Monthly Archives: July 2015

anecdotes

Bill’s birthday…

Yesterday, my husband Bill turned 51.  We decided to go to Taverne Bei Dimi, the local Greek joint , for dinner.  The sweet lady who is usually there was absent last night.  Her brother, the chef, told us she went to Greece.  I hope she’s enjoying herself, despite all the upheaval going on right now.  Despite her absence, we had a good time.  Though there were several people in the smoking area watching TV and gambling, we were the only ones in the dining room.  Bill got a kick out of one lady’s t-shirt.  It said “Math sucks”.  I agree.

Local hefeweizen.  One of these days, we’ll have to visit the brewery, which is near where we live.  Baisinger’s Teufel (devil) Weisse is pretty decent.

 

We didn’t get too fancy last night.  I decided to have gyros and Bill had souflaki.  Both came with the cabbage salad featured below.  I actually ate the tomato, which I don’t usually do because they usually disappoint me.  Last night’s tomato was quite good!

A windy night in Germany…

My gyros… The fries usually come with cheese.  I was glad when the chef asked if I wanted cheese last night because I’m not a big fan of it.  Bill loves it, though.  These gyros were very good.  So were the pommes.

And so was the souflaki.  

There’s no shortage of decent Greek food in our area.  I can’t believe it took so long for me to discover how good it is…  especially tz’atziki.  We enjoyed a pre and post meal shot of ouzo, too.

I guess this isn’t a bad way to celebrate 51 years…

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anecdotes, housekeeping tips

Hard water stain removal…

Here in the Stuttgart area, the water is full of minerals.  The minerals may be good for one’s health, but they aren’t so good for shower stalls and glassware, which stubbornly bear the hard water stains like badges of dishonor.

I had been watching with dismay as my glass shower stall became more and more opaque with the mineral stains.  Some enterprising soul in our local Facebook group asked what could be used to remove the residue.  Although I had some luck with German bathroom cleaner I was using when we first got here, I hated the way the stuff smelled (like cheap men’s cologne).  So when I went to the Real the other day, I decided to pick up some cleaner that was recommended by people in the know.

Evidence of hard water…  No amount of scrubbing with Soft Scrub or window cleaner would get rid of these hard water stains…

Frosch vinegar cleaner…  You are supposed to dilute this with water, but I didn’t have a sprayer handy.  I ended up using it straight.  Essig is the German word for vinegar, while Reiniger means cleaner.

New and improved look…  

Frosch vinegar cleaner does a good job of getting rid of those pesky stains.  It smells very strongly of vinegar and, truth be told, I probably could have just gotten some plain white vinegar and water and gotten the same result for less money.  I’ve heard lemon oil also works, though I haven’t tried that yet.   I’ll probably need to clean with it a few more times to get rid of all of the stains.  It also helps to use a squeegee…

Handheld squeegee useful for cleaning and reducing calcium deposits after showering.  Just use it to encourage the hard water to go down the drain before it dries on the glass.

This particular cleaner is vegan (!) and free from harmful chemicals.  The bottle is made of recyclable materials.  It’s also very effective detergent.  I used it to get rid of the hard water stains, but it does a good job of cleaning, too.  And it doesn’t smell like cheap men’s cologne, either.  I call Frosch vinegar cleaner a winner.

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anecdotes

Nagold on a nasty hot July day… lunch at Hotel Adler

is still a lot of fun!

The hot temperatures have been getting me down this weekend because they have made me not want to venture out.  We bought a new air conditioner yesterday that is keeping my office much cooler and more pleasant; but it’s no help out and about, where a lot of places are hotter than the dickens, as my mom would put it.  Still, I was in a bit of a mood, so I told Bill that I wanted to go out for a little while.  I suggested we visit Nagold, since it’s very close to where we live, has restaurants we haven’t tried, and is super cute.  An added bonus is that free parking is plentiful on Sundays and holidays.

We dropped by the bank for euros and I stopped to take a photo of the tower… and the kids playing in the fountain.  We saw at least two fountains with kids in them as well as a kid swimming in the river. Nagold is very kid friendly.

We decided to try a new restaurant for lunch.  The first time we visited Nagold last fall, I had noticed a cute little gasthaus near the river.  Hotel Adler offers Schwabish fare.  It’s a bit pricey, but you get a very elegant meal for your euros.  One of the proprietors stuck her head out the window as we were perusing the menu and said hello, so we decided to go in.  Of course, we were the only ones in the dining room, though they do have an outdoor area.  No one was sitting out there, either.  Everybody was eating ice cream at the ice cafes or hanging out by the river, where there was a small fest going on.

An obligatory face from Bill…

I ordered a weizenbier from Hochdorf.  Bill had a radler.  We also had some water with gas.  The restaurant offers some nice traditional German dishes, but my mind was on fish, since it was so hot outside.  Bill also had fish.  I am not sure anyone spoke English at all.  Fortunately, Bill speaks some German and I am improving by the day (though I still suck).  We were able to get by relatively successfully.  Our waitress wore a dirndl, though the rest of the staff was casually attired.  The dining room was really beautiful, though it was also the reception area.

