The Search Begins
One wonderful thing about traveling is that it allows you the chance to sample cuisine quite different from what you are used to. Different cultures have different dining etiquette, and it's always exciting to explore. One tough thing to get used to in Austria was the timing of meals.
Seriously.
The restaurants open late, close mid-day, and then only serve dinner for a few hours in the early evening. So when we happened upon a place serving breakfast at 8:30 AM, we sat right down, looking forward to our meal.
The view (above) was spectacular. The waitress appeared about 10 minutes after we had seated ourselves and asked if we would like drinks. I ordered a glass of water, but was told they only served water by the bottle. I ordered a bottle of water, (still - no gas), and a coffee. The first image is what appeared at my table some time later: a glass of water, a bottle of water with an empty glass, and a coffee. Matthew had ordered coffee which also came with a glass of water.
That's a lot of water for a place that doesn't serve water in a glass.
The Meal
The waitress asked if we would like breakfast.
We asked for a menu.
She said, "We don't have menus. You just get a standard breakfast."
Ok.... That was different. So we ordered the standard breakfast for two. She told us it was meat, cheese, bread, and jam, then asked if we wanted egg with it. Well of course! We were skeptical that this would be a satisfying breakfast, but wanted the full Austrian experience.
She brought the rolls pictured above. There were a variety of breads, with several slices or rolls of each type. I figured there was no way the two of us could eat all that bread. I figured wrong.
With the breads she brought a variety of jams and honey, all of which were made locally. The butter was soft, the jelly was divine. One was an apricot, another was tart cherry, and the third dish contained thick, gooey honey.
The main largest part of the meal was the meat and cheese tray. It came with an assortment of meats (Matt tells me they were good, although one type was so salty that he didn't eat it) and 4 different cheeses. The texture and quality of the food is so different than what we typically eat in the States. The simplest things, like the tomatoes on the tray, were so rich and full of flavor. The cucumbers were extra fresh, crisp and sweet, and the yellow peppers had a lightness to them that was supremely refreshing.
By the end of the meal we were stuffed! How do people live like this? It started to make more sense why the restaurants all close for lunch: no lunch is required with a breakfast that big.
Thanks for joining me for breakfast. Find me at http://travellifeservicesllc.com/ to book your next foodie trip.
Happy Travels!
Jennifer
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