Knodels and Pappardella- From Munich to Bolzano: Part 2

Munich and Salzburg:

It’s been a busy fall; I have been meaning to complete an entry about summer travels, but time flies! Here finally, is the belated second part of the Knodels and Papardella blog!

After my travel buddy Carol and I choose our destination, one of my favorite parts of the planning process is researching the local food and restaurants; I make reservations and the rest of the itinerary easily falls into place!

The ambitious plan for our most recent trip was to visit Munich, Salzburg, Ljubliana in Slovenia, Trieste and Bolzano. We flew into Munich on Condor (a smaller German airline). We entered an upgrade lottery and lucked out-we were moved up to Business Class and the seats to us in the middle were also empty!

We arrived early morning in Munich on a hot sunny June day; being too early to check into the Hotel Torbrau, we left our bags and spent the day walking slowly around the city, enjoying our surroundings while trying to ignore our growing jetlag.

That evening, our first dinner reservation on the trip was at Wirthaus in der Au, famous for a popular German dumpling specialty called Knodel.

The restaurant is located in the neighborhood Au, an artsy and leafy residential area that was once a working class quarter. It is outside the heart of the old town of Munich and next to the Isar River.

We were delighted to see a Knodel food truck painted with the title, “The Heavenly Knodel- Mobil” parked outside the restaurant!

We sat outdoors on a leafy patio and the food was wonderful; a creative modern take on traditional German food.

We started with a colorful appetizer plate that included bread, local cheeses and assorted dips.

We ordered a trio of Knodels and they were just as advertised on the food truck; heavenly- hearty, flavorful and at the same time light and not at all doughy.

We shared a delicious dish of pan seared brook trout and somehow managed to find room for dessert; a traditional German apple pancake with a berry compote and creme anglaise.

After this wonderful feast we returned to our hotel and fell into a blissful sleep!

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The next day, we enjoyed breakfast on the balcony of our hotel and then spent the day visiting art museums. We walked through the bustling town to the beautiful Alte Pinakothek that was built in 1868.

Here is a description of the museum from their website:

A world-class gallery: the Alte Pinakothek (Old Pinakothek) in Munich is home to an outstanding collection of European paintings, stretching from the 14th to the 18th century.

Many of the 700 pieces on display represent high points in the history of art, including Albrecht Dürer’s epochal “Self-Portrait at Twenty-Eight Years Old Wearing a Coat with Fur Collar” from 1500. As the owner of the painting “Madonna of the Carnation” (which was painted in around 1473), the Alte Pinakothek is the only German museum to have its very own Leonardo da Vinci.

Visitors can also see pieces by Raphael, Titian, El Greco, Rubens, Rembrandt and Boucher.  Albert Altdorfer’s painting “The Battle of Alexander at Issus”, which is on show in the Pinakothek, is one of the first paintings to come from the Wittelsbach family’s original collection.

My friend Carol is an amazingly talented visual artist, so it was a special treat to visit the Alte Pinakothek with her- she became my personal art guide! We decided to concentrate on a few paintings and I asked Carol to tell me anything that came to mind as we enjoyed the artwork. We first chose Albert Durer’s famous self portrait, “Self-Portrait at Twenty-Eight Years Old Wearing a Coat with a Fur Collar”.

Carol mentioned that this painting could be considered a breakthrough in the way Durer depicted emotional realism and psychological depth. We were transfixed by the expressiveness of the eyes.

We were also mesmerized by the exquisite detail in Jan Bruegel’s painting “Large Bouquet of Flowers”.

We arrived in Salzburg on an atmospheric day; cool and cloudy.

We checked into our beautiful and elegant five star Bristol Hotel across the street from the Mozart Wohnhaus (family residence)! We had decided to give ourselves one special hotel treat!

Before we headed out to see explore the town, we could not resist a few minutes of hilarity in the elegantly mirrored bathroom!

Just a few blocks from out hotel was the Mozart Geburtshaus (Birth house).

We were thrilled to walk in the small ancient musty rooms decorated with manuscripts, instruments and paintings; a display case held the tiny violin that Mozart played as a young child!

That evening, our dinner reservation was at Maxim im Weiherwirt, a beautiful upscale restaurant with creative and lighter Austrian cuisine. It was located in a town about 15 minutes from Salzburg, across from the Leopoldskroner Weiher lake. Distant mountains and the Leopold Castle are perched on a nearby hillside.

We started our dinner with a simple salad made with delicate local lettuces and tomatoes dressed with a light vinaigrette.

We enjoyed the salads with frosty classes of Austrian beer and freshly baked bread.

I ordered spring pea soup that was a rich treat; creamy and garnished with chives and crispy bits of guanciale topped with an egg that I stirred into the piping hot soup- delicious!

Carol enjoyed grilled pork loin with mixed grains and glazed carrots in a light wine sauce.

Sauteed trout served over peas and greens and topped with toasted couscous was light and delicious.

We had a bit of room left to share light and airy Rhubarb Pana Cotta with fresh strawberries and creme fraiche.

We lingered over dessert as the sun started to set over the lake.

A warm light glowed from the restaurant window as we took a leisurely after dinner stroll around the lake.

The next morning we awoke to a beautiful sunny day and enjoyed the opulent breakfast buffet at our hotel.

We took one last walk around town and discovered the Mirabellgarten that includes the Troll Garten with adorable and captivating tiny statues that date from the Renaissance.

As we walked around admiring the small statues, I noticed several ancient stalwart trees standing guard with troll like features begging to be included as “Trees of the Week“!

“TREES OF THE WEEK FROM SALZBURG”!

Then we were off to our next destination to Lbjuliana in Slovenia.

Part Three of the blog- Trieste and Bolzano will come soon!

I hope this blog is an antidote to our crazy world and that it brings you pleasure and a bit of a respite for you!