Venice going nuts with Vogalonga

Venice is almost like coming home. I was here already so often to go aboard with my dearest captain. This time he picked me up on a Sunday morning in June on the shuttle bus from Treviso airport, and took me almost immediately in a “quiet, idyllic restaurant right on the canal with food as at home in a Venetian family.” The food was indeed as promised. The atmosphere… quite different…

The Palatinate: pure pleasure – Part 2

The Palatinate – a region of superlatives! The largest wine barrel in the world, the largest wine festival in the world, the oldest wine route, the oldest wine bottle and last but not least about 100 million vines and fantastic wine… Not to mention Saumagen [stuffed pig’s stomach], liver dumplings and the beautiful landscape…

The Palatinate: pure pleasure – Part 1

A model railway idyll, pretty half-timbered houses like a string of pearls, vineyards as far as the eye can see, here and there a castle, a climate like velvet and silk, culinary delicacies from hearty regional cuisine to fine dining, excellent wines and hospitality that is unparalleled… That‘s the Palatinate. We were there again.

Discovery tour Palatinate Part 2

Our crash course Palatinate continues! At the invitation of the Palatinate wine marketing association Pfalzwein e. V. we spend one day on the Palatinate Wine Routes: Six wine shops, 13 winemakers and an “Autumn Fireplace Talk” in the evening – the Palatinate from south to north, from Landau to Zellertal in 24 hours!

Discovery tour Palatinate Part 1

We had planned a hiking week in the Palatinate vineyards for long. Unfortunately, in 2018 we could not realize it. At the invitation of the Palatinate wine marketing association Pfalzwein e. V., we had the chance to experience a Crash Course Palatinate at the beginning of November: Six wine shops, 13 winegrowers and an “Autumn Fireplace Talk” in the evening – the Palatinate from South to North in just one day!

Tokaj wine tasting with Adam Varkoly

Our trip to Budapest also took us to Hungary’s most famous wine-growing region, the Tokaj region. There we met a young Hungarian winemaker full of esprit, Ádám Varkoly. If you think Tokaj wines have to be sweet and full-bodied, Ádám will quickly teach you a lesson. His winery Árpád-hegy Pince in Szerencs also produces wonderful, dry wines from Furmint.

Gin & Calamansi from the Philippines

A small bottle of gin, brought by a very, very dear colleague on board set this story in motion: The petite Filipino lady handed my dearest captain a farewell bottle of Philippine gin. “We’ll drink it in the Philippines with calamansi fruit, never with lemon, Captain!”, she said with a smile.

Hungarian goulash – straight from the Puszta

From Budapest we made our way to the Hungarian Puszta. If there is a “real” Hungarian goulash somewhere, then in Hortobágyi, a small town in the middle of the Puszta. On the bridge market (Hídivásár), which is celebrated annually on the national holiday in Hortobágyi, we found it. Here it boiled and bubbled in large cauldrons. And we brought the recipe…

24 hours Budapest

This rush was not even necessary during our visit to Budapest. After all, this was not a “shoreleave” of the usual kind. I mean, Budapest cannot be reached by cruise ships, and in all cases by river ships. But we were there simply on vacation, by plane. It’s our first time in Budapest and in Hungary. Invited by our dear friend, the ship’s doctor.