Waking Up in Europe: I'M ON A BOAT!
To say ‘waking up’ suggests I actually slept on my overnight flight to Nuremberg (via Calgary and Frankfurt), but of course, I did not. Can anyone actually sleep sitting up? However, I’m not about to complain, because stepping off a plane into a medieval European city is just about the best way to start any day, sleep-deprived or not.
Now, why exactly did I wake up in Nuremberg, Germany? Because this was the starting point of an eight-day cruise down the “Romantic Danube” with Viking River Cruises, an itinerary that also brought me to Weltenberg, Regensburg, Passau, Melk, Vienna, and Budapest.
Lindsay and I were invited to experience the cruise, but because of some scheduling conflicts, she wasn’t able to make it. While we’d already had a laugh about going on a romantic cruise together (though practically life partners, we are, unfortunately, both still straight), we laughed even harder when we realized I’d be going on my own. What would people make of me? The young Canadian on board a romantic cruise by herself???
Yes, it was sad to venture abroad without my bestest travel buddy, and there were many times I wished Lindsay was sitting in the next chair, watching the countryside pass and belly laughing at my endless stream of witty jokes.
However, I ended up meeting so many interesting people on board the Viking Jarl, I completely forgot she even exists!
Jk, Linds. jk.
We usually set sail in the evening or over night, and there was plenty of ways to keep entertained on board the ship. Spanning almost the entire length of the ship was a sun deck equipped with a putting green, plenty of lounge chairs, and even an herb garden!
There was also a lounge where you could get drinks any time of day, with locally-sourced entertainment every evening. You could attend strudel demonstrations, have a tour of the wheelhouse with the captain, or even learn more about the regions through the lecture series on board (“Viennese Coffee Culture” was an actual topic!)
Of course, let’s not forget about the food. There was a ton of it. A number of the dishes on board reflected the cultural cuisines of regions we sailed past, and a team of nine chefs prepared three square meals a day (plus plenty of snacks) for the 200+ people aboard.
My brain is still trying to comprehend how it’s possible to complete such a task in a small kitchen ON A BOAT! Then there were all the treats awaiting us in each city…..but more about all that later.
Prior to this trip, I’d never been on a cruise of any kind, and I must say, waking up in a new city every day felt like a special kind of magic. Over the next few weeks, I’ll share my experiences in each port, and you’ll also get to see just how much cake I consumed…
-DV
Read more from FEAST: An Edible Road Trip...
A few months ago, this was our dilemma: when one of the main points of our book is that it’s impossible to singularly define Canadian food culture, how do we attempt to visually define that same culture within an 11x8 inch space?
1) When you get your book deal in March, cry a little. Maybe a lot. Celebrate with wine and the friends who cheered you on as you wrote your proposal. Really enjoy these moments with them, because you're not going to see them for a long time; it's just going to be you, your writing partner, and that guy with the glasses who always gets the good corner seat at the coffee shop.
Some time has passed since I explored Germany, Austria, and Hungary along the Danube with Viking River Cruises last summer; however, thanks to #culinarytravelweek, hosted by our fellow Saveur-award winning friends at The Funnelogy Channel, I currently don’t feel too far away from the experience.
When I sat down to write this, I had a cup of tea next to me. When I sat down to finish it, I had another, and a third will keep me company as I edit the photos. Tea is my ritual, my companion, my main source of caffeine; for some reason, though my body has opted to reject coffee, it has fully embraced the concept of gnarly-looking fermented leaves soaked in water.
Our epic, 7-hour train journey from Kandy to Bandarawela took us high into the mountains. I was now in tea. RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF IT. As we pulled in, green mountains dominated the view, and a sign on the outskirts of town welcomed us to “The Cool Climes of Bandarawela” (I, for one, continued to sweat). We checked into the Orient Hotel, and I discovered my room overlooked a golden-domed mosque.
When a country is mentioned, I usually first think of its landscapes. Someone says Bolivia, and salt flats appear. For Iceland, it’s those mighty waterfalls. Italy is a neatly-laid vineyard. The words ‘Sri Lanka’ have always summoned thoughts of women plucking handfuls of tea, tiny figures within expansive green hills.
Touring Vienna brought us past many historic sites—the Opera House, countless Viennese cafes, Roman ruins, Holocaust memorials, as well as this more contemporary “love is love” set of stoplights.
