Author Archives: knotty

Sundays

Sunday afternoon at the Waldgeist Biergarten!

Yesterday, we decided to go to AAFES to pick up a few things and visit Bijan, a local craftsman who makes tables out of wine barrels. Bijan, who is a member of my wine group on Facebook, says he is going to stop making tables because of an injury he had. Now he’s making jewelry. After we bought some personal care items at AAFES, we stopped by Bijan’s table, tried some wines, bought a few bottles, and picked up a couple of Bijan’s bracelets for Bill’s daughter and granddaughter. I’ve been making a care package for younger daughter as a morale booster. She’s halfway through a difficult pregnancy.

We had beautiful weather again yesterday, and Noyzi had really wanted to come with us on our quick trip to AAFES. Of course, dogs aren’t allowed in American stores on post, so he had to stay home. But once we got home, we decided to visit XXL Restaurant Waldgeist, a local restaurant near a sports park that specializes in humongous burgers. They also have a great Biergarten with comfortable tables and umbrellas, although since we didn’t have reservations, we didn’t score an umbrella.

Noyzi was very excited to be with us, because there were a lot of dogs at the Waldgeist yesterday. He’s getting better at going to Biergartens, although it takes him a little while to settle down. Bill and I decided to have lunch/dinner, which you can really do at Waldgeist. The portions are huge. Bill had the smallest Schnitzel they offer– 250 grams. It was still too big to finish. I had a Haxe, of which I managed about a third. I suspect I’ll be eating it for the rest of the week. I saw a couple of people ordering the huge burgers. They were the size of a small pizza! Waldgeist also has huge steaks, although I didn’t see anyone order one of those.

At the Waldgeist!

Waldgeist is a very kid friendly place. They have a playground for children, as well as children’s portions on the menu. We watched several little kids having a ball while their parents enjoyed food and each other’s company. It struck me how much I enjoy these weekend excursions, watching people enjoy themselves with their families and friends.

I think Waldgeist is a popular venue after sporting events, too, as it’s located very close to several playing fields, as well as a dog park. One thing to note if you visit the Waldgeist is that they only take cash payments. But, on the positive side, they’re open every day! Warm food goes from noon until 10:00 PM, and the restaurant is open from 11:30 AM until midnight.

Below are a few photos from our afternoon.

I turned my leftovers into a swan!
Playground in the distance. Kids were having fun!
I really like their tables. They’re very solid and comfortable.
This was the smallest Schnitzel they offered!
Haxe– otherwise known as pork knuckle. I won’t be hungry for awhile.

Later, we hung out in the backyard, listened to music, and enjoyed some wine, along with cheese that I bought for Bill at Henri Willig, a Dutch chain of cheese purveyors. I don’t eat most cheeses myself. I only like cheese when it’s a very specific kind, prepared in specific ways. I can’t just eat it cold, for instance. But Bill loves all cheeses, especially goat cheese. I can’t eat goat cheese at all!

Bill and his cheeses!

Looks like I made good choices this time. I wish I’d gotten a picture of Bill’s face when he first tried the goat cheese. It has garlic and herbs in it, which is a favorite combination for Bill. The other cheese is made from cow’s milk and includes Mediterranean spices. I also got some Baby Gouda cheese, but that’s pretty normal stuff, so he didn’t try it yesterday.

Pretty soon, this beautiful weather will be a thing of the past until the spring. I’m glad we managed to venture out yesterday. We probably should visit the Waldgeist more often. It’s a really nice place to spend a couple of hours outdoors, especially with our Noyzi.

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A few photos from last night’s wine stand…

The weather was so beautiful yesterday. It was about 74 degrees, sunny, and breezy. I was actually a bit tempted to just sit in the backyard and enjoy music and the gorgeous weather. But it was Friday night wine stand time, and pretty soon, those will be ending for the winter. So we got Noyzi and went down to the Dorfplatz, walking down some steps at the church’s community building, because someone is building a house next to the narrow alley that leads down there and they have the alley blocked off.

We decided to sit on the other side of the Dorfplatz last night, because someone beat us to our usual spot and they had a dog with them. Noyzi is very friendly to other dogs, but he can be kind of noisy and fidgety. So we found a spot on a bench and enjoyed some wine in the late summer September sun. Noyzi got to meet several dogs and their owners, including one dog that looked a bit like a setter or a pointer. I think they would have had a good time frolicking if they’d had the opportunity.

A good time was had by all… and then when the sun went down, we went back to our house and had burgers. Unfortunately, we had a slight mishap last night that required a middle of the night laundry run. But then we slept in until about 8:00 AM. I haven’t done that in ages!

This dog used to dislike Arran with a passion… But she’s actually pretty sweet.
Noyzi’s new friend!

I’m not sure what we’ll do today. Once again, the weather is perfect. I love this time of year, and I appreciate living in a little village where we can have these fun evenings with our neighbors. It’s always fun watching Noyzi blossom into the dog he was meant to be. He’s so sweet and gentle, even toward little dogs. He met a couple of them last night, too, and was very good.

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Champagne Bucket trips, holidays

Well, it’s official. In two months, we’ll be in Yerevan…

I don’t remember where I found the featured photo– but it does appear to be a very clear photo of Yerevan. When I lived there, air pollution was so bad that we didn’t get to see Mount Ararat every day. I hope for many pictures of it this time…

Last night was interesting. Bill came home and got out his trusty computer, so he could do some administrative tasks for his job. I had floated the idea of maybe using credit card points to help pay for plane tickets to Yerevan and back for our anniversary in November. It costs a LOT to go to Yerevan– especially when you insist on flying in business class. 😉 So we tried doing that, but realized that while the points would make our tickets significantly cheaper, we’d rather just let them ride and use them for a really epic trip in the future.

With that settled, I booked our eight crazy nights in Yerevan in mid November. I am pretty excited about this trip. I lived in Yerevan for 27 months as a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mid 1990s and haven’t been back since August 21, 1997– the day I left. Things have changed a lot since my departure, although there are still a few people there who remember me from those days. I look forward to showing Bill around and getting to know the city again. If all goes well, I’d like to come back with Bill and show him around the country. There’s a lot to see– and since it’s the size of Maryland, touring the country is doable. You just have to stay out of the dangerous areas near Iran and Azerbaijan.

For this trip, I mainly plan for us to stay near Yerevan. Maybe we’ll go to a couple of nearby spots like Garni/Gerhard and Khor Virap, which are definitely must see excursions. It’s taken me a long time to convince Bill to go… and it’s taken some time to convince myself. When I left Yerevan, I was really ready to go. I was burned out and depressed. But I’m better now… mentally and emotionally, anyway. Physically, maybe I’m worse. I don’t think I have the stamina I had when I lived in Yerevan and used to walk all over the city. Luckily, we have money now, so we can take cabs. 😀

In any case, I suspect this trip will go fine, and we will be able to come back for more fun, as long as we’re still in Germany and it doesn’t take two days to get there. I am very proud of Armenia. It’s come a long way since I first arrived there in 1995. I have a feeling my mind will be blown by the difference.

Even during the time I lived in Armenia, it changed so much. When we got there in 1995, there was no power in the airport or running water in the public restrooms… By the time I left in 1997, we had 24 hour power, and many places had running water. Now, Yerevan is like a lot of European cities, and has most of what you might ever want or need. The Peace Corps is still there, but Volunteers all live out in the regions. That was becoming true as I left, too. Yerevan is much too fancy for Volunteers now.

In fact, what was once called Hotel Dvin, the hotel where we swore in, is now a super expensive five star resort. I thought about booking it, but decided I’d rather be closer to the center of town, in a place where I can chat up the bartenders. So I chose Paris Hotel Yerevan. I almost booked the Marriott— which was called Hotel Armenia when we arrived in 1995 and stayed on the “old side” of the hotel. It was extremely Soviet in those days, with matronly women sitting on each hall and collecting the room keys (with huge bulblike keyrings) every time we went out of the room. I remember the hot water only worked for two hours in the mornings, and the rooms were downright rustic. After I left, Marriott bought the hotel and fixed it up, but I read a lot of middling reviews. It is significantly more expensive than the hotel I chose, and I prefer to avoid staying in an American corporate hotel… especially one with ties to Mormonism.

On the other hand, you can’t beat the location of the Marriott, as it’s right on Republic Square. But, Paris Hotel is also very close and will probably be quieter. I’ve noticed a lot of street names have changed, and some iconic places have either changed or closed. For instance, I read that the big historic shuka (Pak Shuka) on Mashtots Avenue was bought by an Armenian oligarch who completely overhauled it. What a shame that is! I would have liked to show Bill that bustling marketplace. Hopefully we can visit a different shuka in another part of town that hasn’t been turned into a western style supermarket. They are really unique and something special to see.

