Today we are driving over the border into Bavaria to Schwangau, where we are visiting Neuschwanstein Castle – literally translated means New Swan Castle. The castle was built for King Ludwig II who was Wagner’s patron and the name is taken from Wagner’s opera character, the Swan Knight. Wagner never saw the castle as he died before it was completed. Although it looks like a medieval design, construction began in 1869, and was never finished before Ludwig’s sudden death in 1886. To this day, work is still being carried out. Christian Jank, who drew up the plans, was a theatrical designer and many of the rooms look like a setting from Wagner’s operas. Disney’s Magic Kingdom was said to be based on Neuschwanstein.

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When we arrive, we park at the bottom of the hill, collect our tickets and take the coach up the winding and narrow road to the drop off point. We then walk another 20 minutes up a steep lane, to get to the castle. We take the tour around this fascinating fairytale palace and then walk across the bridge to gain more stunning views.

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We walk back down to the car and head back to Ehrwald where tonight we are dining at Restaurant Holzerstubn (otherwise known as “Darlings” to us, as the patron always addresses us as Darlings). Holzerstubn has rooms above the restaurant and is always busy during summer and winter.

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Holzerstubn serves delicious soups, meats and specials of the day. Tonight we choose the pork, sourced from a local farm and the crackling is the best we have ever tasted. (See recipe). There is also Black Angus beef steak, with a choice of 200gm, 300gm or XXL 400gm weight. Sauces are pepper cream with brandy, mushroom herb sauce and garlic butter. Dot chooses a chicken salad with raspberry vinegar. After dinner we head back to Spielmanns for a night cap at the bar.

ROAST PORK WITH CRACKLING

The most important ingredient for this dish is good pork from a reliable butcher. We use Rolfes of Walsham Le Willows in Suffolk. They prepare the pork for us and score the skin which is so important to achieve crispy crackling.

Serves 4

1kg of rolled, boned shoulder of pork and salt – that’s it!

Make sure the pork is dried out well, if it is in any way wet, the crackling will not crisp, so remove it immediately from the wrapping and leave it in the fridge uncovered. I take the meat out of the fridge for a couple of hours before I cook it, to make sure it is completely dry.

Just before you put the meat into the preheated oven, sprinkle salt liberally over the scored skin and place in a very hot oven 240ºC (220ºC FAN) for 20 mins. Then turn the temperature down and leave the meat to cook for one hour and twenty minutes at 180ºC (160ºC FAN). Remove from oven, check it is cooked through and leave to rest for 10 mins. Remove crackling and slice meat onto a serving dish. Serve with gravy made from the meat juices and Speck-Kartoffel (recipe for this is in my first blog on Austria). Roast potatoes also go well with this dish, plus either a salad or green cabbage.

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Guten Appetit