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Music is the international language in Rüdesheim am Rhein…

Bill and I finally had the whole weekend to do something fun.  Since we moved to Wiesbaden, I’ve been stacking up places I want to visit, and the list grows ever longer.  But Bill has had to work at least part of every weekend since the first weekend in March.  When we finally saw the sun today, we decided to go to Rüdesheim am Rhein, a town in the Rhein Valley known for its winemaking.

I had read up a little on Rüdesheim, so I knew it would be touristy.  We live about 45 minutes away, so I figured if we liked it, we could come back and do some of the touristy things.  Today, we just wanted to get a feel for the place and maybe have lunch and pick up a couple of bottles of wine.

We parked at P2, a large lot at the top of a hill (3 euros for three hours).  We walked down the hill toward the Rhein River, but then noticed that people were bearing right to an area that looked like it might be the main square.  It turned out it wasn’t really the main drag, but it did take us past a pretty church and some interesting looking shops and restaurants.

You can always count on finding a church in any German town.

 

Prost!

And a torture museum.  We didn’t visit this place, but I will be sure to check it out the next time we come to Rüdesheim.  I am sure there will be a next time, even if it is teeming with tourists.

 

The wine museum is near, as well as the “skyride” that will take you up the gentle mountaintop and around the area.  We’d need at least three hours to do that right and we got a late start today…  We will have to come back in the fall or maybe later in April and try it.  I think in a few weeks, this town will be full to the gills with tourists.

 

Come on in!  And if you want, you can stop by the Irish pub.

 

I bet this is really obnoxious in the summer.

 

We walked around a bit, searching for an interesting restaurant.  Alas, a lot of the places were very touristy, with menus translated into half a dozen languages.  Don’t get me wrong.  The translations do make it a lot easier for tourists, but it also makes a place a little less charming, if you know what I mean.  I was a little unimpressed by Rüdesheim, at first.  We stopped at a hotel restaurant for lunch.  I chose it because they had something other than schnitzel and sausages, or pizza and pasta.

We had lunch at the Drosselhof… on the Drosselgasse.  Ordinarily, I would avoid such a place, since it’s right on the tourist row, but none of the other eateries were inviting and this place had duck on the menu.  I ended up having salmon, anyway.

 

A kindly waiter invited us to sit down.  Although it was almost 1:00pm, the place was empty.  Our waiter spoke English, but seemed a bit shy about it.

 

Look at all the languages!

 

We ordered glasses of Riesling and sparkling water.  Bill went with the trout and I had a salmon filet.

Bill’s trout was fried, served with parsleyed potatoes, and a really nice horseradish sauce.  I think I liked his dish better than mine.

 

My salmon filet, cooked medium rare with a mustard dill sauce, croquettes, and a salad…

 

This had a great creamy dressing and was just enough to share.

As we were eating, the Drosselhof filled up somewhat.  The inside of the restaurant is very charming, although it doesn’t get the best ratings on TripAdvisor, Facebook, or Yelp.  I could see why.  The food was fine, but not that special, and it seemed to be primed for tourists.  But for us, it fit the bill fine.

We finished up by sharing this delightful dessert– crepes filled with hot blueberry sauce and served with vanilla ice cream and whipped cream.  It was so good!  Total bill was 66 euros, but it was kind of a nice place to be.  The waiter kindly turned on the heater for us, although we didn’t really need it. And I got to watch some guy brazenly feeling his woman’s behind while they perused the menu at the Weingarten across the alley.  For once, I didn’t sneak a photo.

If you need to pee, you can use the Drosselhof’s toilet, but it will cost you 50 cents.  They don’t charge people who are guests.

 

You can also pick up some smokes if you need to.

This… is the source of a lot of noise!  And big crowds, too. 

 
 

Next to the Drosselhof is a wine and art bar, where they serve these delicious pastries, strawberry wine, and play music.  It appeared to be part of the hotel.  Next door to that was one of many wine shops.  Again, everything was translated into five or six languages.  We noticed many Asians there.   Rüdesheim will definitely go on my list of European towns where you’ll find many Asian tourists… not that it’s a bad thing.  I’m just making an observation.

