Traveling – Bad Reichenhall, Germany

After a wonderful afternoon in Kufstein Austria, we drove back into Germany to the Königssee.  The Königssee is a large lake nestled in a valley of the Alps that we had read in our Rick Steves Germany guide that this area is quite beautiful.  Our plan was to find a room in one of the local hotels and then travel by a short boat ride to a baroque style St. Bartholomä Church on the far shore of the lake. 

When we arrived, it was later in the day and all the hotels were full which was fine with us.  The lake and mountains were beautiful, but the little town at the waters edge was a little tourist tacky that detracted from the experience.  We decided to just look around the beautiful lake and then move on to find a place to stay for the night.

We drove the small roads in the direction of Salzburg Austria while looking for a place to eat and spend the night (we did drive a nice Opal, but the car wasn’t that large).  We were just driving along when we saw a small hotel beside the road.  We could see that they had rooms available so we went in to check it out.  The zum Kaiser Karl was a delightful small hotel that includes a nice little restaurant.

We were surprised as the hotel is right on the Austrian and German border.  You walk out the front door of the hotel in Germany, walk 30 feet to the West over a small river and you are in Austria!  No border crossing or fences in sight.

We went to our room and were very happy with the accommodations.  We could tell that it was an older building as the floors creaked, sagged, and were not even close to level.  The entrance to our hotel room was interesting; it consisted of two doors, one on the outside of the room and one inside.  Each door could be locked independently; I guess it is for soundproofing or privacy.  Even though the building was very old, we had a sparkling bathroom that looked like it was from a five star hotel.

We ate in the dining room and had a wonderful meal.  I had chicken cordon bleu with a side salad, my wife had chicken paprika with spätzl (small dumpling noodles).  To go with our dinner we had a very smooth dark (dunkel) beer; Konig Ludwig.

After a long day of traveling and sight seeing, it was an excellent meal, and a great way to prepare us for our trip to Slovenia the next day.

We always find the best and most interesting food for each country/region is found in smaller, out of the way locations.  Not only is the food good, but if you chat with the people who live there, you find out all kinds of interesting information about the people and how they live.  After all isn’t that why you travel.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell