Travel Log - Passau, Germany

Passau was our first stop in Germany - they have 3 rivers that meet in the city so the first instructions we were given is to make sure that if you asked someone how to get back to the boat you specified what river you're on, good tip haha. We went on a guided walking tour in the morning and had the best guide (Andrea), she was very knowledgeable but also entertaining; something I learned on this trip is that there is one thing that makes the biggest difference when on a tour - getting the right guide!

There's the kind of guide that knows a lot (and tells you all of it) so you feel like you're in a lecture and hoping there isn't a test coming at the end, and then there's finding out the important things you want to know about a place and still be entertained! Andrea would give us info with names and dates and then go "but you don't have to remember any of that - just remember this..." and give us a solid piece of interesting history. Nice. Don't get me started on the last tour guide that spent at least 30 minutes pointing at a genealogy tree from like the 15th century and describing each person in succession. I was trying very hard to not roll my eyes at her. Back to Andrea.

Andrea and her Drindl, bow on the right :)

She's a great storyteller - one of my favorites was about the way they tie the bow on their dirndl (their "traditional" dress which apparently has been out of favor by everyone except for during Oktoberfest but is starting to become popular again): Andrea was wearing one for the tour and explained that you can tell a woman's status depending on where she ties the bow - if it's tied on the right she is married or taken, in the back she is a widow, on the left she's single and dating, in the middle she's a virgin (she loudly whispered "there's not many that can tie it in the middle"). Then she changed the subject to drinking beer, how much Germans love their beer, how drinking too many beers leads to thinking you are a very good singer, and if like her you drink too much beer one night you might enter the beer garden (a bar) with your bow in the middle but leave with it tied on the side! She was laughing when she said it so I'm pretty sure it was a German beer and Dirndl joke LOL!

I didn't look it up but this appears to
be a white Mallard? Unusual (to me anyway!).

this is now being used as a boys school

Can't remember the name of this church but
it's my favorite, totally different than any
other on this trip - so calm, simple
and serene. I took pictures of everything from
the color scheme to the light fixtures hoping to
be able to channel this feeling in my house! Love.


We (no surprise here) toured some churches, walked around town, went to an organ concert at St. Stephan's Cathedral where they have the largest cathedral organ in the world - beautiful. Although I have to say I had the biggest distraction in front of me during the concert -  watching the woman in a pew ahead of us repeatedly fall asleep, droop over almost touching the person next to her, then when a super loud organ chord played she'd jerk straight up only to immediately droop over asleep again! In the afternoon we had free time and spent it (to the "joy" of the hubbies...) walking around town shopping :). 

For lunch we went to a super cute outdoor restaurant in the rain (the patio was covered with umbrellas), the guys had schnitzel but I went for cheese spaetzle (sort of a noodle/small dumpling thing - I googled it and think the name of this dish is Käsespätzle) and it was like having the best mac and cheese ever. I died. It was SO GOOD!!!! Anyway, back to the cruise...

cheesy spaetzle. omg.

That night on the boat we decided that things needed to be livened up, enough with the "love boat" background piano music and no one dancing...so we made a list of songs for the piano man to play (Mr. Zoltan was a good sport - unfortunately someone wrote the "chicken dance" on the list and that was the first one he played - all of the non-Americans on board just stared at us HA!) and off we went to round up others to dance. Cathy started a Conga line and sure enough talked everyone in the lounge into participating. Even Danijela and Rad our bartender/dance teachers got involved. So much fun!

Cathy and Rad

Travel Log - Austria to Passau

The next couple days on our cruise was a little simpler - we had a morning stop in Krems, Austria which is one of my favorite places on this trip. A cute little village with tons of old world charm complete with beautiful old doors and flower boxes in the windows. Much slower and quieter here - we walked from one end of the city to the other stopping in little stores, eating gelato, and one fun find was a store front that sold apricot liquor, schnapps, filled chocolates, etc. The business has been family owned and operated for 5 generations and the day we visited was the first day of their apricot harvest for the season so everyone was busy. I wasn't sure how much room I'd have in my suitcase to bring some back so just bought a small bottle of apricot cream liquor and some chocolates - yum. (Yep, we got to taste everything before deciding - fun!). Then back on the boat to continue cruising towards Germany, it was a very scenic trip and I took a few pics from our veranda - I enjoyed the lazy afternoon cruising by the small villages and castles tucked up on the hills while the cruise director pointed out interesting sights along the way.  What a nice day. 

this cat peeking out the window box, awww.

walking into town we went thru a tunnel filled
with graffiti - and look what I found! No, I might be
crafty but I did not do this artwork haha!! 

I love this picture of Cathy... 

...and I love these doors too!

