I have always wanted to do this.......

And by "this", I mean go to the bakery and say...

I will take one of everything!

Which is exactly what I did while my parents where here.

Can you just imagine my poor mom and dad being forced to try all of these hot pastries?

You can tell that they are probably just terrible?
Unfortunately I do not have the names for them all at present, I will have to come back and fill them in later.

You can imagine the sugar crash we experienced later in the day!

Hütte Essen!

No trip to Austria would be complete without visiting a Hütte! Hütte are rustic, "rest stops", if you will, on the mountains. They are usually very high up, offering the most remarkable views, and some of them are only reachable by hiking. They are places to go to get out of the weather, warm up, relax, and have a drink or snack before finishing your hike or ski day in the Alps!



Behold Hütte Essen! It is grilling your own meat at the table while smothering it in broth. I am not sure if it is called Hütte Essen because we are eating it in a Hütte, or because the conicular shape of the thing you cook the meat on resembles a Hut, or hat, in German.



Needless to say all of this goes very well with many beers and a schnaps at the end.

Odds and Ends in Berchtesgaden

Berchtesgaden used to be a hot destinations for Americans during a time when many American military were stationed over in Germany. It was only an hour drive away, so for the sake of making a "then and now" comparison of sorts, we went there!

We also wanted to go to the top of the Eagles Nest but decided against it after learning the price.



I was not in control of the camera that day, or maybe I was just overwhelmed with excitement at discovering a pottery studio....


...or maybe the discovery of a cafe that served THIS AMAZING SPAGHETTI EIS!

Whatever the reason I do not have many pictures! I am especially sad that I did not get one of the crazy hat shop run by an equally crazy lady! You need to ask my mom about that one. Yet, I do have this picture of Jason playing on an kiddie toy??

Because we went to the town first, we missed the last boat tour of the Königsee. I guess that we have our own See in Zell am See, but this one has some very dramatic cliffs.

Innsbruck with Mom and Dad

On the way back from Italy we made a stop in Innsbruck, where I was studying.

We had traditional Sachertorte, although originally a from Wien/Vienna, it was still fabulous here on the west side of Austria.

Trento

I just do not understand how one town in Italy seems to be cuter than the next. It also seems that the older and more worn a building gets in Italy, the more beautiful it is.

Not that I found that to be the case in Trento. On the way back from Lake Garda with the parents, we just decided to make a quick stop for a bite to eat in a random town and so we discovered Trento.



It had beautiful painted buildings, enough romantic streets to wander, and a beautiful castle.

Summer is done....

Summer is done and I never made it out on the paddle boat with a slide. It taunted me everyday, begging to be taken out to the middle of the frigid lake with a chilled Grüner Veltliner. I still have so many pictures to post, including more from my parents visit and our trip to Croatia, Montenegro and Albania. Sadly, school has started leaving me with little or no time to spare... no worries, we still have procrastination.