Bill and I had big plans today.  We hoped to check out the wine museum in Stuttgart.  It’s located about an hour from our house in Unterjettingen, not too far from Esslingen.

Unfortunately, when we got to the cute little town where the museum is, there was absolutely no parking to be found.  We drove around for awhile, but it was to no avail.  No one was budging.  Bill had to pee and I was rapidly losing patience with trying to find a place to park our Mini, so we decided to head to Panzer so I could pick up some mascara and other stuff.

When we were done with Panzer, we went to the Auld Rogue.  We had gotten out of the habit of visiting the American community’s favorite Irish restaurant, probably because we try to find stuff to do rather than visiting AAFES.  But we have a cruise coming up and I needed a few odds and ends.

The Auld Rogue was pretty dead when we got there at about 1:30pm, although there was one guy at the bar holding court.  He was talking to a waitress I had not seen before.  I heard her say she’s from Manchester, England.  Of course, Nick the head guy was also there.

We started with a round of Guinness…

I had fish and chips and Bill had the chicken Caesar wrap, which looked pretty good.  I was surprised by the mushy peas.  I don’t remember those being offered last time I had fish and chips at The Auld Rogue.  The chips were good… kind of greasy, yet crispy.  I like ’em that way sometimes.

We were on our second round when a bunch of people showed up.  Bill was enjoying the beer of the week, which was a local brew from Kraftbierwerkstatt called Awesome Amber.  It was very peachy and quite tasty, even if it came in a small glass.

 

The group that came in was eyeing our table and I heard one woman say, “Those people are leaving.” I’ll admit, the spiteful side of me was very tempted to order whisky just to be bitchy.  I’m pretty sure she at least got the stinkeye, because sometimes I really am bitchy… especially when someone’s lurking at my table in a restaurant where there are plenty of other tables to be had.  No one’s name was on the one we were occupying, nor do I like to be rushed.  Bill was really enjoying watching my facial expressions.  After fifteen years, he’s pretty good at translating them.

I was ready to go, though.  The music that was playing today was getting on my nerves…  reminded me of a bunch of different U2 knockoffs.  I kept Shazaming them to see what the bands were and they were all different, yet sounded the same– kinda like U2 post Y2K.  Also, I was getting tired of unintentionally eavesdropping on the guy who was at the bar, chatting up the bartender and letting everyone else in on his conversation about co-ops in Virginia.  Just by sitting there in the dining room, I learned that he and his wife couldn’t eat all the fruits and vegetables they were given thanks to the co-op.  I also learned that they’re selling their house and his wife is back in the States trying to expedite the process.  And no, we weren’t talking to the guy or in any way involved in his conversation… he just had a voice that carried and didn’t seem to notice or care that he was addressing all of us.

On the way out of the bar, we ran into one of Bill’s former co-workers who is about to depart Germany and move to his wife’s native country, Canada, after they spend a month touring around the UK and seeing friends and family.  They always have their sweet dog with them wherever they go.  He will also be joining them on the Queen Mary II as they cross the Atlantic on a cruise.  I will miss seeing them and their dog, who is super chill and very well-behaved.  I wish ours were that good in public.  The Queen Mary II is the only cruise ship that I know of that has a capacity for dogs.

We stopped and chatted with them for a few minutes and wished them a good cruise… as we are about to go on a cruise ourselves.  I don’t know that we’ll ever cruise with our dogs, but I’m glad the option exists.  I hope they enjoy themselves.  I have always wanted to do a transatlantic cruise, but it looks like it costs between $800 and $1000 per dog.  That’s a lot of bread before you’ve even paid your fare (s)!

We will get to the wine museum someday.  Maybe we’ll go later in the day or try on a weekday.  It was not happening when we were there this afternoon, though.  What a bummer.