Krems

my lazy afternoon on the veranda

street sweeper in Krems, I've never seen this before!

view from our room

check out the castle on the hill in the background. I'm tellin' ya -
there's no shortage of old castles and churches in this part of the wor

Later that day there was an apple strudel demonstration - they pulled up a couple volunteers (I didn't get my hand up quick enough!) and we watched while the chefs helped them prepare the strudels. I'm including the recipe and a couple of pictures if you're interested in trying to make it - didn't look hard at all. The best tip I got from watching is they rolled the dough out right on top of a flour dusted white tablecloth, then after filling with apples they used the tablecloth to help roll the strudel up into it's shape and then roll onto the baking sheets - good idea.

this isn't the strudel they made on the ship, we had it in town though and since I didn't take a picture of
the finished product on the boat I figured I'd at least show you what it looked like (without the lattice
decoration on top!). 

rolling up the strudel using the tablecloth

brush with butter before baking

Dave is allergic to nuts so needed to be especially careful with his food choices this trip since it seems there are nuts in just about everything. So they gave him a small card at check in that he was supposed to bring to all on-board meals to remind the waitstaff of his allergy. (Naturally he didn't carry the card and made me do it for him) Anyway, they would show him the menu everyday and talk about what he could and couldn't have and then usually made him a special dessert that was nut free. So after the strudel demonstration everyone was invited up to try a piece and Dave walks in from outside (he didn't watch the demo) and goes up to get a piece and the head waiter swoops in and takes it from him saying "no no that has nuts, you can't have it" and basically slapped his hand - HA! He was so bummed I said I'd make it for him without nuts so he can at least try it at home.

Travel Blog - Budapest and Vienna

We're back from our European adventure, had a great time and I'm exhausted - that's a sign of a good vacation right? Haha, definitely have the "I need a vacation after going on vacation" thing going on right now. Thanks to everyone who guest-blogged for me, hope you enjoyed their posts and ideas?

Budapest

Forget just about everything I said before regarding traveling with a small carry on suitcase, I ended up checking a little bit bigger one so I would have room to bring home souvenirs and also I saw the weather forecast so decided to throw in a shorty pair of rainboots just in case (and yes, I did end up wearing them). To the list I showed you (click here for that post) I did add in a couple of light weight open front cardigan things in case it was cold. I wore pretty much everything but easily could have fit it all in the small suitcase if I left the boots, cardigans (which I did not wear!), and maybe a couple shirts (that I didn't wear either) out. It was really nice to not have to jam things in and have a little breathing room though so I'm not regretting what I took. Not like the last trip where I seriously overpacked and was bulging at the seams of my suitcase!

Budapest at night

Thought I'd share a few photos and stories with you from our trip - gonna break it up into a few posts though because I took 500 pictures on my iPhone and am going to need a little time to sort thru them all! Here's a couple from our first two days, Budapest and Vienna - both beautiful old world cities that we needed way more time in to explore. I loved doing the river cruise but one of the down sides it that we were in and out of these amazing cities every day - not much time to see more than just an overview. But what we saw was great!

here's another downside to cruising and going on their daily excursions - I've learned I'm not a large group tour kinda girl! Following the guides with their "lollipops" (that's what they called the sign they carried so we could find them) while wearing a "quiet box" (a little device we wore like a necklace that has headphones attached so we could hear the guides while being surrounded by very large masses of other tourists) and having the worlds most uncomfortable earpiece in my ear listening to them talk about the sites (or just hear them breathing when they weren't talking! really, someone should tell them that we can hear everything if they don't turn off their microphone if they are not talking! LOL) is just not my thing. Lesson learned. 

my first (of many) Goulash was a surprise - it's nothing like what my mom makes and we call "goulash" (you know, the elbow macaroni, burger, tomato stuff? Do you also call that goulash?) This was my favorite one of the trip... and I ate a lot of goulash these past few days (that and sausages, man they eat a lot of sausages too)! They have many different versions - this one wasn't spicy and had a nice almost sweet flavor that I loved. Some were spicy, some tasted a bit like chili, some had big chunks of beef or pork while others had ground meat...you never knew what you were going to get when ordering goulash!

I could not believe how many churches there are - and while we didn't tour all of them we certainly got our fill. Don't get me wrong, I love churches - but after a while they started running together and it was mind boggling! Most of them are very ornate, fancy, gaudy, I don't have enough words - think over the top and it's even more than that. Paintings on the ceilings, carved beams, gold everything, towers, steeples, stained glass...all in one building. Amazing. 

here's the gang in Austria - I don't think this building is a church (I can't remember cuz every building looks like this!) Churches, castles, parliament/government buildings, clock towers, spires...truly just about everywhere you looked and every big city is just full of these types of structures! Overwhelming. 

this is a swimming pool, on a small boat, on the river. genius right?

the smallest ice cream truck I've ever seen :) I especially took this picture for my sister - I love to tell the story and tease her about watching her chase the ice cream truck down our street, jumping up and down trying to get his attention but she was too little and he couldn't see her so he'd move the truck before she got to him. All the way down the street. We stood in our yard yelling "run Jenny, run!". Mean, I know - but I laugh every time I remember it. I saw this tiny truck and thought how much better this one would have been for her to catch and have him see her HAHAHA!