 

This is your town if you like wine.  It reminded me a little of Riquewihr, France, but perhaps with less charm.

 

This is where you catch the skyride that will take you all around the area.  We will do this on another day.

 

Reasonable rates and an extensive network that can even include a ferry cruise if you like.

Chances are, they have your language, too.

Very tourist friendly.  They even say so on the sign.

All in all, I was feeling somewhat unimpressed by Rüdesheim.  We were about to find a wine shop to pick up a few bottles to take home, when we were invited to sit down and try wine by a super charming elderly couple who spoke almost no English.

We did buy some wine… I think we arranged for 18 bottles, which will come to our house in Wiesbaden…  What can I say?  This turned out to be a very magical experience… one of those bonding times one has with a host country.  I really needed it.

 

We went into this little hole in the wall place and the wife, who spoke no English at all, started bringing out wines for us to try.  I would not be surprised if she’d had a little herself before we dropped in.  She kept pouring wines for us to try.  Bill eventually told her not to give him any, since he was driving.  She claimed she had alcohol free wine, but after she poured it, Bill looked at the bottle and it indicated 13.5% ABV!  Good thing he was paying attention!

I was surprised that I understood a fair amount of what she said, and was even able to answer a little bit.  Bill speaks more German than I do, but sometimes I understand things faster than he does.  After we’d tried four or five wines, he got up to speak to her husband about making a purchase.

The wife apologized for not speaking English, then explained that people her age learned French.  I totally understand that.  I learned some Spanish for the same reason.  Little did I know when I was in high school that I would spend six years living in Germany and only one year in Texas, where Spanish is very handy.  The one language I am conversant in– or was at one time– is Eastern Armenian.  Few people outside of Armenia, Fresno, and Boston speak that.  But anyway, I was able to get the gist of a lot of what was said… although I did miss a few things.  And I was even brave enough to try speaking German.  The wine helped.

Then, the lady asked me what I do with my time.  I told her I write… and I also sort of hesitantly told her that I’m a singer.  And I am also a Hausfrau, although apparently not a very good one, according to our ex landlady.

By that point, a couple of pretty young women came in.  They spoke some English and were happy to translate when the lady asked me to sing a few bars for her.  So, although I was a little tipsy, I sang the first line of a very operatic German art song I learned in college.  No, I don’t speak much German, but I can sing in German… a little, anyway.  A couple of people were startled by the sound and stopped in their tracks, peering into the wine shop.  I probably could have done something more mainstream, but whenever this happens to me, I’m usually at a loss of what to do other than songs like “Summertime”, which is totally burned on the brain… I have sung “Summertime” so many times, I kind of don’t want to do it again.

Bill sealing the deal while I talked to the guy’s wife in my crappy German.

As luck would have it, this morning someone on SingSnap commented on one of my recordings of the old song, “What’ll I Do.”  The first time I heard this song was on an episode of The Golden Girls, when the late actress Bea Arthur sang it at a bar.  I liked it so much that I decided to record it.  This was the result.

I recorded this in June of 2018, but someone happened to comment on it today.  I got an email alert, which made it very convenient for sharing.  This was probably nicer than my slightly drunken operatic line in German.  The German lady’s eyes lit up and she touched her heart… then she brought me a bottle of lovely Spanish wine as a gift.  For all I know, she would have done that anyway, although I kind of doubt it. On the other hand, she was quite free with the wine tasting.

I really needed today.  Lately, I’ve been a bit down on Germany and kind of wanting to go home… if not for good, then maybe for an extended visit.  I know this happens a lot.  People who live in countries that are foreign to them can experience cultural highs, culture shock, and finally, culture fatigue.  I think I may be experiencing a bit of culture fatigue after the stress of the past nine months or so.  But today was a reminder that sometimes, you can connect with the people… and you don’t necessarily have to speak the language to do it.

