Travel update from Austria
Greetings from Austria!!
Hello everybody, I am in a small farming village about 10km (6miles)from the German border, called Burgstall. I have been here and in Bavaria (Germany)for the last week. The border is open and you can just ride bicycles over the bridge without passing customs or anything. I am staying with Angelas parents and brothers on the family farm.This little village is just a farming community there is no commerc here except one of the neighbors about a kilometer away has a farm with a "Möst Garten" in Back.
A möst garten is like a bier garten except the specialty is möst. Möst which is pronounced(moe-sht) is a hard cider here they make, It is stronger than beer and weaker than wine. Just right you might say. It is drunk cold and has just a little effervesence. It is made with (apfel und bieren) apples and pears, mostly appels. Not too bubbly but with a lively and lovely kick. Angelas family makes a couple of barrels each year too, and I am developing quite a taste for this littel elixer!
The border between the two countries here is the Inn river. This is the river which gives Innsbrook its name. The river starts in the Swiss Alps and is formed by melting glaciers and so is full of minerals and the water is kind of milky, but clean and cold, and (around here anyway) it has a fast current, which makes swimming ill advised. However there is a wonderful lake only a 20 minute walk from the farm that we swim in most days.We have been experiencing record high temperatures here lately. 38 degrees(104f) yesterday, which make the lake rather irresistable. I have been real laid back this last week exploring ancient Bavarian castels (Burghausen)and drinking microbrew beers and enjoying excellent examples of Austrian farm family cooking.
Burghausen Castel is the largest castel in Europe. Its wall has one strait stretch that is over a kilometer long in a strait line!! Lots of towers and turrets and interesting exhibits of ancient life. The river Inn is on one side of the castel and there is a lovely swimming lake and park on the other side. In the summer they have cultural events in a big tent and we made a picnic by the lake and went to a concert there in the tent.Way cool! then we drove back to Austria (Ostereich). Great day trip, but the weather was SOOO HOT I could barely stand it. It really saps me of my energy.
Back at the farm, which is about 60 hectares (120 acres) Angelas mother is a great cook. I have been enjoying local specialties like apricot knöedle, lieberknödel, gouloash, consomme with griesknockerl, and weiner schnitzels, assigwurst, leberkäse, hartwurst. Wurst means sausage. The Austrians love sausages. They make them of beef or of pork. There are also a tremendous variety of cheeses and the bakeries here are fantastic.not to mention pretzels which I buy every chance I can get in the bakeries. Virtually all the bakeries sellpretzels. many have a slight caraway flavor which is my favorit.
Angelas mother bakes cakes every day for desert, and Me and Angela raid the garden daily, too. There are fresh raspberries, black berrys, strawberries, red and black currants, brocoli, golden zuchini, lettuces,onions lots of diffferent herbs and all ripe and yummie. My brother Eric and my buddy Perrin would just love this place!!
In the fields they are growing corn, oat hay, and peas. We went out picking the sweetest tiniest baby corns and just walk along munching fresh raw peas, sweet like sugar! We spot pheasants the females have beautiful plummage and the males are even more beautiful, they look as pretty as peacocks but they fly, baby deer the size of a large house cat, and lots of hares (like a 9 pound or 4 kilo rabbit).
Everywhere you go this time of year it is green and beautiful. Theer are not any barbwire fences or no trespassing signs even thoug it is all aparently private property. no one cares if you walk through their feild or if you pick a few of their peas. When you see a lake or a stream you can just go ahead and jump right in, it is okay. The people all seem happy and they smile al ot and like to talk to strangers and many of them speak english. It is always easy to find someone who understands my language and can help me if I need it.
So before we were in Burgstal we were a week in a little town called Seekirchen, which is only 20 km from Salzburg. Here we hous sat the home of Angelas sister and Brother in law and their two kids. They were with us for 2 days and then left for holidays so we had the place to ourselves for 5 days. It is onlzy about 50 meters from the train to get toSalzburg (or anywhere else for that matter).
