A winter break in Waiblingen… Off to see the dentist! (part four)

Featured photo is of a very posh pooch on a very posh street in Stuttgart– the address where our dentist has his office.

We woke up to a rainy Thursday morning. This was a bummer, since although Bachofer offers “free” breakfast, unless you want cereal or something very simple, you have to take it at one of three places in town. Actually, that wasn’t so much of a bummer. I think I was just really tired of the neverending crappy weather.

We had the chance to have breakfast at each of the places Bachofer has arranged to allow guests to enjoy breakfast. On Thursday morning, we went to Bäckerei & Konditorei Kai Kauffmann, which is a very short walk from Bachofer. We chose the Kauffmann bakery because it opened earliest. Bill had a long class at the Jung Institute that morning, and we didn’t have time for a leisurely breakfast. Below are a few photos from the early morning of January 29th.

Although we’ve lived in Germany for a long time now, I haven’t had the chance to enjoy too many breakfasts at bakeries. Bill usually picks up baked treats at the bakery in Breckenheim on the rare occasions we decide to indulge. I don’t go with him. Maybe it’s time I went, although I believe our local bakery is just that– it’s not a Konditorei, too.

Anyway, the lady behind the counter recognized the card the Bachofer gave us to cover the cost of breakfast up to 24 euros per person. The Kauffman has a menu, so we ordered from it. I enjoyed watching people coming in and out– especially the German men who came in for coffee and bread before starting their workday. We came in well under the 48 euro limit for this repast.

After breakfast, we went back to the room so Bill could sit through his three hour lecture. I tried to read, but soon fell asleep. I find that I do that a lot these days! It was okay, though, because the weather was pretty bad on Thursday. There was a winter mix and steady rainfall, so it was okay to just have a lie in while my very steady and conscientious husband did some work toward someday becoming a Jungian analyst.

Once the class was over, it was time for lunch. Since we had late afternoon dental appointments in Stuttgart, we decided to have lunch in town. This turned out to be a good decision, because we discovered a delightful Italian place called Mamma Roma. The English speaking Italian lady behind the bar warmly welcomed us to have a seat near the fake fireplace– which I found kind of charming and oddly comforting– and order from the extensive menu.

Cold, rainy weather makes me especially want to drink red wine. It was about 1:00 PM, but that doesn’t really matter when you’re an overeducated housewife with no kids. Bill and I each had a glass of primitivo, shared a bottle of sparkling water, and we both chose dishes from the daily lunch specials. I had a rinderfilet steak with potatoes, and Bill had orchiaetta pasta Bolognese.

They had a deal in which if you ordered a starter, you could have coffee or espresso at the end. I don’t usually drink coffee after breakfast, but what the hell… I ordered the bruschetta, and Bill had lentil soup. I’m glad we did that, as both starters were excellent. I especially enjoyed the steak, which was perfectly cooked medium rare and not too big to finish. Bread was also included.

Prices were reasonable, and we weren’t rushed, even though we were finishing up at about the time their afternoon pause began. If you look at the third top photo below, you can see a man on the phone over Bill’s shoulder. On Saturday night, he recognized us at the restaurant next door. More on that later.

I really liked Restaurant Mamma Roma and would not hesitate to dine there again. In fact, I liked lunch so much that I pointedly thanked the very pleasant lady who waited on us. I said, “That was a very nice lunch. Thank you very much.” She beamed. It’s nice not to be an ugly American.

*The old Rathaus. Looks like it used to have a restaurant.*

Our dental appointments were at 5:00 PM, so we headed back to the Bachofer to prepare. The housekeeper was servicing our room, so we took the opportunity to check out the Stübli in the hotel. This is where there’s a large table, TV, snacks, sodas, beer and wine. As I mentioned in an earlier post, non-alcoholic drinks and snacks are “gratis”. If you want beer or wine, you just write down what you take and pay for it later. I appreciated this very thoughtful and homey touch, as it gave us a non-awkward place to wait while our room was refreshed.

We headed to Stuttgart at about 4:00 PM, and were quickly reminded of why it’s often called STAUgart… Traffic was messy, and as usual, there were many building/road projects going on. Still, I have a weird affection for Stuttgart. I enjoyed living in the area for a total of six years, and in spite of its idiosyncrasies, it still feels a little like home– even though I’m not German, let alone Swabian!

