Part of the Original Sound of Music Tour is going to Mondsee, a lake side town one hour away from Salzburg. If Salzburg is like one huge storybook given its charm and captivating beauty, Mondsee is sort of a mini-me, more quaint but not sleepy and deserving of a visit from Sound of Music fans all over the world. The claim to fame of this town is the St. Michael Parish Church. St. Michael just happened to be the church used in the wedding scene of Maria and Captain Von Trapp. We arrived an hour before lunch and the weather was picture perfect that day. Bright and sunny, too sunny in fact that I had to wear flip flops.
With a cheerful yellow facade, St. Michael is beautiful at the outside with two clock towers reaching for the heavens. Elegant without being imposing. No wonder this was the choice location for the movie. Once you step inside and see the splendid interior of the church, you can't help but be transported back to the movie and sing in your head " how do you solve a problem like Maria?" Romantic and peaceful , we felt very grateful and blessed to be inside that church. Heading out, there are free bottles of holy water for the visitors, you simply donate if you want to for the upkeep of the church.
After St. Michael , it was time for lunch!!! Mondsee is dotted with quaint stores and restaurants. We picked the Italian ristorante across because it was near the cafe selling the best apple strudel . Sometimes, you have to be strategic with your food choices. Apple strudel with ice cream or if you want, there's also a cheese strudel with ice cream. Drool!!!!
Surprisingly, Ristorante Pizzeria Nudelini turned out to be an excellent choice because it served the best pizza we had for the entire trip. The runner up is in Bordeaux but I will make another entry for it. We sat at the second floor so we can get a charming view of the hustle and bustle outside and picked a table near the chef's corner so we can see how our food will be prepared. The set up has that old world charm with a freshly cut rose in each table.
They have a wide selection of pizzas and pastas but decided to order a margherita pizza and spinach filled tortellini with creamy gorgonzola sauce for our pasta. The Italian chef prepared the crust using a fresh dough and he topped it with the usual basil, tomatoes, olive oil before putting it inside the brick oven.
Voila! The crust wasn't too thick or thin, it was perfect and everything tasted fresh. Best pizza for us. In fact, this pizza is my cover photo for blog header hehe.. I love their margherita pizza. I think a good way to judge an Italian restaurant is to order the simplest pizza of them all without the assorted toppings because you'll see how good they are with the crust and in bringing out the flavor using only fresh herbs and tomatoes for toppings.
best margherita pizza!!!!
The pasta was equally delicious. Spinach goodness inside the tortellini bite after bite coupled with the gorgonzola cheese sauce..wow..for a split second, I wanted to be left behind Mondsee and just take the next bus going back to Salzburg hahaha...
spinach tortellini with gorgonzola and blue cheese
But we made haste , well I made haste as if a matter of life and death to go to the cafe serving the best strudel with vanilla ice cream. I made it in time! I got the apple strudel with vanilla ice cream.
I had it to go because we had to leave for the next stop already. The strudel was yummy. It wasn't too sweet, the apples were perfectly cooked and the crust was flaky but solid enough to hold the apples. And it was perfect with the home made vanilla ice cream.
It was a great stop over from the tour. I loved everything about Mondsee , the picturesque town , the shops , St. Michael and more importantly the food!!!! I will surely remember Ristorante Pizzeria Nudelini for the best pizza and the oooh lala tortellini . And the cafe I can't recall the name for the apple strudel with ice cream. These are just a few of my favorite things...
Thanks to Marco for all the great shots.
