If your heart is in your DREAM a Aug/Sept 2011, NEW - links to dining/trip report

[lovealldisney]

Wow what an amazing weekend! Loved the photo's and that lunch looked soooooo good! Where did you stay again? This may have to go on my list to explore when we'er back in Europe. Thank you so much for sharing! I could look at beautiful photo's from Austria all day.

 

[englishrose47]

Your meal looks delicious !! How nice of you to treat your Catsitter !!

 

[Stefy]

You are welcome to come here any day! I would definitely LOVE to show you round - Austria IS beautiful! ........ and the food is great!

I just don't see us spending 150 $ (and a tip on top of that) for food that really doesn't draw me in, so we'll stick with Palo and do the Flying Fish experience instead!
Animators Palette, Royal Palace and Enchanted Garden are on the regular rotation anyway and they all have lots of food that really interests me. One of them features two Austrian desserts - Sacher Torte and Esterhazy "cake" or whatever they call it - can't wait to try those!
We are also planning on having dinner at Cabanas one day - trusting Disney's online menu - they will have a 4 course meal for those who won't do the rotation!

We might just take you up on that one day

Cabanas looks really good, am looking forward to checking that out, the food looks soooooooooo good

 

[MickeyNicki]

Holy macaroni....that meal and the ambiance looks just incredible!

I would love to live in a place as gorgeous as that!

 

[KatMark]

Karin, what a wonderful gift you gave.

And your lunch looks absolutely wonderful (I was drooling over your meal the most!).

 

[annmarieda]

Oh that looks so yummy. I would say that I have to eat breakfast still.. and I am hungry because of that. However, I think even with a fully belly those pics would make me long for some good food.

Yumm... but now I think I should go get a bite to eat.

 

[YukiPhnx]

What a nice gift you got for him!!

Wow, all that food look so good! I'm a big fan of oyster mushrooms.

 

[cbg1027]

I may need to skip my next Disney trip and come see Austria instead! Actually, it's on my list of places I want to see anyway....but those photos you posted have just reminded me of why I want to go in the first place! The Alps are so gorgeous!

I was about to when you said you were going to skip Remy, but that Flying Fish Wine dinner totally makes up for it!

 

[jenseib]

Wow! What an awesome gift and lunch......Just to let you know. my B-day was back in Feb..... .......

 

[dizneeat]

Wow what an amazing weekend! Loved the photo's and that lunch looked soooooo good! Where did you stay again? This may have to go on my list to explore when we'er back in Europe. Thank you so much for sharing! I could look at beautiful photo's from Austria all day.

This is the "Waldschenke", on the "Sternstein" near "Bad Leonfelden". Bad Leonfelden is a small village in the Mühlviertel in Upper Austria. There is a factory that produces gingerbread all year round and it is so delicious! Really worth visiting - AND if you like hiking, there are lots of hiking trails all around.
Hope you can squeeze it in, when you next visit!

Your meal looks delicious !! How nice of you to treat your Catsitter !!

It WAS wonderful! We all really enjoyed the food and the view! Raimund and Christa really deserve that vacation - they have to look after spoiled Pixie for 4 weeks during the summer!

We might just take you up on that one day

Cabanas looks really good, am looking forward to checking that out, the food looks soooooooooo good

Let me know whenever you want to visit! You are always welcome here!
I went through all the menus and they sound really interesting!

Holy macaroni....that meal and the ambiance looks just incredible!

I would love to live in a place as gorgeous as that!

Told ya, you should come here to visit! And Todd would NOT have to get on a ship!
Um, they produce gingerbread - real good one, soft and tender in that village too!

 

[Swalphin]

Hi Karin,
I am sure Raimund is going to love his stay, it looks like it would fun in the winter or summer month. That was very nice of you and Tom, like I said before, you are good people! My pets mean the world to me and finding another person who feels that way about them is priceless and puts my mind at ease when I travel.
I am of no help with your dining choices , sorry. I hope Tom does not have to get a new car, you must need front wheel drive where you live. Hope you weather is warming up, Happy Spring.

I wanted to ask you what does "Bad" translate to in English, I noticed in Austria there are lots of "Bad" in names of places.

 

[elaine1109]

Morning Karin, Happy Thursday. Sitting here waiting for my 2 grandchildren to arrive for the day!! You and Tom seem like such gracious people taking such good care of your catsitters. I am sure they so appreciate what you did for his birthday! And it is so great to be able to go away and not have to worry about our "furbabies" ! Have a good weekend. Elaine

 

[dizneeat]

Karin, what a wonderful gift you gave.

