Dinners, birds, spargel and Landshut

May 27, 2008 · Filed Under An American Expat in Deutschland · 10 Comments 

Our busy weekend started with a walk through the forest and countryside near Laaber. On our walk, we met our landlord at his MIL’s place and they invited us in for coffee. As the men talked about the sale of the regional train routes to a private company, she told me she had something to show me that she knew I would appreciate. I followed her up a steep path to the edge of the forest, where she pointed out some wild orchids to me. She says that you can find single ones every once in a while, but it is rare to find a grouping of them like this.

After getting home, we jumped in the car and headed off to our anniversary dinner at Hagens Auberge in Regensburg. Oliver seriously dug the amuse gueule, but did not find the goose liver pate as appetizing. The restaurant (French, if you hadn’t figured that out yet) is seriously good. Probably the best restaurant we’ve been to in the Regensburg area. Although, if you’re craving Bavarian, you should head to Landgasthof Friesenmühle or Hotel Hirschen in Parsberg.

The next day, we went to check out the Vogelpark Abensburg (bird park). It’s pretty small, but nice. For a bird park, there were a surprising number of mammals and twice a day they have a short bird of prey show (Oliver got to pet an owl). See more of my photos from Vogelpark Abensburg on FlickR.

Locals may recognize the name Abensburg from all the spargel (white asparagus) stands dotting the area. I was curious, and I figured some of you might also be, so here is what a spargel field looks like:

They plant the spargel, bury it in manure, then cover that with black plastic to absorb the heat. Sounds yucky, but it’s pretty delicious. (It is white because of this protection from sunlight).

Finally, we headed over to Landshut for coffee and cake, sightseeing, and dinner at the worst Mexican restaurant in Germany. Aside from our culinary disappointment, Landshut is pretty awesome. I definitely want to go back, since we didn’t have time to see the castle. See more of my photos from Landshut on FlickR.

If you’re new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,