Dr. Blair warmly greeted us with an incredulous look on his face. “You’re still here?!” he joked. Yes– we are. He’s been our dentist for over ten years, and he does an excellent job, even though sometimes he’s a bit eccentric. But, what the hell? I’m pretty eccentric, too.

Bill had called the office before we arrived, just to make sure we wouldn’t arrive at a closed practice. Our appointments were at 5, but according to their Web site, they close at 5. We didn’t want to waste a trip into Stuttgart. That actually did happen to us once, back in 2023. Someone had given us an appointment on German Unity Day, not realizing that it was a holiday. We showed up that day and no one was working! Bill was reassured that 5:00 is when the last appointments are available.

We both got our teeth thoroughly cleaned. Happily, this time, the hygienist used an egg timer so I knew exactly how long to hold the fluoride, in spite of it burning. And she was gentle with my cleaning, so I didn’t have bruised, sore gums afterward. She said she didn’t see a crack in my molar, which was a relief, since I’d noticed some sensitivity. I have also noticed that since the cleaning, my teeth haven’t been sensitive.

Dr. Blair joked that Bill had “cheated” on him with the dentist in Wiesbaden. And I reminded him that Bill broke his tooth while Dr. Blair was on break. He said, “I’m entitled to a break!” Yes, of course– but Bill didn’t want to wait a month to get his broken tooth fixed. As it turned out, Bill ended up having other stuff done in Wiesbaden by the excellent dentist up here. Maybe I should do the same… but I do genuinely like and trust Dr. Blair. He loves to chat with us, too. 🤭

I thought maybe we’d have dinner in Stuttgart, but the weather still sucked, and we weren’t at all hungry after lunch. Neither of us felt like trying to find a restaurant and making our way back to Waiblingen in the dark, cold night. So we decided to go back to Waiblingen and enjoy some German TV and wine in our room. Bill had plans for another long course on Friday morning, so he needed to rest up for that. The nice thing about our visit to Stuttgart was that we scored a parking spot on a higher level of the garage. That was a bonus on Saturday, when it came time to leave.

So ends my story of Thursday in Waiblingen… Stay tuned for the next part!

Baden-Württemberg, dental, short breaks

A winter break in Waiblingen… How did we end up there? (part one)

Featured photo is of the really cool medieval gate we passed through on our way into the town.

Several weeks ago, it became very clear to Bill and me that we desperately needed to go see our dentist, Dr. Blair. Our last visit to his office in Stuttgart was in late October 2024. After that visit, which resulted in some very sore gums after I pissed off the dental hygienist by not swishing the fluoride long enough, we went to the lovely Bavarian spa town of Bad Wörishofen. We meant to visit Dr. Blair again in 2025, but there just wasn’t any time. Thanks to the chaotic year that was 2025, we just never found the time to go down to Stuttgart.

Before anyone asks, yes there ARE dentists in Wiesbaden. In fact, Bill visits one sometimes, when he has a dental issue that needs immediate attention. But I like to go to Stuttgart, because I like and trust Dr. Blair, and because going down there offers a good excuse to spend a few days in a town in Baden-Württemberg somewhere. I do still love going down there, even though we left there in late 2018 on somewhat disappointing terms, thanks to our legal dispute with our former landlady.

I’m not sure we’ll get to live in beautiful Baden-Württemberg again, but it still has a piece of my heart. So when we visit Dr. Blair, we usually try to spend a few days chilling in a town we haven’t yet visited. Or, alternatively, we might go to Bavaria or France… or somewhere else. 😉 We have had some really good short trips, thanks to having a dentist in Stuttgart.

So, Bill gave me the dates he was available to go down to see our trusty dental professional, and I set about looking for a place to stay. I decided I didn’t want to go to the Wald Hotel this time, even though it’s probably our favorite hotel in Stuttgart. Expedia.com offered a list of the usual spots, I went through the list and noticed an entry for a small boutique hotel and gourmet restaurant called Bachofer. The restaurant was particularly interesting, as it has a Michelin star and offers Asian fusion cuisine.

