Highway 1, near Big Sur, with the unique Cypress trees that grace that area of California.

We who live in California often take its majestic beauty for granted. We’re used to the jokes made about the crazy people who live here, about our healthy food habits and our dislike for cigarette smoke. And about the air pollution in Los Angeles, the risk of earthquakes, and the occasional mudslide that can destroy homes in about 3 seconds. Oh yes, the fires. Those too. And the fact that we’re very spread out, so there’s little or no rapid transit in this state. We all insist on driving cars everywhere. But if you take all that out of the equation, we’re left with some spectacular scenery, unlike any other place on this earth. We have Mt. Whitney, the Golden Gate Bridge, the Redwoods way up north, plus just the incredible awe of the city of San Francisco. We have really big mountain ranges from north to south, including nine (yes, NINE) national parks, countless state parks and beach preserves.

In the south, we have more mountain ranges, deserts (actually southern California is mostly desert land, but because we hydrate it, it’s become more like one big oasis), the Salton Sea and Death Valley.

It isn’t often that anyone who lives here drives Highway 1, though. It actually goes from the Mexican border to Oregon, but when we Californians talk about “Highway 1” we’re usually referring to a section of it that goes from Morro Bay, about mid-state to Carmel. It’s about 100+ miles of very curvy, torturous roads. Takes about 3-4 hours, depending on traffic. People driving on this road are mostly tourists, there just to soak in the vistas. Or the myriad of people who actually live along that coast. Every time I’ve driven the road I wonder about these people who live there – what do they do for a living, so far from civilization (they probably like that aspect of it), how often they go to the grocery store (not often, I’d guess), or how they manage not having a restaurant nearby to go out to dinner once in awhile (there are almost zip-zero-nada restaurants along this stretch of road).

We headed south from Monterey. The day was absolutely perfect. Sky a sunshiny blue, water perfectly clear. No wind. Temps in the 50’s. The plu-perfect day to drive Highway 1. We stopped often to take some pictures.

South of Big Sur.

Don’t fall! That’s a couple of hundred feet down there. You can’t see them, but there are hundreds of sea lions swimming all over this stretch of rocky shore. They were  cavorting and barking to beat the band.

Just one look UP rather than down.

And one short glance back toward the north.

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The town of Rothenburg (row-ten-burg) is along the Romantic Road in southern Germany, just north of Austria. One of the days on our cruise in November, we had almost an entire day there. It was cold. Bone-chilling cold, actually. I was bundled up in everything I had with me – scarf around my neck, gloves, raincoat and a sweater. I wandered the streets of town, which was great fun. DH and I had been to the town before on one driving trip many years ago. Stayed just outside the city walls at a cute country inn. There are lots of shopping opportunities in Rothenburg, I can tell you that. There were hundreds and hundreds of tourists in the town that day. Aisles were crowded. But on my way back out of the village, just outside the walls, I looked off at this pretty pastoral scene. The path just invited me to wander. The city wall is on the left, with the attached gate houses. If you ever get to Rothenburg, forget the shopping. Walk the walls, walk the parks (there are several) and be sure to have some local sausages. I posted a picture of the famous Rothenburg sausages when we were there. Oh, so good.

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It was cold, damp and misty the morning we walked around in Mainz, Germany. I love this picture with the cathedral shrouded in fog. A bit like it is this morning, where we are in Bodega Bay, CA. It’s so dark and forbidding (and VERY windy, 41 degrees F) here that there’s not enough light to even take a picture. So a photo from my archive is all that I can use today. That morning, in Mainz, photos were a bit hard to compose to get enough light, too. The open square around the cathedral was just beautiful, though. The cathedral doesn’t allow group of tourists, nor tour guides into the church. But if we went in one by one, and appeared like we were supposed to be there to attend a service, we could look around. It was gorgeous inside. This was in early November.

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We’re off on a trip right now, up in California wine country. It’s raining today and verrrry cold. It even snowed not many miles up the road, and that’s really unusual for this area. Don’t know that I’ll get any photos of anything! So I went through some of my old photos and am posting a few, until I get back into my kitchen.