When I lived in Armenia, singing was often the only way I could get my youngest students to sit down and shut up for our English lessons.  I have found that in Germany, it’s also a way to break the ice and meet people.  Meeting people adds to the pleasure of being here.

Anyway, I feel sure we’ll be back to Rüdesheim.  I’ll bet that woman will remember me, too… if not for the song, then for the fact that we ordered 18 bottles of wine.  She even gave me a big hug as we left!  Sometimes fate or God lead you just where you need to be for a second wind… and maybe a second wine.

The mighty Rhein, which we will soon be exploring a lot more.

Goodbye new friend, Rüdesheim.

Until we meet again, Rüdesheim!

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Salt mines and sunburn in Hallstatt…

Most popular places for photos in Hallstatt!

Lovely views…

 

Hallstatt happens to be a great place to kill time.  It’s very tourist friendly.  You’ll find signs in German, English, and Chinese all over the place.  We happened to be in Hallstatt on the morning of First Communion, so besides all the Asian tourists and Anglo-Saxon thrill seekers, there were many girls dressed in white, a brass band, and many townspeople dressed in traditional Austrian attire.  We also saw a number of Asians clad in lederhosen and dirndls.  I guess they were getting into the spirit of things.  In my previous post, I mentioned that there is a replica of Hallstatt in China, which is probably why so many Asians visit the real Hallstatt in Austria.

A little waterfall across the street from the Landhaus Koller.  

 

Check out the poster on the house.  They rent dirndls and lederhosen to Asian visitors who want to be especially festive.

 

A swan boat!

 

Bill and I watched the parade and I got a charming video which I will probably end up putting on YouTube at some point.  Then we decided to visit Saltzwelten.  I didn’t know anything about Saltzwelten before we went there.  We just thought it looked like a fun place to visit.  It was indeed a lot of fun, if not a bit pricey.   For thirty euros a person, we got the full treatment, which included a ride in a funicular up and down a tall mountain, a lovely walk to the museum, and the guided tour.

On the day we decided to visit Saltzwelten, we had perfect weather.  The temperature was about 72 degrees; the sun was out; and lots of people were teeming around the salt mines.  Yes, there were a lot of Asians, but we were also confronted with the people who happened to park next to us in town.  The group consisted of two young guys and two young women.  I’m not sure if they were married, friends, or relatives.  The two guys were pretty cocky and obnoxious.  The ladies seemed to be along for the ride.

Our walk to the museum was absolutely gorgeous.  At the altitude we were at, we were treated to beautiful views of the picturesque town below.  The ride up the mountain was a bit nerve-wracking, mainly because we were all packed in the car like sardines.  But wow… lots of sunshine and views and plenty of toilet facilities.  Free WiFi throughout the entire complex, too, although the EU’s recent decision to regulate roaming charges has made this trip a lot easier to use my cell phone for keeping up with friends.

Once we got to the museum, I was a little out of breath.  Some of the walk there was uphill and I haven’t been keeping up with my Jazzercise lately.  The young folks who had parked next to us were sitting in the cafe, sipping beer and laughing loudly.  Maybe they were laughing at me?  Who knows?

When we entered the salt mine museum, we were asked to don coveralls.  I give props to the lady for figuring out which sizes we needed without embarrassing us.  I put the coveralls over my clothes, which temporarily made me hot and uncomfortable.  But our group of about 40 people had assembled in the waiting area and we made our way up more steps in the hot coveralls before we were faced with the entrance to the mine.  Our cheerful tour guide’s name was Bernie (short for Bernhard).  He was very cute and quite witty, though he lamented that he only speaks German and English.  We learned the catchphrase for Hallstatt miners, Gluck Auf, then started walking in the mine.

Bill dons his coveralls.

Pretty soon, the coveralls weren’t so uncomfortable.  The air was much cooler and there was lots of salt on the floor.  We sat through a number of films in German with English subtitles.  Some of our fellow tourists decided they had to have these films recorded for posterity on their cell phones.  I now know why some movie theaters take a hard line with people who text during shows.  It was very distracting and annoying.I thought the films were fairly interesting, though I have read some reviews in which some people have said the movies were dull.

