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.