, grr again.
1/22/2012
Reflections on trip
This was an odd composite vacation devoid of most touristy things, except compulsive picture taking at times. There was definitely an enormous amout of pork consumed, which was kind of the point. Pork day was awesome of course with piggy snacking while learning about the making of piggy products. I loved being able to participate in the sausage making. The best pork feasting, however, may have been the one in Trieste with the selection of assorted piggy parts with an addition of feet. Everything there was soft, succulent, and perfectly seasoned. But then again, that was the beginning of the celebration of pork that was this week.
Cities -
Trieste was a quaint little city perched on a steeply sloped hill forming an amphitheater around the sea. The view was magnificent as the sea blends into the sky in the distance. It was a small city with a village feel which is probably a good thing. The musical group we encountered on one street corner was a lovely little gift to the experience.
Ljubjana - well, I had no preconceived notion of what this Slovenian city would be like. I suppose the fact that it looked like any other bustling European city was impressive enough as it was not so long ago part of the Soviet block. It was clean and modern with shop lined streets comprable to the major European cities. The castle on the hill and the winding river in the center of the city gives it just the right amount of charm. I imagine it's a nice place to live.
Salzburg was actually a lot smaller and provincial than I expected but maybe this is because I mainly saw the old city, though I got this feeling from our B&B also. The narrow little pedestrian streets were charming and the grand yet stark ambience of the main squares tended to make one feel very small. It's an odd contrast. Austrians seemed really nice (with the exception of that mean Furst lady) with warm hospitality.
Munich - didn't see much of Munich but the streets we walked along for drinks and dinner were very impressive in terms of being ultra sleek and modern. Dachau, well, that was depressing as expected.
Driving. I was fortunate in not having done any of the driving but instead was free to fully enjoy the drive and the views. The mountains of Austria was definitely the most impressive. Particularly, the drive back from Munich through Austria in the snow with little hilltop castles dotting the countrysaide was magnificent. I was impressed by Austrian road plowing. When we headed towarrds Salzburg there was a recent snowfall of probably at least 6 inches but the roads were impeccably clean and not just with snow pushed into mounds along the highway but actually removed, possibly blown over the sides. There were also some great views of water - through the Veneto region and by Trieste.
Flights - The A380 Air France flight was as impressive as the 767 Delta flight is disappointing. The A380 was spacious and clean and the people polite and the meal enjoyable with personal tvs with a wide selection of entertainment. The 767 was crowded with less nice staff and an edible meal with in-aisle small monitors showing some unimpressive movie. I had thought all transatlantic flights included alcoholic drinks but I guess Delta doesn't believe that.
All in all, I had a great trip with great food, great conversation, and fun exploration. Not quite as relaxing but my next trip shall be a beachy one to compensate.
En route back to US
I am currently in the Amsterdam airport which obviously has free wifi which is awesome. I quite like this airport. Less walking than Paris. Immigration lines were fast. There are tons of stores here but they look more like a mall than an airport. There is this casual but yet efficient feel to the place.
I had to check my bag in Italy because my jars of completely solid honey was of course considered a liquid. But it's ok because not having a bag to drag around has been nice. We'll see how I feel when they a)l lose my bag or b) I have to wait forever to claim my bag.
Last night, I went out to a little Italian restaurant for dinner and it was excellent, and aesthetically pleasing. Pictures below.
1/21/2012
Pork day part 2
We had a classic Italian breakfast with coffee and pastry.
The following picture is of really tiny pizzas - how cute is that!!
Today we continued onto part two of Pork day. We made sausages, salami, ciccioli, boiled head, and other assorted sausages. Of course, we ate more piggy parts :) We ate more grilled pork, liver, pancreas; tasted the salami and sauage meats; tasted the boiled head; and ate homemade desserts.
Grilled yumminess
Prosciutto
Making of ciccioli - grind fat, boil fat until all the pieces are reduced to mostly liquid, collect the remaining bits and strain until all the liquid fat is removed, then eat ciccioli! :)
honey or pork fat?
The making of sausage and salami.
The following picture is of really tiny pizzas - how cute is that!!
Today we continued onto part two of Pork day. We made sausages, salami, ciccioli, boiled head, and other assorted sausages. Of course, we ate more piggy parts :) We ate more grilled pork, liver, pancreas; tasted the salami and sauage meats; tasted the boiled head; and ate homemade desserts.Grilled yumminess
Prosciutto
Making of ciccioli - grind fat, boil fat until all the pieces are reduced to mostly liquid, collect the remaining bits and strain until all the liquid fat is removed, then eat ciccioli! :)
honey or pork fat?
