Tag Archives: trout

Czechia, Purchases

Our Eastern European October… part four

On Saturday, October 3, I hoped we could go back to Karlovy Vary and visit an area called Diana. It’s a park that offers trails, a mini zoo, a butterfly house, a restaurant, and a lookout tower, among other things. I wanted to go there for most of those things, but I especially wanted to see their peacock, Frosty, in the mini zoo. Frosty is so named because he’s white.

I had seen pictures of Frosty and was enchanted by his unusual look. Frosty is not your typical Indian peafowl. Aside from the peacock, the mini zoo also has a petting zoo, which includes goats, mini pigs, and ponies! I know I’m 54 years old, but I turn into a little kid when there’s a petting zoo.

After breakfast at the hotel restaurant, I realized that I had forgotten to bring a jacket or sweater with me. The weather had been warm when we left Germany, but I worried about cooler temperatures, especially on the later segments of our trip. So we decided to visit Karlovy Vary’s Globus.

I’ve written about the Globus chain before. It’s an enormous “hypermarket” that is so big it puts Walmart to shame. I actually hate visiting the one in Wiesbaden, because it’s so huge and overwhelming. I almost always leave there feeling exhausted. But, on this particular Saturday, Globus was a successful stop. We managed to find some Il Santo flavored mineral water, sold by Chodovar, that I fell in love with in 2009, but can never find outside of that region in the Czech Republic. We also found a bottle of ten year old Ararat brandy, Chodovar beer, and a birthday present for Bill’s grandson.

I did NOT find a suitable jacket at Globus, but I did find one next door at the Decathalon Store, which is a chain that specializes in exercise and outdoor wear. I got the sense that they didn’t see too many Americans at the Decathalon Store, as the cashier, a teenaged girl who spoke English, beamed at us when we thanked her.

After we went to the Globus, we made our way to the city… and promptly found that parking was practically impossible to find. The weather was beautiful, with sunny skies and pleasant temperatures. Consequently, there wasn’t a parking spot for love or money in the city. Then I realized that the lack of parking also meant the city would be positively teeming with people, and that would be quite annoying for both Bill and me. So, although I was sorry to miss seeing Frosty, we decided to go elsewhere.

We set off toward a smaller spa town called Mariánské Lázně, which we remembered from our 2009 visit to Chodovar. We thought maybe we might have better luck finding parking there, and could walk around the town. On the way there, I took lots of photos. The drive was on an enchanting two lane road through forests and mountains. I even saw a deer grazing in a woodsy meadow on the side of the road.

A sign for a trout farm. We have these in Germany, too. They’re kind of sad, but they do offer fresh fish!
Can you spot the deer?

Alas, it was the same story in Mariánské Lázně. It seemed like everybody was out and about… not that I could blame them. October 3rd was a really nice day for sightseeing in the Czech Republic. I did manage to take a few photos from the car… I think this town is one I’d like to see more of. Maybe if we come back to this region, we’ll stay in Mariánské Lázně, instead of Karlovy Vary.

So we kept going through Mariánské Lázně, and started looking for a place to have lunch, mainly because Bill really needed to pee. At one point, we thought we might have found a spot, but it, too, was lacking parking. Bill ended up having to pull over on the side of the road to pee. But at least the scenery was beautiful. Look at these views!

After awhile, we found ourselves on a familiar road… It was the one that led to Chodova Plana, which is where Chodovar is. There are two restaurants at Chodovar, so we decided to see if we could have lunch there. At first, it looked like we might be out of luck again, but then Bill drove around to where Chodovar’s cool cave restaurant, Ve Skále, is. Much to our delight, he managed to score a parking spot! Soon, we were walking through the “cave” entrance to the dining room, still familiar after 17.5 years!

In February 2009, we stayed at this hotel! It was nice then… and probably still is, today.