We saw a wonderful production of The Magic Flute in a 400 year old cathedral. It was an unusual production. I have seen Magic Flute twice before. One of my favorite of Mozarts operas. This one was performed with only a 4 peice string quartet instead of the full orchestra. There were only 150 tickets sold. everyone was seated on the stage with the singers/performers acting right in front of us. there were 3 rows of 25 seats on each side of the action, and the little quartet was just up front but on the same level as the playerrs. It was fantastic!!! We have been enjoying a lot of music here but this was the best.
I think a lot of people have mis-understood my feeling about my country. I like the USA. It is without doubt the greatest country I have been to. All the world looks to USA as a beacon of hope. It is a symbol of freedom and all that is good in the world. People everywhere want to come and live there. People everywhere wish their country was just like the USA. People everywhere recognize USA as the leader of the free world. Everyone wants to be just like us. They admire our work ethic. They see us as a land of freedom where everyone is treated equally and fairly from kindergarten to graveyard. A land of Liberty and Justaice for all. A nation committed to peace and freedom and democracy not only for ourselves but for all the world and all the worlds people.
I have a lot of opinions about a lot of world events but...
"People with opinions just go around bothering one another" - Buddha
I think it may be best to just keep my opinions to myself. That is the American way, I have been told, and I believe it. From now on I aint making no more noise. Its people like me what causes un-rest...
We arrived last night in Vienna. We are house sitting one of Angelas friends apartments for the next 2 weeks. This is a beautiful and wonderful city with lots of cool cutural stuff to do and see, beautiful architecture, many fine museums theaters and concert halls and clubs with live music. I am not sure where I will go from here... I will update you all when I leave Vienna.
Peace and Love to you all
Rambling Robert
P.S.
Here are a couple of quotes from two of Historys best known philosophers.Who do you believe is right?...
"One lives for today, one lives on the spur of the moment—one lives most irresponsibly: and it is precisely this that one calls freedom"-
Friedrich Nietzsche
"Mankind has grown strong in eternal struggles and it will only perish through eternal peace." Adolf Hitler
"Even the elephant carries but a small trunk on his journeys. The perfection of traveling is to travel without baggage." Henry David Thoreau
Hello everybody, I am in a small farming village about 10km (6miles)from the German border, called Burgstall. I have been here and in Bavaria (Germany)for the last week. The border is open and you can just ride bicycles over the bridge without passing customs or anything. I am staying with Angelas parents and brothers on the family farm.This little village is just a farming community there is no commerc here except one of the neighbors about a kilometer away has a farm with a "Möst Garten" in Back.
A möst garten is like a bier garten except the specialty is möst. Möst which is pronounced(moe-sht) is a hard cider here they make, It is stronger than beer and weaker than wine. Just right you might say. It is drunk cold and has just a little effervesence. It is made with (apfel und bieren) apples and pears, mostly appels. Not too bubbly but with a lively and lovely kick. Angelas family makes a couple of barrels each year too, and I am developing quite a taste for this littel elixer!
The border between the two countries here is the Inn river. This is the river which gives Innsbrook its name. The river starts in the Swiss Alps and is formed by melting glaciers and so is full of minerals and the water is kind of milky, but clean and cold, and (around here anyway) it has a fast current, which makes swimming ill advised. However there is a wonderful lake only a 20 minute walk from the farm that we swim in most days.We have been experiencing record high temperatures here lately. 38 degrees(104f) yesterday, which make the lake rather irresistable. I have been real laid back this last week exploring ancient Bavarian castels (Burghausen)and drinking microbrew beers and enjoying excellent examples of Austrian farm family cooking.
Burghausen Castel is the largest castel in Europe. Its wall has one strait stretch that is over a kilometer long in a strait line!! Lots of towers and turrets and interesting exhibits of ancient life. The river Inn is on one side of the castel and there is a lovely swimming lake and park on the other side. In the summer they have cultural events in a big tent and we made a picnic by the lake and went to a concert there in the tent.Way cool! then we drove back to Austria (Ostereich). Great day trip, but the weather was SOOO HOT I could barely stand it. It really saps me of my energy.