I look forward to trying some wines, brandies, and local cuisine– especially horovatz (Armenian BBQ)– if I can get it. And I look forward to seeing old friends and making new ones! As hard as being in the Peace Corps was for me, it was a life changing experience on so many levels. I might not be living in Germany if I hadn’t joined the Peace Corps.

I’m also hoping that if this trip goes well, we can arrange a trip to neighboring Georgia. I have been in Georgia, but I haven’t had a proper stay there. Bill went there for work in 2008, but it was about a month after the South Ossetia crisis/Russo-Georgian War. I’d like to go there and try more wines. 😉 Georgian wines are wonderful! And I l’d like to sample wonderful Georgian food and take many photos.

Anyway… 2023 seems to be our year to visit the former Soviet Union. I’m excited about this trip, as well as the one we have planned for next month, to the Czech Republic. This blog is about to come alive again!

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Champagne Bucket trips, holidays

Anniversary number 21 will potentially be celebrated in…

Regular readers might have noticed that I didn’t write anything in the travel blog yesterday or Saturday. It was mainly because we didn’t do anything noteworthy until last night, when I reminded Bill that he’d wanted to take an anniversary trip in November.

Our anniversary is November 16th, and this year, we wanted to do something exciting. I would have wanted to do something special for our 20th anniversary, but our sweet Arran dog was dying of cancer and we didn’t want to board him. So we ended up taking him and Noyzi with us on a trip to our beloved Ribeauville, France, a beautiful town not too far away that is different enough to be a getaway. We love Alsace, but we’ve been there so many times… This year, we definitely wanted to do something different.

Bill sent an email to our regular boarding facility and confirmed that they had space for Noyzi. Then I got out our trusty champagne bucket, which we often use when we want a little fateful help choosing a place to vacation. I went through the paper slips from past drawings, removing any that we’ve already done or will soon do, and any of those that would not be good for a visit in November. Then I had Bill draw from the bucket…

Bill does the honors…

And the winner was…

ARMENIA!!! And Georgia… but I don’t know if we’ll make Georgia on this proposed trip, because I think we’d need more than the week we’ll probably have for this journey.

Now… it’s not yet engraved in stone that we’ll be going to Armenia. Bill has to get the days off, first. And then I have to figure out the logistics of the trip. Also, I’m still a bit worried about my gallbladder exploding. But Armenia did finally win a drawing, and it’s time we visited. It would be special and different. Bill can finally see where I lived for twenty-seven crazy months of my young life, and if he likes it, we can come back and see the regions.

So, today I will be researching places to go, flights, and the rest…

I haven’t been to Armenia since I left in August 1997. It’s changed a lot! A lot of street names have changed; there’s been a lot of construction and demolition; and in all, it looks like a much nicer place. It also looks a hell of a lot more expensive than it was back in the 90s. I found one luxury hotel that is charging about 400 euros per night. Consider that my first apartment in Yerevan was $50 a month. My second was an unheard of $100. No Armenian would have paid as much for either place, but I got the American rate. 😉

Anyway… wish me luck.

Below are a few photos from this week. See what I mean? Not much has been going on. Bill was away, and I had a cold. At least there are still some pretty flowers.

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Rhein, Sundays

Sky sailing over vineyards on the Seilbahn…

We had great weather over the weekend, so I told Bill that, in no uncertain terms, I wanted to venture out and do something fun and unusual. Originally, I had given thought to visiting the Kubacher Kristallhöhle (Crystal Cave), here in Hessen. It’s about an hour’s drive from our home in Breckenheim. I love visiting caves, even though they can be hard work to explore. Touring the Kubacher Kristallhöhle is potentially a strenuous activity, as it requires going up and down a lot of stairs.

I don’t know if it’s as hard as the Laichinger Tiefenhöhle, a cave near Stuttgart that we visited in 2017, but I do know I’m six years older now, and not as fit. ;). The Laichinger Tiefenhöhle legitimately kicked my ass. I got sick with a cold after our visit and spent the week in bed. Since Bill has to go away this week, I thought it might be better to do something potentially less taxing. Plus, again, we had beautiful weather. That’s when I decided we needed to visit the beautiful vintner town of Rüdesheim am Rhein.