Then I noticed the hotel was in the city of Waiblingen, which is just north of Stuttgart by a few miles. I remembered when we first got back to Germany in 2014, we stayed in a rental apartment in Kemnat. I’d often see my Internet connection coming from Waiblingen. After I looked at some photos of the town, I realized it’s really cute… and there are other good restaurants there besides Bachofer. I decided to book four nights at Bachofer, and Bill and I also reserved tables at Bachofer’s restaurant, and a nearby competitor called Untere Apotheke, which is currently mentioned in the Michelin Guide.

We are now fresh back from our trip to Waiblingen. We had a great time, and I got lots of pictures. I picked up a few new stories, too. So welcome to my Waiblingen series… I hope a few of you will enjoy it, and perhaps even find yourself inspired to explore some of the lesser known gems where you live.

First thing’s first… I was confused about how to pronounce Waiblingen, so I went looking for answers…

Now I know.

Waiblingen is the capital and largest city of the Rems-Murr district, and it is a direct neighbor to Stuttgart. The town was first mentioned in Carolingian documents in the year 885! It became a town in 1250. As a native of the Tidewater region of Virginia, I was proud to see that Waiblingen is a sister city to Virginia Beach, among several European cities. The city was almost completely destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War, but has been rebuilt. Around the city, one can see remnants of medieval fortifications that have been restored.

I don’t expect this will be a long series, because I spent a lot of time in the hotel room hiding from rain and watching Bill take online courses at the Jung Institute. But we did have some really amazing food, and it was great to have a change of scenery. Read more about that in part two!

Bavaria, dental, Luxury, short breaks

Getting to Bad Wörishofen, and our first night… (part two)

Several weeks ago, Bill arranged to take Thursday and Friday off from work. As I mentioned in the first post in this series, he was planning to get his teeth cleaned by our Stuttgart area dentist, Dr. Blair. Wiesbaden does have good dentists. Bill even goes to one up here, because last year, he broke a tooth and needed treatment while Dr. Blair was on vacation. However, I am very picky about healthcare providers. If I find one I like, I’m willing to travel. I like Dr. Blair and trust him, and it’s fun to visit our old stomping grounds. We have spent six of our married years living in the Stuttgart area, so it will always have a place in my heart.

We took Noyzi and Charlie to the Hundepension. Noyzi was delighted to be there, as you can see in the video below. He’s probably one of their favorite clients, too… he’s so sweet and friendly, and never causes any trouble. I’m sure Charlie will love it, too. This was only his second time there.

If they hadn’t opened the gate when they did, I’ll bet Noyzi would have knocked!

Once we unloaded the dogs, we enjoyed a fairly uneventful trip down to Stuttgart. It was lunchtime when we arrived, so we visited the Paulaner am alte Postplatz, which is a German restaurant very close to Dr. Blair’s office. We’ve been there a few times over the years, and we’ve never been disappointed by the hearty food or the friendly service in this Paulaner themed bar that is situated in the old post office.

This time, Bill had fried sole, which was a special. I had the “Fitness Teller”, which was supposed to be healthy. I guess, in retrospect, it kind of was, although I washed it down with beer. The dish came with a small piece of chicken breast, a salad, and a baked potato with Schmand (German sour cream with herbs) on the side. I don’t really like sour cream that much, so that was good for me. Bill helped me eat the salad! His dish came with Spaetzle, which is a local favorite.

*The ceiling in our dining room. I love how quaint this restaurant is.*

When we got to Dr. Blair’s office, he was at the reception desk, talking to a couple about an implant for the wife. He let us in, and told us to take a seat, since he knows us very well. I waited about fifteen minutes for a hygienist to call me back. Unfortunately, she started the appointment by annoying me. She asked me to swish some very strong antiseptic for a minute. Usually, they have a timer so it’s easy to see how long you’ve held the very strong stuff in your mouth. This time, there was no timer. I spat it out when it started to burn my mouth. She scolded me for not swishing long enough and had me do it again. And again, she said I didn’t swish long enough, although I probably did, since I didn’t rinse after the first swishing.

Her scolding irritated me, so I told her that I spat it out because it was burning my mouth, and I don’t want to hold substances in my mouth if they burn. She might not know it, but a lot of women who are menopausal have problems with burning mouth syndrome, as I do sometimes. But honestly, if she’d just put up an egg timer, I would have tried to swish for as long as the sands were flowing through the glass. I do have an Apple Watch, but it wasn’t convenient to time myself with it. I probably sounded kind of bitchy, but if you read about my recent experiences with German medical care, you might know where that attitude comes from. Anyway, we’re paying for the treatment, and it’s my mouth. I figure I can spit if I want to.