Below are some photos from Ve Skále… which really saved the day, and filled us up for the rest of the evening! I had duck, with delicious Czech style potato dumplings and red kraut. Bill had trout again…

This is the way to the restaurant…
These beer glasses were studded through the entrance.
Those dumplings were surprisingly good, but I could only eat one or two. I don’t know how people eat four!
Chodovar is now making Il Santo cola!

Ve Skále was a great place to stop. It’s a unique restaurant with good food, huge portions, and excellent beers and other beverages. If you speak German, and happen to run into a staff member who can’t speak English, you’ll be in luck. Our waiter spoke English very well and was super cute, too.

When I used the restroom, I realized by their familiar pleasant aroma, the staff had stocked the soap dispensers with the brewery’s own cosmetics. I remembered buying them on our previous visit, and was delighted to stop at the gift shop on the way out and get more. We also got a six pack of 1.5 liter bottles of Il Santo Hoppy, which is a non-alcoholic drink the brewery now makes.

I’m pretty impressed with how much the “Beer Wellness Land” has grown since 2009. They now have a pool, whirlpool, Kneipp therapy, and a couple of specialized saunas. Unfortunately, Chodovar’s Web site still really sucks. But they DO have some great products– from drinks to shampoo! I wish it were easier to get their products from Germany. So far, I’ve only found them offered priced in euros on a site that sells truck parts! Make no mistake, though… they smell great, even if they are made of beer!

After we ate at Chodovar, we headed back to our hotel on the outskirts of Karlovy Vary. Since we were no longer exploring, it didn’t take long at all. I still got a few more fall photos…

We decided to have a couple of beers for dinner, instead of food… Then, we headed back to our room for our last night in the Tower Room. In the morning, we’d be rising early to make our way to Stary Smokovec, Slovakia…

Chateau Cilheny’s salon. There’s a piano in there, and one rather “ballsy” young woman we ran into at breakfast with her friends, was playing it.
I sure don’t miss the spiral staircase! But it was a unique room…

Unfortunately, I have brought back a souvenir from our trip. Bill and I are both sick with nasty colds (or some other icky virus). So, for today, I’m going to stop here, and maybe tomorrow, if I’m not dead, I’ll write about our all day travel to Slovakia’s gorgeous High Tatra Mountains. See you then…

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Schwarzwald

Seeing “stars” in Baiersbronn… Part five

We had no plans at all for Saturday. It was rainy and chilly, though, so we figured people would probably be hanging out in the spa area. We decided to take a drive instead. I can’t even tell you exactly where we went. Bill just got on the road, heading north, and we drove through several nice, picturesque towns. At one point, I was enchanted by the sight of rushing water, so we stopped so I could get some pictures. We eventually turned around when we got to the town of Rastatt, which looked to be pretty decent sized.

A small shrine near the rushing water…
I enjoyed playing with my camera’s settings…
Got plenty of cool photos of this picturesque area north of Baiersbronn…
This is the Murg River.
And then we passed through Gernsbach, where Schloss Eberstein sits on a hilltop.

After a couple of hours of good music and conversation, we headed back toward Obertal. It had started to rain and it was time for lunch. Despite all of the eating we did on Friday, we were hungry. I decided that I really wanted to stop at the Forellenhof Buhlbach, a restaurant owned by Hotel Bareiss.

If you are a food lover, you might know the Bareiss because it is where Baiersbronn’s other Michelin Three Star restaurant is. That restaurant, also known as Bareiss, is led by Clauss-Peter Lumpp, who has been working there for decades. I read about Chef Lumpp in that amazing New York Times Magazine article about Baiersbronn I posted at the beginning of this series. Now that I’m looking at the hotel’s Web site, I’m thinking that maybe if we go back, we should look into staying there!