We last visited Rüdesheim in early April 2019. I remember it was a chilly day, and there weren’t a lot of tourists there, although it was clearly a very touristy place. I wish I had read my earlier blog post about this town before we went there yesterday. I see that we, once again, missed seeing the torture museum. 😉 But Google tells me it’s closed now, anyway. Oh well. Interestingly enough, I see there’s a very primitive looking Web site for the museum that still lists prices in Deutsch Marks!

We arrived in Rüdesheim at about 1:00 PM or so, just in time for lunch. When Bill headed for the Seilbahn, the reason we visited, I said I thought it might be a good idea to eat first. Although I felt pretty sure there would be food on the hillside where the “skyride” ends, I figured there would be less choice. And I know from too many prior experiences that I need to eat before I try to do anything ambitious. 😀 I saw an inviting looking menu at the Wirtshaus Drosselmüller, a no frills place on the main drag.

We walked into the restaurant and had a seat on the rear balcony. A waitress in a Dirndl took our order– Hefeweizen and fried chicken with pommes for me, and a Helles and Bierbrat with beer sauce, potato dumplings, and cole slaw for Bill. After a leisurely lunch and potty break, we were ready to fly.

My chicken was like a Schnitzel, but not so heavy and filling. It was good!
But I also liked Bill’s dish, which was very authentic and delicious.

Off we went to the Seilbahn. By the time we got there, it was about 2:40. The attraction closes at 7:00 PM, which meant that we probably didn’t have enough time to do the most expensive “tour”, which at 22 euros a person includes a round trip ticket on the skyrides, a visit to the castle, and a short Rhein River cruise. You can buy your tickets at the office, or at an automated machine. The cars only take two people at a time, but you can also bring your dog. I’m not sure Noyzi would fit too well in the Seilbahn, as big as he is! Bikes cannot be transported on the Seilbahn.

Next time, we’ll have to arrive earlier to do the “Romantic” tour that features the works, because after yesterday’s ride on the Seilbahn, I am sure to want to do it again. Yes, there was a line, but it moved fast and was such a fun and relaxing ride, soaring over the grape laden vineyards. I got lots of pictures. I also got a short video, which shows the magic of the Seilbahn and the beautiful views of the Rhein Valley.

Waiting for our ride.

When we got to the other side of the field– the Niederwald– sure enough, there was a snack bar and restaurant. There was also an overpriced toilet… one euro! What a rip off! 😉 Nevertheless, there’s a beautiful view of the Rhein River and Rüdesheim, as well as the majestic Niederwald Monument, which was built between 1871 and 1883 to commemorate the Unification of Germany. It’s a very impressive statue that overlooks Rüdesheim and makes for a great photo opportunity.

As we were strolling around the Niederwald, we passed a little souvenir stall where they were selling signs with names on them. Bill quipped that he doubted he’d see one for one of his three grandchildren. Just then, I opened up my phone, and noticed a “Happy Labor Day” greeting from Bill’s daughter. In the email there was a photo of her, smiling and pregnant. She’d been keeping the secret all summer that her fourth child is well on the way and will arrive in February! I told Bill, who immediately got emotional. Somehow, getting that news in such a lovely place made it all the more special. The funny thing is, we’d both had a hunch that she might be expecting again.

On the way back to the Seilbahn, we stopped for a celebratory glass of Riesling…

After about an hour of walking around the Niederwald, we decided to head back. We definitely could have spent more time there, though, had we planned better and arrived earlier. The forest offers plenty of opportunities to wander, and like any good German tourist activity, it’s very well appointed with clean (but overpriced) toilets and refreshments. I’m so glad we decided to visit yesterday and finally try the Seilbahn. Below is a video I made of our day… It includes the Seilbahn and a pass through the famous Drosselgasse, where there is a Glockenspiel.

Yesterday’s excursion…

It was definitely a lot more crowded yesterday, during our visit, than it was when we last came to Rüdesheim in 2019. There were plenty of souvenir shops, restaurants, and tourist activities open. I also saw lots of hotels. I mused to Bill that it didn’t seem like the town should be able to support so many hotels, but I guess with so many cute hamlets, Vinoteks, and the Rhein River, people find plenty of stuff to do. I know cruise ships often pass through Rüdesheim. I think I saw a tour yesterday, which is kind of weird to me. It’s strange to live in an area where cruise ships frequent. Anyway, a lot of people were out and about and having a good time!

They really cater to all comers!

I don’t know when we’ll get to this town again, but it’s definitely worth a visit… even if the public toilets weren’t working, and even if the birds used our car as a toilet. Pro-tip, don’t park under the trees in the parking lot!