I waited for awhile for Dr. Blair, but then had to change rooms because the hygienist needed to clean someone else’s teeth. When he came in, he was his usual friendly self. He asked why Bill wasn’t getting a cleaning. I told him he was originally supposed to, but the appointment was canceled because of a lack of hygienists. Dr. Blair apologized profusely, especially since he knows we travel to see him. It was no big deal, though. Even if Bill didn’t have a local guy, he’s got to visit Stuttgart again on business in a couple of months. He could always slip in to see Dr. Blair when he’s down there for his conference.

When we were finished with the dentist, we headed southeast toward Bad Wörishofen. It was a pretty easy drive, once we got out of Stuttgart. By the time we got to our destination, I was really glad I didn’t choose a destination that was further away. It was about 6:30 PM when we arrived, and pretty dark outside. Bill and I were definitely ready to relax with a drink. It would take awhile before that would happen.

As we drove into the spa town, Bill found his way to Hotel Fontenay, which has its own parking garage. He tried to turn into the garage, which was locked, of course. It was pretty awkward to back out of there, even with all the assistants on our Volvo. He finally managed to turn the car around and get us to the front door. A young woman behind the desk welcomed us and told us she’d park the car for us after we unloaded our bags. Then she came back with a trolley and took us to room 220.

I booked us a deluxe room with a balcony. It was a large room, and the balcony was very nice, as it looked over the hotel’s lovely backyard. The one thing it lacked was furniture. They probably don’t keep that outside when the weather turns cold. I did see a balcony that had chairs, but most of them seemed to be bare. As for the rest of the room, well… it looked kind of like a relic from the early 1990s. The bed was large, but the mattress was extremely firm. We neglected to bring our own pillows this time, because we figured such an expensive hotel would have decent pillows. Unfortunately, that was not the case. I suppose we could have asked for extras, though. We had split duvets, which was okay with me. I got a kick out of the upholstery on the couch and chair. It reminded me of the old arcade game, Q-bert.

*If you were around in the 80s, you might know why this couch made me think of Q-bert!*

The bathroom had a tub and a rather disappointing shower, although the water pressure was good. I did like that the bathroom was in its own room, rather than part of the room. The television was small and tucked into an armoire with a safe and the minibar. There was also a built in desk, which I might have appreciated if we had stayed longer than three nights. Below are some photos:

*A nice snack for us. We ate most of the fruit last night for dinner.*

There was a door in the room that could be closed, which separated the bathroom and closet from the bedroom. There was a bright light that operated by motion detector. It was a little annoying, as we would get up to go to the bathroom and get hit with a bright light. On the other hand, it made getting to the bathroom somewhat safer. The door had a window in it, so even with it closed, that light would shine in the room, which might wake up light sleepers.

We decided to have dinner in the hotel’s restaurant. It was here that I noticed some bumbling among the staff. I have sympathy for them because I used to wait tables myself, and people have to learn somewhere. But this was supposed to be a five star hotel… Granted five stars doesn’t necessarily mean excellence. The stars are awarded based on amenities. So you can go to a pretty mediocre five star hotel that has every amenity and service you could ever want. Or you could go to a one star place with stellar service.

Anyway, we were directed to a table in the corner. It wasn’t fully set, and the candle was never lit. I think we were the only ones in the restaurant without a lit candle. It’s not a huge deal, but I did notice it… as well as the lack of bread plates and silverware. The waiter spoke English, and mentioned that he’d only been at the hotel for about two months. He was working the whole room pretty much on his own, as the bartender was a shy young Asian woman who seemed quite inexperienced.

I got the sense that they don’t get too many Americans or English speakers at Hotel Fontenay, which would make sense to me, since it doesn’t seem that well known among English speakers. Most of the clientele appeared to be older than Bill and me, although we did see a couple of parties with younger folks… including one that had children.

I decided to have the turbot dish, which was priced at about 58 euros. Bill ordered shrimp and scallops, which was 49 euros. They had another fish dish that was priced according to the weight of the fish. We thought the restaurant was just expensive, given the price of the room. We also ordered wine and sparkling water.

The waiter brought us an amuse bouchée of duck ham, which I didn’t want to try until I had liquid. Sadly, we had to wait awhile for that to arrive. We tried to order sparkling water from the bartender who seemed to hear us, but apparently didn’t… and then it took the waiter a long time to get to it. The sparkling water and wine were finally delivered by the very friendly and enthusiastic manager (I think), an older German man who seemed intent on presenting a welcoming image. He was sweating a lot, and I was a little worried about his health at first. But he smiled and served the wine, and we started to relax… until the turbot came out.

It turned out the turbot, like the other fish on the menu, wasn’t parceled out into small portions. I had ordered a whole fish, and it was enough for two people! I was shocked as the manager cut the fish, wondering if the other portion was for someone else. No… it was all for me, and Bill had his own dinner! Thank God we didn’t order starters! It came with spinach and basmati rice.

*The amuse I waited a long time to eat.*

Naturally, we didn’t have room for dessert, so we decided to have after dinner Irish Coffees. That too, was a bit bumbling. The bartender brought out the drinks with the cream on the side. The manager saw that, and apparently, that wouldn’t do. He swiped the drinks and had the kitchen put cream on them. The drinks were good, and by the end of dinner, I was really glad to have them.

The bar at Hotel Fontenay isn’t exactly hopping, or at least it wasn’t when we were there, so we decided to go to bed after we ate. My gums were hurting after the dental visit anyway. Before we left the dining room, the waiter, who seemed kind of nervous about us, told us that when we arrived for breakfast, we should sit at the same table in the corner. I’m not sure why some hotels do the assigned seating thing, but I find it kind of annoying. I’m sure there’s a good reason for it, though.

I took a shower and a couple of Advil PMs. Soon, I was fast asleep.

blog news, dental, German lifestyle, Health, Sundays

Mother’s Day in Deutschland, 2024…

We had big plans to do something fun this weekend. The weather is fine, with lots of sunshine and warm temperatures. Unfortunately, we never managed to get out yesterday, because we got bogged down with chores. By the time they were done, it was mid afternoon. So we ended up enjoying the backyard, which was freshly mowed and trimmed.

Bill cooked burgers on the grill and we enjoyed lots of beer and my ever expanding music catalog on the HomePod. We weren’t the only ones who stayed home yesterday. Our neighbors on both sides were also enjoying the weather in their backyards. The featured photo is of Deschutes Black Butte Porter, which was a welcome find in the Class VI store on post. I miss American craft beers.

This morning, I woke up with a horrible crick in my neck that really hurts. It’s somewhat better now, since I took some Advil. Fortunately, we can get Advil on post, as it’s not available without a prescription in Germany. The painkiller took the edge off the crick, but it still hurts to turn my head to the right. My stomach is also still bothering me a bit…

Bill finally made me an appointment with a gastroenterologist at the local hospital. Because we have Tricare insurance, they automatically give us the chief of the service. I guess Tricare is considered private insurance here, which means we rate the so-called “best” doctors. I’m nervous about the appointment, which happens a week before my birthday next month. I haven’t seen a physician since the spring of 2010. I saw a military doctor (who was a civilian) at the now defunct Fort McPherson in Georgia for what I’m sure are gallstones… Nothing was done then. This time, I don’t think I’ll be as lucky. 🙁 I expect this doctor will want to do some rather unpleasant tests… but maybe he won’t. We’ll see. Either way, there will be drugs involved.

I truly hate going to doctors. I was severely traumatized by one years ago, and it’s caused problems for me ever since. I pretty much have to be dying before I’ll go see one. Consequently, I have no recent medical history whatsoever, other than COVID-19 vaccinations. I am a little afraid this visit will prompt a cascade of medical attention… or, at least, they’ll encourage it. SIGH… and I am now at an age at which shit starts happening. Anyway, enough boring shit about my health. At least I don’t feel too terrible. The stomach thing is mostly just an annoyance. The crick in my neck is more of a nuisance on this Mother’s Day.

I was thinking maybe we’d go somewhere today, but again, it’s Mother’s Day, and that means a lot of people will be dining out. We once made the wrong decision to go out on Mother’s Day without a reservation, and it was almost a disaster. So, since it’s a big restaurant day, and because I don’t feel that great, anyway, I think we’ll stay home and enjoy the weather in our backyard. Or, I will probably do that after I take a nap. Right now, Bill is in the kitchen, cleaning up the oven. He sure is a sweetheart… Below are a couple of photos of lunches he packed for himself this week. Everybody gets a kick out of how beautifully presented and healthy his lunches are. Meanwhile, I would prefer to eat junk.

