Liselotte asked us what we wanted to do today? As the day was sunny and we did not need to get on the bike, I asked if we could do something outside. Liselotte proposed cafe hopping in the Alps. (I tell you what, for someone I have never meet before she had my number from the get go!)
On the way to the trail at Johnsbach, we witnessed a motorcycle accident. A couple had come around a blind turn and ran into a truck. Luckily nobody was seriously hurt, but it was enough to shake my spirit and make me question our ride, and at the same time thank God for our safety so far.
Later we came upon the trail that would lead to many Cafe Cabins in the Alps. Places you had to walk to, and would have to know about as there wasn't a sign that said, "This way to Cafe Hopping in the Alps." These small, family-run, cabins are coffee houses set in the alps, for hikers and for the locals to take a coffee and enjoy the scenery. They serve homemade delicacies, cheese, all sorts of drinks of the region. It was like something out of a movie, walking around the Alps, to one cabin after another eating homemade pastries with the locals. Starbucks does not hold a candle to this sort of thing!
At the first cafe cabin we had, "Kaiserschmarrn mit Zwetschkenroster" (Liselotte and her husband Deter translated for us: "Sweet, delicious, local pastry." They did not need to say more.
Kaiserschmarren (Emperor's Trifle) is a fluffy, dessert omelet, flan, pancake torn into small pieces, sprinkled with powdered sugar.
As we walked to the next cabin cafe in the Alps, I asked Liselotte if she had seen "The Sound of Music"? She had not. I nearly fell over… "What? You don't know Maria? You don't know that "The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music"? You have never heard of "…Brown paper packages tied up with string… What? You honestly do not know that there is something about Maria?!"
So for the next leg of our Cafe Hopping in the Alps, I told Liselotte about Austria… I mean every Austrian needs to know about: Do Ri Me and that their hills are something to sing about.
Liselotte knows now that I am one strange cookie…"Up on the hill was a lonely goatherd…"
We came upon another cabin and had an Austrian donut with homemade jam.
I briefly started to worry about the extra weight I was packing on for our ride. But when I saw French Husband bite into it, I knew it was a down hill battle and that if Willow couldn't carry me then at least I could simply rolled down the hill.
I stopped counting how many cakes I had had after this.
Everyone is invited to hop cafes in the alps.
Thank you Liselotte and Deter for opening your home and cafe hopping to us!
P.S I am so sending you the Sound of Music Video!
Where are we: Austria
Day Five: Admont, outside of Salzburg, at a reader of Tongue in Cheek, Liselotte's Home.
Distance: We did not ride today. It felt strange.
Riding time: Zero
Weather: A rare perfectly sunny day, not a cloud in the sky, around 90F
Tomorrow we are off to Prague.
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