Bill has to leave for Bavaria today, so I will be hanging out alone this week. Hopefully, next weekend, we’ll have good weather and good health. I look forward to another exciting excursion in the Rheingau and its environs. It’s time we did some more exploring, before it’s too late.

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American cuisine in a Germany based restaurant owned by Iranians…

The weather cleared up nicely this afternoon, so Bill and I decided to go to Wiesbaden. I read there was going to be a festival there, starting at 3PM. So we fired up my neglected Mini Cooper, put the top down for the first time since last year, and drove to town.

We actually got to Wiesbaden at about 1:30. I watched a lot of people walking around in costumes. Bill said there was some kind of Cosplay event going on… Glad he explained. I might have thought Let’s Make a Deal had made it to Germany.

We walked around a bit, enjoying the beautiful, warm, sunny weather. We passed a new looking wine bar that appeared to be inviting. But when we got to the end of the street we were on, we ran into what looked like an anti-vaxxer demonstration. We turned down another street and soon passed a new restaurant called Godfather. Bill said he’d just gotten a Facebook ad for the place, which opened on July 17th.

Since we didn’t have any other big plans, we decided to give it a try, even though I’m not always impressed by American style restaurants in Germany. The first thing I noticed when we went inside was the music. It was a bit loud, and consisted of a single female singer doing covers of somewhat recent hit pop ballads that mostly sounded like the same type of emotional song. The singing certainly wasn’t bad, but the tempo was a little depressing, especially for a burger joint. I heard the playlist at least twice through during our visit. I probably wouldn’t have noticed it or minded if there had been a mix, rather than just the one singer doing covers of songs like Leonard Cohen’s “Hallelujah”.

I looked on the wall and noticed there was an “Uber Uns” (about us) statement hanging on the wall. It read that the people who owned the restaurant were from Iran and had come to Germany because the husband was getting an education in engineering. They decided to stay in Germany and open a restaurant. The wife is a singer and a writer. Hmmm… sounds like we have something in common. I also used to live just north of Iran, in neighboring Armenia.

The restaurant offers burgers, fries, quesadillas, pizzas, snacks, and a full bar. Bill and I decided to have a round of beer, and I had the Philadelphia burger. He had a quesadilla. I got a choice of what kind of bun I wanted, as well as the type of patty. The waitress also asked if I wanted everything on it, which in the case of my burger was “salad” (lettuce), tomato, avocado, guacamole, Godfather sauce, and there was supposed to be cheddar cheese (although my burger didn’t have cheese on it).

Bill’s Washington Quesadilla had beef, mozzarella, cheddar, tomato sauce, corn, pico de gallo, avocado, and their version of Ranch dressing.

We also had a round of pommes (fries) which reminded me of what we might find in Belgium. We couldn’t finish those and took them home with us.

Overall, I thought the food and service at Godfather was very good. The staff was friendly to us, and the serving sizes were ample, as well as reasonably priced. The only thing I didn’t like as much was the music, which I found a bit sedate and a little too loud. They did change it to something peppier as we were finishing up.

I thought the presentation of the food was very nice, and noticed there was a lot of fresh vegetables. I think my burger was also hand formed, which is excellent. One thing I don’t like about German burgers is that a lot of times, they’re very tightly molded, so they aren’t juicy or flavorful. Not so at Godfather. I had to eat my sandwich with a knife and fork, because it was a bit messy!

I think we’d go back to Godfather. We had a good experience. I do wish they offered some Iranian food, since there are plenty of places to get burgers in Wiesbaden. I noticed they had a burger called the Tehran Burger, though. Maybe they’ll come up with some interesting twists of their burgers with Iran in mind… even though Godfather is meant to be an “American” restaurant. I won’t get the Tehran burger, because it has mushrooms on it, although I guess I could ask them to leave them off.

Below are some photos from today. We really enjoyed the weather. Wiesbaden is such a pretty town!

Someday, I’m going to go in there and buy a new guitar.
Excellent pommes
Restaurant logo
Outside seating. We ate indoors.
Philadelphia burger. Not sure what makes it Philadelphia like. It was good, though.
Their story.
American food in Germany at a restaurant owned by Iranians.
Market church
Gay pride crosswalk!

