The Miniature Mountaineering Man I Forgot

Thanks dear brother for making me aware that I forgot this dear picture of the most creative gravestone ever. You definitely don't want to miss this, so sorry. That was my bad.

Day 15: The Alps and Driving to Hiedelburg

Today was rather adventurous (except, of course, the six hours of driving). Let me recount, including all the breathtaking, vomit-inducing, and hungry-making details.

When I woke up (or more, when i gave up on the whole sleep thing) in Kitzbuhel it was raining, the town church outside my window was making an unholy fuss about it being seven o'clock, and my head was killing me. You see, despite it's many merits, the hotel Tiefenbrunner has possibly the hardest beds I've ever slept on. Dad, never sleep there.

But it had a lovely breakfast with a gorgeous assortment of granolas and cereals and meusli and fruits. And also more of those scrambled eggs. Seriously, what does Europe put in their scrambled eggs that make them so damn good? I thought The US was supposed to be on top of the "American breakfast" thing.

Anyway, it was still cloudy when we left, so we decided to hit the road instead of going up the mountain in the cable car. But as we were driving the clouds cleared miraculously (stupid clouds), so we turned around and sped back into town. After some tense disputes with the ticket lady about what the definition of "student ID" was and whether I really was 18, we hopped on a car and went to the top (1900 meters up?) where we then hiked downhill through an Alpine garden to the next station. The evidence of this adventure is below, including my encounter with a curious cow on the roadside. The other cows ignored me, but this one seemed to be very friendly and think I was interesting. Nice cow. We also saw a deer and some kind of hawk.

Fast forward several hours and we're in the road again. We stop for lunch at a rest station and I get a croissant. When I pull off a piece of it I discover that its not just any croissant - it's a ham and cheese croissant! I eat the piece and go in for another bite - only to glimpse, in one horrifying moment, a fat black fly living inside the pastry.

Oh my god. I don't even want to think about that anymore. :-S

You can imagine how difficult it was to explain to the German boys who'd sold it to me. But yeah. That whole situation was awful and I'm not sure I'll ever be able to eat a ham and cheese croissant again. Oh god.

So after that rattling incident, we continued on until we reached Hiedelburg, where we are now. We found dinner at a delicious Kurdish restaurant down the street. You know how good Mexican food is in Texas? Well, Middle Eastern food is that way here, because Arabic people are the main immigrants. Mmmmm. I love Middle Eastern food. :) And no insects! :D

So yeah. Now I'm sitting on a bed that is about as wide as my bed is long and is hopefully more comfortable than the one in Kitzbuhel. Tomorrow, we go back to Brussels, completing our European Circuit, and from there back to London, where I will strike out on my own the day after tomorrow. Hopefully that will go well. Ahem.

Stay tuned! :)

Day 14: Kitzbuhel, City of Oh-Wait-This-is-Definitely-a-Village

And quite a cute one at that! After driving from Vienna all up into the Alps (past Hitler's infamous Eagle's Nest) and stopping at a breathtaking mountain lake at Zell am See and to get fresh strawberries, we arrived at this adorable little fold in the mountains containing this gorgeous little retreat, quite in contrast, as you can see, to my previous adventures on this trip.

We're staying at a Fancypants hotel - the Tiefenbrunner, where everything is decorated like a lodge and the staff wear traditional Austrian dress (think liederhosen and the female version). Below you can see the view from my window (as well as my window!) and the fancy light and fancy key.

After checking in we wandered around a bit and found, in the churchyard, the most fascinating cemetery. Each gravesite contains, at the foot of a wrought iron grave marker, A small 3' x 4' garden plot, each one unique and lovingly tended, obviously by the family of the deceased and the community at large. The plots are usually family plots, dating as far back as the 1800s and as recent as this year. Just being there for twenty minutes, we saw at least six people tending various plots. It was truly a neat concept, somehow so much more respectful and caring than the standard grey rock in the middle of a field of grey rocks. This cemetery was a happy place; perhaps mournful, perhaps full of death, but also overflowing - literally - with life. Also, it contained the most creative and personal grave stone I have ever seen - see the miniature mountaineering man below.

Lastly, I feel I must record for you the magnificent four-course meal we had in the hotel. It was a set menu with limited choices, but oh! It was delicious.

Melon with prosciutto (I only ate the ham)

French Onion soup (amazing!)

Salad bar with about a dozen different gourmet vinegars and oils and plenty of unique add-ins & a make-your-own bread basket with French baguette, seeded rolls, German black bread, and others

Spaghetti with basil, olive oil, and garlic (my choice out of three fancier meals, but it was surprisingly flavorful!)

Apricot strudel with vanilla ice cream and red currants (yummmmm!)

Near-perfect meal for a hungry Ariel. :)