I clearly remember opening my Let's Go travel guide on the flight from DC to Vienna and reading in awe about a heralded annual apricot festival to be held in the village of Krems. "I have got to see this," I thought in excitement, and my anticipation for the event only grew as the third weekend in July approached.
And so it was with much excitement and a spring in my step that I boarded my first train yesterday morning, expecting to see among other delights, a 100 meter long apricot cake and traditional folk dancing around the apricots. I had visions of joining the villagers, learning their dances, and eating apricots together on the beautiful Danube River.
Imagine my surprise, when, after a rather harrowing train journey and lengthy walk to the river, I found no such traditional delights! Certain I must just be missing the 100 meter long cake, I went around asking the villagers where it was in broken German. They looked at me like I was crazy. To emphasize the great length of the cake I held my arms far apart. "You know, the Marillenfleck, 100 meters long!" They had no idea what I was talking about. (After looking at the schedule more closely, it's possible the cake thing happens today.. oops)
The festival consisted of a few stands selling apricots and sausages, with a couple of retirees milling about looking hot and weary. Not exactly the hotbed of apricot activity I had been anticipating. I did get some awesome jam, and I had a piece of Marillenfleck, which was amazing. It was neat to see Krems, a beautiful Austrian village. As for traditional folk dancing around the apricot, well, that must be just a ploy to lure unsuspecting backpackers in search of authentic Austrian experiences.
I also wanted to share a snippet of conversation concerning apricots with my friend Daniel, whom I am cajoling to visit me in August:
Daniel:well- you going somewhere this weekend?
4:19 PM me: Yeah - big apricot festival in a tiny austrian village!
Daniel: oh damn
4:20 PM you can use apricots to tell the future and predict the weather
Wait, maybe thats a persimmon
definitely not the apricot
my mistake, well the apricot is still really cool
And so it was with much excitement and a spring in my step that I boarded my first train yesterday morning, expecting to see among other delights, a 100 meter long apricot cake and traditional folk dancing around the apricots. I had visions of joining the villagers, learning their dances, and eating apricots together on the beautiful Danube River.
Imagine my surprise, when, after a rather harrowing train journey and lengthy walk to the river, I found no such traditional delights! Certain I must just be missing the 100 meter long cake, I went around asking the villagers where it was in broken German. They looked at me like I was crazy. To emphasize the great length of the cake I held my arms far apart. "You know, the Marillenfleck, 100 meters long!" They had no idea what I was talking about. (After looking at the schedule more closely, it's possible the cake thing happens today.. oops)
The festival consisted of a few stands selling apricots and sausages, with a couple of retirees milling about looking hot and weary. Not exactly the hotbed of apricot activity I had been anticipating. I did get some awesome jam, and I had a piece of Marillenfleck, which was amazing. It was neat to see Krems, a beautiful Austrian village. As for traditional folk dancing around the apricot, well, that must be just a ploy to lure unsuspecting backpackers in search of authentic Austrian experiences.
I also wanted to share a snippet of conversation concerning apricots with my friend Daniel, whom I am cajoling to visit me in August:
Daniel:well- you going somewhere this weekend?
4:19 PM me: Yeah - big apricot festival in a tiny austrian village!
Daniel: oh damn
4:20 PM you can use apricots to tell the future and predict the weather
Wait, maybe thats a persimmon
definitely not the apricot
my mistake, well the apricot is still really cool
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