Bill’s zander filet with mustard sauce and pfefferlingen mushrooms.  It came with a big bowl of noodles.

My dish was a Black Forest trout with salted potatoes and a lemon sauce.  I was glad the sauces were served on the side, since they were a little heavy for such a hot day.  Still, they were tasty.

I might have been tempted to try dessert.  They had a few that were inviting.  However, I was well satiated after this lunch and wanted to get out into the breeze.  It was very hot in the restaurant and even the owners conceded that most people wouldn’t be comfortable in there today.  A couple of fans would have made the dining room a lot more temperate, though maybe the few really hot days Germany gets every year aren’t worth the investment.  

We really enjoyed the Hotel Adler and will go back when the weather is a little more hospitable.  I would definitely recommend it to others.  They do have a children’s menu, though the offerings appear to be more skewed toward adults.  The dining room is lovely and so are the people.

After lunch, we stepped into the museum next door, which was open and offering free admission.  Only the first floor was open, but it was cool in there both temperature and exhibit wise.  The current exhibit is basically about Nagold during Hitler’s era.  The displays all had explanations in German, but I understood enough to get the basic gist.  Apparently, Nagold was quite the hot spot during the Nazi regime.  If you are interested in World War II in Germany, the museum may make a worthwhile stop in Nagold.

A man and some kids were punting.  We watched them, then wandered across the bridge toward Nagold’s awesome park.  There are public bathrooms there, which is a good thing to know.

The park has a little miniature train that was popular with kids…

There’s also a fun looking playground…

Dogs are not allowed on the green spaces, though they can be walked on the paved trail.  Please clean up your shit.

And there’s a Keltenfest at the end of the month… we might have to check this one out.  My German friend says special beer will be offered.

 

I had been giving thought to visiting Nagold’s freibad, but figured it would be ridiculously crowded.  And it was…

The pool has a great water slide, a high dive, volleyball courts, a kiddie pool, a sand area, and playground equipment.  It was really teeming with people today, though.

It’s four euros for a ticket per adult, which you buy from the machine…  Tickets for kids are 2,50 euros.  You get a price break if you come after 5:30 pm.  Then, the price drops to 2,50 euros per adult and 2 euros for kids.  Season passes are also available.

I snapped a quick shot of the band in the distance.  There was a Christian band, then a girl tried to sing Adele.  She wasn’t too bad… looked a bit young and could probably use a little vocal instruction.  The band was good, though.

Nagold is so cute.  We need to visit more often.  When the weather is milder, we will have to check out the ruins that sit on a hilltop in Nagold.  I know nothing about them, but think they look cool.

I have yet to be disappointed by a trip to Nagold.  I am starting to feel the same way about Nagold as I do about Tuebingen.  My mom will be visiting in a couple of weeks and this is one place we will take her.

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housekeeping tips

Keeping our cool on July 4th…

Recently, Europe has been in the grips of a heat wave.  It’s been over 90 degrees for the past several days and will continue to be hot for at least the rest of the week.  When Bill and I lived in Germany last time, we simply grinned and bore the hot weather.  It didn’t last long and, besides, while air conditioners were available, we never heard about them because Facebook was less of a “thing” then.

Fast forward six years… It’s our first July in Germany since 2009.  My office in the house we currently live in is perfectly temperate most of the year, except for the summer.  In the morning, the sun beats down on my desk, making the room unbearably hot until the afternoon.  It’s still pretty hot after 1:00pm.  The windows near my desk do not have rolladens and I can’t easily hang curtains.   So today, Bill and I decided to hit the Toom Baumarkt in Herrenberg and see if we could score an air conditioner.

There were lots of people shopping today, and quite a few were looking for fans.  I didn’t see any Germans wanting an air conditioner.

This was my first time at Germany’s answer to Home Depot or Lowe’s.  I must admit I was impressed.  Aside from a large inventory of tools and items for the home, the Toom Baumarkt even had a cafe and a couple of wurst stands.

I love how civilized the Germans are when it comes to shopping.  Who needs a McDonald’s when you can have wurst and pommes washed down with beer?  They also have a public restroom, which is good to know they have.

We located the air conditioner we wanted to buy, but had to wait a bit for customer service.  Some guy was chatting with one of the workers over a fan that cost 24,99.  Until they were done speaking, the rest of us waiting didn’t exist.  I don’t necessarily think that is necessarily a bad thing; it’s just different from the way Americans tend to do things.

We settled on a machine capable of cooling down my big room, then searched for a window air lock. Unfortunately, we were not able to find one.  I checked Amazon.de and see that they are also mostly out.

We bought a floor model; hence no need for a box.

Our new AC…  on our way out of the parking lot, we had to wait for a biker to get directions from the guy ahead of us.

The new machine was easy to set up, though we had to improvise to block out the hot air.  This will have to do until I can get my hands on an air lock kit.

At least the towels block out a little sun.  

Bill hooked up the machine and the room is cooling down.  I’m thinking it was totally worth the 479 euros we paid, even if we don’t end up having to use it much.  I am amazed at how hot the hose is when I touch it and how quickly the room started to feel more comfortable.

