Featured photo is of a very posh pooch on a very posh street in Stuttgart– the address where our dentist has his office.

We woke up to a rainy Thursday morning. This was a bummer, since although Bachofer offers “free” breakfast, unless you want cereal or something very simple, you have to take it at one of three places in town. Actually, that wasn’t so much of a bummer. I think I was just really tired of the neverending crappy weather.

We had the chance to have breakfast at each of the places Bachofer has arranged to allow guests to enjoy breakfast. On Thursday morning, we went to Bäckerei & Konditorei Kai Kauffmann, which is a very short walk from Bachofer. We chose the Kauffmann bakery because it opened earliest. Bill had a long class at the Jung Institute that morning, and we didn’t have time for a leisurely breakfast. Below are a few photos from the early morning of January 29th.

Although we’ve lived in Germany for a long time now, I haven’t had the chance to enjoy too many breakfasts at bakeries. Bill usually picks up baked treats at the bakery in Breckenheim on the rare occasions we decide to indulge. I don’t go with him. Maybe it’s time I went, although I believe our local bakery is just that– it’s not a Konditorei, too.

Anyway, the lady behind the counter recognized the card the Bachofer gave us to cover the cost of breakfast up to 24 euros per person. The Kauffman has a menu, so we ordered from it. I enjoyed watching people coming in and out– especially the German men who came in for coffee and bread before starting their workday. We came in well under the 48 euro limit for this repast.

After breakfast, we went back to the room so Bill could sit through his three hour lecture. I tried to read, but soon fell asleep. I find that I do that a lot these days! It was okay, though, because the weather was pretty bad on Thursday. There was a winter mix and steady rainfall, so it was okay to just have a lie in while my very steady and conscientious husband did some work toward someday becoming a Jungian analyst.

Once the class was over, it was time for lunch. Since we had late afternoon dental appointments in Stuttgart, we decided to have lunch in town. This turned out to be a good decision, because we discovered a delightful Italian place called Mamma Roma. The English speaking Italian lady behind the bar warmly welcomed us to have a seat near the fake fireplace– which I found kind of charming and oddly comforting– and order from the extensive menu.

Cold, rainy weather makes me especially want to drink red wine. It was about 1:00 PM, but that doesn’t really matter when you’re an overeducated housewife with no kids. Bill and I each had a glass of primitivo, shared a bottle of sparkling water, and we both chose dishes from the daily lunch specials. I had a rinderfilet steak with potatoes, and Bill had orchiaetta pasta Bolognese.

They had a deal in which if you ordered a starter, you could have coffee or espresso at the end. I don’t usually drink coffee after breakfast, but what the hell… I ordered the bruschetta, and Bill had lentil soup. I’m glad we did that, as both starters were excellent. I especially enjoyed the steak, which was perfectly cooked medium rare and not too big to finish. Bread was also included.

Prices were reasonable, and we weren’t rushed, even though we were finishing up at about the time their afternoon pause began. If you look at the third top photo below, you can see a man on the phone over Bill’s shoulder. On Saturday night, he recognized us at the restaurant next door. More on that later.

I really liked Restaurant Mamma Roma and would not hesitate to dine there again. In fact, I liked lunch so much that I pointedly thanked the very pleasant lady who waited on us. I said, “That was a very nice lunch. Thank you very much.” She beamed. It’s nice not to be an ugly American.

Our dental appointments were at 5:00 PM, so we headed back to the Bachofer to prepare. The housekeeper was servicing our room, so we took the opportunity to check out the Stübli in the hotel. This is where there’s a large table, TV, snacks, sodas, beer and wine. As I mentioned in an earlier post, non-alcoholic drinks and snacks are “gratis”. If you want beer or wine, you just write down what you take and pay for it later. I appreciated this very thoughtful and homey touch, as it gave us a non-awkward place to wait while our room was refreshed.

We headed to Stuttgart at about 4:00 PM, and were quickly reminded of why it’s often called STAUgart… Traffic was messy, and as usual, there were many building/road projects going on. Still, I have a weird affection for Stuttgart. I enjoyed living in the area for a total of six years, and in spite of its idiosyncrasies, it still feels a little like home– even though I’m not German, let alone Swabian!

Dr. Blair warmly greeted us with an incredulous look on his face. “You’re still here?!” he joked. Yes– we are. He’s been our dentist for over ten years, and he does an excellent job, even though sometimes he’s a bit eccentric. But, what the hell? I’m pretty eccentric, too.

Bill had called the office before we arrived, just to make sure we wouldn’t arrive at a closed practice. Our appointments were at 5, but according to their Web site, they close at 5. We didn’t want to waste a trip into Stuttgart. That actually did happen to us once, back in 2023. Someone had given us an appointment on German Unity Day, not realizing that it was a holiday. We showed up that day and no one was working! Bill was reassured that 5:00 is when the last appointments are available.

We both got our teeth thoroughly cleaned. Happily, this time, the hygienist used an egg timer so I knew exactly how long to hold the fluoride, in spite of it burning. And she was gentle with my cleaning, so I didn’t have bruised, sore gums afterward. She said she didn’t see a crack in my molar, which was a relief, since I’d noticed some sensitivity. I have also noticed that since the cleaning, my teeth haven’t been sensitive.

Dr. Blair joked that Bill had “cheated” on him with the dentist in Wiesbaden. And I reminded him that Bill broke his tooth while Dr. Blair was on break. He said, “I’m entitled to a break!” Yes, of course– but Bill didn’t want to wait a month to get his broken tooth fixed. As it turned out, Bill ended up having other stuff done in Wiesbaden by the excellent dentist up here. Maybe I should do the same… but I do genuinely like and trust Dr. Blair. He loves to chat with us, too. 🤭

I thought maybe we’d have dinner in Stuttgart, but the weather still sucked, and we weren’t at all hungry after lunch. Neither of us felt like trying to find a restaurant and making our way back to Waiblingen in the dark, cold night. So we decided to go back to Waiblingen and enjoy some German TV and wine in our room. Bill had plans for another long course on Friday morning, so he needed to rest up for that. The nice thing about our visit to Stuttgart was that we scored a parking spot on a higher level of the garage. That was a bonus on Saturday, when it came time to leave.

So ends my story of Thursday in Waiblingen… Stay tuned for the next part!