3 Days am Neusiedlersee

Is this perhaps the eastest part of western Europe?

In May 2024, we took a long-weekend road trip into northern Burgenland, bopping around the coasts of the Neusiedlersee. It was a nice, smooth, sunny drive getting there on a Saturday. It took about 5 hours of driving time.

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We stayed 3 overnights at Nachtquartier zur Dankbarkeit. We reserved a table at the Gasthaus well in advance, which was smart, because it was entirely booked out on the night of our arrival, even during the off-season. The cream of asparagus soup and the daily special – braised pork cheeks with an asparagus polenta strudel – were excellent.

Purbach am Neusiedlersee

We didn’t have much of a plan upon arrival in the region, so we consulted the Burgenland Card which came with our stay at the Nachtquartier. Our first outing was to the town of Purbach, where we visited the Kellergasse for a spontaneous delicious lunch outdoors at one of the wine cellars. This reminded us a lot of Colico in Cantina (holy smokes, a DECADE ago), except the food and drink were primarily outside the cellars, and they were purpose-built wine cellars apart from residences, and … OK, not really all the similar.

This was when we noticed that the Austrians are just as nutty about asparagus as the Germans, except they offer a lot more green.

Gols and Illmitz

We tried to buy some wine in Gols, but the whole town appeared to be in hibernation. Don’t let those signs advertising wineries mislead you; you better call and talk to someone if you want a tasting. NOTHING we stumbled upon was open, except for “Jackys Mühle”. We stopped in there for coffee out of desperation. It was much better than the tacky logo and location (buried in a residential section of town) would have suggested. A nice Wiener Melange really takes the edge off of walking around fruitlessly.

We decided to try our luck in Illmitz for lunch and it was similarly D-E-D dead. But Antonios Hof was open for business and we were very happy with the lunch menu and the Esterházy Schnitt we split for dessert.

The Biggest Windmill in Austria

Our Burgenland Card got us a free guided tour of Austria’s biggest last surviving windmill, right there in Podersdorf am See. We were the only ones who showed up for it, but the guide nonetheless was very enthusiastic.

Auf Wiedersehen Seewinkel!

We’d go back to the region again for sure. It had kind of the feel of one of those little towns in Rhineland-Pfalz you mostly visit for their winefests, but a lot more…Central European. We were never far from the border with Hungary, and this part of the world has changed hands many times. That was evident in the language and food in very pleasant ways.

Kulinarische Weinwanderung zum X. Mal

I’ve lost track of how many times we’ve spent the weekend in and around Freinsheim in Germany’s Weinstraße region.

This time we stayed in Wachenheim (first time for us), and used the train to get to Deidesheim (been there a couple times) and the main event on Saturday.

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We rolled in as usual on Thursday afternoon and did a simple dinner in the Ferienwohnung with our pals from Berlin, who arrived a few hours after we did. Friday we spent exploring Wachenheim on foot and with our mouths at Hambels Restaurant. We tried for a dinner reservation a day in advance with no joy, but they squeezed us in for lunch on Friday and boy are we glad they did: Sarah and I split a “Rondell” of Saumagen for two, and every single portion on that lazy susan they brought out was more delicious than the last: Rotkohl, Maultauschen, Kartoffelstampfer — it was all wonderful. Don’t miss Hambels if you’re in Wachenheim.

Saturday was the Weinwanderung, and we got there just before 11:00 with the train, largely before the masses arrived. This meant shorter lines, cleaner port-a-potties, and less crowding on the paths between the vines. Perhaps a good model to follow for next year!

Another French Roadtrip, August 2023, Part 4

This story starts back in 2018 or 2019. We planned a road trip through France, meeting up with a pal stationed with the military in Belgium, and our travel agent (ahem, Sarah) had it all worked out. Then, you know what happened in early 2020. That put everything on hold. By the time we were ready to give this trip another shot, our Brussels buddy was long gone, back to the USA. So we redesigned the trip, but the concept was similar.

Full set of pics at: https://france-aug-2023.cliff.omg.lol/

This is Part 4 — Bordeaux.

Continue reading Another French Roadtrip, August 2023, Part 4

Another French Roadtrip, August 2023, Part 3

This story starts back in 2018 or 2019. We planned a road trip through France, meeting up with a pal stationed with the military in Belgium, and our travel agent (ahem, Sarah) had it all worked out. Then, you know what happened in early 2020. That put everything on hold. By the time we were ready to give this trip another shot, our Brussels buddy was long gone, back to the USA. So we redesigned the trip, but the concept was similar.

Full set of pics at: https://france-aug-2023.cliff.omg.lol/

This is Part 3 — Toulouse.

Continue reading Another French Roadtrip, August 2023, Part 3

Another French Roadtrip, August 2023, Part 2

This story starts back in 2018 or 2019. We planned a road trip through France, meeting up with a pal stationed with the military in Belgium, and our travel agent (ahem, Sarah) had it all worked out. Then, you know what happened in early 2020. That put everything on hold. By the time we were ready to give this trip another shot, our Brussels buddy was long gone, back to the USA. So we redesigned the trip, but the concept was similar.

Full set of pics at: https://france-aug-2023.cliff.omg.lol/

This is Part 2 — time we spent based outside of Nîmes, bopping around the region at L’Isle-sur-la-Sorgue and Arles as well.

Continue reading Another French Roadtrip, August 2023, Part 2

Another French Roadtrip, August 2023, Part 1

This story starts back in 2018 or 2019. We planned a road trip through France, meeting up with a pal stationed with the military in Belgium, and our travel agent (ahem, Sarah) had it all worked out. Then, you know what happened in early 2020. That put everything on hold. By the time we were ready to give this trip another shot, our Brussels buddy was long gone, back to the USA. So we redesigned the trip, but the concept was similar.