This is a plate full of delicious – absolutely delicious – cookies we had while we were in Vienna about 7 weeks ago. Our friends picked these up at a bakery there and DH and I ate them all. Buttery crumbly. None of that shortening kind of taste. All pure butter, I’m certain. Many dipped in chocolate, or almonds, or both.

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Oh, my goodness.

We sat outside in the 40+ temperatures (brrrrrrrr) and had a little snack with a hot  latte.

This was, without a doubt, THE most wonderful almond chocolate croissant I’ve ever encountered in my entire life. Crunchy. Flaky. Moist. Almondy. Chocolatey. Oh my. If you’ve never been to Bouchon, get thy self there soon. This one is in Yountville, in the Napa Valley. Next door to the Bouchon restaurant, right on the tiny main street of Yountville at 6534 Washington St.

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Some years ago we bought a second home out in the California desert. It took us a long, long time deciding if we wanted to buy a second home in Maine (although we’d never lived there, just had enjoyed visiting there a few times in the summer months) or Colorado, or up along the northern California coast, or half a dozen other places. Making lists helped – how often would we visit a place in Maine. Or Colorado. Really. So, we narrowed it down to places we could drive to within a few hours. Figuring we’d use it more often. And indeed we have. We love our house in the desert. It’s on a golf course, and our house there looks out on a view similar to the above.

We went out to our house there this week. It was raining cats and dogs when we left home in Orange County, and it never ceases to amaze us, once we slip through the pass at Banning and Beaumont, the skies clear up, the air is clean and the weather turns to nice and comfortable. It takes us about 75 minutes to get there, door to door. We have complete sets of everything there, so all we have to take is our prescription drugs, the books we’re reading and an ice chest with any food we think we’ll use. Clothes do travel back and forth sometimes. As so many two-home families say, you go to your closet looking for something specific and realize, oh, it’s at the other house. We feel very fortunate to be able to have this house. We bought it after DH’s elderly aunt died. We didn’t know that DH was named her heir. So we came into a bit of an inheritance we weren’t expecting and decided to invest the money in real estate.

We zip back and forth, fitting in a few days at a time every week or so. To avoid the traffic we often drive later in the evening, after dinner. That way we avoid the crawling lanes of commuters. We went out there on a late evening, and returned at the same time. No traffic whatsoever.

After we’d had a nice lunch with friends, we were driving our golf cart back to our house and I spied this view. There are hundreds of similar views, but the sun’s reflection on the water, the trees, etc. just offered a nice site for a photo. DH and I enjoy driving our golf cart around the golf paths just to look around. The development is a mile square, contains two 18-hole golf courses, and several miles of golf paths. We like grabbing a morning cup of coffee, bundling ourselves up in jackets and driving around for fun. Stopping to enjoy the multitude of lakes and streams, watching and listening to the birds, and pausing to listen to the loud whack of golf balls careening off the tees.

If you’ve never been to Palm Springs or Palm Desert in the wintertime, you’re missing out. It’s just gorgeous. The weather is usually very pleasant. People play golf there year around, but it’s the best from about November 1st through April 30th. After that it gets too hot. At least it’s too hot for me. The June day we took possession of the house it was 110. Schlepping stuff back and forth from the garage into the house was just outrageously uncomfortable. There are countless restaurants there, shopping galore, and new people to meet from all over the world. Thousands of people live there year around. It’s just in those hot summer months that they live inside homes and offices. All the time. Every day. But the winter months are heavenly.

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Some people might think Budapest is so foreign they might not want to go. Whatever you might have thought, it’s not so. Budapest is a beautiful, small city, situated on both sides of the Danube. The Buda side is the hilly side, where the castle is located (lit up spectacularly at night), and most of the tourist shopping areas, the cathedral and some lovely restaurants. The Pest (pronounced pesh to you non-Hungarians. so it’s Booda- ) side is the flat side, where much of the business and industry is located. More commercial. It’s also where Gundel is located.

