Friday morning, Bill and I had appointments to see our dentist. We got up and enjoyed Waldhotel’s buffet breakfast. It costs extra, but I booked it with the room. At about 10:00am, we headed for the U-bahn (Waldau stop) and made our way to Stuttgart Mitte. (ETA: My German friend says that Stuttgart has no “U-bahn” as in “underground”. The U stands for unabhängig– “independent”. Stuttgart’s trains are all technically “Stadtbahns”.) I had a big bag of wine corks to be delivered. It so happened that the lady who was taking them for her crafting projects had an appointment in Stuttgart, too.
I really like Dr. Blair. We started seeing him in January 2015, after I read many good reviews of his work in local Facebook groups and on Toytown Germany. When we first started using his services, I had an upper baby tooth that had abscessed, and needed to be pulled and replaced with an implant. I was very nervous about the whole experience, but he did a tremendous job. I’ve had my implant for three years and it feels and behaves just like a natural tooth. I still have another baby tooth that will probably need an implant. If we’re still in Germany when the work needs to be done, I’ll probably have him do it. If you’re interested in the whole implant saga, you can read about it in this blog. I got the tooth pulled in September 2015 and the implant was finished in June 2016.
Dr. Blair was having a hard time on Friday. He was working on a little girl who was wearing braces that had been applied with extremely strong cement. The poor girl was crying as he was trying to remove one of the appliances. How do I know this? Well, I could hear it… but he also told me about it. It’s always interesting to me how the concept of patient privacy differs in Germany than it does in the United States. Germany is very big on privacy in general, but I guess, not when it comes to healthcare.
I heard Dr. Blair apologize to the girl’s mom as they were leaving. I also heard him rather sternly tell the little girl that the trauma “wasn’t his fault.” I guess it technically wasn’t, since he didn’t use that super strong glue on her braces, but she was still pretty upset. This seemed like another incidence of “blame shifting” and “fault claiming” that appears to be a cultural thing here in Germany. I notice that as a whole, many Germans seem to be very averse to accepting fault and/or blame when things go wrong. I’ve written about it before, because as an American, it’s interesting to me to observe the differences. This isn’t to say that Americans are any more willing to accept fault or blame– just that German culture seems especially against it. Maybe that’s why lawsuits are so prevalent here.
After our teeth were cleaned and the wine corks were delivered, we decided to have lunch at The Gardener’s Nosh. This is a restaurant on Calwer Strasse that I heard about in the food and wine Facebook group I run. I wanted to try it when we were still living near Stuttgart, but never got the opportunity. I think they recently expanded their hours. I seem to remember the reason we couldn’t try it was because they closed in the afternoons and we were always in Stuttgart too late. Now, I see they serve dinner, although the restaurant focuses on healthy breakfast items served all day.
Breakfast all day.
We happened to get there right after a hen party had departed. I think a couple of the “hens” remained. I noticed that the noise level in the restaurant was rather energetic. We might have sat outside, but the weather was kind of iffy– we’d have a few minutes of sun, then the rain would start. It was also surprisingly chilly outside.
Delicious mint tea!
Pretty Eggs Hemingway! Next time, I might try the French toast.
Bill’s turkey bacon and cheese sandwich. I liked the avocado creme around the plate.
A nice spot for lunch downtown!
I decided to have Eggs Hemingway, which consisted of poached eggs, fresh spinach, Hollandaise Sauce, and smoked salmon on bread. You get your choice of breads– toasted Brioche, “farm” bread, or whole wheat. I chose the “Bauern” bread. I wish I had chosen Brioche instead, but other than that, I really liked the dish. It was almost too pretty to eat! I also had Moroccan mint tea, which was served in a fancy golden pot.
Bill had a grilled turkey bacon and cheese sandwich. I think I might have liked his sandwich even more than I did my Eggs Hemingway. They used a mild cheese, kind of reminiscent of Swiss, on hearty farm bread. He paired it with iced tea with fruit.
