Update – Day 3 in Krems…
On the second night in Krems, we ate dinner at this great little restaurant called Zum Elephanten. The proprietor, Reinhard Hauser, told us the story of why it is called the Zum Elephanten. Apparently Maximillian II, Holy Roman Emperor, received an elephant as a wedding gift from his niece (some sources say King John III of Portugal) in the 1500s (the dates vary). The elephant originally came from Spain, and on it's trip to to Vienna (where Maximillian had his palace), the elephant, known as Suleyman, journeyed through Germany and Austria, and more specifically down the Donau River. During this trip, the elephant actually stayed in Krems, along the Donau, for a short time. Being the first elephant to be seen in German-speaking countries, its route can still be traced today by the number of inns and hotels bearing the name "zum Elefanten" along the way.
And Elephanten wine, a locally harvested spirit served at Zum Elephanten, was absolutely excellent. Sort of like a Reisling, but smooth. Mmmm.
On day three, we watched the monks practice this afternoon, snapped a bunch of pics then went for a quick bite in the Markt (a super pretty, very touristy, long shopping plaza in Krems), finally found an internetcafe but didn’t have time to use it, and then the promoters took the group for dinner in a very touristy (but super cool!) little village called Durnstein built on a rock outcropping above the Donau (Danube) river, with a castle ruin above it. Lots of fancy, well-dressed people there, both tourists and locals. Extremely expensive hotels, I image, but the food was exquisite and not exorbitantly priced at all.
It was really quite magical, extremely narrow streets and little stone walking paths weaving in and around a tiny town crammed together on top of a big rock, with of course a HUGE clock tower. Austrians definitely love their clock towers, EVERY little village has one. Tonight I was standing right below this one when it went off, in this really deep, clong clong voice (not ding ding or ring ring like we think of western USA town bells, but deep and throaty and strong). It wasn’t the normal on-the-hour chime either, it was this irregular clong…. Clongclongclong … clongclong …. Clongclongclongclongclong …. Clong…. There was probably some method to the irregularity – something saying “HELLO people – it’s NIGHT TIME. GO to BED!!” And when it was over, the clock across the river answered. Dueling clock towers, how amazingly cool. Maybe they were actually talking to each other. My pics don’t do it justice, the clock was approx. 200 feet tall, maybe more. I mean HUGE. It towered over me in the purest sense of that literary phrase. Towered. I felt small, but protected. No way to really know how it was, other than to stand underneath it. Then you really understand. I walked around this little village for about an hour while the others drank at the Heurigenlokal (see explanation in the next paragraph). I think I got the better end of the deal! Though by the time I got back the apple strudel was gone. Drats. It was so magical…
A Heurigenlokal is a wine garden sort of, a little eatery and tasting room, and almost every vineyard has one. Normally they serve only cold foods, such as bread and cheese, maybe some apricot jam, and such like that, and people can stop in almost every day of the year to taste the
wine (just like most vineyards in the US). But once a year, when the
harvest is coming in and they want to uncork their new wines (I think
the ones from the previous year) they include special warm dishes for
a few nights or a few weeks, and EVERYONE turns out to sample the new
wines. It was very boisterous in there. I can definitely say whoever
came up with the term "loud Americans" never visited a Heurigenlokal
in Austria during harvest! Austrians all love to laugh BIG, I thought
it was a stereotype of just a few, but let me tell you, it's definitely true. Austrians and Germans both. Loud, long, and very frequent DEEP belly laughs. Well, the men more so. It's completely infectious, though. Who could be depressed around that?
Tomorrow, we are going to walk to the top of the hill behind our hotel here in Furth, to visit the monastery at the top. It looms over us night and day, quite impressive and a little imposing, but also I imagine somewhat comforting to peoples back in the old days. I tried to take a pic of that tonight, but can’t quite capture the scale and feeling of seeing that looming over you (each evening they light it, so it glows on top of the hillside for miles away… the lights are turned off promptly at midnight). This morning, the place went wild with gongs about 6 a.m., that rang for over five minutes. I’m not sure what that was all about, but we’re all pretty sure it came from the monastery (and it didn’t happen the first morning – maybe something special like a religious holiday? It was Oct. 11, perhaps Papa Don can tell us?). Oh, apparently the monks in the monastery, called Strift Gottweig, are of the Benedictine order.
(Update on the chiming at the monestary ... Mama Marion Kaple told me the following: "I meant to tell you, Oct. 11, the day the monastery bells rang extra long, was the Feast of the Holy Rosary, which in the Catholic world is another of the many celebrations of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. Our church calendar has done away with that feast day, but obviously not in Austria. Even though the present pope rails that Europe is very "secular" (whatever he means by that), I thought that Europe had so much nostalgia and trappings of the medieval Church (and churches) and that a lot of it is still taken quite seriously by the people. Even the German greeting is Gros Gott, which means Go with God, a rather nice send off I think, even if you rattle it off without much thought. take care, Gros Gott, m")
Luckily the Germans in the group are very willing to help me with my German. I know so little, but I definitely know how to order food now, and how to pay. Everything related to food!! Yes, these Austrians and Germans like to eat, and drink. Oh, you asked about the pub life? Thursday nights seem to be ubiquitous throughout the world as “thirsty Thursdays” though they don’t call it that here. Tonight, EVERYONE it seems was out in the bars, both at the Heurigenlokal where we ate (it was getting busier and busier when we left) and at the hotel bar back in Furth (I didn’t know there WERE that many people in the village). A little extra treat before the weekend, I guess! Here’s what I know…
- Gross Gott (how you say hello in Austria and southern Germany)
- Bitte bit sallen (please I’d like to pay, or please the bill)
- Dankeshen (thank you, formal)
- Haben se ……. (Do you have….)
- Haben se tee mit Zucker (tea with sugar)?
- Ich mörte ... (I would like...)
- Mair haisen wasser, bitte (more hot water, please)
- Wo ist … (what is?)
- Wie wiel costas das? (how much does this cost?)
- Gibt ist ein internet café? (Is there there an internet café?)
- Haben ein Enzelzimmer (do you have a single room?)
- Wo ist dein name? (what is your name)
Plus I can count to 100 (very slowly), say the days of the week (Donnstag, Thursday, kept throwing me for some reason) and know how to recognize a pub from a restaurant (Zum is restaurant, Hirschen is pub, so Zum Elephanten or Gebbot Hirschen ... of course I would find this very different in Germany!)
And several random food items, which I can’t write but I can sort of recognize (huben or something like that is chicken, suppe is soup, schwine is pork… etc)
And that’s about it! So I can’t get much accomplished, but I shouldn't go hungry or thirsty!!!
End of part three. On to part four --->