Our last few days in Kandy were a flurry of pineapples and processions. One evening, a local family – Kolitha, Deepthi, Chamodi, and Dilumi – hosted me for a cooking lesson and dinner. Their home sat next to a flooded rice paddie, and their two shy, beautiful daughters welcomed me by placing a green betel leaf in my palm, a symbol of friendship and respect.
After a quick stop in Melk we arrived in Vienna, a city famous for its coffee culture. The first coffee house appeared in 1685 and quickly gained popularity, thus beginning a long-standing cultural tradition. They are an extension of the living room, a place where people can spend hours reading, writing, meeting, or working.
Two great things: discovering new ways to eat sweets, and learning from experienced cooks. During my time in Sri Lanka I was taught how to cook on many occasions, and only half the time did my teachers and I share a common language. Our respective abilities to comprehend English and Sinhalese didn’t matter much, because that’s the thing about learning to cook - ultimately, you just have to be capable of watching attentively, and eating.
After meeting up and hitting the road with my World Nomads' Passport and Plate crew, we finally arrived in Kandy, a city with Bogambara Lake at its centre. The lake was constructed by King Sri Vikrama Rajasinha in the 19th century, with a square island that apparently used to be the king’s private bathing facility, and was connected to the palace by a secret tunnel. That is one expensive bathroom.
After leaving Passau, we sailed into Austria and made our way to the Wachau Valley, an area renowned for apricots and grapes. The apricots are made into fine desserts and excellent schnapps, and the grapes—particularly Reisling and Grüner Veltliners—are turned into the wines the Valley is famous for.
Lindsay here! As you may have read earlier, I travelled to Sri Lanka this past June as part of World Nomads' Passport and Plate program with Intrepid Travel. Here’s my first of a series of posts I’ve been writing for them, which I’ll be sharing here once a week. In the Fall, there will be three videos from kickass videographer Seth Coleman, who filmed my trip. I'm kind of terrified to see them, since I was sweaty and inarticulate the entire time, but I promise to share them nonetheless.
Passau is a small city sitting at the confluence of three rivers: the Inn, the Ilz, and the Danube. Because of this, Passau is prone to flooding, a fact that proved true during our short time in the city. It rained hard while we were there, and the riverside walkways were beginning to be overtaken by the river.
After hanging out with geoducks and oyster seeds, it was time to toast the shellfish industry in the Comox Valley. How better to do that than with wine and seafood?
A few weeks ago, I boarded a tiny but powerful Harbour Air seaplane, and watched as the stunning view of Coastal BC passed below me.
We have two bits of great, sourdough-related news: the first is that our dear friends at Sidewalk Citizen have opened a new bakery in Calgary!
After a morning sipping beer at the Weltenburg Abbey, I spent the afternoon in Regensburg, a beautiful city with postcard-worthy scenes around every corner.
After travelling through the night, we docked in Regensburg, and I joined an excursion to the Weltenburg Abbey. It was founded in 620 by Irish monks, and it later become a Benedictine monastery. In 1050 the monks took up brewing beer, and it’s now the oldest continuing monastic brewery in the world. How could I resist credentials like that!?
Our second day started with a historical tour of Nuremberg, bringing us through medieval times and the significance of the city during WWII. Nuremberg was a significant centre of Nazi activity before and during WWII, and later became the place where Nazi war criminals were sentenced.
After checking into my cozy stateroom, I resisted the urge to pass out for the next 12 hours, and instead took the first shuttle into Nuremberg. Though I felt heavy with jetlag, it was the sunshine, excitement, and abundance of cobblestone that carried me through the rest of the day.
To say ‘waking up’ suggests I actually slept on my overnight flight to Nuremberg (via Calgary and Frankfurt), but of course, I did not. Can anyone actually sleep sitting up? However, I’m not about to complain, because stepping off a plane into a medieval European city is just about the best way to start any day, sleep-deprived or not.
YES, it’s true! Between the two of us, we’ll be travelling to four different countries over the next few months. While we love our rich Canadian soil, we've always been game for exploring food cultures outside our borders. And now, thanks to Viking River Cruises, World Nomads, and Intrepid Travel, we’re going international!
The day after our lengthy #pastryparkpubpoutinecrawl, we went on a food tour. Yes, we know that’s basically just another crawl with a slightly more refined name, but this time we had an expert leading the charge.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that when we’re in Montreal, we crawl. After our last Montreal en Lumiere event finished, we got busy planning a route that would bring us to as many recommended spots as possible.