Installment II

So, where was I? Oh yes - dinner night two (everything is getting away from me now that I've been here 4 nights - hard to keep up with a blog, travel, eating, work at home, eating, dog, eating....navigation, eating)

For night two I wanted to go 'off piste' and asked the hotel to recommend a good local: she booked me at a place she said, with a significant glance at the dog  was a "nice, easy walk" for 7 pm. At 6:40 I presented myself and hound at her desk and awaited out direction interaction. She handed me a blurry Mapquest page which clearly showed my start and end points, and a lovely, wavy blue line between them and again she pointed out it was a "nice walk". And then I noticed at the top of the page it said "2km to destination, 30 minutes". Hmmmm. It is 30C and I am supposed to wander around vineyards?!?!?! Well, I could have taken the easy way out, but that would have been giving in and I am made of sterner stuff, so off I went, up hill and down dale, on gravel and cobblestones (I will attempt to post some pictures of the terrain). They weren't roads so much as paths for farming equipment, and I came across a lot of it working away. Several wrong turns and a couple of helpful cyclists later, I arrived at Schloss Valderons. The best I can say is "it's not the destination, it is the journey that counts", and as I hiked downhill en route to dinner, I was keenly aware that my journey back meant going UPHILL on a full stomach and with a glass or two of Riesling.......well after sunset. Dinner not worth mentioning and I think I can sum up the restaurant by sharing that as I finally stumbled into the parking lot I counldn't help but notice many signs directing the tour buses to their parking aprons.  Thus, a day that began with a 4-5 km dawn walk/run ended much the same way at 4 km in the prettiest setting possible. I would do it again, with better directions. Or maybe I would drive - not exactly the spirit of the Allied Forces, but easier on the feet.

Scloss Valderons - finally

Cobblestone path through the vineyards (yes, I know, another picture of Hanley, but what can I do?!? He doesn't have opposable thumbs, so I am never going to be in the frame).
 

Pre-prandial treats @ Burg Schwarzenstein

FIrst course: tomato variations

Dessert! Choclate, caramel. tobacco(!) and cherry lava.

The next night was dinner at the 'gourmet restaurant' at my hotel, and it was truly sublime, a tomato concoction that was an effort at molecular gastronomy that left the many varieties of tomato looking a bit tortured, but still - it was ART. My main course was something they called "ray wing", which I finally determined was skate: it looked and had the texture of cod cheeks and was served in a satay and amaranth sauce. The chef was not completely brave, though, and had a light hand on the flavours: he should have added a light touch of chili oil garnish on the satay sauce, but a nice effort. Did I mention dessert? At the end they presented a couple of plates of sweeties, but I could not face them and they were remained untouched in my room, but very pretty ornamentation.

And then it was time to change the scene, so the next morning off I went, thanks to my new GPS, to the Black Forest. I would heartily recommend the Burg Schwarzenstein, should you ever happen to be in the  area. Fantastic staff, if a bit malicious about planning your dinner commute. The parking lot was heaving every night with Maseratis, Porches, Mercs, and Rollers.......quite the sight. I don't know where the people were who owned them because the restos never seemed very full. But what a lovely hotel and well worth a detour.

I arrived the next day after a short drive of about two hours at the Villa Hammerschmiede in the town of Pfitzer-Sollingen - you must have heard of it, no? Well, you have now. Nice hotel in a terrific parkland property, but it has a major handicap in that it is on a very busy road that roars with traffic day and night, and the lack of a/c means one must sleep with the window open....plus there is a heavily used train track running through. I was to have stayed three nights but yesterday I clipped it down to two, as I am no good without sleep. 

Had a lovely meal in their casual restaurant, though the goat's cheese salad could have used more salad and less cheese, but the fish was interesting: it was called "fried meagre on the menu, and despite my wide range of experience with fish, this was a new one on me. It arrived looking like halibut and tasted similar, so I am going to assume it was a salt water fish (my server was not able to tell me). A disappointing dessert of pancakes and blueberries that could easily have been sooo much better served warm, and then the dog and I wandered off to check out the neighbourhood, which is something I always love doing. Hot, though - man!

