Unforgettable food

A series of blog posts from one of our trips just wouldn't be complete without the requisite post about all the great food we ate. This trip was full of incredible food, including the above raspberry macaron and pastry. We discovered that the only sure way to keep Gavin happy at all times was to give him bread (his father's son). I'll always look back on this trip with a mental picture of Gavin with some bread in his hand or mouth.


In addition to bread and pastries, we ate A LOT of sausages. With great mustard.

There was a Ladurée shop in Lausanne where we got some macarons (we also ate some in Lucerne).

Our host in Switzerland made the most amazing meal of papet vaudois, a meal original to that region of Switzerland. It was outstanding, and I would try making it myself except I don't think I can find sausages quite like these.

We enjoyed a meal of cheese fondue while we were in Switzerland. It's a cheese-lover's dream. ;)

Schweinehaxe (of course)

Schupfnudeln (potato noodles) from the Heidelberg market

Cordon bleu and croquettes

A real show-stopper: Spargelschnitzel (asparagus Schnitzel in hollandaise sauce, covered in cheese)

Gavin is enjoying a freshly-made Stroopwaffel

raspberry tart

Apple tart

Something yummy with potatoes and lardons

And the item from the trip that Jacob found life-changing (and the rest of us enjoyed too)--a nougat log covered in delicious dark chocolate and pistachios

Trip food (of course)

If you've been following our travels long, you'll have realized we basically travel for the food, and our recent trip to Vienna and Bratislava was no exception. Due to its recurrence in our travels, I'm creating a new tag specifically for Schweinehaxe, the slow-cooked pork knuckle. The one we had in Bratislava was the biggest we've ever seen, and the massive plank of wood it came on (below) was pretty amazing too.We had to try the famous Sachertorte while we were in Vienna. It's an incredibly rich chocolate cake with apricot filling, covered with a very dark (incredible) chocolate icing.

Unfortunately Gavin managed to eat an entire dark chocolate disk. He stuffed the whole thing in his mouth all at once and wouldn't give any of it up. He's a dark chocolate fan, for sure. (Little Michaela--also a fan.)Jacob bought this little square of ice cream that was labeled as Russian ice cream. It tasted like thick cream that had been frozen onto little wafers. Very delicious. Again, Gavin agreed.Other things we ate: Austrian blood sausage (Blunzengröstl); boiled beef (Tafelspitz); and several pieces of Apfelstrudel. We watched a strudel-making demonstration that was lots of fun. I didn't have a chance to get photos, but here's one of a little strawberry pastry we ate in Vienna.

German food

The food deserves its own post because it's so amazing and such a huge part of what we do when we're in Germany, and also because Gavin got to try some of it too... but not the doner kebab above.Rothenberg ob der Tauber has a famous food specialty called Schneeballen (translated as snowballs). They weren't at all what we were expecting when we saw them. They're basically little cookies smashed together in balls with various fillings. We tried the original (no filling--just covered in powdered sugar), nougat and chocolate. The dissected one below shows the cookie layering. In the next photo are two of the most amazing pastries we've ever had: on the right a strawberry one with cream and custard; on the left a cherry one, below which you can see an actual cherry pit Jacob encountered while eating it. He was excited by that indication it was made with real cherries. :) We also visited the Ritter Sport chocolate museum and gift shop near Stuttgart and came away with quite a stash. It was fun. We've talked before about one of Jacob's favorite German foods, the Schweinehaxe (here, here and here, for example). I love the below photo that shows how large the Haxe is in comparison to Gavin's head.Below is a photo of my wild boar and venison. At that same meal, Jacob had reindeer goulash. The only photo we have is Gavin licking it off his fingers. That's right, Gavin (and Jacob) ate Rudolph. And if Gavin ever asks whether Rudolph is real, Jacob plans to tell him that he WAS...until Gavin ate him.For dessert? Gelato!

A Wilde night

Last night we went to London and saw a production of Oscar Wilde's An Ideal Husband. You might remember that I'm actually a huge Oscar Wilde fan; and you might also be thinking that we're a little theatre-obsessed. Yes, we love the theatre, but mostly we just want to see as many plays as possible because we know the arrival of our son will make that super-challenging.

The play was wonderful. I've loved it since I first read it, but this is the first of Wilde's plays I've actually seen on stage. The acting was flawless (particularly impressive was the guy who played Lord Goring-- Elliot Cowan), and the sets were gorgeous! Mostly we just laughed the whole time and enjoyed Wilde's witty writing.

I'm not sure why the photo is so skewed, but you'll notice a famous face among the cast of the play. As Mrs. Cheveley in An Ideal Husband, Samantha Bond (far right) is best known in her role as Miss Moneypenny in the Pierce Brosnan James Bond movies.


In addition to seeing this production, we also ate some German food at the Bavarian Beerhouse restaurant. No one who has read the blog will be surprised to see Jacob's selection of the Schweinehaxe. The food was ok, but not wonderful. We recommend getting your German food in Germany, not in London.

And just for fun, here are a few of the best quotes from the play:

• I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.


• One should always play fairly when one has the winning cards.


• ...life cannot be understood without much charity, cannot be lived without much charity

2009: The Numbers

Countries visited: 15 (counting the USA, but not England)
visits to Germany: 4

Rachel's visits to Paris: 3

Jacob's visits to Paris: 0

Continents visited: 4

Number of times Jacob ate Schweinehaxe (pork knuckle): 5

Bodies of water we've been in or on: 15+

Degrees earned: 1 Master's degree (congratulations to Jacob!)

Visitors from the USA: 6

Stage productions seen: 4

In-person sightings of genuinely famous people: 3

Castles visited: at least 18

Camel rides: 1

Wie schmeckt's?

Blogging about a trip to Germany just wouldn't be complete without a detailed description of some of the awesome things we ate while we were there. I already posted about our trip to the cheese-maker, and this post doesn't include everything we ate, just a few highlights. (The above photo is mini-Bratwursts on a bed of yummy sauerkraut with the most delicious potato puree on the side.)

(We ate lots of pastries because we stopped at lots of bakeries. This strawberry/almond pastry from Munich was both delicious and beautiful.)

(Here Irena is enjoying stuffed Schnitzel.)

(I ordered this "farmer's pan," which included lots of delicious veggies and meats.)



(In addition to all the "free snow cones," Jacob enjoyed some ice cream.)

(This gorgeous plate included tender, delicious lamb as well as green bean bunches wrapped in bacon. I plan to copy the latter sometime--very cute.)

(This store display might look familiar; we stopped in Aachen, one of the German towns whose Christmas market we enjoyed in December. They have an Aachen specialty called Printen, which is basically the most amazing gingerbread on the planet. We again enjoyed some. This time the display is Easter-themed, but just as pretty as it was in December.)

(We'll be talking about this one for a long time. Jacob ordered a "pork knuckle." The meat was so tender and flavorful, and it was HUGE. He also enjoyed the knödel on the side.)