Oasis in the Snow

Our Christmas trip has been great. Munich, Salzburg, and the German Alps meant a lot of site seeing in the cold though. Thankfully today we found solitude in the Austrian Alps.

Even though I had sworn off Rick Steve's (as in Rick Steve’s Travel Guides) restaurant recommendations we decided to give him one more chance. This decision came more from a lack of other choices than from confidence that he's steer us to something worth while. Well Rick, you've redeemed yourself.

The Alpenhotel in Ruette, Austria, near the German boarder in Bavaria was fantastic. Downstairs is a cozy little restaurant. The customers seemed to be split between locals and tourists – mostly who appeared to be in the area to ski. The room was cozy, with big tables and small tiled stoves keep the place extra warm.

The food was fantastic. Kevin had roasted goose and I have a pot of chicken, beef, and pork in a mushroom sauce. For dessert we had dumplings with chocolate sauce. I have to say this was one of the best meals we've had so far.

And the best part was, when we were ready to go back to our room, all we had to do was go upstairs! The next morning we went for a run on a small trail near the hotel. The views were awesome and my "winter in the Alps" fantasy was complete.

Now I am ready to head back north the Rhine Rive valley where the temperatures are warmer. Tomorrow we're going to spend the last day of our trip in Baden-Baden, an ancient spa town soaking in the thermal baths.