Most people appreciate the most fun part of the tour, which is going down the miner’s slides.  I am ashamed to admit that Bill and I both chickened out on the opportunity to try these super slick slides in the mine.  I probably would have done it had the group been smaller and I could have seen for myself what exactly needed to be done to get down the slide safely.  But I got so exasperated by the group size and not being able to see that I just went down the steps on the side of the slides.  I did get some pictures, though.  On the second one, they take your photo and clock how fast you’re going.  Our guide was by far the fastest; he came down the slide at over 43km per hour.  One little girl got upset after the slide and she and her parents had to leave the tour.

The miner’s slide.  I really should have tried this.  I need a braver travel partner to goad me into these things.

The last part of the tour involved us riding on a “train” thing… picture a wooden kiddie train that goes super fast.  You sit astride it as if you’re on a horse.  It was a lot of fun and I suddenly wished I’d gone down the slides.  I’m becoming terribly wimpy in my old age.After the tour was over, the guide made us hold hands and yell Gluck Auf again.  I found myself standing next to one of the rude young bucks who had parked next to us.  It was pretty obvious he didn’t want to hold hands with me, nor did I with him.  He was saved when some Chinese guy came between us.  Talk about an awkward moment.

View near restaurant.

We enjoyed the Salzwelten tour, though I don’t think it’s a good activity for anyone who is claustrophobic, has mobility issues, or is afraid of the dark (or going on fast slides).  I think a lot of kids would enjoy the slide, though the several movies in German might bore them.  The tour is pretty long and there are only a couple of chances to sit down; so if you go, be sure to wear comfortable shoes.  Don’t forget your sunscreen, either.  I got a mild sunburn in Hallstatt because I didn’t remember my sunscreen.  It is possible to just pay for the funicular ride and skip the museum (16 euros round trip).  It’s also possible to walk up and down the mountain rather than riding the crowded funicular, though I would not recommend doing that unless you’re in very good shape. It’s a very steep climb that will probably take at least an hour.

A well deserved beer at Restaurant Rudolfsturm.  It only gets 3.5 stars on TripAdvisor.  I thought the food was a bit pricey, but the views are stellar.  What we had, we enjoyed.

I had trout with potatoes.  This restaurant was a bit expensive, but the beer was cold and the waiter was willing.  It was pretty funny talking to him, though, because Bill kept trying to speak German and the guy was bound and determined to speak English to us.  I finally told Bill to give it up.

Bill had goulash.

So much better to sit and drink beer than wander among the masses of Chinese folk in Austrian attire.

After the tour, we walked back to Restaurant Rudolfsturm, a restaurant in the Salzwelten complex.  It’s situated on the mountain side and offers stunning views of Hallstatt Lake and the town.  It’s also right by the overlook.  That place was pretty busy, though probably not as busy as Hallstatt itself was.  Our friends from the parking lot showed up just as Bill and I started drinking beer and thinking about what we wanted for lunch.  I watched them wander around in vain hope of scoring a table.  As they were leaving in disgust, I heard “Mr. God’s gift to women” make a disparaging comment about Chinese people.

Sometime during the mid afternoon, Bill and I got tired of fighting the crowds.  We enjoyed a blissfully quiet and empty ride on the funicular back down to the town.  We stopped by a grocery store (open on Sunday!) and stocked up on wine, chips, and cookies.  Then we went back to the Landhaus Koller for a rest.  I gave some thought to trying out the pool, but decided I just wanted to enjoy the lovely daybed on the balcony.  We made plans to have dinner at the hotel that night.

The daybed.

Another enchanting photo of our view from the hotel.

Ahh… this is the life.  

 

The Landhaus Koller is so beautiful!

I’m glad we visited Hallstatt.  It’s a very pretty town.  I can see why people like it so much.  However, I am extremely happy that we stayed in quieter Gosau, which is a cute little ski and hiking town.  The scenery is pretty there and there’s a lot less chaos to battle.  For those who are thinking of visiting Hallstatt, I highly recommend checking around the area for lodging alternatives to Hallstatt… unless, of course, you like being in the thick of tourists!  Also be prepared to pay for your parking in change.  We paid 1,70 euros per hour in an open lot.  Cards were not accepted.

