“I’m tired, can’t think of anything and want only to lay my face in your lap, feel your hand on my head and remain like that through all eternity.” Franz Kafka Monday I sleep in until 8.00 am and it feels like I have not slept at all. Breakfast and then a walk through the…
Sleepy Šumperk
“The gift are those ideas you think of as you drift to sleep. The giver is that one you think of when you first awake.” Roman Payne Sunday We slept in until late, which was 7.45 am. Late compared to the usual. Breakfast provided. A decent spread. It is stage 4 of the Czechia Tour…
Šumperk – Czech Republic
“I like to prowl ordinary placesand taste the people-from a distance.” Charles Bukowski Saturday A day of driving. Breakfast in the apartment and then on the road. Our destination is Šumperk, but I am in dire need of a coffee. I finished the bottle of Domäne Wachau Grüner Veltliner last night and Shell selfishly refused…
Weingut Hiedler
“Not a visible enthusiasm but a hidden one, an excitement burning with a cold flame.” Patrick Süskind This is the winery I made the trip for. Everything about this winery, its vineyard philosophy, its approach to wine, everything about Hiedler is what I love about wine. I had a series of emails with one of…
Weingut Josef Jamek
“I hate people who are not serious about meals. It is so shallow of them.” Oscar Wilde Friday (Part II) It is time for lunch. Weingut Josef Jamek has three things going for it. Firstly, it has a reputation for excellent, albeit expensive, wines. Secondly, it provides an outstanding lunch. Finally, it is set in…
Weingut Jäger
“Perhaps when we find ourselves wanting everything, it is because we are dangerously close to wanting nothing.” Sylvia Plath Friday Slept well. Breakfast at home. It is a cloudless day. Perfect for wine tasting. The wineries in Wachau, with a few exceptions, are family owned. This presents difficulties, visiting is usually by appointment only and…
Spitz and the Wachau Valley
“Have you also learned that secret from the river; that there is no such thing as time?” That the river is everywhere at the same time, at the source and at the mouth, at the waterfall, at the ferry, at the current, in the ocean and in the mountains, everywhere and that the present only…
Bad Füssing
“I want to leave, to go somewhere where I should be really in my place, where I would fit in . . . but my place is nowhere; I am unwanted.” Jean-Paul Sartre Wednesday Breakfast is included but there are no eggs. It is time to leave the mountains of Austria and head for wine…
Italian Lunches
“The name of Italy has magic in its very syllables.” Mary Shelley Tuesday Fine weather and Shell feels like lunch in Italy. We can take in the Swiss Alps and almost all of Liechtenstein with a few detours. Liechtenstein is 25 km in length, and a neatly matching 25,000 people live here. A constitutional monarchy,…