Chicken Salad Endive Cups

I got an email the other day that included this easy appetizer idea and I immediately wanted to make them. Super quick, super easy, super yummy.

I changed 2 things from the original recipe - I didn't read thru the entire recipe (you'd think I'd know better by now) so didn't see that she folded grapes into the chicken salad, I only put one on top -which I think looks pretty - and second, the store-bought chicken salad had way too much mayo in it for my liking so I added some chopped up cooked chicken I had in the fridge to make the salad thicker and more chickeny. Chickeny is a word, right?


Ingredients:

 -1 pint of store-bought chicken salad
- half a bag of red grapes
- 2 or 3 heads of endive

Directions:

Slice the grapes in half and fold into the chicken salad. (Or be like me and skip that part and just put one grape half on the top.) Peel off individual endive leaves, scoop the chicken salad into each leaf and serve on a platter.

click here for the original recipe.

My friend Mary makes another stuffed endive appetizer that I love - she mixes together chopped apples, blue cheese, radicchio, and walnuts (she makes it with pine nuts instead if Dave is around since he's allergic to nuts - she's a nice friend. I'd probably just tell him to not eat the endive cups and steer him towards some tortilla chips or something!) and scoops the mixture onto one half of an endive leave (so it's just a bite of filling). Top with half a red grape and drizzle with balsamic. Delish!

Jen Blogs - Washing Baseball Hats

yep I'm still here.. I have more baking I owe for so here's another tip...

Dirty grungy baseball hats? (I know my sister wouldn't be caught dead in these- clean or dirty!) place on the top rack of the dishwasher and give them a wash! They keep their shape and are clean as new! Multitasking at its finest!

Jen Blogs - Deviled Eggs

Hi- me again.

 

Well I don’t cook much but I do like to party.  When my sister is gone I am forced to make my own dish to pass.  I hate that (and the friends I am bringing my dish to hate that also). That said, one of the things I can make and that taste pretty decent is deviled eggs.  It’s a fairly standard deviled egg recipe what makes them better (and gets me compliments) I’m pretty sure is the “secret” ingredient of spicy mustard.

I add light miracle whip (might as well save the fat where I can) until it looks creamy, a few squeezes of regular mustard until bright yellow (I like mine mustardy) then a few squeezes of the spicy mustard depending how tangy you like it.  like I said, everywhere I take them people rave that they are delish.  

Hey I’m no Jill but I gotta do what I can.

Jen's Blog - Fun Friend Gift

Looking for a really great gift idea for a friend? Some friends and I all recreated a birthday card one of us gave. We named the people on the card our names (in pen on the card) then we recreated it. I then made copies of both the picture and the card and framed them as gifts for each of my ladies. Didn't cost much but they all loved it.

Jen Blogs - A Tip For Organizing Clutter

One of the few tips from my sister that I actually took:  make all your CRAP look better with a tray. No matter how much junk you have and how unorganized you are, put it in a tray. In this case I think she is right! (Shhhh no one tell her I said that)..

Jen Blogs - Linen Closet

No money or space for a linen closet? I turned these extra shelves into one using cheap baskets. The bottom baskets hold laundry, the upper ones hold toilet paper, sheets, towels, and other toiletries. Making the most of the space I had and making it cute with very little expense.

Jen Blogs - Table Centerpiece

Hey.. Sister here again.  

So we have established I am the non crafter.  My sister Jill’s table always has some kind of crafty thing on it.  Once for her birthday she asked for me to go to the woods and find her a big giant stick and give it as my gift.  Her plan was to paint it a bright color and lay it there.  I absolutely refused by the way- I wanted no part of that).  Anyway, I do still want something cute on my table.  So what I did was I spent a little money and got this one big giant glass bowl.  It looks similar to a giant daiquiri  glass.. hey future idea.. mixing drink in giant daiquiri glass with a huge straw.. has merit.  Anyway, what I do with the giant glass for now is that I put a colored candle with something seasonal around it.  At easter I use easter grass and some cheap plastic eggs from the dollar store, in the late fall I use pine cones that I picked up outside, at Christmas I use colored ornaments, etc.. you get the idea.  None of the filler costs any real money but still looks festive and seasonal.  And you never get tired of it because it is ever changing.  No, its not my sisters table but hey.. at least I’m not painting sticks.