Skiing with Olympians....sort of

What do Winter Olympics Gold Medallion skiier Lindsey Vonn and Zev and Fi have in common?

 

Why, they have all skiied at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, of course!

 

Just so happens that American skiier Lindsey Vonn is best friends with Germany's top female skiier (also a Gold medalist at Vancouver), Maria Riesch, who is featured in the picture above with Lindsey. According to NBC, Lindsey Vonn and her husband spend Christmas with Maria Riesch and her family in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Lindsey also speaks a little German. Hearing her speak German was actually quite motivating for Fi, because it showed Fi that speaking German without sounding like a foreigner (ie from the US or Australia) is easier said than done! It was interesting to watch the Winter Olympics from Germany, because we saw a lot of events that Germans participated in, and only a smattering of events that included athletes from other countries. Fi was really hoping to see the figure skating events and the Aussies, namely Torah Bright, in action, but sadly, they were not featured on our German TV channels.

 

Nonetheless, we enjoyed a lovely (and sunny!) weekend skiing in Garmisch-Partenkirchen this past weekend.

 

We skiied with local friends, Daniel (from Australia) and his German girlfriend, Susi.

 

The weather was so nice that our faces got a little tanned.

We ate hearty food, including this dish called "Leberkaese" which translates to Liver Cheese. With a fried egg on top. Mmmmmmm. Zev ate that and liked it. He says that it doesn't really have liver in it.....

I just HAD to look up the ingredients for this traditional South Germany dish, and yes, Zev was right- there are no livers in Leberkaese. The other ingredients however....

Leberkaese Recipe for 15 people:

3 kg lean beef

500g pig's neck

250g fatty calf's belly with rind

1 onion, grated

80g salt

8g ground white pepper

1 tbsp marjoram

2 crushed garlic cloves

a little lemon zest

1.5 litres water

10g lard

We love Germany- the culture, the scenery, the people, the language (working on that one!) and yes, even the food.  

Hope you have a wonderful week!