EUROPE 2008 - 18 APRIL 98560

jessicarlo.blogspot.com - I last left you on Saturday evening, April 19, waiting for Simon and his wife Jana to pick me up for dinner. They did, along with the dog Fani. On the way they told me that we were having dinner at the place where their wedding reception was held. Jana produced their wedding album and showed me their wedding pictures. The wedding, apparently, was in mid-winter OUTSIDE! There was about three feet of snow. I was amused but not surprised by this, knowing those two!

We arrived at a place halfway up a mountain grade located not five feet off a busy highway. We parked in the gravel lot and crunched our way up to the door through the cold, misting rain.

The place was very rustic: board floors and walls, rough-hewn tables and chairs, assorted antlered heads mounted on the walls. We had a beer while waiting on the place where Simon wanted to be to open. In about half an hour we were led to another building adjacent to the first one that was even more rustic than the first. It was very dark inside and my first impression was a large fireplace glowing Satan red in the darkness of the room. On the chimney was a gorilla mask. Never did find out what that was about. But apparently “King Kong” means the same in any language.

There were myriad animal skins, road signs and assorted paraphernalia tacked to the log-cabin walls, and more rough picnic tables and benches crowded the three large, empty rooms. The word “Appalachian” occurred to me more than once. I realized the animal skins tacked to the wall were probably more for insulation than decoration.

Lining the exposed log rafters were about a million badges from mountain climbing and trekking events. I learned that organized climbs and treks provide the participants with wooden commemorative badges made from quarter-inch cross-sections of tree limbs about three or four inches in diameter. Each had a logo and date burned into the wood. Another thing I learned was that trekking was a big sport here. I don’t think I even realized trekking was considered a sport until that evening.

The way I understand it, trekking is similar to backpacking but it’s more a way of touring an area rather than having camping as the destination. Either way, you need a backpack, good boots and a strong constitution to engage in it. Lots of trekkers combine backpacking and rock climbing as part of their treks.

Other decorations on the log walls: two American flags tacked to the wall (I learned that it was a defiant act of “freedom” under the Soviets to display an American flag), a Native American totem pole, horseshoes and tack, cowboy hats and boots. I wondered if somehow we’d been transported to the Smokies back home.

In either case, there we were. We sat at a table next to the fireplace, which was the only source of heat in the place. Simon and Jana told me that the adjacent dining room of this building was where their wedding reception was held. That picture was becoming clearer by the minute.

On the drive to this place, they told me that this place served joints of pork (haxen in German) that were delicious. Man, THAT was an understatement! As the cabin began to fill slowly, we placed our order for dinner. When the plates arrived, the meat had two little paper flags on toothpicks sticking out of it, one American, one Spanish. I started to wonder if the kitchen knew I was American, but I’ve since come to know that decorating meat with little flags is not uncommon in this part of the world, especially in a place like this one.

Intentional or no, I was on the receiving end of a platter that held a huge joint of pork. I don’t even remember what the sides were because the pork was so scrumptious! It was melt-in-your-mouth, fall-off-the-bone tender and must’ve been roasted for hours. We’d ordered two haxen for the three of us, but we couldn’t finish all of it, even with Fani’s help.

By this time the place was nearly at capacity and the crowd was getting loud. There was lots of beer being served and the chatter grew louder and louder. I was introduced to the proprietor, after whom the placed was named, whose name was Koza. He was 40-ish but it was hard to tell because of his beard and long hair. He wore a shabby hat and dressed in camouflage pants and a sweatshirt. He looked like a typical redneck! Simon told me his name translated as goat, a female goat.

He strode about the place to and fro, serving beer and food and laughing noisily with the clientele, shaking hands and slapping backs. He seemed to know most people there; he definitely knew Simon. It amazed me to see such a familiar character in a foreign land and gratified me to see someone enjoying his work so much.

Presently I heard a band tuning up in one of the other rooms and soon they began to play. I couldn’t see them from where I sat but I was enjoying the music as a backdrop to our conversation. Pretty soon as I was talking my trash German with Simon it dawned on me that I was hearing the bluegrass tune “Rocky Top” in English! These guys were good! Sometimes a non-native English speaker singing a song in English falls a little short, but the singer, though you could tell he wasn’t from Tennessee, was doing a great imitation of it! Now I was pretty sure I was in the Appalachians.

Next thing I knew Simon had dragged me into the other room and sat us down at the table with the band! There were men playing two acoustic guitars, an electric bass, a mandolin and a banjo and a woman playing fiddle. I learned that they just show up here on weekends to jam; they weren’t an organized band. Sure had me fooled!

But it was late so Jana and I dragged Simon out of the place amid protests and they dropped me off for the evening. It probably wasn’t the wisest preparation for the next day’s activity: climbing.