As we were leaving, the car ahead of us had trouble getting out of the newly refurbished garage. Bill was getting irritated by that… but then we ran into traffic due to the breaking up of a football (soccer) game. It was fun to watch all the men walking down the street with their plastic cups of beer.

We never did make it to the fest that prompted us to go out. I was thinking about hitting a wine stand or something, but decided I’d rather just come home and hang out with Noyzi. It was good to go out for awhile, though… especially since there were so many people celebrating life.

Maybe tomorrow, we’ll do something truly different. We’ll see…

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The first September wine stand of 2023…

Happy Saturday, y’all. It’s cool and overcast today, and Bill is preparing for another TDY in Bavaria. I’m not sure what we’ll do, but it looks like the weather may not be optimal. We’ve sure had a mild summer this year… lots of rain and temperatures that weren’t very oppressive. I’m grateful for that. Coming from Virginia originally, I know what it’s like to feel like you need gills to breathe. We have had a few warm, humid days this year, but it’s really not been too bad at all. And pretty soon, after next week’s warm spell, it will get chilly and Fall will truly be upon us.

When Fall arrives in Germany, so do a lot of fun harvest related festivals. But, at the end of October, the wine stands end… I always find that sad, because the wine stands are a lot of fun, especially for Noyzi. We went to the one in our village last night, and Noyzi got to work on his social skills, make new friends, and enjoy a change of scenery. I got some photos of our fun.

You’ll notice there are also election candidates’ signs, which I took photos of a couple of days ago while walking Noyzi through the Dorfplatz. It’s always interesting to see what German politicians focus on when it comes time for elections. The first five photos are from a couple of days ago, while the ones with Noyzi and sunshine were taken last night.

Noyzi was a bit excited at first, but after about 45 minutes, he settled down. He also got to meet one of our neighbors, who was understanding when we explained that Noyzi is from Kosovo, which isn’t a very dog friendly place. He was abused before we got him, so he gets nervous around men. However, he’s come a LONG way, and calms down quickly when he realizes that someone is being friendly. He loves people, and he LOVES wine stands and Biergartens.

I love this photo. Noyzi is BEAMING!
He’s really getting good at these events…

Something funny did happen last night. There’s a somewhat young looking couple in Breckenheim who sometimes attend the wine stands. They have two little kids. One is obviously a girl, but the jury is out on the other child, who is still very young. I thought it was a girl, but Bill thought it was a boy child. I guess we’ll know soon enough.

Anyway, the children’s father is a very gentle looking guy… kind of short and slender, with a beard and shoulder length blond hair. He actually looks like a shyer, younger version of the husband half of a LDS couple I knew when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer in the mid 1990s (they were my colleagues, not missionaries 😉 ). Every time I see this guy, I am reminded of Jason from Armenia. Both men are very “granola” looking, although by now, Jason is probably twice the local guy’s age.

So, this local beaded guy was wearing a down vest last night, as he was shepherding his small children. I was admiring how very patient and attentive he was toward his kids, playing with them, and making sure they didn’t get into any trouble. The children got a bit close to Noyzi, who was a little spooked. He doesn’t spend a lot of time with little kids, although I’m sure he would enjoy them if he got to know them– as long as they didn’t make too many fast moves.

Bearded guy comes up to Bill and asks in German if Noyzi minds children. Bill told him in German that Noyzi is friendly. I looked up at the beaded guy and immediately noticed that he had a baby doll hanging out of his vest! I was immediately charmed by that! What a great dad! Obviously, he was being a good Opa to his little girl’s baby. It was very cute, and my respect grew by leaps and bounds as he herded the children away from Noyzi.

There were a couple of other kids climbing up on the chest where the chess pieces are kept. Our Dorfplatz has a chessboard built into the brick floor of the village square. The kids were picking the grapes that grow in one corner of our Dorfplatz. Nobody seemed to mind… it looked to me like the grapes were about to turn into raisins, anyway.

We also saw our neighbor’s mother, a lovely, elderly matriarch who, I fear, is starting to suffer from the troubles that come with aging. We hadn’t seen her in awhile. She broke her leg a few months ago, and then seemed to be dealing with some confusion. She looked like she’s lost some weight, and I noticed she didn’t speak to us in English, as she had been up until around April or so.

I saw the same thing happen to our old Greek restaurant owning friend, the late “Mad Scientist” of Entringen, down near Stuttgart. He used to speak perfect English, having spent years working as an engineer in Canada. Then he moved to Germany with his second wife, learned German, and opened his restaurant. When we met him in 2007, he was married to wife number three, and joked about Barack Obama.