We used public transportation to get to and from the dentist’s office. Getting back to the hotel was kind of exhausting, since we got turned around in the train station. I spend a lot of time alone these days, so being around so many people kind of wore me out. We had plans to visit the Frühlingsfest, but by the time we got back to the hotel, I wasn’t sure I still wanted to go. It was cold and rainy.
But I gamely got dressed anyway…
And Bill liked it. I think the dirndl brings out the animal in him.
Since we were going to the concert on Saturday, Bill preferred to go to the Fest on Friday afternoon. I relented and put on my dirndl. While I was getting dressed, a Waldhotel staffer dropped by to give us a gift because I left positive feedback on Expedia about our check in.
Should be interesting to try this! It has Jalapeno Chilis in it. Seems dangerous for German tastes!
We took public transportation back to Bad Cannstatt, where it promptly started raining. By the time we got to the tent, I looked like a drowned rat.
Not the best look for me. Glad I didn’t waste time fixing my hair.
Our one and only Krugs, thanks to the inconsideration of kids who can’t tell time.
We sat at a table that was reserved for 6:00pm. It was about 3:30 when we arrived, and the table was completely empty. There was no music, and we were too late for lunch, although we didn’t really want to eat, anyway. I took some photos and we started enjoying our first Maßkrugs. At about 4:00pm, a large group of kids showed up and took over the table. After about thirty minutes, before we were finished with our beers, one of the “kids” asked us to move. The guy said they had a reservation.
Bill was way too nice to the boy, who was admittedly asking us nicely, but still being a self-centered little shit. The kid suggested that we sit at one of the other tables, all of which were also reserved, and mostly for times earlier than 6:00pm. I was really pissed, though. I looked at the kid and said in a really bitchy tone of voice, “It’s not six o’clock yet.”
The kid looked rather horrified at Bill, who then looked at him sternly. I probably looked like I wanted to kill him. I have one of those faces that says a lot more than what comes out verbally.
I probably looked even meaner than this.
In retrospect, maybe I should have said, “Young man, you can wait ten minutes while I finish my beer. Your reservation starts at 6:00pm. If you needed the table sooner, you should have reserved it for earlier than 6:00pm. You don’t get to claim the table for all day. Didn’t your parents teach you how to tell time? And didn’t they teach you basic manners?”
But I could tell Bill didn’t want me to make a scene, and I knew that if I did, it would ruin the Fest for all of us. So we moved to another table. I finished the beer and we left the tent to frequent some of the outdoor Biergartens we usually miss at the Fests. I think I’m getting too old for the Fests, anyway, but I wanted to get more use out of my pretty dirndl. I don’t think they wear them up here in Hesse. Germany is definitely wearing off on me. I’m not as laid back as I used to be… not that I’ve ever been laid back, but I’m even more uptight now. Just wait until I go through “the change”.
I should have tried this. It might have improved my mood.
Germans are serious about their rides. I probably would have liked to try this twenty years ago. Bill doesn’t like rides, though, so I was content to watch.
Interesting sign… I think I took this after I used the WC, where the Klofrau beamed at me for leaving a euro instead of 50 cents.
We eventually switched to wine. I think when it comes to the Fests, the wine tents are more my speed. Unfortunately, they weren’t running one at the Frühlingsfest like they do in the fall.
We should have just gone to this place instead of trying to hit the beer tents. You can see the ambulance passing… probably to go pick up one of the little Scheissers at the Wasen.
It’s amazing how it wasn’t as crowded on Friday afternoon as it always is during the fall and yet, thanks to some obnoxiously self-centered kids, I had a worse time. Well, it wasn’t all bad… At least I didn’t end up kissing anyone, like I did a few years ago. We took a cab back to the hotel, visited Angelo at the bar, and then retired to our fancy suite and tried out the humongous bathtub behind the bed. That experience saved the evening!
Arrrgh… little scheissers are the wurst
He probably thought it was no big deal. In the grand scheme of things, it probably wasn't. As I discovered yesterday, I was probably suffering from a touch of PMS and being burned out on Germany. I do love living here, but sometimes the people can be a touch rigid.