The Mountain "Hut"

After another delicious feast for lunch, Rainer and I went up to what he calls a “hut”, but really, it is a cabin. A half hour drive or so from their house, up into the Alps, is his family's amazing escape place. We were in mountains maybe the biggest I have been in...not sure how they compare to the ones near Snowbird in Utah or in Colorado except they are greener. There were 2 places where we drove across water from melting snow that gushed across the road. We passed some rivers and streams, one of which passes right by their picture-perfect “hut”. For a few days I hung out on the set of Heidi, seriously. Or the Sound of Music. One of those alpine, kitchy films with a lot of blond people.

There is a spigot with water that runs right from the mountain, an outhouse, a fireplace to warm the place, a wrap-around porch, you know the deal. We ate lots of food including this smoked pork that is from the region we were in (Corinthia). It was ooooh so good, and kind of tasted like smoked salmon. There was this window in between the main room and the kitchen, and it had a bell you could ring to let your servant know you needed something. Or maybe the servant rings it to let you know the food is ready. Either way, I named it the glory hole. Got trashed off of wine and pear shnapps, playing with strange-looking cards by candlelight. At night, all these cows came and were mooing really loudly.

Corinthia, Austria

We are at Rainer's parent's house, which is where he lives when he is not traveling. It is in a small village in a valley amidst the mountains of Southern Austria. An hour after we had bread with good cheese, his mom made a feast for lunch- pork (oh I love pork!), this stuff where the name sounds like Canoodle, as in people kanoodling together, and some other stuff, complete with candles. Delicious. I always knew Rainer ate a lot, and now I understand why.
Along with some beer, we drank some pear shnapps, then his parents brought us to this river that has cut through a narrow rock gorge. There is a walkway built alongside the river and frequent waterfalls, and you walk up the river in between the tall walls of rocks for an hour or so. Cool place. We got some drinks on the way home, then ate some vanilla icecream with pumpkin oil on top. Oh, that was good.
By the way, my sister has been reading this blog and says “you talk about food ALOT”, to which I said “of course I do- everyday I look forward to the food I will eat and enjoy, and technically, I was a professional chef for a brief time”. So, yes, I will talk about food a lot.

A Bit of Trouble At The Border

Rainer has convinced me to go to Austria. I was a bit hesitant, but since it is clear that we are now platonic, I figured, OK. Why not? When leaving Croatia to enter Slovenia and the E.U., Croatian border guys gave us a bit of trouble. Rainer has long dreads. I am American. They had us pull over and searched everything for twenty minutes. The one guy in a suit was really intrigued by the jumbo-size chapstick with the silhouhette of a sexy girl on it. The other guy was pretty much a giant, and scary. They eventually let us go, and at the E.U. Slovenia crossing they let us in, no problem. After dealing with authorities, which is nerve-wracking even when you have nothing to hide, we WOOHOO'd as we made out way across the border. Our glee was a bit too soon... Rainer got pulled over for speeding a minute or two later. Everything was fine though, after he paid the 40 euros for the ticket. Apparently, you can just pay cash for tickets in the E.U.

Rainer and I have had some interesting experiences at borders. Going from Guatemala to Mexico, the shuttle we were in (wasted out of our minds, having not slept the night before) stopped before the border and had everyone get out and walk almost a mile across into Mexico. Mexico is very tight with their border control with Guatemala, and so another shuttle run by the Mexican counterpart of whatever company we used picked us up once we were in Mexico.

Another time, we were in Argentina and for just a little but more than the bus, we took a cab with our wine in the trunk across the border into Brasil. Not any crazy amount or anything- just for us personally, but we did not want to run the risk of giving it up. I had, after all, just been dealing with some bullshit hassle for a few days with the consulate and visa blahblah because Brasil likes to reciprocate the pain in the ass the US causes foreign travelers. And I just remembered- there was the one time I went to Canada, and declared that I had pepper spray, which they took away from me (fine- it just means I need to buy more when I return to ghetto Philly). But then they separated me from everyone else on the bus to Montreal and searched my stuff unfruitfully for a half hour, trying to be all tough Canadians. As I now say in German.... LONG VIE LICK.....BORING!

Land Of A Thousand Waterfalls... Plitvice Lakes

Today, we went to the Plitvice Lakes National Park, even though it was gray and rainy out. Rainer was vascillating about whether or not he wanted to go, once we were there. I know and he knows that he can be a complainer sometimes, so I told him he could just wait for me, and chill in his warm, dry, comfortable car. We had camped out for 2 nights just a mile from this place, and judging by the food, I will be in no hurry to return to Croatia, so there was no way I was not going to see this place.

So, I was on my own. This place was really beautiful; amazing, actually. There really are thousands of waterfalls; they just seem to shoot out from everywhere as you hike down from lake to lake. The most interesting thing I saw was a waterfall that was maybe four feet or so in width. Its water coursed though a hole in the ground. I have never seen a waterfall shoot straight through the ground in that way.

Despite the rain, the lakes were still very aquamarine. The whole place reminded me a lot of Semuc Campey in Guatemala, and in some parts, of Iguazu Falls, where Argentina, Brasil, and Paraguay meet. I have never been to Niagara Falls, even though I am from New York. Some day.