When we came back to Germany in 2014 or so, he was noticeably slower and spoke English less fluently… and then he couldn’t really speak it at all. I was sad when I read about his death in 2020. He was a good friend to us. I’m glad we were able to come back to his place, Agais, a few more times when we moved back to the Stuttgart area.

Anyway… we had a good time last night, didn’t stay too late, or drink too much. Noyzi was very good, and I don’t think any of us offended anyone. I love the wine stands and other community events in our little village. People are very relaxed and nice here. The wine helps! I feel grateful to be a part of it.

Below is a short video I took of Noyzi, who was grinning and having a great time, as always!

This dog could be a total social butterfly, given the chance. He loves a party!

Well, I don’t know what we’re going to do today… I’d like to go do something fun, preferably somewhere we haven’t been. Our motivation is lacking lately, though… I guess that’s what happens when you live somewhere so long that it starts to feel too familiar.

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Noyzi the YouTube star… now starring as a “tramp”!

My “street dog”, Noyzo from Kosovo, sitting on the rug next to my computer, striking a pose…

First thing’s first. I’m happy to report that my left eye is back to normal now. It only took a few days, rather than the couple of weeks predicted in the articles and videos on the subject of subconjunctival hemorrhages.

I was going to make one of my usual music videos yesterday, having discovered the wonderful Peggy Lee last week. Well, I shouldn’t say I “discovered” her, per se… I had heard of her. I just never bought much of her music and listened to it intently. That changed last week, when I covered her version of “Blue Moon”, a song I never really had much affection for, until I heard Peggy do it.

One of the three songs I did last week… I ended up buying a big a Peggy Lee album.

After I did a version of Peggy Lee’s cover of “Blue Moon”, I came across her song “He’s a Tramp”, from Lady and the Tramp. I haven’t seen that move in decades, but I am a committed dog lover, and I loved Peggy’s sultry purr. I decided to try it yesterday… and since my eye was only about 90% healed, I had Noyzi from Kosovo star in the video. I happened to have a few candid Noyzi clips from around the house… I thought it would be easy to throw them in a movie made on my new computer. Well… I was wrong. But I did manage to make the video on my older laptop. Below is the end result.

There’s a long instrumental intro… but it’s a short video.

It was sheer luck that his wiggly butt matched the tempo of the song. It was hard to manipulate the clips on the laptop, since I don’t have a magic mouse for it. I need to research how to fix the settings on my computer so I don’t have the same issue adding clips to my videos on the desktop machine in the future. I think it has something to do with permissions. Whatever it is, it’s a highly annoying problem, especially when I just want to make a quick video without a lot of fuss. I wish I were more of a technical guru.

Here’s a fun factoid. Noyzi loves watching videos, especially if they have any type of animal in it. He will watch animals of any species whatsoever, but he especially likes watching other dogs. When I played the animated version of “He’s a Tramp” just to hear how Peggy Lee did it, Noyzi came in and stood next to me. He was watching the video of Peg, the shelter dog, singing about the Tramp who broke doggy hearts with no compunction.

I wouldn’t say our Noyzi is really a “tramp”. He’s actually the best behaved dog we’ve ever had, in spite of his being a “street dog”. He’s clean and very quiet, and never has accidents in the house. He doesn’t get into the trash or break into the basement. Most of the time, I barely know he’s here. He loves people, car rides, other dogs, and seeing and doing new things, and he doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. I just thought his cute little tail wag would be perfect for that song! And it gave me an excuse not to put on makeup for my weekly music video.

By the way… my guitar playing is coming along. I might even be ready to do a guitar video soon. I just have to iron out some technical issues first.

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Health

Here’s blood in your eye!

Bill and I were thinking about going to Mainz today, since there’s a wine festival going on. I’m reminded of the cheery toast some people offer at such occasions… “Here’s mud in your eye!” I could definitely do that today.

The only problem is, I somehow messed up my left eye with a subconjunctival hemorrhage. I don’t know how it happened, which the medical Web sites all tell me is not that unusual. Sometimes you can remember an actual incident that causes these things… and sometimes you can’t. I usually get this when I vomit, but I haven’t recently done that. I do cough and sneeze sometimes, and I read that this can happen after that. I wear contact lenses, and sometimes they can cause these bleeds. I also probably have high blood pressure by now… it runs in my family.

