glüghwein

Almost exactly three years ago Frog Legs and Heirloom Tomatoes was created – though I can’t say much for Year Two, we all know I was otherwise preoccupied. But, now Year Three starts with many changes. First of all, I’m no longer “Lisita In Spain”…I’m now “Lisita Freezing Her Ass Off in Canada”. Thanks to that beautiful masters that occupied all of my time last year, I’m now beginning a new adventure in my life: 2014 in Ottawa.

But before I talk about what new Food, Drink, and Travel will come out of this experience, Germany. My final hurrah before going back to the grind was a two-week trip with my brother to spend Christmas in Bavaria.

Germany knows what’s good. So does the Czech Republic and Austria. Sausages, Goulash and Spaetzle, Dumplings, Beer, Glüghwein, Christmas Markets… The list goes on and it’s all amazing!

Our itinerary was an ambitious one: Augsburg to Berlin to Prague to Vienna to Augsburg, all in two weeks. But we happily walked, toured, and, most importantly, ate our way through all four cities.

I realize this will be a long post. But it’s cold outside – I’m fairly certain it’s lightly snowing – and I have no desire to brave the icy sidewalks on this Sunday morning.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Berlin, Germany

Berlin is a really interesting city. It’s contemporary history is full of conflict, like much of Germany, and WWII left its mark on all the monuments, many of which have chunks of stone missing or patches where they have been repaired.

Berlin Cathedral

Brandenburg Gate – the gate dividing East and West Berlin when the wall was still up. And below, the remaining stretches of wall were left up as a monument. To the left, East Berlin and to the right, West Berlin.

Our first day in Berlin this happened:

And this…

Yes, that is one liter of beer. And from here on out, these things started to happen a lot.

The point is, this is one of the most characteristic dishes associated with Germany. And now I understand. Sausages, mustard, sauerkraut, mashed potatoes – I now have a new appreciation for all of these things. It’s just a really good feeling to walk into a tavern after walking around all morning in the cold and to get to sit down and eat this.

Another incredible food is Goulash with Spaetzle. Slow cooked beef (or venison, a version we tried on Christmas) with a thick gravy sauce. The sauce in this particular one was made with a dark beer from the Augustiner Brewery. And Spaetzle is like pasta, hand made, so each piece is irregular in size and shape with a consistency somewhere between pasta and gnocchi. I will forever remember this Goulash…

But seriously, we can’t talk about Germany at Christmas without talking about Christmas Markets and Glüghwein. There’s one in every city center, and in large cities, they are all over the place. The stands sell everything from baked goods and hot wine to wool socks and Christmas decorations. And they are so festive and alive; the whole thing just makes you happy.

“Cheesecake Doughnut Balls” – literally how the girl selling them described them to me. Um, yes please! And a little hot, mulled wine by the fire.

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Prague, Czech Republic

Prague is spectacular. There’s something to look at on every corner.

The Astronomical Clock – it was installed in 1410, making it the 3rd oldest astronomical clock, and it’s the oldest one that still works. On the hour, the bells chime and there’s a little show – the statues come to life representing the evils of society and the apostles go by the the windows above the clock.

There’s just so much to show, I’m having trouble picking pictures!

There are a lot of similar foods in the Czech Republic, but then you realized that they are named the same, but have their own twist. For example goulash. Served with bread dumplings mixed with herbs and bacon instead of spaetzle.

And this particularly tasty treat found at the Christmas market. I don’t know what it’s called…but it’s a sweet dough with ground almonds, coiled around a wooden spool and cooked over an open flame, then tossed in sugar. We got one to share, but had to go back for another, it was so good!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Vienna, Austria

The last stop before heading back to spend Christmas in Augsburg. Vienna is fancy! The architecture definitely reflects wealth and royalty.

The Belvedere Palace and surrounding gardens (complete with its own Christmas Market…seriously, say hot wine and sausage and you’ll find a place to buy one). Inside is a museum which houses the paintings of Viennese artists, including Klimt and it’s there you can see the spectacular, and probably most recognized painting, The Kiss.

The Summer Palace. I want to tell you more history, but I have a hard time remembering. Google it if you must know names and dates. The the main thing is that its ginormous and its the summer palace, as in there’s another one. The gardens that surround it are beautiful and give you a spectacular view of the city.

More sausage. This time with flat bread from a wood burning oven. We only had one day in Vienna, it wasn’t too cold, so we opted to not sit down the whole day. Later we paid for that, but in the meantime, we ate at the Christmas Markets all day.

Even the Christmas Market is in front of this amazing, beautiful building. By the way, that’s Merry Christmas in German.Sorry, this picture is blurry, but this was too amazing not to include. The stand had all these baguettes with one end cut off and they would poke them onto these metal rods that heated the inside and made room for the sausage. I realize as I write this how…um…this may be sounding, but seriously, it’s brilliant!

Pastries… Pastries everywhere!

…………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..

Augsburg, Germany

The final destination. Don’t worry, we’re almost done. Bear with me, I promise it’s worth it.

The first day (this was before the above, but I’m going to group all of the Bavarian adventures together) we saw Augsburg. It’s a cute little town, very characteristic of the style of Bavaria. It was almost completely destroyed in the war –there was an airplane factory in town– and then rebuilt, keeping what they could of facades that hadn’t been reduced to rubble.

Our second day we went to see one of the Crazy King Ludwig’s many castles. He was famous for two things: one, for building a lot of extravagant castles that bankrupted Bavaria, and two, for being diagnosed insane and then drowning the next day with his doctor in a mysterious accident in a lake. Ok, three things, but this is post-mortem — this is the castle that inspired Walt Disney when he made the princess’ castle at Disneyland.

It’s so unfortunate they don’t let you take pictures inside because it really is over the top. There’s a room that looks like a cave with a grotto so that they could perform his favorite Wagner opera, complete with the swan scene. Also, he built this castle just across the way from another one. You know, squandering the kingdom’s money, all day, every day.

We also visited the Wieskirche, or the “Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Savior”, though something tells me that’s not a direct translation. Anyhow, it’s the most ornate thing I’ve ever seen. Visual overload to the point where it’s hard to focus on any one detail. I think you would have to spend days there to actually see everything. Yet it’s so unassuming from the outside…

And that brings me to the end. Christmas Eve was celebrated with a delicious home-cooked meal and Christmas Day with a party, complete with carol singing, and though I had the words printed in front of me, I did not attempt to pronounce them as it was so beautiful and I didn’t want to spoil it with my total butchering of the German language.