And your lunch looks absolutely wonderful (I was drooling over your meal the most!).

Christa and Raimund are very special people, they deserve a little treat sometimes.

We really enjoyed last weeks lunch - more to come! We went out for lunch today too!

Oh that looks so yummy. I would say that I have to eat breakfast still.. and I am hungry because of that. However, I think even with a fully belly those pics would make me long for some good food.

Yumm... but now I think I should go get a bite to eat.

Hope you had some yum yum breakfast today! Last weeks lunch was really nice, but I have to share some more lunch pictures from today, so maybe you might want to get a snack!

What a nice gift you got for him!!

Wow, all that food look so good! I'm a big fan of oyster mushrooms.

They are both very sweet people and they look after our little princess so very well, so we owe them BIG time!
The food in that restaurant was real nice - had some more yummy food today!

I may need to skip my next Disney trip and come see Austria instead! Actually, it's on my list of places I want to see anyway....but those photos you posted have just reminded me of why I want to go in the first place! The Alps are so gorgeous!

I was about to when you said you were going to skip Remy, but that Flying Fish Wine dinner totally makes up for it!

Well, IF you decide to come over here to good old Europe, maybe you want to visit DLRP AND Austria!! It's beautiful here!
I have a few more pics I am going to share with you a little later!

We were discussing Remy for a long time, but it just doesn't "draw" me! We have also decided that we won't do Palo for dinner more than twice (we NEED to do Brunch twice - it's just too good) because we are more or less "though" with the menu and there are lots of goodies I want to try in the rotation restaurants.
Now we need to decide WHEN we can fit in the FF Wine Tasting dinner. That's something that really interests both of us!

 

[dizneeat]

Wow! What an awesome gift and lunch......Just to let you know. my B-day was back in Feb..... .......

Oh, no problem Jen, I made a note of your birthday. Now, if you would only come by every day to look after our little princess!

Food was wonderful and the catsitters seem to really like their gift. They keep talking about it a lot!

Hi Karin,
I am sure Raimund is going to love his stay, it looks like it would fun in the winter or summer month. That was very nice of you and Tom, like I said before, you are good people! My pets mean the world to me and finding another person who feels that way about them is priceless and puts my mind at ease when I travel.
I am of no help with your dining choices , sorry. I hope Tom does not have to get a new car, you must need front wheel drive where you live. Hope you weather is warming up, Happy Spring.

I wanted to ask you what does "Bad" translate to in English, I noticed in Austria there are lots of "Bad" in names of places.

The area is really beautiful, both in the summer and in the winter. Lots of hiking trails during the summer and you can go skiiing (there is a chairlift on the Sternstein) and cross country skiing in the winter.
The "hotel" is really nice, very quiet and scenic - and the food is outstanding!

Well, turns out Tom HAS TO get a new car and all cars are far more expensive here than in the US. We are currently looking to decide what make of car he wants to get. We'll see! And yes, both our cars are front wheel drive!

As for the word "BAD" in names of places - it means "spa" - which means that there is a natural special well in those villages. Bad Leonfeld has a "special healing mud" (sorry, this is where my good English goes down the drain ) that made it famous. Many of the "spas" are based on natural salts which can be found in the mountains e.g. Bad Ischl. Hope that helped.

Morning Karin, Happy Thursday. Sitting here waiting for my 2 grandchildren to arrive for the day!! You and Tom seem like such gracious people taking such good care of your catsitters. I am sure they so appreciate what you did for his birthday! And it is so great to be able to go away and not have to worry about our "furbabies" ! Have a good weekend. Elaine

Thank you so much for your kind words, Elaine. Yes, Christa and Raimund seem to like his birthday present a lot - they keep talking about it a lot and seem to already make plans.
We are just so happy to have them look after our little "baby", our Pixie, who is one spoiled cat!

 

[dizneeat]

Here's another real life update!

First things first - Tom had his car checked last week and yes, he will need a new car.
He has had his for more than 10 years now, he doesn't drive much and the engine is still good, but the other parts are giving in.
We have looked at a lot of cars online so far and during my Easter Vacation we will go and check out the ones which will make it in the end. So far he has quite a few he wants to have a look at!

And since you showed so much interest in the area where we live, I thought that you might be interested in a few more photos of the area.

These two are from our home-town, Linz, which is an industrial town and the capital city of the province Upper Austria.

The rest of them are impressions of Upper Austria!

