Food and Drink | Fotoeins Fotografie

Oberstdorf, Oberbayern, Upper Bavaria, Bavaria, Allgaeu Alps, Alps, Germany, fotoeins.com

Oberstdorf: Sunday Allgäu night auf Deutsch

Why multiple languages rock my world

With fewer than ten-thousand inhabitants, Oberstdorf in southern Bavaria is as its German name suggests: an “upper village” tucked in the Allgäu Alps near the German-Austrian border. Yet, the town feels busy and full with skiers, snowboarders, and winter hikers.

It’s Sunday night and I’m on the hunt for “schnitzel and spätzle.” With my eye already on a place, I arrive at 630pm to a full house. I don’t have a reservation (which is dumb in a small town), but a table of four is available (which is fortunate). The server offers me the table, with the condition I’ll be sharing the table if two people want places. “Alles klar,” I reply.

I order a standard half-litre Weizen beer, along with the required schnitzel-and-spätzle platter. An elderly couple is offered two places at my table; they take one glance in my direction, and they’re gone. The server wears a puzzled look, and I can only shrug. A second couple arrives ten minutes later, and as they approach my table with curiosity, I tell them “die Plätze sind noch frei” (the places are available). They express their thanks, and take their seats across from me. Those last five German words set a positive tone for the rest of the evening.

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Wochenmarkt, Saturday farmers market, Neuenheimer Markt, Markplatz, Neuenheim, Heidelberg, Germany, fotoeins.com

My Heidelberg: Saturday farmers’ market in Neuenheim

In Heidelberg, the farmers’ markets are held regularly throughout the week at a number of locations throughout the city and region. One of six Saturday markets takes place across the Neckar river in Neuenheim. Most visitors in town will visit the Saturday market in Heidelberg’s Marktplatz, which leaves the other five Saturday markets pretty much “clear and free” to residents. And as I arrive at the market square in Neuenheim, it’s clear I’m in the minority, literally and figuratively. This is not criticism and it’s not a negative, as I used to come here occasionally when I lived here. I say as much to the various vendors, when I buy a cup of coffee, some cherry tomatoes, a piece of cake, and three empanadas.

Fresh fruit and vegetables, grown locally and imported from around Europe. Fresh bread and baked goods from a regional bakery. Fresh herbs, grown locally; fresh flowers, grown locally. Honey harvested from bees at a regional apiary. “Empanadas Argentinas”, by a woman from Córdoba who’s lived in Germany for over ten years. And there are fresh cuts of meat, tubs of olives, and glorious varieties of cheese from around Europe.

It’s time to stop eating and leave, when the vendors begin to pack. Another market, another day.

When I leave Heidelberg, no small measure of wistful longing remains; these are my streets, and this is one of my markets.

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Radeberger Exportbierbrauerei, Radeberg, Sachsen, Saxony, Germany, GTM15, fotoeins.com

Saxony’s Radeberger beer: “always special”

For me and my fellow travel media colleagues, the tall glass is a welcome sight. I never liked Radeberger sold in North America, but here in the original brewery in the city of Radeberg, that freshly drawn Pils tastes like sweet nectar.

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Ratskeller, Speyer, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany, fotoeins.com

Speyer: typically German in the Ratskeller

Normally, my passable handling of conversant German gets me far enough in a snack-joint (Imbiss) for a Döner or the gut-busting Dönerteller. On the infrequent occasion I’m inside a restaurant, it’ll be local German fare, much of which I’ve become accustomed while travelling within Germany since 2002.

The town or city hall in every city, town, or village is often accompanied by its own “Ratskeller” (Cellar) serving wine, beer, and food in an underground tavern. At the Speyer Ratskeller, a cold and wet Friday night is in full swing, the place packed with city residents filling all available tables and seats. My host apologizes for the wait, and I reply that it’s no problem. She suggests wine while I wait: definitely not a problem.

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Wurstkuchl, Regensburg, Bayern, Germany, fotoeins.com

Regensburg: Wurstkuchl, historic sausage kitchen

It must be midday, and time for lunch. There’s a queue more than twenty deep for the takeaway- or takeout-counter, as people walk away with a long thin grilled sausage sitting snug in an undersized oval bun. Next to the Döner, I’m also fond of the “Bratwurst”, or grilled pork sausage.

Along the Danube promenade in Regenburg’s Old Town is the historical sausage kitchen, formally “Die Historische Wurstkuchl zu Regensburg”, better known as “Wurstkuchl”. The Wurstkuchl is known as the oldest running grilled-sausage stand in the world, with the presence of a stand serving food to labourers from town and visitors from the river since the 12th-century (A,B).

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