In any case, we had driven up to the Forellenhof Buhlbach restaurant earlier in the day, so I got a good photo of it before the crowds showed up. It’s only open from 11:30 until 5:30 every day, and it’s a popular place that specializes in serving fresh trout. Reservations are not accepted. When we arrived, the place was pretty full and there was a line to get in. Since we didn’t have anything else to do, we decided to stick around. That was a good decision. Our wait was only about ten minutes and the meal was outstanding. No, it wasn’t fancy gourmet fare, but it was still very good food. I love fresh fish, and it doesn’t get much fresher than what is served at the Forellenhof. We did enjoy trout that was just as fresh when we visited Slovenia in 2016. The place in Slovenia was a bit more rustic, though.

Here are some photos from a fantastic lunch!

There was a covered area near the front door where people could wait. We signed in using Luca and the server checked our COVID pass.
Wines by the bathroom…
Too bad they are only open during the daytime.
The menu
They have them in English and probably French, too. France is very near.
Bill was very happy he listened to me.
Wine list.
This was a nice wine– very crisp and went beautifully with the fish!
Bill’s smoked trout came with horseradish sauce and roe.
He got parsley potatoes and market vegetables as his two sides.
I had my fish Müllerinart– dredged in milk and flour and lightly fried in butter.
And I had the market vegetables and creamed potatoes with scallions. Those potatoes were delicious! They were small chunks, slightly mashed.
For dessert, Bill had Grandma’s cheesecake, which was served plain, but had raisins in the crust.
And I had Schwarzwaldschnit… more Black Forest cake, more modestly cut.
The drive out…
Happy sheep.
I would love to live in such an idyllic place.

One of the other guests at the Forellenhof was a nun. She seemed to be enjoying her lunch with her companion. This restaurant is quite reasonably priced, especially compared to where we ate on Friday. I think we got out of there having spent less than 100 euros. There are other menu choices besides fish, too, although the trout is definitely the star attraction at the Forellenhof.

Since we were pretty full and lunch was later, we decided to hang out in the bar instead of having dinner. The crowd changed a bit. There were many French people there, no doubt wanting to eat some excellent cuisine. I did notice that there weren’t many Americans around, especially in our hotel. In fact, most of the people in our hotel didn’t speak English, which I found rather refreshing. Bill got to practice his German a lot, and I found that I understood more than I realized.

I got to try out a new dress, too…
I got a kick out of this art by the restrooms by the hotel.

There were a few things that made our trip a little more stressful than it should have been. All of it had to do with my inability to unplug from social media. I was especially nervous after having read about a gang of women in our neighborhood who have been trying to break in to people’s houses. One of Bill’s co-workers even caught someone trying to break into his car a few weeks ago. After reading about the neighborhood creepers, I ended up buying more renter’s insurance. I am a BIG believer in insurance.

We checked out of Hotel Engel Obertal at about 9:00am yesterday. As a parting gift, they gave us water, a small loaf of fresh farmer’s bread, and salt. Our final bill for the bar and restaurant, taxes, and one night of parking in the garage, was about 400 euros. All in all, we spent about 2000 euros on the hotel. I would stay at that hotel again, although if we go back, I’ll probably book somewhere else for the different experience. To anyone who is looking into visiting Baiersbronn, I would recommend the Hotel Engel Obertal. It seemed pretty popular with seniors, although we also saw a number of young families there. It has a nice family vibe.

Our drive back to Wiesbaden wasn’t bad at all, although I did a fair amount of bitching… mainly due to stuff that was completely unrelated to our weekend. Overall, we had a wonderful time, and now I’m thinking our days of staying in downtown Stuttgart when we need to see the dentist may be over forever. I’m all about staying in the Black Forest now, and am even thinking of other towns I’d like to explore next time. A bonus was that when we got home, our house was fine, and the dogs were delighted to see us. Noyzi even jumped into the back of the Volvo all by himself!

I hope anyone who’s been following along enjoyed this look at Baiersbronn. There are plenty of reasons to go back… more “stars” to see, if the opportunity presents itself. Until next time!