Years ago, probably 10, DH and I enjoyed a dinner at Gundel. We were with a small group and the dinner had been pre-arranged. It was spectacular. We even bought some of the Gundel-labeled red wine and brought it home (as we did this time too). Hungarians make some fine wine. Inexpensive. And almost none of it is exported. You’ve probably heard of the label Tokaji (pronounced toe-kai), a line of sweeter wines, from 1 to 5 in sweetness. They’re lovely wines and hard to find here in the U.S. We enjoyed #5 with our dessert the other night. It was really lovely. My DH doesn’t drink much late harvest or sweet wines, so I didn’t buy any, although I really wanted to. But, I’d be drinking it all, so decided not to.

So earlier last week I asked one of the ship’s crew to make a reservation for us at Gundel for Saturday night, our last night there. No problem. We took a taxi – and had the nicest driver – he even came to pick us up at 9:30 at the conclusion of our dinner, AND he picked us up the next morning and drove us to the airport. A very nice man – an Hungarian. With a son in dental school.

Gundel requires men to wear coats (ties not required). It’s a very formal place, but not stuffy, really. I was charmed, even more so this time. Last time we were served in a private room upstairs. I liked eating in the main dining room. The ambiance was not to be missed. Lucy and I just ate it up. From the bottled water to the multiple forks and knives lined up on each side of the plates.

We’d been warned the dinner would be expensive. One guide told us to expect to pay about 80,000 Hungarian florins (approx. $300) apiece. Fortunately, it was nowhere close to that. The 6 course meal, including wine for 5 of the courses, was 82,000 florins. So, about $75 per person. To our minds, it was a bargain, considering the fabulous food we had, and the lovely wines they served along with. Hungary, although in the EU, won’t convert to the euro until 2012. But most places we went accepted euros with no difficulty. They even took American dollars too.

So, here’s what we had:

The Traditional and new

Gundel Creation Dinner:

Torte of foie Gras with Cranberry Kir Royale

Smoked Ham of Z selic Roe-Deer

with Porcini Mushroom Mousse

Belatonbolglari Chardonnay 2006, Legli Otto

Tarragon scented Venison Ragout Soup

with Sour Apple and Chestnut

Slice of River Catfish served with

Pumpkin Seed Strudel and Red Pepper Sauce

Egri Pinot Noir 2002, Gundel Winery

Rack of Mangalic Pork served with

Spinach-Serviettenknodel and colorful onions

Egri Bikaver Gold Selection Barrique 2000, Gundel Winery

The Classic Crepe a la Gundel

Tokaji Aszu 5 butts 2000, Gundel Winery

The foie gras torte. Amazing.

Sinfully delicious soup, with venison, apple and chestnut. Slurp.

The charming table, chock-a-block full of dishes, wine glasses, utensils, little bowls, butter dishes, salt and paprika (no pepper, just paprika), dinner plates and bread plates

The fried catfish in the foreground, with the very different and delicious pumpkin seed strudel at the back.

The amazingly tender pork chops with onions and a spinach strudel.

And, last but not least, this scrumptious crepe filled with a ground and chunky walnut, raisin, rum filling, topped with a dreamy chocolate sauce and powdered sugar. A stunner to look at and to devour.

Here we are, l-r: me, my DH, Lucy and Wayne.

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Doors in Rothenburg, Germany.

It’s wonderful taking vacations. Even the mound of laundry is okay. It’s the flights here to there and back that is so hard. Flying is no fun anymore. Now it’s just something dreadful you have to “get through” in order to enjoy the vacation. We even paid for some upgraded seats on British Airways for this trip, about twice what coach seats would cost. Meals were disgusting. I guess I shouldn’t complain. At least we HAD meals on the plane.

Nevertheless, no matter how long I’m gone, it’s always wonderful arriving home. Tired, dragging, jet lagged, wanting a shower, etc. But it’s wonderful walking into your safe haven. To look at the view out the window. To sit quietly with a fresh cup of espresso.

We had a great time on our trip. Sorry I wasn’t able to upload more comments and photos, but I was limited by the very slow wireless network on the ship, having to share the connection with others using it too. Today I’ll upload a few more photos from the trip. Tomorrow I’m going to upload the photos I took at our last night in Budapest, at the fabulous restaurant, Gundel. So, here are a few more photo reflections from the river cruise from Amsterdam to Budapest. Highly recommended, as long as you like a slow pace.

