Stiegl-Brauwelt

15/11/201414/06/2015wareontheglobe 1 Comment

On our last day in Salzburg, we took a tour of the Stiegl Brewery! This was such a fun experience, and I am so glad that we did it.

The brewery is about a 30 minute walk from the Altstadt. We used the GPS on my phone to ensure we were on the right track, and the walk was much, much easier that I anticipated. Actually, I had worried about this activity since I started planning our trip. It was very difficult to find much information on the brewery in English on the internet, or in other blogs or travel books. In any case, it worked out great!

We called the morning of and confirmed the time of the English tour, which was at 14:00 when we visited, and I think there is only one English tour a day. Upon arrival, we went into the giftshop and purchased tickets for the tour (€11,00/person). Easy! Before the tour, we had a quick lunch in the restaurant and checked out the grounds, including Stiegl’s own maypole. So cool!

The tour started with a very “euro” 360 movie, proceeded through the making of beer and ended in the Stiegl museum. The tour was great and I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves beer, or who is in the area and has not had a chance to tour a brewery, since beer is such a part of the culture in this part of the world. The tour ended with a tasting of three beers of your choice, which equated to a little over a 1/2 liter of beer, and a free gift. For our gift, we had the choice of another beer to take home (in a bottle), a magnet or a lapel pin.

The three beer sampler was served in the outdoor beer garden, where Dan finally got to smoke his Cuban! We left around 16:30, and the entire event lasted about four and a half not-rushed-at-all hours.

LOGISTICS

Sitgel-Brauwelt

Bräuhausstraße 9

5020 Salzburg

Tel. +43 (0)662-8387-1492

The brewery is open on Sunday.

The website seems to have improved A LOT from when I was researching this. I think they may have read my comment card!

Bärenwirt Salzburg

15/11/201414/06/2015wareontheglobe 1 Comment

In Salzburg, we dined at a delicious restaurant a short walk from our apartment – Bärenwirt. This restaurant is just up the hill from the Altstadt on the way to Augustiner Bräu. We walked by this restaurant earlier in our trip, and we were so glad that we returned! Dan and I dined on pumpkin soup, a meat platter, schweinschnitzel and German chocolate cake. YUM!! This may have been the best schnitzel I had on the trip (close with my Hallstatt schnitzel), and this was certainly our best meal in Salzburg. Our waitress spoke perfect English and was extremely friendly. The meal ended with a complementary bowl of gummy bears – so cute! When the waitress saw that we were excited about the gummy bears, she gave us some extras in a to go bag!

Bärenwirt also claims to have “the best friend chicken.” Craig tried it, and he seemed to like it. Growing up in Virginia, it was hard for me to get on board with this. However, it seemed like a valiant attempt.

LOGISTICS

Bärenwirt Salzburg

Müllner Hauptstraße 8

5020 Salzburg

Tel +43 (0)662 422 404

We didn’t make a reservation and were able to walk-in around 8 on a Saturday.

Philosopher’s Walk

10/11/201411/11/2014wareontheglobe 2 Comments

Upon recommendation from our Heidelberg Castle tour guide, we went directly to the Philosopher’s Walk after visiting the Castle and town to try to catch the Castle at sunset from the Walk.

The Philosopher’s Walk is a well-mainained path that runs from the newer part of town and ends with steep stairs down to the Alte Brücke (or you can turnaround if you are mobility inclined, or just want to avoid the steps!). Our castle tour guide recommended starting the tour in the newer part of town so that we would be looking at the castle the entire walk (and not back at the castle), but we started at the Alte Brücke, because it was closer to the Castle, and ended in the new town, very close to our dinner spot – Dorfschänke!

The stairs near the Alte Brücke are not scary (I hate heights!) or that tough, but it was steep – bring water. At the top of the hill, there are great views of the Castle and the old town. The path is pretty level after the hill and ends in the new part of down after walking by some gorgeous homes.

The Philosopher’s Walk is entirely free. However, it is not worth it at all if it is raining. I would allow at least an hour for the entire Philosopher’s Walk.

LOGISTICS

Philosopher’s Walk

The First Stop On EuroTrip2014 – A Weekend In Heidelberg, Germany

10/11/201414/06/2015wareontheglobe Leave a comment

In September, Dan and I embarked on Eurotrip2014 – an eleven day trip to Hiedelberg, Germany, Munich, Germany (our biennial Oktoberfest trip!), Hallstatt, Austria and Salzburg, Austria with his brother, Craig, and our friend, Pryor. We hosteled it up and traveled by train – just like college…kind of. So much fun!!