War memorial.

We bought a Sparschwein to help store the many coins we walk around with in Europe.

 
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Our May getaway, 2016…

A few months ago, Bill and I went to The Auld Rogue  in Vaihingen for a Sunday lunch and came home with tentative plans to go to Ireland.  The folks at The Auld Rogue were offering a group trip to Ireland for the long Memorial Day weekend.  Bill made reservations for our dogs at Dog On Holiday in anticipation of a quick May sojourn to his motherland.

Then the trip to Ireland became a trip to France.  After researching the logistics of going to Ireland from Stuttgart, along with my lack of enthusiasm for trying Ryan Air, I pushed Ireland out of my head.  I thought maybe we’d hit southern France and pick up some wine.  But it occurred to me that we’ve been to France a few times.  Then I noticed someone on our local Facebook group had posted an article about Hallstatt, Austria.  Bill and I love Austria and we’ve already visited four times during our current Germany tenure of less than two years.  As I read about Hallstatt, I realized that we hadn’t been to Slovenia.  And we also hadn’t visited Trieste, in northeastern Italy.  My plans to go to France soon evaporated as I mapped out a road trip taking us from Austria, to Italy, and then Slovenia, with another stop in Austria on the way back to Stuttgart.

Once I started planning, we realized the dogs needed a longer holiday at Dog On Holiday.  Fortunately, there was room for them in the days leading up to Memorial Day weekend.  We left Germany for Austria on May 21st.  As I write this, we’ve been gone two nights.

We decided to take my Mini Cooper convertible on our trip, mainly because it needs the miles, but also because we figured it would be more fun to drive it with the top down.  As we’ve arrived in Italy this afternoon, I now think it was best to drive it because it’s smaller than our RAV 4 and fits more easily through narrow passages.  I was initially afraid I might want to buy something and not be able to because of my car’s small size, but then I remembered the wonders of shipping.

Early Saturday morning, Bill dropped our dogs off with Max at Dog On Holiday and we set off on our journey.  I remembered being warned about the terrible traffic we might face on the way south.  We did hit a few Staus, but none were really terrible until we saw the line of cars trying to get from Austria back into Germany.  That may be something to plan for when we start the drive home.

Stau near Esslingen…

Closer to Austria…

 

It seemed to take forever to get out of Germany.  At one point, we stopped at a horribly crowded rest stop that was teeming with buses, bikers, truckers, and disgruntled motorists. I waited in the car while Bill went to buy an Austrian vignette.  While he was gone, some kid started whizzing on the fence right in front of me.  I guess either he or his parents didn’t want to pay 70 cents for the restroom.

But we finally got to Austria and made our way to our first stop in Gosau, Austria.  I decided on Gosau because I had read that Hallstatt was very crowded and teeming with tourists, especially Asians.  It’s not that I have anything against Asians.  In fact, we often run into them when we travel, especially in Austria.  It’s just that when I was hunting for lodging, I found a listing for a very charming looking hotel in Gosau and one reviewer mentioned all the Asians in Hallstatt.  She made it sound like Hallstatt was very touristy, even if it is pretty.  So though it was pricey, I booked two nights at the Landhaus Koller.  That turned out to be one of my better ideas.  Not only is the Landhaus Koller utterly beautiful and charming, it’s also out of the throngs of tourists in Hallstatt.

And yes, the reviewer on Trip Advisor was absolutely right.  There are many Chinese people in Hallstatt.  In turns out there’s a special reason why Chinese people love to visit Hallstatt.  I learned the reason yesterday during our visit.  In a suburb of Beijing, the Chinese have built a replica of Hallstatt.  I’m not sure how many people in China actually live in their version of Hallstatt, but the replica has made Chinese people want to visit the real thing.  And visit they do… many, many of them.