Outside the Gutenberg Museum (Germany).

Cobblestone streets along the Rhine River.
Paprika peppers and garlic in Budapest.

Building corner in Regensburg, Germany.

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(picture along the Danube yesterday, in Austria)

Location: Vienna
Weather: 46 and overcast
Most people are off on a shore excursion today. We’ve been to Vienna twice, and we’re a hobbling-around couple (there are others also), so decided to stay on board. The ship departs later today for Bratislava, our next port stop.

This ship, the Viking River Cruises “Spirit” has been a good activity level for us. What with my foot that still swells, and Dave’s new artificial leg that hurts him like heck nearly every step he takes, we’ve spent more time relaxing on the ship. Most of the passengers are older folks, like us. One gentleman flew to Amsterdam and when he stood up on arrival, he couldn’t walk. He was in a wheelchair for a week. After seeing a doctor at one of the ports (and with x-rays) he found out he has a broken hip. The ship staff arranged for him to fly home a few days ago, with his wife. We all wanted to know, how could you have a broken hip and not know it? Our companions, Wayne and Lucy, speculated about that. Wayne’s a retired OB/GYN, and he suspects the gentleman has some other health issues, maybe bone cancer, so his bones are very soft. Guess we’ll never know.

We have a contingent of complainers on the ship too. They are the kind of people who give Americans a bad name, like the Ugly American. Nothing is ever right. Or good enough. They complain mostly about the meals. This is a German ship. The captain and chef are German. Although it’s an American based company, everything about what they do is German. The chef does an amazing job with the meals. They’re not as elegant, perhaps, as on a huge mega-sized cruise ship, but having been on their kitchen tour here, I find it amazing that they can produce the quality and quantity of meals in their compact kitchens.

These ugly people want American food. Well, they don’t SERVE American food on this ship. It’s more continental, and a modicum of German food mostly. They complained that a lunch served a day or two ago, that was billed as “Bavarian,” included lasagna. At a question and answer period last night, the Chef humbly apologized, said he’d made a mistake with that one, he was one day early for that dish, as the next day was an Italian day menu. These people have complained so much that they’re eating their own, private menu. No extra charge. Yesterday, however, they all wanted tuna sandwiches on Pita bread. The Chef had to phone several other ships to FIND Pita bread. Finally did, had staff retrieve it, or make an exchange, using a ship launch. Tuna sandwiches were made, and this group of 8 people ate half of one sandwich. The first woman who tried it didn’t like it, so nobody else even tried it. The Chef appears at their table nearly every meal because they’ve complained about something.

The darling waitress, Zuzana (she’s from Slovakia), was nearly in tears yesterday because of their insane requests. All special menus are prepared in a separate kitchen below the main kitchen, and to serve a table for 8, she has to go up and down the kitchen flight of stairs so many, many times to serve a meal, what with each dinner having 4 or 5 courses.

They like this particular waitress. So do we, and try to sit on her station for most meals, if we can. This ship does not have assigned seating. So somebody from the Ugly American group stands outside the dining room door for a looooong time to make sure they get the table they want – only two tables in the dining room seat 8 people – one only with Zuzana. Now, there’s also another contingent of people, mostly from Texas, who have also made some significant waves. They’re also a party of 8, and THEY like this same table, because they like Zuzana too. Last night one from their group pulled a chair from his stateroom and sat for 40 minutes outside the dining room door, in order to get this table. They were excited to have one-upped the Ugly Americans. Although, this other group is quite loud and boisterous. They drink a lot, too. They’re a friendly bunch, though.

When you’re confined to somewhat close quarters, the gossip flies the air. We watch with some amusement, but also some embarrassment too. We feel sorry for the staff. They work very, very hard, about 12 hours a day.

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Were these ever GOOD! In Rothenburg our day trip included a lunch at a local hotel where they served us the Rothenburg sausages, sauerkraut (underneath the sausages) and a heap of mashed potatoes, along with their tasty mustard. We also went through Nurnberg (Nuremburg) where that area specializes in some different kinds of sausages – they look more like our breakfast sausages, but with lots of herbs and spices in them. Why, oh why, can’t we get these at home?

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