Number 50: Exploring the food of Austria

Another new country for our world list, Austria. We are now up to fifty countries visited.
And as always a food adventure awaits.
It's been a rainy day, so instead of riding the cable car into the mountains, we are exploring new foods and going to a folk evening later tonight.
I felt a foodie blog would be perfect for my 'Hundred Different Things' this year, half way mark.

Number 50:

Exploring the food of Austria

"Rindsuppe mid Gebackenen Leberknodel"

A hearty beef broth with a liver dumpling, served with chopped chives.

Great for a rainy late lunch, the liver dumpling not necessarily my favorite choice though.

"Glasierte Kartoffel-Powidl taschen mit Joghurt Zitronensauce"

Dumplings as a desert! Potato dumplings filled with a smooth thick plum jam and served with zesty citrus yoghurt, berry sauce and cream. They were delicious indeed.

"Rindergulash mit Nockerl (Spätzle)"

As our waitress in one of the restaurants we frequented in Bad Gastein said, 'we Austrians also love Goulash' and they sure cook it well, the meat was delicious and tender.
But the dish was about trying the Nockerl, little irregularly shaped dough balls, more dissolve in the mouth than pasta and lighter than gnocchi, they held the sauce well.

"Currywurst" 

A steamed pork sausage served with a curry ketchup. A surprise on the menu, tasty but I found the texture too smooth.

"Tiroler Groslt"
Fred's favorite! A hearty bacon, onion and potato fry-up served in a skillet with a soft fried egg, parsley and thyme. The chef also added some seasonal vegetables.

 "Apfelstrudel"
The famous Austrian dessert, a sweet delight of paper thin pastry sheets and delicious apples. Our staple - even in the Dolomites. We also tried an apple cake, the light as air cake with a layer of apple, it was nice with coffee while we watched the Gastein Waterfall thunder down the gorge.






"Weiner Schnitzel"
A standard dish on all the menus and probably the most well known Austrian dish too. We popped down to Bad Hofgastein to search out a good spot to try schnitzel, as this rainy day was slowing us down. And what a treat, pork schnitzel with parsley butter potatoes and a cranberry jam. Ideal for this grey day.

"Kasekrainer & Hautbrot"

A sausage filled with cheese that oozes onto the delicious sourdough rye bread, a useful evening snack here in our apartment in Bad Gastein.

"Knodel"

My favourite! Spinach and cheese dumplings done four different ways with a butter sauce.

And the perfectly presented strong cappuccino. 

On a silver platter, with a glass of water, hot milk on the side, a head of foam and a little chocolate on the side.

Eating well in the Gastein Valley.

Number 49: Healing Waters, Austria's Gastein Valley, an Alpine beauty.

Finding the thermal waters on our early morning walking. Glorious!

Fred and I are completely charmed by Bad Gastein, a picturesque spa village in the Gastein Valley in the heart of the Austrian Alps. 

Sheep wander through the village with their bells tinkling; music wafts up to our third floor apartment, snow peaks float high above our balcony, a world apart.

Number 49:

Healing Waters, Austria's Gastein Valley, an Alpine beauty.

We are surrounded by Belle Epoque hotels and villas built into the impossibly steeply forested slopes above the raging waterfalls along the Gastein River.

Bad Gastein from the upper bridge.

Our morning walking along the Gastein River.

Waterfalls in Bad Gastein 

It has been all about water, hot thermal springs known since the Roman times and enriched with minerals and radon.

We have been finding thermal hot streams along our walks; drinking copious amounts of the icy cold mountain water from the interesting sculpture pieces in each of the towns in the valley; swimming daily; in and out of whirlpools with jets soothing post walk weary bodies; stream rooms, saunas have been nudist so have not had the courage to go into them...

And we spent an early evening session last night at the local thermal baths, called Felsentherme Gastein, floating in the 32 degree water, in an outdoor pool, with steam rising in the cool air, and the snow capped mountain in the background. 

The water felt buoyant, light on the skin and very relaxing indeed. 

And healing? not sure I was still weary after the 18km morning walking, but maybe.....

Healing water is all its wonderful forms. Our daily swimming is special here in Bad Gastein.