Riegersburg and  Kapfenstein, Guest Written by Astrid

One of the many day trip options in Austria is going to see it’s castles, we were staying in Styria and decided to visit the more well known castle Riegersburg.

The fortress is built on volcanic rock and parts date back to the 1200s. It’s about a 20 minute hike up to the castle and as you get higher the view gets more beautiful, on clear days you can see as far as Hungary. The scenery alone is worth a visit! Once you’ve trekked up through the many entrance ways and moats you are rewarded with a beer garden (thankfully almost every tourist destination in Austria will reward you with beer and wine) where you can enjoy a cold Gosser or wine spritzer!

Riegersburg has a great witch “Hexen” exhibit where you can learn about the witch hunts of the 1600’s and check out some awesomely designed exhibits. The most interesting witch who’s story is on display is the Rose witch, who was burned and decapitated bc she was able to grow roses year round and during a particularly harsh winter.

After the witch exhibit you enter Riegersburg proper where there are some predictable but still breathtakingly opulent living quarters and banquet halls. My favorite display was a Knights feast of nobles stuffing themselves with food and wine, only to vomit after on the “vomiting bridge”.

If after this display of gluttony you start to feel hungry you can take a 15 minute drive to have lunch at castle Kapfenstein.

Kapfenstein is an old castle again with beautiful views, an amazing restaurant and vineyards that surround it. The family that runs the restaurant also owns the vineyard so the wines are not only affordable but really delicious. We had great weather so got to sit on the terrace and enjoy a lovely rose and lunch of new-austrian fare with a focus on seasonal and organic (yep everyone’s doing it). The chef is also a believer in making vegetarian dishes as relevant on the menu as the hearty meat fare (Marcus had Ox)!

Plus we saw a salamander scurry by during our meal, a memorable day…

See more: Places to Visit Austrian Guest Writer: Astrid

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Posted on July 27, 2011

See you in a week!

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Posted on July 2, 2011

165 Tyers Street, London, Guest Written by Dana:

Vauxhall City Farm is a really adorable city farm that is free to visit. It has more animals than you would expect to see including pigs that to have their belly scratched, though I have only seen them peeking their noses out of their stalls.

There’s a cow statue that Bea got to milk, since we couldn’t get the other cows near enough to pet. Also ducks and rabbits.. and some chickens with feathered feet!

See more: Places to Visit England Farms Guest Writer: Dana

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Posted on June 11, 2011

Llandrillo, NR, Corwen, Denbighshire, North Wales LL21 0St UK, Guest Written by Dana:

Stephen surprised me with a weekend trip away to Wales. The hotel he chose was a “restaurant with rooms” called Tyddn Llan, run by a married couple. I only met the very charming wife, Susan,  who is the hostess at the front of the house, taking meal orders and offering tourist information during the day. Stephen did get a peek at Bryan, the husband, who is the chef.

This all takes place in the beautiful welsh countryside town of Llangollen in a  Georgian house with big gardens home to rabbits, a maze and tadpoles in the pond.

It was a fixed price menu and the food was creative but honest. Cooked perfectly, nice portions, you knew that you could order anything on the menu and you would get it the way it was meant to be served. It’s supposed to be the best restaurant in North Wales and has received many awards including a Michelin star.

We were invited to have drinks in the sitting room where Susan took our order and was able to explain every part of the menu. This seemed like grown up dining and at times we weren’t sure if we should have brought our 3 year old. The staff was very accommodating though, making sure they had homemade pasta/gnocchi for Bea in case she didn’t want another exotic choice (although, Bea did eat MY pate and Stephen’s lamb AND crab.. we usually tell her everything is “sausages”).

My favorite meal was breakfast though when I ordered Laverbread (seaweed mince) in an oat jacket on toast with scrambled eggs. Bea’s favorite meal was  a scotch egg, which is basically a hard boiled egg inside a sausage. I cant even bring myself to try it.

The staff was swift and kind and helpful, not words id use to ever describe customer service in the UK. The room was sweet. I was sad to go, but i couldnt imagine eating that well for more than 2 days in a row. We will definitely go back.

See more: Places to Visit Bed and Breakfast Guest Writer: Dana UK

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Posted on June 7, 2011

1628 16th Street, Denver

Lately I’ve been sentimental about the places I grew up with, maybe because I’d like to take Van to them some day but sadly so many classic Colorado Springs shops are closed now:

Levine’s – a gorgeous old department store turned toy heaven, Michelle’s – the local old fashioned ice cream parlor, Bryan and Scott – the high class antique treasure trove where the charming, dapper owner Roberto would make us kids as comfortable around African sculptures and decorative vases as we would be in our own home (and where I got my lovely wedding ring), and Chinook Book Shop, where Dick Noyes looms as prominent in my childhood memories as Mr. Rogers.

Some how, Zeezo’s Magic Castle, Repeat Performance, and Barney’s Diner still hold on (though I was not too happy to hear Barney’s moved from a trailer to a brick and mortar spot).

So, long story short, I wanted to recommend at least one of my childhood loves that still exists. This one a couple hours north in Denver – The Tattered Cover Book Store. It will probably be a while until I set foot in the mammoth, multi floor book store, but you totally have to if you find yourself in the area, if only because bookstores like this are a dying breed.

I pretty much grew up in book stores – either crawling around during my dad’s book signings or as a family in our free time, accumulating large stacks of new books to read (even now my biggest splurge is on dozens of used books). Tattered Cover is one of the most memorable book shops of them all – and I can vividly recall details from my time spent there. The winding stair cases, the magazine corner on the first floor which was the only place on the planet (or so it seemed at the time) to see forgeign Vogues and stuff even more exotic.

I can almost exactly remember the layout of the fiction floor, the large nook with the art books, the back area where shelves of tween fiction enticed me (the Sweet Valley Highs, which I secretly wanted but was to embarrassed to ask for lined the bottom shelf) as well as the science fiction and mystery sections around the corner. There was even a well stocked paper doll section, which is where I learned about Erte, Dior and Poiret (thanks Tom Tierney). Every corner offered a well worn seat to relax and read in. Even with the most ernest attempts, a new spot could never feel this lived in and cozy and would never match the ambiance of this place.

This site offers an odd little video tour and takes credit for the lovely photo below.

See more: Places to Visit Books Colorado Shops

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Posted on March 13, 2011