Kufstein went by in a blink of an eye! Have you heard of Riedel glasses? They are very popular and I knew they were made in Europe but had no idea they were made in Kufstein. We visited the Riedel factory and went in and saw how their wine glasses and carafes are made. That was pretty fascinating and the way these people work so quickly with hot glass and shaping them so perfectly is absolutely amazing. We had to walk into the area they were working and it was very warm! It was around 80 degrees but just enclosed in a pretty small room. Everyone in my group was taking off their jackets, scarves, sweaters…you name it! I finally was cozy and kept bundled up 🙂 That’s what you get for always being cold I guess!

The rest of the day was spent exploring their famous fortress. I has beautiful views and learning all the tunnels was interesting. I was at a point where I could not retain anymore dates or names of former people and so when I heard “gin bar”, I perked up! The gin bar and Austrian style tapas was the evening plan. This evening goes down to be my favorite evening in Austria. I love a quaint bar that has a story and cozy feel to it. This was exactly it! Add in craft cocktails and it is hard to ever get me to leave. The bar was considered a “speak easy” bar. I learned that is what they called bars in the time of Prohibition. I will let the pictures speak for the ambiance but do have to rave about their bartender some. The menu is an entire book so naturally most of us has not idea what we wanted. He would ask us a basic flavor profile that we were looking for and he would then go and create. He did a marvelous job and that is quite a talent! I had a refreshing gin drink. It had citrus flavors and a clean finish. It was perfect as I headed into the meal that would beyond fill me up!

The restaurant we were eating it was connected to the gin bar. We had our very own private, cute, and authentic style room with a large square table. I could not believe how large the table was but in the end, we needed every possible little space on that table for the amount of food served. The flavors were absolutely on point but the amounts that was ordered was way too much! We had spaetzle, schnitzel, ribs, cheese dumplings, a ravioli, and a sort of hash dish. Maybe I liked the dinner so much because it was a tapas style, but I think that was only the start of it. The food was easily the best tasting food of my trip. Thankfully I was wearing leggings (elastic waistband for the win) and we had a nice walk back to the hotel after.

Early morning wake up call for my final stop back in Salzburg. Being a food coma allowed for wonderful sleep! Salzburg brings an unexpected, but exciting purchase for me to bring back home. Cannot wait to share!

xo