We managed to have a great time in Gosau and we’re now in a hotel in Italy.  We’ll spend two nights here and head to Slovenia for a few days.  I feel like writing now, but the Internet connection is too slow.

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A whirlwind trip to Austria, Italy, and probably Switzerland, part 3

We decided to have lunch after we visited Crystal World.  Although we could have gone to the restaurant on site, we thought we might have a more peaceful meal in the town of Wattens.  Sadly, it was not to be…  But we did come away from our lunch at Pronto Pasta with a fun story.

I’m not sure what the restaurant scene is like in Wattens.  I do know that it was a Sunday and Pronto Pasta had lots of signs around town, advertising their restaurant.  I don’t usually like to go to restaurants that are so heavily promoted because they are usually tourist traps.  Indeed, Pronto Pasta has signs in five or six different languages… a sure sign that they cater to the clueless who visit the little Austrian town of Wattens.  We went anyway.

Now, usually when there are lots of signs attracting tourists, you’d expect a huge restaurant with lots of tables.  As it turned out, Pasta Pronto is a very small place with a menu in English and German.  We noticed that they’d set up a couple of large tables which took up most of their tiny dining room.  We were directed to a pub table near the front door.  I eyed the large tables nervously, figuring that a big tourbus was about to arrive.  Bill tried using his rudimentary German, but our waiter immediately switched to flawless English.  Just as well.

 

Bill ordered a nice glass of red…  I had white.

Bill had penne pasta with truffles, cream sauce, and ham.  I had a salmon filet with cherry tomatoes and a side of tagliatelle.

Another shot of the food.  It was very good.

 

Just as we were about a third of the way into our meals, a large tourbus full of Chinese people showed up.  A small, nervous looking little Chinese guy who spoke English hustled into the restaurant.  He had a large plastic bag full of individual packets of spicy Hunt’s brand ketchup.  Bill overheard him explain that a number of the tourists with him were “addicted” to the stuff.  The Italian bus driver took the table next to Bill’s and mine, meaning he shared a bench seat with me.  He seemed a bit “over it”.  I couldn’t blame him for that.  The tourists all sat down at the tables that had been prepared for them.

The little tour guide approached one of the waiters and started asking about the menu.  He wanted pizza.  The restaurant doesn’t serve pizza, though they do apparently have a pizzeria in a separate location.  Then the guy was asking about sausages.  The waiter seemed to be doing a good job maintaining his cool as he explained to the tour guide that they had ordered a set menu, so they were all going to be served the same thing.  It looked like they were having some kind of soup with a dollop of cream on top (sprayed into a decorative etoile), Wiener schnitzel, and tiramisu for dessert.  From what I could see, the food looked good and everybody was reasonably happy.  The two waiters were hustling and Bill overheard one of them complaining about their boss, a plain clothesed man who dropped off a couple of plates and claimed to have been helpful in the process.

 

The waiter deals with the tourists.  Bill and I were, of course, no trouble at all…

I got up to go to the bathroom, but it was occupied.  I stood and waited, feeling more and more intrusive.  I wasn’t sure what was going on in there, but the lady ahead of me had some issues.  At one point, I figured maybe I shouldn’t try to use the toilet at that time, but then she came out…  It was a tiny girl, looked no older than fifteen and no bigger than a size zero, apologizing profusely.  It was no big deal at that point.  Poor thing.

A shot of the outside of the restaurant.

The above signs were all over Wattens.

 

Finally, after more wine, Bill paid the check.  We headed back to the car, bypassing the tiny little Christmas market going on.  As Bill paid for the parking, I noticed a ladies room.  I ducked in and waited again.  I didn’t really have to go so badly, but I remembered the arduous mountain drive and didn’t want to have to pee while Bill was stressing over the drive up the 16 degree grade.

Christmas market in Wattens.

Graffiti on the bathroom door.