Of course, we could have cooled down the old fashioned way…  Toom Baumarkt sells ice cream, too.

In other news, this morning Bill and I took our dogs on a three mile walk.  We were on our way back and were crossing a wheat field when a big Siamese cat suddenly hissed and jumped out of the wheat, scaring the bejesus out of me, Bill, and our dogs, Zane and Arran.  Both of them went nuts and made it even more challenging to get home to the relative coolness of the house.

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Uncategorized

Shit and run…

Apologies for the title and subject matter of this posting.  It’s just that shit has been on my mind lately.  Here in our military community, dog shit is a topic that frequently comes up on Facebook.  Lots of people have posted complaints about people not picking up after their dogs after Fido has dropped a deuce.  I can understand why people don’t like picking up dog shit.  Sometimes they aren’t prepared because they forgot to bring a bag.  Sometimes they fear it will get all over their hands and they won’t have a way to clean up.  Sometimes they are lazy.  And sometimes the smell of poo is too offensive for them, in which case one might wonder why they’d even own a dog.

I can also understand why so many people get disgusted when dog crap is left to bake in the sun.  It smells bad.  It can carry diseases.  If you step in it, you smell like shit for the rest of the day or until you can change your shoes.  Your kids might mistake it for modeling clay and make a sculpture with it.  You get the idea.

When you live in close quarters with other people, it makes good sense to clean up your dog’s crap each and every time.  It’s just plain good manners.  When you’re in a park somewhere and people aren’t around, maybe it’s easier to let things slide and carry on.  Bill and I live near a nature park where many people leave their dogs’ gifts.  But then, so do other animals like horses, deer, rabbits, and foxes.  Granted, their poop is more likely to be all natural than a dog’s poop.  But it’s still shit, right?  You have to be careful about shitting and running, though, because sometimes it can lead to violence.

Available at your local Real.

The other day, I read an astonishing story about a 32 year old woman who was walking her dog in a park in Bergisch Gladbach in North Rhine-Westphalia, a place known for being supermodel Heidi Klum’s hometown.  The dog squatted down and took a dump, which the woman neglected to clean up.  Another woman, aged 33, happen to see the woman attempt to shit and run.  She decided to confront the negligent dog walker and demand that she clean up her dog’s mess.  One thing I have noticed during my time in Germany is that if you’re doing something “wrong”, it’s very likely someone will have no qualms about pointing out the errors of your ways to you.

A shouting match ensued.  The 33 year old threw her car keys at the 32 year old (she must not have stepped up to a car with a key fob yet).  A man who was passing by intervened to separate the two women.  Then a few minutes later, the dog walker returned with a male companion and things suddenly got very physical.  Before it all ended, there were five people involved in what turned out to be a full blown fist fight.  I imagine the dog walker hadn’t had this outcome in mind when she took her dog out for his routine constitutionals.

Cheech and Chong tell us how it is.

Aside from a potential 30 euro fine for shitting and running, the people involved in the brawl may also be in trouble for fighting, which resulted in pulled hair, swollen arms, and other serious injuries.  When I read this story, I had to chuckle.  This is a country where it’s against the law to flip off people while you’re driving.  You can get a large fine for swearing at police officers.

Civility seems to be a big deal here, yet this isn’t the first time some Germans have gotten really upset over people who shit and run. A couple of months ago, people in the town of Einbeck collected 250 kilos of dog shit, bagged it up, and hung it around the neck of a statue of Till Eulenspigel, a famous German folklore jester.   The statue bore a sign that read “As a dog owner, I say ‘This is shit.'”

Indeed it is…

I haven’t seen or been involved in any shit and run incidents since I moved back to Germany, but Bill did once have a nasty altercation with a former neighbor who lived near us at Fort Belvoir.  She wasn’t happy with the job he did cleaning up after one of our dogs, so she followed him home in her ugly green custom van, parked it in the middle of the street, banged on the door, and ripped him a new one.  In the course of her tirade, she said she wanted to shoot dog owners for leaving gifts on her lawn.  She ranted about how leaving crap was a violation of regulations and threatened to call the MPs, who I am sure would have been delighted to deal with an altercation of this magnitude.

Incidentally, our dog had not crapped on her lawn, but near a curb.  And Bill had cleaned up most of it, but apparently ran out of room in the bag he was carrying.  But that didn’t matter to our dog crap crusader, who thought it was appropriate to threaten violence to a service member on a military installation.  She’s very lucky I didn’t answer the door because I would have gladly called the MPs and asked them which offense was more serious, a stray dog turd left on a curb or someone threatening violence on a military installation?  She’s also lucky Bill is a very nice guy who would never willingly yell at anyone, let alone hurt them.

Anyway, I am all for cleaning up dog shit, especially in heavily populated areas where people are walking a lot.  No one wants to see it, smell it, or step in it.  And you don’t want to get your ass kicked for leaving it, either.

Below is a device that I’ve been using for years.  It’s very handy for handling pet waste.

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