Saturday night, Bill and I decided to go back to that new Greek place in our neighborhood. Part of the reason we went there was because it was hot outside and we didn’t want it to get hotter in the house due to cooking. I also wanted to try the gyros, since the dorade had left me somewhat unimpressed last time we were there.
When we walked into the restaurant, the lady running it positively beamed at us. She remembered us from the previous week and was obviously delighted that we’d come back for more Greek food. Bill and I both ordered gyros priced at 8,50 euros. It came with cabbage salad, pommes with cheese on them, and t’zatziki. We also had beer and a couple of house shots of ouzo.
Ouzo time!
Small cabbage salad… I have to watch how much cabbage I eat, otherwise my guts go crazy. This was a nice salad, though. The tangy dressing really set it off.
And gyros… Personally, I could have done without the cheese on the fries, but Bill liked it. It was pretty mild, which is a good thing in my opinion, but I’m weird about cheese.
The food was good and the restaurant had more business than our last visit. As we finished up, the lady chatted with us and told us more about how much she loves and misses Greece. She said that she finds Germans “cold”. She is not the first person I have heard say that.
I will admit, sometimes Germans can seem aloof and unfriendly. I have found that usually, once you give them some time, they warm up. I have also found that a lot of Germans are true friends once you break the ice with them. In a way, they remind me a little of folks from the midwestern United States, which makes sense because there are a lot of German immigrants in that area. I grew up in the southern United States, where people tend to be very warm and friendly, but maybe aren’t as sincere as they could be… “Bless their hearts!” 😉
Likewise, it often seems like Italians and Greeks are a lot more gregarious and friendly than Germans are. And yet, I don’t always have as much trust in them as I do in many Germans. I know it’s wrong to judge people as a group because everyone is an individual and there are often exceptions to stereotypes. I just thought it was interesting that this lady from Greece laments the same way some people from the United States do when they are living in a different culture, be it within the US or in some other country.
Anyway, as we were talking, her co-workers were nodding in agreement about her comments about Germany and how Germans can be “cold”. I told her that since we live in town and tend to be lazy, she may find herself learning more English! 😀 She gave me a big hug. So now Bill and I have yet another Greek restaurant on our roster where we’ll probably be regulars.
If I’m honest, I think I like the food better at Taverne Beim Greichen. But since it’s easier to walk to Taverne Bei Dimi, we’ll probably go there more often. And, of course, anytime we go to Tubingen, we will stop in to see the Mad Scientist in Entringen… At this rate, we may be eating gyros every weekend.