Austria-A Cleaner Reality

I am not cooking much these days, although I have few things I want to make before I leave Italy.  I have been pampered by my mom's cooking and baking in her kitchen in the heat of summer is not ideal.  I haven't stopped taking pictures though, so I leave you with some photos I snapped during a wonderful trip to Austria I took last week with few "old" friends.

What a different world Austria is, clean, orderly, organized.  I wish Italy would learn from this neighboring country.   It is not just a question of size and population density, there is pride in keeping cities clean and blooming with flowers.  The country side is absolutely stunning, with fields of corn, wheat, and soy.  Many fields are used to cut grass for the animals and they are a great source of wild flowers.

The woods are also kept clean and are blooming with Digitalis, a stunning plant.

Digitalis purpurea, how can such a beautiful plant be so deadly?

As we were walking in the woods foraging for mushrooms, we run into the biggest blanket of blueberry bushes I have ever seen.   We started eating them like crazy and then decided to bring some back to our home to cook with them, filling few water bottles.  I made a blueberry cake with a streusel topping that I didn't get to photograph since I got sick with the stomach flu.

We also drove to the Czech Republic, and visited Cesky Krumlov, a beautiful town, with one of the most beautiful castles in Europe.   

Until next time!