Hope you like them!

Tom and I did go out for lunch today again! On Tuesday is Tom's birthday and since he will have to work we thought it would be nice to start celebrating today with a nice birthday lunch!

I better continue in the next post, as I think I have too many smilies and photos.

 

[YukiPhnx]

You live in such a beautiful place Karen!! It must be so nice to just take a walk around the city.

 

[dizneeat]

Okay, now on to the food!

Today we went to "Holzpoldl", a restaurant situated in a tiny village just outside Linz. It's an upscale restaurant and the food, service and ambience are really good!

I made a reservation for 12pm and was asked if we could arrive a little early as they had several large groups and that would make it easier on the kitchen. No problem.
We arrived at 25 minutes to 12 and saw lots of people enter. We were seated in the newly renovated small dining room. Tables were prepared and our waiter was on hand to greet us and hand us menus right away.

Tom ordered some beer from a local brewery, since he didn't have to drive and I got what I always get, Diet Coke.

I started my meal with some soup. This is "Frittatensuppe" - which means it is a homemade beef stock and they serve finely cut crepe in it. Crepe do not have any seasoning when they are done, so can be served sweet or savory. It came with some fresh chives and it was so good! Frittatensuppe is something truely Austrian!

Tom had the Creme of Potato soup with porcini mushrooms. This was soooooo good, creamy and with lots of mushroom taste.

Since they had a steak special, Tom had the Beef Filet Mignon with truffle scented mash, arugula and Jus. Let me tell you, the meat was melt in your mouth tender, cooked perfectly medium and the mash was devine! No need to mention he cleaned his plate.

I ordered the Veal Tenderloin, home made potato gnocci in truffle cream and sugar snap peas. Again, the meat was melt in your mouth tender and perfectly medium. The taste was unbelieveable! The gnocci were so good and definitely home mode! Don't start me on the sauce - I would love to have some more right now!

Tom's dessert was the "Three Chocolate peaks". Chocolate shells filled with three different iced chocolate mousses.

Milk chocolate shell filled with a nut-nougat mousse.

White chocolate shell filled with Cointreau-orange mousse.

Dark chocolate shell filled with Valhrona mousse.
How was it? - I think that says it all - Tom finished them all!

This is what I ordered. The slighly warmed Valhrona tarte with raspberry sorbet and caramelized mint leaves.

The tarte had a very thin layer of pastry and was slightly warm and was very smooth. So good!

Home-made raspberry sorbet. Light, full of raspberry taste and a bit tart, to cut though the chocolate. A marriage made in heaven! Needless to say I ate every last morsel of this heavenly dessert.

Okay, I guess it is about time for me to get my things together for tomorrow and get myself into bed. We went back to Daylight Savings Time today and they "stole" an hour from me in the morning, by turning our clocks forward! I will post more on my other threads tomorrow and on Tuesday!

Oh, and BTW, our photopass CDs have arrived! 997 photos for free! Thank you ever so much Disney!

 

[dizneeat]

You live in such a beautiful place Karen!! It must be so nice to just take a walk around the city.

Yes, as small as Austria may be, it IS a beautiful country. The thing is, that we tend to forget how beautiful it is. If you can see it every day you don't recognize it as being so beautiful. But we are reminded by the many people who have already visited Austria or want to visit Austria that we are pretty lucky being able to live here!

 

[tinacaplan]

Wow....Austria is beautiful. What amazing, breathtaking pictures. Photographs of Europe always amaze me. Everything is beautiful and different from here, yet familiar in a way. At least to the Northeast... Florida could be a different planet from where we live.

And both meals looked amazing! Your veal from today looked particularly tasty.

Happy early birthday, Tom! I cannot possibly hope to return the photo cake gift, though.

Holy macaroni....that meal and the ambiance looks just incredible!

I would love to live in a place as gorgeous as that!

Um...Nicki...can't you see, like, dolphins out your windows and such? I didn't realize that south Florida was so unnattractive!

 

[elaine1109]

Karin, What incredible pictures!! Yes I agree with you sometimes it takes someone else to make you realize just how lucky you are! Happy early birthday to your brother Tom also. Sorry about Tom having to buy a new car in my opinion it is worse then having a tooth pulled! I don't know if you have to go through all the negotiations like we do here I just hate the haggeling!! For once I would love to go to a dealership pick out a car and know that I got the best price possible the first time out but that is not the way it is here!!! Sometimes I feel it is one big game you have to play with the salesman!! Good Luck Tom. Elaine