Ladee's Travels

The trees are bare. Life along the river has slowed. The views are best in black and white. We are sailing all day from Bratislava. Ladee www.LadeeTravels.blogspot.com "There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign." Robert Louis Stevenson Fun stuff here:  http://fineartamerica.com/artists/ladee+rickard

The Captain's Dinner continued... Lemon Sorbet with sparkling wine and mint. One of the choices for the main dish was Oven Roasted Fillet of Roastbeef served with ginger-bread sauce, potato gratin, and Romanesco. My selection was Grilled North Atlantic Salmon served on grilled leek with wild rice and saffron sauce. Or you could have a Cheese Soufflé with roasted garlic velouté. Some nice chocolates Desert was MS Amadeus Silver Baked Alaska. Fun stuff here:  http://fineartamerica.com/artists/ladee+rickard

Tonight we celebrated the trip at the Captain's dinner. The wine choice was: White - 2015 Grüner Veltliner, Langenlois, Austria Red - Blauer Zweigelt, Langenlois, Austria My appetizer choice was Trio of Smoked Salmon, carpaccio, California roll and tartar with spicy wasabi soy sauce. Or Arugula salad, cherry tomatoes, roasted nuts, grapes and croutons. The soup was cappuccino from Forest Mushrooms with Chester Stick. and an Oven Baked Cannelloni stuffed with Ricotta served with Sauce Alfredo and it continued!  See the  next post. Fun stuff here:  http://fineartamerica.com/artists/ladee+rickard

Yum Christmas Day dinner Wine selection White - 2015 Müller Thurgau, Rheinhessen Germany Red - 2015 Dornfelder, Rheinhessen, Germany. Salad was Mesclun Salad, raspberry vinaigrette, crispy bacon, brioche croutons, sunflower seeds. My choice was Amadeus Shrimp Cocktail, avocado cream, diced tomatoes, marinated shrimps with cocktail sauce. Spinach-Ricotta Ravioli, truffle foam. Pomegranate Sorbet I had Baked Peters fish fillet with herbed potato, sautéed vegetables and sweet curry sauce. You could also choose Orange and Soy Glazed Pork Tenderloin with grilled polenta, roasted bell peppers and aromatic jus. Desert was Viennese Sacher Cake or Fresh Fruits or Cheese Plate. Ladee www.LadeeTravels.blogspot.com "There are no foreign lands. It is the traveler only who is foreign." Robert Louis Stevenson Fun stuff here:  http://fineartamerica.com/artists/ladee+rickard

I toured the old City Center today and got updated photographs of ones that I had taken earlier plus a few new ones. This post has the few that I took on my iPhone as summaries for the day. The huge church in the center was beautiful as always.  The sections that had been covered for repair (in 2015) was shiny and new and there appeared to be only a small part that was still under cover.  I like that the refurbishing company makes a print of the church to use as cover cloth so that the look of the church is not ruined. I had one thing on my list to buy and it was a "cafe melange" at the local well known Aida store.  It was awesome and I managed to order it "to go" in German!  Today is Christmas Day so while there were a lot of people enjoying the streets, a few cafes were open. Stores were mostly closed.  One co-traveler said that she found a souvenir store open (but of course!).   We did have a chance to see the Lipizainer horse...

Docked at Durnstein, Austria on the Danube River. This dinner was the big event, outside of the Captain's Dinner. Festive Appetizer Plate with veal paté with brioche and red onion confit, celery-truffle mousse and smoked trout with cranberry aspic. Or Lamb's lettuce salad, potato dressing marinated lamb lettuce with bacon, chopped eggs and croutons. The soup was Cream of Chestnuts with orange-cinnamon foam. Appetizer Tiger Prawn with Lobster vanilla Sauce with saffron risotto. Cassis Sorbet with Sparkling Wine My choice - Grilled Black Halibut with Dijon mustard mush potato, tomato concise-celery stalk and leaf spinach, parsley beurre blanc. Or Stuffed Zucchini with Artichoke-Tomato Stew Or Oven Roasted Veal Tenderloin on morel sauce, potato soufflé and vegetable. Desert Platter: Ginger bread mousse, rum coconut truffle, poppy seed parfait and blood orange sabayor. Or Fresh Fruits Or Selection on International Cheese from the Board. Ladee w...

We left Melk Abbey and drove along the most picturesque section of the Danube in Austria...the Wachau Valley.  Terraced vineyards hold up the hillsides on either side of the river and great apricot orchards are planted between the shore and the vineyards.  I need to come again in the springtime to see the 160,000 Apricot trees present a spectacular bloom. The Melk Abbey sits on the hill. The "Wachau Cultural Landscape" was added to the UNESCO List of World Heritage Sites in recognition of its architectural and agricultural history in December 2000,  Apricot trees play a heavy role in the production of specialty wines and liquors.  Vineyards.  The Wachau Valley is well known for its high-quality wines.  The wine growing tradition in Austria and Wachau Valley in particular is attributed to the Romans during the medieval settlements.  The grapes produce white wine such as Reislings and Grüner Veltliners.  There are some low, level viney...