Here's a few words on some other signs that we saw on the motorway on the way in to Graz. The spelling is exactly as it appeared. I reckon that if you don't find at least some of these hilarious, then there is something wrong with you. Chris and I pissed ourselves laughing. It does help if you read them out load in your best German accent. Here goes:
Ausfahrt - farts are always funny
Wankdorp - wanking is even funnier
Buhtmann - bottoms are funny too
Assholze - no comment
Munchwilen - definitely no comment, our parents are reading this
Manshetten - we all do
Fritz Rutz - lucky Fritz
Killwangen - unlucky wangen
Durck Fahrt - farts are still funny
Funny huh. So today, we drove up into the mountains to have lunch. Everyone was there - he four of us plus Rudolph, Tante Inge, 1st cousin Brigitte and her man Erich. We drove up and up and up. And then we drove up some more. It was a rainy and misty day and the further up we drove, the colder it got. It got to 5 degrees actually. We have gone from very hot to very cold and in a few days, we will be in very hot again.
Not trying to yodel, trying to show steam cause its frikkin cold
On a Sunday, all around this region of Austria, everyone dresses up to go out for lunch. Its not just about the food here though, drinking is always high up on the agenda. We had a reservation at a delightful old fashioned restaurant, surrounded by vineyards, high up in the hills. We were here to have 2 dishes in particular - a specialty of the region called Steirisches backhendl and a dessert which is an Austrian specialty, kaiserschmarrn. And schnapps of course.
Backhendl is deepfried, crumbed chicken. Anything deepfried and crumbed is delicious. Ok, not everything but nearly everything. Steirisches backhendl is specific to this region in Austria, Styria. It is incredible. After ordering drinks, 2 massive bowls of the backhendl were placed in the middle of the table and we all dived in.
Backhendl
Eating fried chicken - finger lickin good
The second dish, a dessert called kaiserschmarrn was delivered to the table when the pile of chicken bones had been cleared away. Two of our friends on Waiheke, one Austrian and one German, both separately emailed us and said this was the dish to not leave Austria without trying. Its hard to explain what it is. Its essentially a thick crepe with a light, almost custardy texture and a taste reminiscent of sugar dusted French toast. It is torn into bite sized pieces and served with a side of the most delicious plum compote. Unbelievable
Kaiserschmarrn
No kaiserschmarrn
After the meal we had coffee and schnapps, which is a wonderful way to finish. All these local dishes or dishes specific to a particular country or region started me thinking. What is OUR specialty dish? Do we even have one? If we were hosting a group of foreigners and we wanted to serve them a typically NZ dish, what would it be? Fush and chups? Mussels? Sauteed kiwi? Maybe we are too young as a nation to have one. Or maybe food does not play the same role in NZ as it does in the countries that we have visited...
It was yet another superb meal and as it turned out, our last meal in Austria. We were so full we skipped dinner. Skipped dinner?! That's very un 'the schwarzies in Europe' like. Im sure it will do us good to eat a little less for an evening. Anyway, we can catch up tomorrow morning. Our breakfast is all you can eat! Wahoo!
We farewelled my new found relatives, went back to our hotel to pack up and hit the sack early. Its been really special getting to know all the Austrians. Tomorrow we leave Austria and head for Verona, Italy, only a 5 hour drive away. Our time here has been great. Its been very different to all our other adventures, but that's one of the things that has made this trip so far, so great. We have done so many different and wonderful things. Our children now have all these new contacts all over Europe so when they eventually want to travel themselves, if they do, they will be welcomed back with open arms I am sure. How lucky are they.
Bye Bye Graz
No comments:
Post a Comment