My left eye looks pretty bad. The side closest to my nose is all red. Unfortunately, there’s nothing that can be done to get rid of this condition, other than just wait for my body to absorb the blood. It could take up to a couple of weeks, although in my experience, it’s usually healed within a few days.

Yikes! My eye looks like this right now.

We might go to the wine festival anyway, in spite of my scary looking eyeball. Or maybe we’ll just stay home, like we did yesterday. Although the weather was beautiful, we decided to do yard work instead of going out among the masses. We cut the grass, trimmed the shrubs and the revived myrtle tree, and used the trimmer. The yard looks a lot better, although pretty soon, it’s going to be bare again. August is just about over. The summer flew by!

I suspect I may need to see a healthcare professional pretty soon… Whether or not I fulfill the need depends on how insistent Bill gets. I hate dealing with doctors. However, I think my gallbladder may be about ready to be yanked. Or maybe something else is wrong with me.

It sure does suck getting old.

If we do go to the wine fest, I will probably write about it later. If not, I’ll be back when I have something new to write about.

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Hofheim, Sundays

Noyzi makes a new human friend at the Birkenhof Hofladen’s Bembelschänke…

Yesterday, Bill was supposed to Skype with his mom. He didn’t do it, because I complained to him that I wanted to go out and do something on Saturday. And yet, we didn’t end up going anywhere yesterday… it was hot and muggy, and nothing was appealing.

Today was different. It was hot and muggy today, but we decided we wanted to go out, anyway. The Birkenhof Hofladen has a 24 hour fridge that people can buy produce from. They also have a Biergarten called the Bembelschänke, which is a really nice venue for drinking beer, eating pretzels, and pondering life. It’s a dog friendly place, so Noyzi came with us. Boy did he have fun! A Bembel, by the way, is a pottery wine pitcher found in these parts. This is German wine country, after all.

When we arrived at the cornfield, we walked Noyzi toward the entrance, where we were promptly greeted by a gorgeous dog who obviously lived at the farm. I think he might have been a “Swissy”. He was very much “Johnny on the spot” when we arrived, meeting us at the gate, and checking out Noyzi with his hackles raised. Noyzi, of course, just wanted to play.

The lady of the farm came out and claimed her dog, whom she said was two years old. She yelled at him to sit and he ignored her the first couple of times before he complied. He and Noyzi traded a couple more sniffs, then parted company as she took him inside.

Bill and I chose a shady spot in the Biergarten, which wasn’t very crowded at all. We ordered a couple of beers– an amber for him, and a weizen for me. Noyzi was nervous, but he eventually calmed down a bit as we enjoyed a “cheese bread” plate for Bill, and Spundekäs with a pretzel for me. I was impressed by how beautifully the food was presented.

The Bembelschänke offers a variety of beverages– wines, beers, soft drinks, and non alcoholic juices. I was actually really tempted by the lemonade, which looked very refreshing. The food choices are somewhat limited to snacks, but that’s okay. After you enjoy a round or two, you can visit the 24 hour fridge and load up on farm fresh goodies. I took a video for Bill’s daughter. She’s never had a chance to live abroad.

A little about what’s available…

As we were finishing up our second round, the lady of the farm came over with a big bowl of water for Noyzi. I could tell she was a bit smitten by him. I think the feeling was mutual, as he went right over to her and gave her a snuggle. I was glad to see him so comfortable with someone he doesn’t live with 24/7. Noyzi really likes women, and he’s come such a long way from the scared pooch he was in 2020, when we first brought him home from Kosovo. He was very well behaved at the Biergarten, aside from taking a little while to settle down. I think if we go back, we’ll be welcomed warmly… especially by Noyzi’s new friend.

One of the young waitresses said, when she saw Noyzi, “Mein Herz.” Or something to that effect. The lady of the farm said he was very “Hübsch”. It was clear that he made a very good impression. I do love my beagles, but I’ve got to admit that Noyzi the street dog sure is better behaved and easier on most levels. He works very hard not to offend, and he mostly succeeds.

Anyway, we were very proud of him. It was a hot, but lovely, afternoon. The mood at the Biergarten was perfect– not too busy and very warm and welcoming. I hope we can do it again soon. And the bonus is, we scored some nice goodies for home!

Below are some photos…

Corn is growing all over the farm!
Cheese and bread for Bill.
Love this!
We brought home some jams, eggs, wurst, and mountain cheese for Bill.
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