The making of sausage and salami.
1/20/2012
Back to Italy
We started out early today for our trip back to Italy. We drove through the Alps through Austria. We stopped at a reststop and decided to do Norwegian for breakfast - hence, fishy baguettes - quite yummy actually. Didn't quite go with my cappuccino though.
It snowed as we drove through Austria which was beautiful. We stopped along the way and was able to walk through freshly fallen snow. Here are some pics right before the Brenner Pass (between Austria and Italy).
Today was part 1 of the long-awaited pork day -
WARNING - graphic pork pictures to follow - please don't look if you're going to be offended, esp if you think it'll turn you away from pork because I would definitely not want to do that!!
We arrived after they had quartered the pig and were separate the fat from the skin and the meat. The plan is: salami, sausages, render fat, pancetta, boil head, prosciutto, and misc
Today we ate some of the freshly cut meat and it was awesome! so fresh! We also ate some liver which were wrapped in a netting made from the pleura (that's what the story sounded like anyway).
I didn't get to participate in today's events, except the eating part - yum! But tomorrow I'll wear something warmer so I can play with piggy parts too :) And there will be more eating tomorrow also. I hope to have more pics tomorrow of yumming pork day.
quarter - meant for prociutto
last year's ham
heart and liver
pancreas - aka sweat breads
grinding the fat
grilling the pork
It snowed as we drove through Austria which was beautiful. We stopped along the way and was able to walk through freshly fallen snow. Here are some pics right before the Brenner Pass (between Austria and Italy).
Today was part 1 of the long-awaited pork day -WARNING - graphic pork pictures to follow - please don't look if you're going to be offended, esp if you think it'll turn you away from pork because I would definitely not want to do that!!
We arrived after they had quartered the pig and were separate the fat from the skin and the meat. The plan is: salami, sausages, render fat, pancetta, boil head, prosciutto, and misc
Today we ate some of the freshly cut meat and it was awesome! so fresh! We also ate some liver which were wrapped in a netting made from the pleura (that's what the story sounded like anyway).
I didn't get to participate in today's events, except the eating part - yum! But tomorrow I'll wear something warmer so I can play with piggy parts too :) And there will be more eating tomorrow also. I hope to have more pics tomorrow of yumming pork day.
quarter - meant for prociutto
last year's ham
heart and liver
pancreas - aka sweat breads
grinding the fat
grilling the pork
1/19/2012
into Germany - Dachau and Munchen
We left our quaint little B&B in Salzburg this morning to rain, fog and wind.
The poor weather turned out to be quite appropriate for our day. We visited Dachau - the first Nazi concentration camp. It was a very depressing and sobering experience. The area was restored/museumified in 2003 and traces the history of the camp from its start in March 1933 until the end of WWII 1945. There was also information about the social nationalists and the rise of Hitler to power. I learned a lot about the German history that I had never been taught in school. They depicted the different people who had been sent to the camps and how the camp became more and more horrific with time. The museum was very well done with panels in German and English. There were many pictures of the conditions and atrocities in addition to stories of the people who were imprisoned and their writings. I'm glad I went but it was definitely not a happy-go-lucky part of the trip.
After the concentration camp, we headed into Munich. It was late already and dark so no pretty pictures (sorry).
A cool mall with sky plants for greenery:
We had a great meal of suckling pig, dumplings, sausage, kraut, pretzels and beer, oh and applestrudel for dessert. It was awesome.
Night pictures of Marienplatz in the rain:
The poor weather turned out to be quite appropriate for our day. We visited Dachau - the first Nazi concentration camp. It was a very depressing and sobering experience. The area was restored/museumified in 2003 and traces the history of the camp from its start in March 1933 until the end of WWII 1945. There was also information about the social nationalists and the rise of Hitler to power. I learned a lot about the German history that I had never been taught in school. They depicted the different people who had been sent to the camps and how the camp became more and more horrific with time. The museum was very well done with panels in German and English. There were many pictures of the conditions and atrocities in addition to stories of the people who were imprisoned and their writings. I'm glad I went but it was definitely not a happy-go-lucky part of the trip.
After the concentration camp, we headed into Munich. It was late already and dark so no pretty pictures (sorry). A cool mall with sky plants for greenery:
We had a great meal of suckling pig, dumplings, sausage, kraut, pretzels and beer, oh and applestrudel for dessert. It was awesome.
