Tag: german

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Klagenfurt – Wörthersee

There is no trip to Klagenfurt am Wörthersee worth its while, without visiting its namesake, the Wörthersee. A short twelve minute ride on the S1 train to Pörtschach am Wörthersee, will put you directly in the middle of the lake. We thought it a great place to take a day trip.

Our plan was to take the train from Klagenfurt Hbf, see the town, walk around the lake a bit, enjoy a nice lunch and then take a boat ride back to Klagenfurt. The weather was beautiful and everything went according to plan. Well almost, we actually stretched it out a bit, since the weather was so nice.

Pörtschach am Wörthersee

This little town is perhaps the main spot along the entire lake. Though we did not go to Velden, it had the look and feel of a long established tourist town for local Austrians. This appears to be their place to come, relax, play, eat and generally have fun. Here is a quick slideshow of the views along the lake.

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There is also a waterpark on the Spitz, that requires a fee to enter, but provides everything from sunbathing and waterslides into the lake, to picnicing for the day on the small island.

The town is some three hundred meters or so from the actual lake, but gives you the impression that it is a laid back tourist town. There are many amenities and stores for tourists to shop in, including bike rentals, hiking and trekking gear, etc.

The Lake Boat Ride

There is a boat, in fact I think there are several, the travels up and down the lake carrying passengers from one small town to the next. It runs every hour or so and takes over an hour to complete the full length of the lake itself. It is another nice way to take short trips all along the lake, or just a nice gentle boat ride to see the lake for itself.

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Well that’s just about it for Pörtschach and the Wörthersee. We have a great day seeing it and enjoying a nice lunch along the water. The weather was just gorgeous. Here are a few video clips while we were on the boat.

On to other places of interest, next stop, Salzburg.

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Klagenfurt – Carinthia’s Capitol

Gruss Gott! This is the customary greeting when you visit Austria. Though many speak English here, they will still use this greeting upon meeting you. So, become an Austrian for a day and smile and say it back, it’s easy.

Nestled in the heart of Carinthia is its capitol, Klagenfurt am Wörthersee. Though at first a bit abstract and hard to get a feel for it, after a few days stay and talking to the people in their own language, we have actually become very comfortable with this happy little city. It is quite open at the moment showing little affects of the pandemic, though one can see the occasional store closed (though it might not be related.)

Klagenfurt_20

The Capitol’s Main Sights

There are of course several sites here to see, some religious, some governmental and others historic. The best way to show this is a quick slide show, since there really is no better way to cover so much succintly.

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Lindwurmbrunnen

An interesting Brunnen, or fountain, is the Lindwurnbrunnen in Neuer Platz. This fountain is actually central to the fable or history of the creation of Klagenfurt.

The inscription tells some of the tale in a very abbreviated form. The actual fable or story unfolded more like the following.

A Lindwurm once lived in the swamp around Klagenfurt. The river that flows through the city often flooded. This threatened travelers and city dwellers and a Dragon was thought to be the cause of these floods. It was actually a Lindworm. The Duke offered a reward for which some men tied a bull to a chain and offered it to the Lindwurm. When it took the bate, it was hooked and then swiftly killed.

 

The Wörtherseemandl is a small tourist attraction close to the sister city pavement marker. I do not think there is much meaning behind it, other than a piece of art that someone created for the city.

Restaurants

We visited only two restaurants while in the city proper, one was Italian, which will not be covered since it is not Austrian. Though if you are ever in the city and looking for Italian food there are several restaurants around.

Haus am Markt

The HAM, or the Haus am Markt restaurant is typical Austrian, or more precisely Carinthian food.

A small clip of the Oom-pa Two Person band we enjoyed while eating, how Austrian!

We go next to the actual Wörthersee for a special day and boat trip on the lake. So stay tuned!  Auf Wiedersehen!

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Offenbach – A Diamond In The Rough

Venture far from Sachsenhausen or Süd-Frankfurt, or a short stop on your way to Hanau (for whatever reason that may be), you will find the small city of Offenbach. One can say it’s one of those towns or cities that most resembles the new Germany, pluralistic, cosmopolitan and apparently an up-and-coming place. Our daughter lives here and has re-acclimated herself to the bigger city life, than she was used to when she lived in Kassel.