Today was a very happy day trip into the heart of the Black Forest, one of the most beautiful drives I have ever taken myself on, with the ultimate goal of reaching Baden Baden for lunch. It was 35C in the shade, so I didn't linger over a forgettable repast which was  only made palatable by my first German beer in Germany :) I only realized a few hours ago that I failed to take a single picture, so I was obviously entrance by the scenery - oh, what vistas!! What a glorious road and dazzling little hamlets I dawdled through. I would love to come back.

I was about to describe tonight's meal when it occurred to me that this blog really should have been titled "A Pescatarian in Germany", as I can't seem to deviate from my fishy preferences. Tonight it was a rather stingy starter called "summer vegetables",  mostly micro and no greens, and turbot - I ADORE turbot. Another plate of post-prandial sweeties were delivered to my room while I aired the animal, who is so incredibly trustworthy.  I left him alone in the room this afternoon so I could go for a swim and didn't realize until I was well under water that I had left his suitcase with an open bag of his food directly a nose level: I opted to shrug off the inevitable damage and keep swimming, but returned to find he hadn't touched it! However,  after the walk tonight he made a beeline to the sweetie plate and wolfed at least two chocolates before I could lunge at the remains and stash them out of reach. 

Tomorrow I set the GPS for Beaune. And I have decided on the name for my new best friend: Otto. Really - what else could I have chosen :?? Night night.

I Eat for Canada, Day One addendum

In my own defence, I would like to point out that I typed this first of what I hope will be several blogs, on my new iPad mini, and mostly without my reading glasses, which I hope will help exculpate me in the matter of the rather embarrassing number of typos.

I Eat for Canada is munching through western Germany

So: that was easy! Always an adventure persuading a reluctant 80 lbs. of dog to get in a crate, but as you can see, we prevailed - ultimately. Destination: Frankfurt, and this is a big change from all the years gone by, as I have always used FRA to connect to France, but this time a break from tradition and I left the FRA airport for the first time in 12 years. FRA gets a bad rap from a lot of people, but I have always thought it was ultra-efficient, and sure, parts of it are ageing but the renovation and expansion work has been impressive. Yes - it is massive, and if you want to get a sense of just how massive it truly is, try taking 3 suitcases, an 80 lb. dog and his crate through baggage services, then hike on over to another terminal altogether to get to the rental car, then maneuver your way to the parkade to find your car.....all without your 11-hours-in-transit pup without getting so much as a whiff of the outdoors and the relief that would come with it. Oh, and if you really want to identify with me, get rid of one of your shoulders and do it all with one working arm. I look a lot happier at the front end of the trip than I would have if someone had taken a photo at the other end!  

And just because I needed a lesson in careful planning,  I got on the road in search of my destination supposedly an easy 45 minute away and discovered that my GPS doesn't want to believe it has left Vancouver. At all. And I had made no effort in the lead up to departure to look at a map, apart from a cursory glance the day before. FOr the first time in years, 'Kate' abandoned me, but there was no time for grieving, so I relied on instinct and a fairly good sense of direction and found my way to the Rhine River and followed it as best I could. A few wrong turns going through Wiesbaden and I finally found my first German perch: the Hotel Burg Schwarzenstein in Geisenheim-Johannisberg.   Bliss!!! Gorgeous property, and very welcoming staff. When I explained my plight over the GPS, one of them offered to try and fix it. Ultimately, two of them worked on it but there is no hope...it won't talk to my laptop so the relationship is forever sundered. I logged a lot of miles with Kate and she has saved my marriage a few times, so this is a hard parting. On the up side, the very kind young man who offered to fix the GPS offered to go into Wiesbaden and buy another one for me, so I am waiting to meet my new electronic guide. I am not only a lazy tourist, and willing to admit I have a dependency issue with electronics, but I resent the attention it takes to find my own way when I would rather be admiring the scenery, congratulating myself on my excellent driving and  listening to my audio books. At the moment,  David Sedaris is waiting patiently in my suitcase urging me to "Let's Explore Diabetes With Owls", Alan Bennet wants to read me his  "The Clothes They Stood Up In", and Martin Jarvis has five hours of P.G. Wodehouse's "The Code of the Woosters" he wants me to enjoy.  So, farewell Kate, my boon companion of many roads, and hello ______(?) I don't know her name yet, but I suppose it will have to be a a German one - any thoughts?

