Food - The Essence of Culture

The GPS in the RV had been sending us in circles for about two hours. I suppose, seeing Passau’s streets transform into canals within hours should have tipped us off to this torrential downpour, but optimism helped keep my head & the RV above water.
My brother, driver & travel companion, Nash, without warning, reversed slightly and edged away from the Beemer trapped in front of us & gunned it into the empty field on our right. I screamed in terror! We zig zagged, attempting to not sink into the muck below.
Suddenly, underneath us, I felt the familiarity of a concrete road but one whose direction we were unsure of. We drove in the dark for some time until...in the distance, church bells rang out & silos emerged behind hills, while the brightening sky revealed intricate stone houses. A mix of relief, bewilderment & awe distracted us long enough to realize, as we drove deeper into this mysterious city, that we had no idea where we were. An elderly man beating a rug on the deck of his two-storey house smiled welcomingly. The road turned to cobblestone as farm houses turned to colourful brick blocks reminiscent of Burano island. Nash pulled over near a building riddled with missing pieces of it’s faded sky blue facade & attempted to connect to Wifi. I hopped out, aiming to do my own sort of connecting. I walked down the narrow path between ruins, following a familiar scent - the smell of freshly ground coffee filled the air while I fantasied about a macchiato. The town's Stadturnm peaked over the low structures - the guide in my search.
I ventured into an out-of-place Trattoria whose sign poked out between alleys to find my cravings met as I received the fix I so dearly craved. Striking up conversation with the Italian family that owned the most quirky “Tavola”, I was grateful that the youngest member of the family, Valentina, spoke English. We talked about her life, her schooling, & what she liked about living here in Germany.
“Germany?”, she laughed. “This is Austria! Wilkommen in Enns!”.
Enns, just two hours from Vienna & Austria’s oldest town has an eclectic collection of natives stretching beyond the Italian family whose restaurant specializes in everything & nothing all at the same time. Enns proved to be a joyous sanctuary for us before we continued unto the next leg of our journey to Vienna. Enns stands out in my memory as an unforgettable lesson in letting the road guide your travels. My only regret is that I did not buy a cannoli for the road.