Salzburg - Nuii ice cream and holiday snaps (@NLi10)

One of my ideas for my two week holiday in Europe was to film loads and put up mini reviews on YouTube.  Most places that would have really been quite boring for both of us - but Salzburg would have been fine.

Here are some lovely Brezen/Pretzels for you to eat if you don't mind that there are wasps on almost all of them.  Yum!

As it was stupidly hot (for an Englisher - for the locals it was almost 10 degrees hotter the previous week!) I went for an icecream instead.

This one is basically and almond Magnum.  I shall procede to hold it up in front of tourist hot-spots.

This is the castle from the last review but a lot closer.

This is the entrance to the funicular that takes you up to the castle without effort.  If you buy a Salzburg pass then go right as you get inside the door you can skip the ticket queue and get right on up!

I'm saving that for tomorrow (although this review is going up almost a month to the day afterwards!) so here is a nice view of the cobbled streets that lead you up the back - free - way.  No one is daft enough to wander up in this heat though right?

Up we go! Every angle in Salzburg is very pretty.

And for those of you who have seen The Sound OF Music - this is the exact gate that Maria comes out of at a key part with her suitcase.  Apparently - I've not seen it properly yet... They had to cut a hole in the bars in the gate to get the shot - it's in the final edit but you don't notice it.  Eavesdropping on the American tour groups is great!

Hanalei Island IPA (Waitrose) By @SpectreUK

There was a barbecue smoking away and a DJ outside at the gym today. I was swimming in the outside pool right next to where the DJ decided to set up. After a while I realised I've turned into my dad. All I wanted to do was to ask him to turn it down! However, the sun was out and there were plenty of people enjoying the weather and the entertainment. There was a (scary) clown too, but I have no idea why. After my pool exercises and I had been in the sauna a few times, I did finally manage to enjoy some of the music from the other side of the pool area, so not to get deafened.

Hanalei is a town on the north shore of Kauai, in Hawaii. The label of this 4.5% volume Hanalei IPA from the Kona Brewing Company, in Hawaii, reminds me a little of that fairly sunny and cheerful scene today. Although instead of kayaking, I'd probably be more at home swimming near the beach of that seaside. This IPA has been flavoured with passionfruit, orange and guava. I like orange and guava in beer, but I have had an unsavoury experience in the past with an extremely bitter passionfruit beer. I'm hoping the orange and guava may calm the passionfruit down a little here.

On opening the 355ml bottle I was surprised to smell more of a herbal hoppy aroma. I could also smell a fairly heavy hit from the orange. Things were looking up. I have a tuna sandwich and sushi for dinner, which should go well with this beer. Fortunately on taste the mixed fruits in this beer are finely balanced. From the start the herbal hops add the bitterness, and not the added fruits. There is sweetness from the pale and sweeter malts at the back of the flavour and into the aftertaste. This is definitely a India Pale Ale to be enjoyed on a sunny day on a beach, in the garden, or by an outdoor pool even if there is a noisy DJ!

Green Tea Kit Kat (Tesco) By @Cinabar

I have to say I am impressed by Kit Kat for bringing out such an adventurous flavour in the UK, the minute I spotted this Green Tea Kit Kat I couldn’t wait to try it. This particular Kit Kat has launched in similar style of packaging to the Ruby Kit Kat and it too looks rather posh. I like the Japanese art work and characters on the packaging.
Once the wrapper is off there is one thing that needs to be said about the contents, this Green Tea Kit Kat is green! Very green!!! This upped my interest levels further, I’m loving that this adventurous Japan inspired Kit Kat is available as a proper UK release.

One thing that did worry me was the aroma was quite strong, it was of Green Tea but the scent is quite grassy and herby and I did worry the matcha in the Kit Kat might be a little to strong. Green tea can be a little bitter if over brewed, and I hoped that wasn’t the case here or indeed the flavour they were aiming for.
I tried some of the Kit Kat and the taste was thankfully spot on, matcha yes but creamy and sweet enough to to bring balance and enhance the tea taste. This does taste distinctively of green tea, but the flavours of white chocolate with it are magic, different yet tasty. Obviously this bar of chocolate contains all the usual crunchy goodness of a regular Kit Kat in terms of texture too. Thumbs up for this Green Tea Kit Kat and I hope it finds a nice niche market here in the UK that leads to some more exotic flavours being released.

Austrian Kombucha & Pancakes overlooking Salzburg (@NLi10) @carpediemtea

Salzburg was one of the workhorse locations on my trip.  I'd always fancied seeing some Mozart inspired places and didn't want a train trip to go over 8 hours.  I'd have had to change in Salzburg anyway so I stayed for 2 nights, and it was easily my favourite part of the trip.

I'd never been to Austria and my guess of 'Germany but with breathable air' wasn't far off.

I accidentally went quite a bit off course, dodged all the nice parts and went into the homes and shops part. Then to get back I had to climb up the back of another giant hill, but one that promised to have art and things at the top.

Most importantly it had a cafe.

If you see somewhere that not only has a great view of a Schloss but also puts your soft drink into the wine glass then you know you are paying for the experience but I really didn't mind.  This was my first proper look at Austria and I saw it at its best!

And they stocked the Austrian Kombucha that I'd wanted to try in Luxembourg but had the Green Tea by the same people instead.  Result.

The ingredients are in French too so hopefully this little Carpe Diem company can send some of their stuff to the UK so that I can reminisce at home about how wonderfully perfect this moment was.  Maybe Ocado or Waitrose have it.

The 'cheap for the tourists' option on the menu was apricot filled pancakes, but I needed hydration and sugar and this was spot on.  I decided to eat the botanicals. No clue whether that was the right call.

And that view!!

(shame the museum underneath was the worst on the trip - but the sound of music museum at the bottom of the hill was hilarious and really interesting so made up for it).