Back at the farm, which is about 60 hectares (120 acres) Angelas mother is a great cook. I have been enjoying local specialties like apricot knöedle, lieberknödel, gouloash, consomme with griesknockerl, and weiner schnitzels, assigwurst, leberkäse, hartwurst. Wurst means sausage. The Austrians love sausages. They make them of beef or of pork. There are also a tremendous variety of cheeses and the bakeries here are fantastic.not to mention pretzels which I buy every chance I can get in the bakeries. Virtually all the bakeries sellpretzels. many have a slight caraway flavor which is my favorit.
Angelas mother bakes cakes every day for desert, and Me and Angela raid the garden daily, too. There are fresh raspberries, black berrys, strawberries, red and black currants, brocoli, golden zuchini, lettuces,onions lots of diffferent herbs and all ripe and yummie. My brother Eric and my buddy Perrin would just love this place!!
In the fields they are growing corn, oat hay, and peas. We went out picking the sweetest tiniest baby corns and just walk along munching fresh raw peas, sweet like sugar! We spot pheasants the females have beautiful plummage and the males are even more beautiful, they look as pretty as peacocks but they fly, baby deer the size of a large house cat, and lots of hares (like a 9 pound or 4 kilo rabbit).
Everywhere you go this time of year it is green and beautiful. Theer are not any barbwire fences or no trespassing signs even thoug it is all aparently private property. no one cares if you walk through their feild or if you pick a few of their peas. When you see a lake or a stream you can just go ahead and jump right in, it is okay. The people all seem happy and they smile al ot and like to talk to strangers and many of them speak english. It is always easy to find someone who understands my language and can help me if I need it.
So before we were in Burgstal we were a week in a little town called Seekirchen, which is only 20 km from Salzburg. Here we hous sat the home of Angelas sister and Brother in law and their two kids. They were with us for 2 days and then left for holidays so we had the place to ourselves for 5 days. It is onlzy about 50 meters from the train to get toSalzburg (or anywhere else for that matter).
We saw a wonderful production of The Magic Flute in a 400 year old cathedral. It was an unusual production. I have seen Magic Flute twice before. One of my favorite of Mozarts operas. This one was performed with only a 4 peice string quartet instead of the full orchestra. There were only 150 tickets sold. everyone was seated on the stage with the singers/performers acting right in front of us. there were 3 rows of 25 seats on each side of the action, and the little quartet was just up front but on the same level as the playerrs. It was fantastic!!! We have been enjoying a lot of music here but this was the best.
I think a lot of people have mis-understood my feeling about my country. I like the USA. It is without doubt the greatest country I have been to. All the world looks to USA as a beacon of hope. It is a symbol of freedom and all that is good in the world. People everywhere want to come and live there. People everywhere wish their country was just like the USA. People everywhere recognize USA as the leader of the free world. Everyone wants to be just like us. They admire our work ethic. They see us as a land of freedom where everyone is treated equally and fairly from kindergarten to graveyard. A land of Liberty and Justaice for all. A nation committed to peace and freedom and democracy not only for ourselves but for all the world and all the worlds people.
I have a lot of opinions about a lot of world events but...
"People with opinions just go around bothering one another" - Buddha
I think it may be best to just keep my opinions to myself. That is the American way, I have been told, and I believe it. From now on I aint making no more noise. Its people like me what causes un-rest...
We arrived last night in Vienna. We are house sitting one of Angelas friends apartments for the next 2 weeks. This is a beautiful and wonderful city with lots of cool cutural stuff to do and see, beautiful architecture, many fine museums theaters and concert halls and clubs with live music. I am not sure where I will go from here... I will update you all when I leave Vienna.
Peace and Love to you all
Rambling Robert
P.S.
Here are a couple of quotes from two of Historys best known philosophers.Who do you believe is right?...
"One lives for today, one lives on the spur of the moment—one lives most irresponsibly: and it is precisely this that one calls freedom"-
Friedrich Nietzsche
"Mankind has grown strong in eternal struggles and it will only perish through eternal peace." Adolf Hitler
"Even the elephant carries but a small trunk on his journeys. The perfection of traveling is to travel without baggage." Henry David Thoreau
posted by Rambling Robert | 2:25 AM
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