Full set of pics at: https://france-aug-2023.cliff.omg.lol/

This is Part 1 — our arrival in Alsace.

Continue reading Another French Roadtrip, August 2023, Part 1

Trompin’ Around Wales – Part 3

Back in May 2023 we met my parents in Birmingham, England and took a train to Wales for a lot of exploring on foot. We stayed in 3 different little towns at inns, with some transport between them on foot and some via taxi. This is Part 3 — Llanberis and departure. See Parts 1 and 2 if you like. Continue reading Trompin’ Around Wales – Part 3

Trompin’ Around Wales – Part 2

Back in May 2023 we met my parents in Birmingham, England and took a train to Wales for a lot of exploring on foot. We stayed in 3 different little towns at inns, with some transport between them on foot and some via taxi. This is Part 2 — Beddgelert. Review Part 1 if you need to catch up. Continue reading Trompin’ Around Wales – Part 2

Alsatian Christmas Markets (and a visit to Basel)

We were so impressed with our trip to Colmar and the surrounding area back in March that we decided to give the region a try with my parents in the winter. And mais oui, quel hiver!

The Theater of Operations

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The Transportation

We rented a car. We would not have done that for just ourselves; we like our little car just fine for us. But with four adults, intercontinental luggage for half of them, and a week’s worth of winter clothing, we opted for something bigger and more comfortable than our little cold, weak, loud station wagon. I rented us something in the Passat class, but we were pleased to see an Audi A6 waiting for us. It felt more difficult to maneuver around parking lots and little European towns, but it was roomy and fancy. And, apparently thirsty for oil. Or at least it thought it was.

 

We pulled over in the dark about a third of the way to Frankfurt to see what we could learn from the owner’s manual about those warning messages. We considered buying some oil from a gas station and adding it, but in the end decided to press on. In the morning, practically on the FRA airport grounds, I called Buchbinder in Regensburg and they directed me to the EuropCar station at the airport. They saw the same warning and added a liter of oil and declared us good to go. ((Except that it was the day of the test of the nationwide Katastrophenalarm, and the blast doors in the parking gar where EuropCar FRA is closed with klaxons and flashing lights going off, trapping us and everyone behind us, for a few minutes until some brave soul got out of his car and simply pushed the blast door open for that long line of cars.)) An hour later, well on our way to the border with France, the warning lamp came on again and then finally stayed off for the rest of the trip.

The Lodging

We stayed in a little German town not far from the border to France called Rheinhausen (beware, there are dozens of German towns named that). Also beware that there are two restaurants nearby, both named “Schiff.” ((One of them is good. Guess how we know. We discovered that the Google review for one was attached to the location of the other. You want the one actually NOT in Rheinhausen.)) There are some parky, canal-adjacent walking paths around there, so if you get tired of the crowded Christmas market scene, you can go for a (long!) walk. Or maybe you like amusement parks; “Europa Park Rust” is less than 4 km away.

Rheinhausen   Rheinhausen

This town wasn’t our first choice, but we got moving on the lodging hunt a little late and La Mirabelle was all that was left in our price range near the target towns with two rooms available for the duration of stay in the area. But it was a good choice nevertheless: great breakfast selection, very friendly and helpful staff, and free parking on site were all much appreciated. Other perks of the town: its Thai restaurant was pretty good and the large, well-stocked Rewe opens daily ((But not Sundays and holidays of course. It’s still Germany.)) from 7am to 10pm.

The Target Towns

Strasbourg

We parked kind of far away from the action, but that didn’t mean it cost less. There were several different markets areas happening here. I snagged some pain d’épice to take home. Warming up with hot chocolate at a café on the river bank was a good idea.

 

   

Ribeauvillé and Kaysersberg

Driving across the border near Marckholsheim was very frustrating. There was construction work on the locks over the river causing long lines of cars in both directions. What’s more, the drivable part was reduced to just a few meters of width, and we were in an unfamiliar rental car tank. But once we got close, we started following signs for the Navette parking, and that was a much better deal: cheaper price, easier parking, so much better on my nerves.
Ribeauvillé   Ribeauvillé   Ribeauvillé

   

Colmar

This was the town that inspired us to come back for wintry visit. We were hoping for a sit-down lunch at place that would serve us choucroute and maybe some munster cheese over potatoes, but we couldn’t find anything halfway traditional, open and not already marked as COMPLET — so we opted for an Indian restaurant. ((Incidentally, right next door to the Lebanese restaurant Sarah and I enjoyed during our visit in March.)) It was pretty good, but I think we would have been happier with some SAUSAGE and SAUERKRAUT.

Colmar   Colmar   Colmar

Basel

Basel was a nice surprise, in more ways than one:

  1. parking was fairly convenient
  2. the city was very walkable, despite streets and hills
  3. the rental car had a CH vignette still valid for 2022 in it!

So we drove down, crossed the border (no one was interested in checking our car), had lunch, cruised some grocery stores and spent our last hour (“Happy Hour”) between 16:00 and 17:00 browsing the Historisches Museum Basel at the Barfüsserkirche on Barfüsserplatz ((The fact that that neighborhood in Basel is nicknamed “Barfy” is a little weird, especially for their eating establishments – “Barfy Pizza”, etc.)) for free.

  Basel   Basel

The next day was a big, long, slow, somewhat scary drive home. But the car behaved, and so did all the drivers in our vicinity. We were tired when we got home and very much appreciated the short walk to our favorite local Indian restaurant.

Take a look at the full set of our pictures from this trip if you like.