Just a few kilometers from Puchberg, from where a famous rack railway takes one to the top of Schneeberg, lies the town of Grünbach, known as the starting point for climbing two nearby mountains. One is the huge Hohe Wand, where one can hike for hours from one Gasthaus to another; the second one is the Geländ, featuring a great view, but just one very simple hut, the self-service Geländehütte.
Against all expectations, this hut serves a very authentic Brettljause, which you may appreciate more than me if you like Blutwurst. Even though I have learnt to accept it in reasonable quantities, three thick slices were anything but reasonable and could only be consumed by dipping them into mustard and horseradish. At the same time, I was looking forward to the other ingredients: three thickly cut slices of ham, a thick slice of lightly colored fatty sausage resembling a Wiener but possibly made out of veal, a hard Hauswurst, and a slice of Speck, served uncut with the impossible-to-chew skin. (There was some cheese as well, but let’s face it, any cheese that requires red pepper powder to make it taste of anything at all is ignorable.)
Of all the ingredients, the Speck disappointed most of all, being quite fat and rubbery. The ham and the Hauswurst were great though, and the panorama fully deserved the hour of rather laborious climbing. If you have never been on the Geländ, you should certainly visit it, and maybe return every three years or so.
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