Monday 3 August 2009

Viennese Escapes: Sunrise Along Lake Neusiedl


Dawn to Sunrise
As the sun slowly
climbs over the horizon
of the eastern sky,

the yellow fruits
of a wild yellow plum tree

reflect and multiply
the early sunrays' light.

Kriecherl
I found this wild growing, not grafted yellow plum -
native to Europe and the Caucasus -
in a thicket of woods along
the reedbeds of Lake Neusiedl.
The grass beneath the tree was strewn
with freshly fallen, sun-ripened fruits,
glistening in the morning dew.
I picked up a few:
They tasted like nourishment
from heaven!

Kriecherl
is the Austrian term for Krieche, *
also known as Hafter- or Pflaumenschlehe.

This wild mirabelle
reminds me of Dawson plums,
but with yellow, softer flesh that melts on the tongue,
bursting with apricot and honey flavours.
A spoonful of Kriecherl jam
on your toast on a dreary winter morning
takes you instantly
back to warm August days!

* Prunus domestica ssp. insititia Syn.:
Prunus insititia/insiticia

Photographed by Merisi
Along the shores of Lake Neusiedl
near Illmitz
in the early hours of
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Lake Neusiedl-Seewinkel
National Park

Less than an hour's drive
south of Vienna

15 comments:

  1. I wonder if those plums are as sweet as thea appear in your pictures :-)

    ReplyDelete
  2. What a delish find! I will pick up plums today at market! They won't be as good as yours but they will stop the craving I now have for plums!

    ReplyDelete
  3. A lovely summer escape from the city!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Beautiful plums! Like Carol, I now have a craving . . .

    (I'm ordering the new Lumix TZ7 that you suggested. Thanks! The SLR is in the future.)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Beautiful plums! Like Carol, I now have a craving . . .

    (I'm ordering the new Lumix TZ7 that you suggested. Thanks! The SLR is in the future.)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Oh.. they make my mouth water! Beautiful!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those plums look pretty good and you make 'em sound even better.

    ReplyDelete
  8. Lovely. I bet they make the best jam ever.

    Thanks so much for your insightful comment at WM. I like your wonderfully positive outlook on the subject, Merisi! :^)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Thank you all so much for your comments!

    LAKE VIEWER,
    yes, a true delicacy!
    I wished I had eaten more of them. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
  10. Thank you for callng by my place.
    What a fabulous and original blog yours is, I have just been drooling over your photos. I will call again.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Delicious color and delicious photos, and (I have it on your word) delicious plums!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Mirabelles! I love them and alas cannot find them in Rome, nor the kwetsches I grew up with too (in Lorraine, Nancy is a city of mirabelles).

    ReplyDelete
  13. Gleaning mmories from your post of other gleanings in hedgerows and along riverhbanks. The thrill of a plumtree along a countr lane, heavy with fruit with the overabundance covering the ground, or a wild apple tree in the forest begging to be relieved of its burden....the scent..the sunshine rises even now in memory...

    ReplyDelete
  14. Those plums are making me hungry, and I just got here, too. They served their purpose, Merisi.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to leave a note.