Night pictures of Marienplatz in the rain:
1/18/2012
day in Salzburg
Today we ventured into Salzburg after a leisurely morning at the B&B enjoying our view of the mountains and our breakfast. It was coooooooooold!! At 9AM weather read - 25F, feels like 16F. It was no warmer in the city. Therefore our day was spent meandering through the city with frequent trips into shops and cafes for warms and sustenance.
The first thing I noticed about the city was feeling small. (smaller than normal that is) The streets were much wider than elsewhere in Europe and the buildings appeared statelier and grander. Everything was also clean and white.
We were unsuccessful at visiting the Festung Hohensalzburg because the funicular was not working due to restoration activities and we weren't about the climb the high trek up to the castle. Instead, we took pictures from afar (lazy).
We walked around the main squares - Residenzplatz, Kapitelplatz, Domplatz, Mozartplaz and major cathedrals Dom, St. Peter, and the Mirabellgarden across the river. The old city was filled with friendly pedestrian streets and warm little shops.
We weren't the only ones trying to hide from the cold - apparently the austrians protect their fountains with pyramidal structures (at least the important fountains they don't want their young to stomp on with gusto during freezing times).
people who like to freeze on a horse and carriage ride
because Salzburg likes to make you feel small
Salzach River
Mirabellgarten
Snacks at Cafe Sacher
So let me tell you about Mozart balls - now, these are not some forensic urological entities, instead, they are these little chocolate cover balls filled with either pistachio or hazelnut marzipan and nougat. It is made by several makers but apparently the Furst family was first at it in the late 1800's. We had drinks at the Furst cafe (photo from earlier post) and learned this. I tried to buy some "original" Mozart balls from said cafe but the cashier girl would not have it. She was outraged that I had dared to touch one of these non-urological entities even though I was planning to purchase said entity. Well, no wonder I never bought anything from her. Perhaps her karma will be to choke on balls in her future...
I finally did find some Mozart balls to try and to buy. (worry not...)
Next task - dinner...
Some restaurant that looks like it collects Christmas trees.
Salzburg castle by night
Dinner at Goldene Ente (Golden duckie)
After much meandering through the city (twice) we finally found a place we would dain to eat at. Sure, it still had multi-lingual translation of the menu but it looked super cute. We had some white beer, spinach balls, weiner schnitzel, and this ridiculous dessert called Salzburg Nockler which is like a ile flotante with raspberry sauce instead of custard. It was immense and we only accomplished 2/3 of the mission - failure! I also had this awesome dessert wine at the end of the meal. All in all, an excellent end to the day.
The first thing I noticed about the city was feeling small. (smaller than normal that is) The streets were much wider than elsewhere in Europe and the buildings appeared statelier and grander. Everything was also clean and white.
We were unsuccessful at visiting the Festung Hohensalzburg because the funicular was not working due to restoration activities and we weren't about the climb the high trek up to the castle. Instead, we took pictures from afar (lazy).
We walked around the main squares - Residenzplatz, Kapitelplatz, Domplatz, Mozartplaz and major cathedrals Dom, St. Peter, and the Mirabellgarden across the river. The old city was filled with friendly pedestrian streets and warm little shops.
We weren't the only ones trying to hide from the cold - apparently the austrians protect their fountains with pyramidal structures (at least the important fountains they don't want their young to stomp on with gusto during freezing times).
people who like to freeze on a horse and carriage ride
because Salzburg likes to make you feel small
Salzach River
Mirabellgarten
Snacks at Cafe Sacher
So let me tell you about Mozart balls - now, these are not some forensic urological entities, instead, they are these little chocolate cover balls filled with either pistachio or hazelnut marzipan and nougat. It is made by several makers but apparently the Furst family was first at it in the late 1800's. We had drinks at the Furst cafe (photo from earlier post) and learned this. I tried to buy some "original" Mozart balls from said cafe but the cashier girl would not have it. She was outraged that I had dared to touch one of these non-urological entities even though I was planning to purchase said entity. Well, no wonder I never bought anything from her. Perhaps her karma will be to choke on balls in her future...
I finally did find some Mozart balls to try and to buy. (worry not...)
Next task - dinner...
Some restaurant that looks like it collects Christmas trees.
Salzburg castle by night
Dinner at Goldene Ente (Golden duckie)After much meandering through the city (twice) we finally found a place we would dain to eat at. Sure, it still had multi-lingual translation of the menu but it looked super cute. We had some white beer, spinach balls, weiner schnitzel, and this ridiculous dessert called Salzburg Nockler which is like a ile flotante with raspberry sauce instead of custard. It was immense and we only accomplished 2/3 of the mission - failure! I also had this awesome dessert wine at the end of the meal. All in all, an excellent end to the day.
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