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Baden-Württemberg

There’s something fishy near Pforzheim…

Thanks to our local Facebook group, last week I became aware of a great place to get fresh fish.  Fischzucht Zordel is a delightful trout farm in Neuenbürg/Eyachtal, a scenic little hamlet not too far from Pforzheim.  Someone posted about this place on Facebook and, being a lover of fresh fish, I knew I had to try it.  My husband, Bill, is going away on business next week and has to leave tomorrow morning, so I told him I wanted to go there today.

We hopped in the Mini and drove north on a beautiful stretch of highway on the edge of the Black Forest.  It took about an hour as we made our way through cute little towns, over hills, and along a swiftly rushing river.  I was reminded of the drive to Colmar, France we took last fall.  We actually missed the turnoff for Fischzucht Zordel because we were enjoying the scenery and my collection of cheesy 80s rock so much.  But we managed to turn around and correct ourselves.  We drove along a lane with the hills in the background and a picturesque river rushing on the left before we came to a generous parking lot.

A welcoming sign… open every day from 8:00am until 8:00pm.

 

Bill and I noticed a number of couples walking around as we easily found our way to the fish grill.  Here, you can order trout soup, potato salad, a grilled trout stuffed with onions, and bread.  Beer, wine, soft drinks, and water are also available.  The menu is very simple and inexpensive.

A side look at the case where the trout is available for sale to take home.  They have fresh trout and smoked, as well as roe, filets, and condiments.  

Bill anticipates a good lunch.

If I weren’t going to be alone all week, we would have bought some fish to go.

 

We decided to order one trout, a cup of the trout soup, a side of potato salad, and two beers.  I’m really glad we shared everything.  That was plenty of food and cost just over 18 euros.

 

I loved the piping hot soup.  It’s a bit salty and made with smoked trout, peppers, and a hearty broth.  

The rest…

We had a bit of a wind today, which made holding on to all the plasticware tricky.

That fish was very fresh and delicious.  The potato salad was also very good.  This was a simple but very satisfying lunch!

The view from where we were sitting…  Can’t you just hear the water rushing?  An indoor seating area is also available for when the weather is bad.

As we were enjoying lunch, an older gentleman came by with what looked like a big empty bucket on wheels.  A few minutes later, he passed us again, this time with a bucket full of fish destined to be processed.  I ended up making a very inappropriate joke that I probably shouldn’t repeat here…  I actually felt a little sorry for the fish, even though they are definitely delicious.

Obligatory shot of Bill looking disinterested.

Once we were finished eating, we walked around the grounds and I took lots of pictures. As you can see, the surrounding area is beautiful. 

Fish in the ponds waiting to be harvested.

This picture reminds me so much of Goshen, Virginia… It was like being home.

A friendly looking horse was enjoying a snack of carrots and bread.

This house is beautiful, right down to the trout carvings on the balconies.  I envy the people who live here and run this business, though I’m not sure I’d really want to deal with fish processing.

As the weather gets better, these tables will fill up…

 

For fifty cents, you can feed the fish.  A few kids were enjoying feeding the fish in the first pond, so I went to the one being ignored a ways down.  It was a lot of fun feeding the fish because they are eager to eat and will jump to get the food.  A word of warning, though.  The fish food smells a bit like a mixture of dead fish and ass.  You will definitely want to wash your hands after you feed the fish.  Fortunately, there is a generous three stall restroom available perfectly suitable for washing up.

I’m not sure what kind of fish these were… they were huge.

Poor fishies… so close to freedom.

A couple of resident mallards…

I was dying to pet this horse.  Another one was in a nearby paddock.

These fish were jumping for the ass smelling fish food.  I had fun delivering, until I noticed what my hands smelled like afterwards.  I would advise using one of the plastic cups offered to catch the food as it comes out of the machine.

We really had a great time at Fischzucht Zordel today.  I bet we’ll be back, especially as the weather improves.  It’s a lovely place to have a simple lunch and enjoy nature.  I highly recommend it!  Kids seem to love it, too.

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