Marktplatz

Though we have no photographs, mostly due to a certain ambivalence on my part, one can say this is where the action is. It has many modern stores, a main pedestrian zone for shopping and several trendy, economical and interesting places to eat. There is a U-Bahn stop here, which can be easily reached from Frankfurt’s Hauptbahnhof or main train station.

Other Areas

Around Offenbach’s Marktplatz, are many different areas for business and residential with the train station for the city slicing right through it. Though we use the Offenbacher Hauptbahnhof regularly, we have never considered looking for a place to eat near it. We were surprised to find a culinary gem not too far away!

ShauMAHL Restaurant

On a chilly, rainy evening with reservations for the Frankfurter Botschaft, we started our restaurant adventure on the Offenbacher Hauptbahnhof platform waiting for a DB train that would never arrive (perhaps another DB störung, they are famous for them as one of our previous blog articles describes; more on this in a later blog entry.)

ShauMAHL front entrance

Dismayed, we quickly canceled our current reservation and began a search for something comparable in the immediate area. We found ShauMAHL.

Patti and Erick, with view of the bar

One would say a rather expensive restaurant. However, as the saying goes (and we are technically on vacation, even though retired ?), “in for a penny, in for a pound!”

Tristan and Ericka before enjoying their meal

They offer a fixed-priced menu which provides a very round selection, from fish, fowl to meat.

Ericka’s veal confit dish

I selected the rabbit dish with green sauce which was excellent. Rabbit, rabbit meatballs, barley, ummmm, good.

Erick’s Kannichen (rabbit) dish

For drink, I selected a nice regionally (Württemberg) produced red, Graf von Neipperg, merlot, 2015 (€79), very nice (I think I used the word ‘okay’ while trying it, much to the dismay of the waitress.) It has all the qualities of being a really good wine. But lest I go into wine snobbery, my bar (bar as in a high-jump bar, a bar to get over) is a 1986 or 1989 Chateau Lynch Bages, need I say more?

Expresso and flaming Sambucca

For dessert we chose whatever we were more inclined to eat, Erick the Apfelstrüdel, Patti and Ericka the ice cream and Tristan a coffee. Erick and Ericka still ordered an expresso with Sambuca straight-up.

For a rainy evening, an expensive (€410), though extraordinary find for a dismissed place like Offenbach.

4.8 Stars ??

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Munich – Schweinhaxe by the Frauenkirche

Tonight we enjoyed dinner at the Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom, that again offered the bratwurst platters and other regional specialities.

Die Frauenkirche, München at night

The restaurant lays at the foot of the Frauenkirche. It is of course kind of a tourist trap, but the food is good.

My bavarian dinner

I ordered the Schweinhaxe and a side salad. The boiled dough is fairly heavy, so I could only eat one. But the meat was very good and the side salad has a potato salad surprise at the bottom.

My Bavarian dinner, consumed

As you can tell, I didn’t enjoy it at all.

Regardless, we decided on dessert and ordered Apfelkücherl with cinnamon and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  This of course forced us to pay before we ate anymore and then walk all the way back to the hotel in order to settle our stomach, even though we possessed a train group pass for the next few days.

The Nürnberger Bratwurst Glöckl am Dom in the evening

3.9 Stars ?

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Munich – Lollo Rosso Bar

The subject restaurant is an inconspicuous hole in the wall that one would never think noted for its food. But it is worth every star it has on google and trip-advisor.

The quaint and cozy atmosphere inside is by no means palatial, it is made even smaller looking by all the woodwork. The confused decorum adds to this feeling, perhaps the owner’s attempt to appeal to the cafe, beer hall (evident by the pull down screen and beamer) and restaurant crowds.

Tristan waiting for food

However, for simple fare with an authentic chef’s twist it is difficult to beat!

Erick and Tristan’s Würstchen platter
Patti’s Leberkäse platter

The wurst platter with sauerkraut and potato salad was just what a sausage lover would be looking for in a satisfying dinner. The Leberkäse, a regional speciality, turned out to be a bit less exciting and compared more to a meatloaf made out of hotdogs. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

My preferred route to a diabetic coma – Apfelstrüdel

The Apfelstrüdel was of course a triumph and paired with a Macallans, I enjoyed every mouthful.

4.5 stars ?

Erick and Patti at Lollo Rosso – photo taken with my old selfie-stick arm