salt – Energy and Time

Austria days 34-35: Obertraun & Hallstadt

September 22nd: A long driving day. We stopped for lunch at a small roadside food stand that turned out to be surprisingly good, with many regional specialties.

I had a “bread soup”: beef-onion soup with chunks of bread and thinly-sliced crepe/pancake “noodles”.

Carol had a nice fried bratwurst that came with an intense mustard and grated horseradish.

We didn’t buy an Austrian toll-road pass, so we had to drive back roads that wound through a lot of scenic mountain passes. But the weather was a bit cloudy.

Eventually we arrived at our almost-lakeside hotel, the Seerose, in Obertraun.

The next-door Pizzeria Kegelbahn looked pretty good, so we had dinner there. It turned out to be excellent. I ordered soup and a cutlet, while Carol went for comfort-food lasagna. (Kegel is an Austrian form of bowling or skittles, so “Kegelbahn” could be translated as “bowling alley”; the restaurant has 2 lanes near the back.)

The garlic soup was creamy, intensely garlicky, and utterly delicious.

Turkey schnitzel with cranberry relish and parsley potatoes

Lasagne Bolognese, and yet another attempt to find a decent dark beer

September 23rd: We planned to see the Dachstein ice cave in the morning, but their cable car lift was out of order. They said it would be fixed in half an hour, but 2 hours later it was still not working. So, we wasted a couple of hours sitting around waiting for it, but eventually gave up, which was wise , because they never did get it running that day.

So instead, we went to the nearby Salzwelten (“salt worlds”) salt mine above Hallstadt. This is the oldest known salt mine on the planet, dating back about 7000 years.

It’s a long cable-railway ride up to the mine.

Looking down across the lake to Obertraun

For some reason, I don’t appear to have taken any still photos inside the mine. But Carol did.

About to enter, wearing my pink knit cap

Video of Carol and I descending the wooden slide

For dinner we went back to Pizzeria Kegelbahn. Why go searching for something else when you’ve got something this good right next door?

Carol opted for a Salzkammergut Pizza featuring local meats with corn, onions, and mushrooms.

I got the Hearty Lumberjacks Steak, “pork with roasted potatoes, onion, bacon, mushrooms”.

Croatia day 26: Nin & Pag

September 14th: We started with the saltworks at Nin. Salt has been made here for about 1500 years.

We weren’t allowed to go out into the salt ponds, but a tour of schoolchildren were.

Only a few species of halophilic plants can grow in the brine.

Then it was on to the island of Pag. Much of Pag is near-desert, but the island is home to 40,000 sheep and is famous for its varietal cheeses. So of course we had to tour the Sirana Gligora cheese factory.

We had to wear masks AND hoods and gowns. The purplish cheese was aged in vats of wine-grape skins (what’s left over after they squeeze out the juice).

Of course we had to order the large cheese sampler for lunch. It had 10 different cheeses with vegetables, grapes, olives, cantelope, and fig jam.

Looking down on the city of Pag. You can see how dry and desolate much of the island is.

To Colleen

Perhaps
the fragile, redolent aura
of the caftan you left behind ...

or the sketch I colored
with your skin, your hair
years before we met ...

or, again
walking the path
we ran together, winded, laughing,
our limbs melting effortlessly
into one harmonious rhythm,

your absence more tangible
than the presence of those who are near me ...

perhaps none of these things
or all of them and something more.

But like salty sands,
my days taste of return,
of the tide coming in.

Oakland
circa January-February 1975