Europe Diary - Post #5 by Rebecca

German Food: One word, Yum!

After our anything-but-fantastic lunch at McDonald's, we drove through Belgium, Luxembourg, and finally into Germany where we spoiled ourselves with their flavorful dishes.

We enjoyed dinner at Kurz Gasthof in Hutschenhausen after our long drive from Amsterdam. I was pleased by my choice of meal which was a mix of my two major ethnicities, it was a Parmesanschnitzel! My mom got the Rahm schnitzel which was schnitzel in a cream sauce. Patrick got the Jaegerschnitzel which is schnitzel in a mushroom sauce.

I've just realized that for some of you who don't know what schnitzel is, this story is very confusing, so I will take a moment to explain. Schnitzel is a pounded-out pork chop that is usually breaded and fried, but not greasy. Now back to my story.

My dad got the daily special which was Zigeunerrouladenbraten. It was a rolled roast, stuffed with bacon and sauerkraut with brown sauce over the top. My mom and Patrick's schnitzel came with fries (or Pommes Frites) while mine and my dad's meals came with noodles, mine covered in spaghetti sauce. We rounded off our filling meals with a typical German treat: ice cream.

After one night in a nice hotel in Landstuhl and a very satisfying breakfast, we drove up to Burg Nanstein (built in 1162 by Emperor Barbarossa, but owned by knight Franz von Sickingen) to see the ruins. The ruins were great for pictures and we had great views of the city from the hill it is on, but those views were nothing compared to the beauty of the plate we ordered at the restaurant next to the castle.

We ordered Tomtaten Suppe (or tomato soup) and Burgunderragout with spatzel. Our dishes were so big, we only ordered one tomato soup and one Burgunderragout for the four of us, and we were still full when we headed to the car. The tomato soup was very good and creamy, but not nearly as impressive as the Burgunderragout. One half of our plate was a stew-like mixture of beef pieces, broccoli, and carrots under a magnificent, creamy red wine sauce.

The other half of our plate was entirely covered with my favorite German food, what I had been craving since we crossed the border, something totally worth flying over the Atlantic for: (pause for dramatic effect) SPATZEL! I must admit, this spatzel wasn't nearly as good as some of the other versions I've tasted, (not even close to as good as my mother's recipe) but it's really hard to mess up spatzel. We later realized that this was a different type of spatzel than we were used to, which cleared everything up.

Full form our lovely lunch, we drove to Heidelberg to see the Schloss (or as I put it, the Scloesh). Built originally before 1214, the castle was later expanded into two castles around 1294. It is unknown who originally owned the castle, but the first known occupant was Ludwig I in 1214. It is crumbling a bit in some places and a whole half of one tower has been planted on the ground next to it since it fell from a lightning strike, but it is intact enough to take tours in, to have your wedding in the castle's chapel, and to have your prom in the King's Hall.

When we first entered the castle grounds from the garden, I thought, "Huh, this would be the best place to sit on the grass, under a tree, and write stories about the castle." Unlike Burg Nanstein, Heidelberger Schloss still looks like a true castle (that is to say, it's more intact). So, pretty much, I've seen everything I've ever wanted to one this Europe trip. My life is complete . . . -ish.

The first thing we did was take a tour inside the castle. They had a few really neat original furniture pieces and decorations, and the history about the castle was pretty cool, but I think that the most interesting part of the castle is it's architecture. It's easy to see where additions were made to the castle because of the usually confusing staircases and hallways. One interesting fact I learned on the tour was that the builders of the castle had to engrave their symbol into the walls of what they had just built if they wanted to be paid.

It was a really amazing feeling to be at the castle live and in person. I love the idea that just being near the castle is like being near history itself.