We stopped by Spar for more wine, which we didn’t end up drinking.  I took a photo of the Williams pear schnapps because Bill has a funny college story about it.  He and a buddy were once held hostage in a DC bar by a mischievous bartender who wouldn’t let them leave until they could explain how the pear got in the bottle…

Beer tubs at Hotel Diana.  I didn’t have a chance to get a shot of Bill and me this time.  If you want to see us in a beer tub, I recommend checking out my Moorhof writeup.  

 

Our appointment for our beer bath was set for 5:00 pm.  I had Bill go ask at the reception if the bath would be with or without bathing suits.  When we were at the Moorhof, we did it with suits.  While that preserved our modesty somewhat, it also got hops and other debris in our suits.  I would have been fine doing the bath naked.  But the guy at the front desk either didn’t understand the question or didn’t care one way or the other.  Bill came up and told me we should wear our suits.  I had brought my “spa robe”(which I like so much that I wear it around the house, too).  Bill only brought his bathing suit.  Since I also brought a cover up, I let Bill borrow my robe (Santa will bring him a spa robe for Christmas).  I wore the cover up.

We showed up at the beer bath and the lady from the video I posted in the first of this series said we should bathe naked.  I was game, but I think Bill was a bit bashful.  The whole thing was kind of awkward because she was telling us to get undressed and we’re typical Americans who aren’t used to being nude in front of strangers.  Finally, she told us to just get in the tub.  I think the tubs at Hotel Diana are a little smaller than the one we used at the Moorhof.

Bill and I were not as cramped in the one at the Moorhof as we were at Hotel Diana.  It was ultimately okay for us, but Bill and I are short people with short legs.  If this writeup makes you want to try a beer bath at Hotel Diana with your partner and you have long legs, you may want to go for separate baths.  Also, I recommend this treatment without bathing suits.  The barley they use in the tub gets stuck in your suit, plus you have to undress for the straw bed, anyway.

So anyway, we got in the tub…  this time, unlike at the Moorhof, the beer spigot was not purely for decoration.  We were allowed to drink as much as we wanted.  The water was a little too cool for me at first, but I had access to the tap, so I was able to heat it up.  The hotel owner was kind enough to light candles and dim the overhead lights.

Later, we told her that we booked Hotel Diana because of the beer bath.  We explained that hers was the fourth beer spa experience we’ve had.  She then told us that Moorhof was the first hotel to offer the beer spa experience in Austria.  The family that owns Hotel Diana went there to check it out and decided to offer it at their hotel, too.

After the lights were turned down.

 

After about thirty minutes in the tub, we lost our bathing suits and got in the straw bed.  I mentioned in my review of Moorhof’s beer spa that the oat straw seems like it would be itchy, but it’s really not.  In fact, it’s very relaxing to lie there next to your loved one and enjoy the smell… and the softness.  But remember, I grew up in a barn with horses, so it makes sense that this experience would especially appeal to me.  Overall, it was a nice experience, though it seemed like Hotel Diana hasn’t done as many beer baths as Moorhof has, so things were a little less smoothly run.  Still, we managed to leave the beer baths very relaxed and contented.

Bill in the straw bed.  I shared it with him until I needed to use the potty.

 

After our beer bath, we went up to the room, showered, and dressed for dinner.  I was feeling a little nervous that the militant waitress would be helping us, but she was off that night.  Instead, we were waited on by the guy who had checked us in.  He told us to pick one of the first three tables, all of which had been set for two.  I liked that.

Bill enjoys the pleasantly decorated restaurant.

And orders us a nice bottle of Austrian red…

 

Our waiter apologized for the menu in German.  We said it was okay because we live in Germany and can speak menu somewhat.  We started with the same salad as we had the night before…

Then a very nice cold tuna appetizer, followed up a cup of chicken noodle soup.

I had the Cordon Bleu which came with cranberry sauce and parsleyed potatoes.

Bill had pork with a pepper cream sauce and a baked potato with sour cream.  

And for dessert, we had rice pudding…  It was very good!

 

The same two ladies who had snickered at us the previous night showed up when we were halfway through our dinner.  Fortunately, they sat two tables down from us, so we were spared having to serve as their source of entertainment.  After dinner, we went to bed and slept well until morning.

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