Day 9 - Part 2

The not-so-nice thing about autumn is that it gets dark really soon. When we reached Attersee we could see the magnificent lake but the surrounding scenery was not very visible since the sun has already set. It took us one hour and ten minutes to drive from Linz to Weyregg am Attersee, and it has been dark when we got there.

Kathy and Stephan introduced us to Richard and Regina, the husband and wife who own the farm. Regina was busy making bread when we arrived. We also met little Kathy, Regina's youngest daughter. This is little Kathy and Richard at the cow stable.

The kids were really amazed with the cows (although the cows were a bit smelly). The cow's tails were all tied up to the ceiling to prevent them being immersed in the dung canal when the cows sit.

Look what happened!

Three calves have just been born in the farm. They were really cute! They're always hungry! when I put my fingers to them, they licked it enthusiastically.

This is how the calves are actually being fed. A bucket of milk is hung at the fence with a plastic hose to simulate cow's nipple.

Regina gave us three liter of fresh milk, fresh right from the cow and unprocessed. She also gave us two jars of home-made marmalade. We immediately boil the milk at Stephan's holiday home. Actually the milk can be drunk rightaway. But for pregnant women it is better boil it, just in case the milk was not totally sterile. When you boil the milk, the thin membrane that emerges is actually protein residue.

The milk was really really creamy! We all drank it before continuing to dinner, and just before Mas Reza's family continued to drive back to Vienna. This is Stephan happily drinking his milk.

Stephan and Kathy decided to treat us for traditional Austrian dinner. We drove down to Familie Kalleitner Bachtaverne in Weyregg am Attersee.

The atmosphere of the small restaurant was really nice and homey (although everybody smoked inside). All the furniture was made from local wood. You could also see preserved deer heads from the hunters hanging on the wall.

For the entrée we had Kreuterfrittatensuppe, which is soup with thinly sliced pancake.

We also had Leberknoedelsuppe, which is liver dumpling soup.

For main course, Stephan was having Knödelgemheimnis, which is yeast dumpling with hidden variety of meat with sauerkraut and potato.

Kathy and Indi were both having meat on skewer with variety of salad. Kathy had Zigeurnerspieß, which is meat with hot gypsy sauce. Indi was having Putenspieß, which is turkey skewer.

Rani was having Hirschbraten, which is roasted upper leg meat of a male deer, with vegetable and knoedel (bread dumpling).

We finished them all! Look how stuffed Stephan were.

For desert, we had Eispalatschinken, which is crepe served with vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream.

During dinner, our discussion touched the issue of Schnapps. Kathy went on and explained the history of Schnapps and how it was made. Basically it was just variation of fruits immersed in water and fermented until it is rotten, and became smelly substance that contain high level of alcohol. It is made from fruit or nut, which explains its fruity or nutty taste. Then the fermented substance is distilled into clear alcoholic drink and stored in bottles. People drink it to warm themselves. The St. Bernard dogs rescue people in the Alps from freezing by bringing a small bottle of Schnapps tied around his neck.

Basically Kathy persuaded us to try Schnapps. Since I am pregnant and Stephan would be driving, we ended up ordering only two shot glass of Schnapps for Kathy and Indi.

The chef popped into our table and chatted with us. He asked about the food, and we complimented his cooking.

However, upon seeing only two glasses of schnapps the chef became angry at his employee. He thought it was a mistake that we were given only two glasses while they were actually four of us. He immediately apologized to us and brought us four more shot-glasses of schnapps.

We immediately explained to him that we didn’t want to drink a lot because Stephan is driving. He persuaded us that it is just a small amount and would not affect Stephan’s drinking. Kathy hinted to me that the Chef was very proud of his home-made Schnapps and refusing it would be an insult. Kathy told me that it would not make any difference to explain that I am pregnant, since the Chef would not care and would insist that all of us should drink his proudly made schnapps (as an Austrian, the Chef thought that small amount of alcohol would not harm the baby). We had difficult time to explain to the Chef, since Rani persisted not to drink any amount alcohol. Finally when the Chef was not looking, Kathy took Rani and Indi’s glass and drank the whole thing. When the chef came back, he was proud to see that all of us finished the drink. Thanks to Kathy who saved us from the fury of the proud chef!

We went back and slept in the warm bed in Stephan’s holiday home. The next day would be Daylight Savings Time, so we could afford to sleep a bit longer.