Castles and culinary adventures

We spent a couple of days in Innsbruck after satiating our ski cravings. The boys wanted to take Gramma D to the Alpine Zoo to show off their new independence and navigating skills and we wanted to take Carrie and Zeb around for some shopping. Afterward, the kids spent the night chilling out while the adults went out for more Tirolean food. Being tour guides must have worn them out. Don’t worry, they didn’t feel left out and actually volunteered to stay home. Aeneas said, “This is so awesome bro. We can play iPad and like high five each other every 10 minutes. It’s gonna be great.”

Off of the tourist path but still in the Innsbruck city center, the Tiroler-Bauernkeller clearly delivered. Make sure you ask for the german menu. The English menu is dumbed down and doesn’t offer even a fraction of the magic that happens on the full menu. There is more to Austrian food than wienerschnitzel. Zeb, the BBQ connoisseur, had a rack of ribs and was not successful getting any hints on the seasoning from the chef but approved them with two thumbs up. And we were introduced to the Roastie which was roasted potatoes and root veggies, mixed with speck and topped off with a fried egg. They served us a round of schnapps to settle our stomachs au gratis which was a very generous and unexpected special treat.

The following day, we visited Schloss Ambras Castle. It was a nice day of wandering. Wandering the palace, wandering the gardens and grounds and wandering the city finding our way back to the city center. After we made it back, we stopped at an Italian eatery that we have been wanting to try. In true Italian form, the place was packed with meats, open vats of olives and artichokes, pizzas, casts of wine and walls of barely organized Italian foods that you could sort of make your way around.

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The place is run by two very Italian men (brothers maybe?) that spoke a mix of German and Italian and about 3 words of English. We said some stuff, they said some stuff and then they eventually served us all red wine and a smorgasbord of deliciousness. Either we communicated correctly or they just gave us what they thought we needed which is more likely the case. They kept our glasses full and kissed and hugged all the ladies before we left like we were old friends and family. It was about as authentic as you can get outside of Italy. It was definitely a highlight.

At close to 65, this was Mom’s first trip across the Atlantic. After traveling with her in Costa Rica this past summer and then having her here for Christmas, we just may have planted a seed for world travel. She’s already booked a trip to the UK with her church for next summer and I imagine Italy may be next on the list thanks to the Italian gentleman that night.

#history #wanderings #vacation #culture #food #fun #views #Christmas #church #family