Lunch at die Traube in Lans

We were hoping to go cross-country skiing in Leutasch today but it was very foggy and overcast this morning. The clouds slowly lifted during the day, but it wasn't really a great day for visibility. So we went out to lunch, using the "Where Austria Eats" guidebook that Regina and Meinrad kindly lent us. They want us to experience the best of Austrian cuisine and not waste our time eating in bad restaurants. It is a terrific book. One of their personal favorites near us is in the town of Lans, it is called "Wilder Mann," but we are saving that for a special dinner occasion. Lans is up near where Manuela lives. Traube is another recommended place in Lans, more casual, and so we decided to go there. It was very old - one of the oldest restaurants in Tirol- since 1313 and has been in the same family for 15 generations. An unpretentious place, lots of locals go there. The food was terrific, at least mine was. Jim had noodles and dumplings, I had the local wine soup and a Sülze of beef tartare. I couldn't imagine what a tartare head cheese might be like, it was a tartare lightly held together with gelee. Well seasoned, served with vinaigrette. Quite tasty. I ate it with a sourdough rye bread. The wine soup was fantastic, I am going to have to try making that for our guests. Speaking of guests, Jim and I are quite excited to be receiving our first guests on Sunday. Now that we have learned our way around a bit, we are really thrilled to be able to share this gorgeous place with our friends and to explore further and deeper into all aspects of the local culture, outdoors and in.

After lunch we went shopping, again in Innsbruck, where I picked up my new ski pants. I was anxious to walk around exploring, but Jim had limited patience for that. I love wandering around the Atstadt (old town) or even beyond and poking into places that look interesting. Jim said he did not want to do that. So we went food shopping to stock up for the weekend - many stores are closed on Sundays and even afternoon Saturdays. After that, Jim had a rip-roaring shopping headache. We chilled out at the local Cafe-Konditorei Kirschmair in Oberperfuss. It's a pleasant and friendly combination of bakery, cafe and bar. Only thing we didn't like about it was that people smoke in there. They bake their own bread and are open Sunday mornings after 8 AM with freshly baked bread (in case any one has jet lag on arriving here and wants to take an early walk on a Sunday morning!) The gas station also sells bread on Sundays, in case you need to know that. I was tantalized by the fabulous breads we saw everywhere today, but I refrained from buying them for the weekend. You really need to get them fresh every day. We are not used to that!!!!

I found a great recipe for a red cabbage and blood sausage strudel that I want to make. Who's ready for that?

I found Jim's complaint about the music here very funny. Yes, the Hit Radio station that we listen to in the car is recycled oldies from the US, and the local Schlager (hits) are not worth listening to in general, BUT to say that only the US has good music is laughable! How about those famous Austrians, Strauss and Mozart? I got a five-CD set of each of them for a very good price (I think 12 Euros each) and I am enjoying listening to them in the house (even as I write this.) I also like the local Tyrolean folk music very much. It is quite lively and cheerful. We got some CDs of that too. We have CD players in both of our living rooms, as well as the car. So bring your CDs!!