Beware of the nose of the cheese

Vineyards and a distant Lake Neusiedl

We had to get back early from our trip as Cate had to fly to Moscow for a few days.

But we had a wonderful time in Das Schmidt – except that – as usual for us – the room was too hot and there was of course no air conditioning. This simply does not exist in provincial Austria – or indeed as far as we have discovered – in  provincial Europe.

There is always heating of course – but the cooling is what we miss because it is inevitably too hot in the rooms for us.

This is why we like to travel to cold places.

We had to leave the door open – and therefore suffered the town clock which chimed every quarter hour – but mercifully stopped at 11:00 PM and did not start until 6:00 AM (shriek!)

We have never been to any town in Austria that did not have a chiming clock.

Das Schmidt is one of those typical Austrian hotels that has a pool, sauna and spa.

It is also typical in that it provides what the call a ‘halb pension’ which means that the cost of accommodation also includes breakfast and dinner.

When you arrive you are given a menu so that you can make your choices for the evening meal - there are usually three choices for the main course. Then each day at breakfast you have a new menu to complete.

When you visit the restaurant for the first time you find the table with your name or room number on it and that is yours for your stay.

The food is usually – how should we say it – unremarkable – but is adequate for the purpose of  maintaining life.

Das Schmidt did have a very nice cheese selection – and – the first time we have ever seen this anywhere – a sign asking cheese eaters not to cut the noses off the cheeses.

We only discovered fairly recently that it is apparently the height of bad manners to cut the noses off cheeses – and we have been adopting this course of action assiduously ever since - so as to not appear plebian.