Our first stop was Heidelberg, Germany for two days and two nights. Heidelberg is a town on the River Neckar in South-West Germany, about an hour from Frankfurt and three hours from Munch. It is in the Baden-Wurttemberg state, has a large university and is right in German wine country! Because so many people have asked, I will go ahead and tell you that I choose to weekend in Heidelberg first due to its proximity to the Frankfurt airport and Munich, and then due to the castle and generally hearing that the town made for a nice stop. The main focus of Eurotrip2014 was obviously Oktoberfest, but I wanted to see another town in Germany, as well, and Heidelberg fit the bill! Mark Twain’s review didn’t hurt either!

After settling in and checking into our sweet hostel, Lotte – The Backpackers (it was seriously an awesome place to stay and so inexpensive), we went straight to Heidelberg Castle – the one must-see attraction in Heidelberg. The Castle has gorgeous views of the city. We took the guided English tour, which allowed us to see the Castle’s interior and gave us the history of the castle.

After touring the interior and the outdoor grounds, we stopped for a wine tasting at the Great Tun, aka the largest wine vat in the world, which just happens to be in Heidelberg Castle. Viewing the Great Tun is included with your castle ticket and a wine bar has been set up next to the Great Tun offering wine flights at a great price. Three heavy pours of local wine for €7!

After our wine, we made our way down from the Castle and walked across the Alt Brücke to the Philosopher’s Walk to try to catch the Castle at sunset. As promised, the Philosopher’s Walk had some great views, although I am not sure the views are any better at sunset.

For dinner on our first night, we dined at Dorfschänke, which was very close to the end of the Philosopher’s Walk (or beginning) in the New Town. This was our first real meal of the trip, and it was so delicious!! Their speciality is Flamkuchen, a local pizza-type dish in sweet and savory. We tried both! YUM!

We got really lucky the next day – it was scheduled to rain, but it turned out to be a perfect day – sunny and in the seventies! Heidelberg is such a gorgeous town. Beautiful sceneray, beautiful flowers everywhere. We took some great pictures while strolling through the town!

We started the day at Cafe Gundel for coffee and breakfast (well, cake).

After breakfast, we toured the the Church of the Holy Spirit, which, aside from the Castle is the centerpiece of the town. There is a little market near the church on saturdays, but we slept through it… We went stright up the Church’s bell tower to take in the town views from the top. The walk to the bell tower was steep and very narrow, but the views were lovely. Totally worth the €3! We also checked out the inside of the Church, which dates to the 1400s and is loaded with history and rotating art displays.

After touring the Church of the Holy Spirit, we spent the rest of the day shopping in the Altstadt. Some of our favorite finds were: Schneeballin (a round dessert from a few towns over), local beers at Brauhaus Vetter and Kulturbrauerei and the gummy bear stores!

German Beers!

Schneeballen! I had the champagne one!

Gummy window displays! A cake, soccer game and Oktoberfest-themed gummies!

We also visited the Heidelberg Monkey near the Alte Brücke. Touching it is supposed to bring good luck or something like that…It just seemed like a dirty monkey to me. We all took pictures, but its really just a tourist trap.

We ended the day by making a withdrawal from the Schnitzelbank ! Haha- I had to say it! The Schnitzelbank is not a bank at all, but a small restaurant/wine bar in old town. It was delicious!

And, finally, one last picture of the castle at night! Until next time, Heidelberg!! We had such a great time!

Schnitzelbank

09/11/201414/06/2015wareontheglobe Leave a comment

We dined at Schnitzelbank on our final night in Heidelberg. Schnitzelbank is a small restaurant/wine bar in the Altstadt. It is tiny (but oh so charming), so make a reservation. We called the day of and got their final reservation. The specialty is obviously schnitzel! They have schnitzel in veal, pork, chicken and turkey. I ordered the pork in a mushroom sauce and it was very tasty. I also tried the turkey schnitzel in a dijon sauce, and that was tasty, as well (but also not fried – booooo). Dan ordered the schnitzel cordon bleu. That was fried and delicious; Dan won the dinner game! All of the portions were big and came with some delicious sides.

Schnitzelbank is a also a weinstube (a wine bar) with local wine von fass (on tap!)! Schnitzelbank had an extensive wine list and the waiter – who spoke great English – helped us choose some delicious, local wines! To my lovely surprise, reisling can be dry, and red (who would have known?!), and Germany makes some good, red wines that are not super sweet! If you are in the Heidelberg area, you should definitely check out a weinstube! Wine seemed more important to the people here than beer (a change from Bavaria!), and we were happy to participate in the tradition.

LOGISTICS

Weinstube Schnitzelbank

Bauamtsgasse 7

69117 Heidelberg

+49 6221 21189