So - on with the eating!  Night #1, at the hotel, in their terrace restaurant, I enjoyed a few litres of water and the first wine I've had in many, many months. And oh, what a lovely way to fall off the wagon, in the middle of Rhine wine country with a glass or two of local Riesling in my greedy little hands. It came from Schloss Johannisburg, which I looked out at from the terrace, and could not have been a better way to decompress and kick off the vacation. Having avoided sugar for so long in an (unsuccessful) attempt to fit into last summer's pants, the wine hit my palate and trickled into my soul. I had a fantastic salad called the 'Whole Foods' salad, which

 is served with the usual salad components plus an abundance of sunflower seeds and - for some reason - cashews. Golden, juicy and buttery scallops came in a parmesan tuile napped with an onion-y sauce, and then it was grated strawberries with yogurt ice cream...which was, basically, a light clafouti and pleasantly uncomplicated.  I

Here at I Eat for Canada, I don't eat alone,  so in case you were wondering, Hanley had his usual feast of dry dog food and a bit of sweet potato 'mush'. He was more than welcome in the restaurant and once he settled in under the table he drifted into a jet-lag induced sleep, which made me envious,  but I lingered over my second glass of Riesling and watched two hot air balloons make lazy progress over the horizon and reflected on how happy I am to be here and how I've spent the whole year looking forward to these next six weeks. Bed beckoned, as did a few necessary Skype calls and then for some reason I made the mistake of opening a  file I've been working on for a while, then suddenly it was midnight and I realized I'd been away for 27 hours .....so a brief walk and then to bed. 

A restless night, but up with the birds the next day and ready to really explore 'Jo-burg'. I opted to run into the village, an easy choice as it was all downhill, then felt a little less athletic as the road sloped upwards toward the local Schloss, whose wine I had so appreciate the night before. The hotel is surrounded with wineries and vineyards, but I found the Scloss Johannisburg tasting room is not open at 0700. Uphill all the way back, and sidetracking down side streets to get the lay of land, I learned that Tuesday closeley resembles Sunday, in that it and Monday are "days of rest", so not a lot of local restaurant options.

Day One started with a 3 km, walk and I was relieved to find that breakfast was included in the cost of my room, so back to the terrace for a lovely continental breakfast buffet and cheerful service, then time to hit the road again. My rental car is a Skoda estate wagon, big enough for luggage in the back, two adults in the front and three garden gnomes or a large dog in the back seat. (Something will have to be done about this before I get to Maussane and visitors with legs start arriving).  Hanley, exhausted from an early run in the heat and probably a bit jet lagged, stretched out happily in the back seat and remained oblivious to the scenery as I drove west along the Rhine. I have seen a bit of river life from the south of France, but this is a much different take on it, as the river is extraordinarily busy with barges of every commercial bent, car ferries, kayakers, recreational boats.......and everywhere on every hill, castles, castels castles - the landscape practically bristles with them. 

Lunchtime rolled around and I didn't want to eat at any of the touristic places along the river, so returned to my neck of the woods and went into the next-door-burg in search of victuals......stymied by the number of closed premises, I drifted into a pizzeria, but decided life's too short to eat something I do't really enjoy in an unappealing setting, so back to Johannisburg where, again, only the local pizzeria was open on Tuesday. Nothing left to do but return to the hotel where I enjoyed a fabulous goat cheese salad and then a bit of work before a nice nap. And it was a good thing I did that because........

Next installment: the dinner adventure. Right now I am going downstairs to see if a new GPS has arrived.