I don’t know how I ended up with a military veteran husband who is so in touch with his feminine side. But we sure do have a lot of fun together. I was hoping to book a short break somewhere this month, but we can’t seem to get the Hund Pension to answer email… As soon as they do, we will start building our next vacation, which looks like it will take place in Iceland. So… we’ll see what the next week brings.

Hopefully, whatever is causing my stomach issues won’t be anything serious… and I won’t run screaming from the room when I meet the doctor. I also hope he’s not the type to lecture… either way, I’m sure I’ll write about it next month. Tomorrow, Bill goes in to get the next part of his dental implant done. It will involve some minor surgery. Hopefully, that will go well for him. My own implant experience was not quite as traumatic as his is turning out to be.

We also heard from Bill’s younger daughter and her children. One of them made Bill’s day by saying he wanted to say hello to “Papa”. If you know our story, you know that is a very big deal. If you don’t know it and are curious, you can check the main blog… or just understand that parental alienation after divorce is a real thing and a huge problem. But, fortunately, Bill’s younger daughter inherited her dad’s capacity to forgive, as well as his good sense.

dental

Less than 24 hours in Stuttgart…

Bill and I just got back from our latest jaunt to Stuttgart. We usually go down there to see our dentist, Dr. Blair, who is the best dentist either of us have ever had. We missed seeing him in October because our appointment was originally made on a holiday, and there was a miscommunication. We went down there and found no one in the office. After that, Bill got busy and/or could never get the receptionist on the phone.

We finally got an appointment for noon today. Ordinarily, we’d stay for a couple of days and do a few fun things down in our old stomping grounds. Unfortunately, Bill is currently very busy with a work project. He also just took last week off work while his mom was here. So, instead of staying for a couple of days, like we normally would, we just went down for a night and came back late this afternoon.

Although our trip was short, it was very productive and a lot of fun! It began with a stay at the Wald Hotel, which is our favorite Stuttgart area lodging so far. I had actually considered booking a different hotel, as I thought maybe Bill would want to take the train instead of driving. There are a couple of hotels that are near the Hauptbahnhof that I thought we might try.

The Wald Hotel is not close to the main train station, but is somewhat close to the U-bahn. However, getting to the hotel from the station requires a walk, which is not fun while toting a bag. Bill ultimately decided he’d rather drive, because we’d have to check out of the hotel and then do something with our bags. We knew we’d be walking around Stuttgart while waiting for our appointments. Once Bill decided to drive, I booked the Wald Hotel, since I knew it would offer everything we’d need.

Instead of booking fancy suites, like I have the last two times we’ve been there, I booked one of the comfort rooms in the new part of the hotel. That was a mistake, mainly because the shower in our cheaper room– unlike the ones on the ground floor– was just an ordinary shower, rather than one of the awesome spa showers that are in the more expensive rooms. In my opinion, the extra money for the bigger room is worth it, mainly because of the spa shower! On the other hand, it has been a few years since I last stayed in one of those rooms. Maybe they took them out.

*This art is horrifying to me. I am a mycophobe.*

We had a pretty easy late afternoon drive down to the Degerloch area of Stuttgart last night, and were rewarded with a fairly empty parking lot at the hotel. We easily found a spot right by the entrance, went in, and picked up our key cards and a voucher for a free round of drinks.

Once we dropped off our bags, we headed down to the bar, where we were greeted by lovely Cosima, who took care of us when we visited Wald Hotel last spring! She remembered us, and was delighted when I said I remembered that she’d told me her name is Italian. Cosima said she was only working in the bar by chance, as she was filling in for a sick colleague. She is in a training program, so she’s been working all over the hotel in different capacities. I thought that was pretty great, since she’s becoming proficient in all jobs required in a German hotel.

Cosima made us a couple of rounds of drinks, and was kind enough to book us a table at Finch, which is the gourmet restaurant at Wald Hotel. We’ve eaten at Finch several times, but last night’s dinner was the best we’ve had there yet. I had a wonderful lamb’s lettuce salad with orange slices, croutons, and hazelnut dressing and crispy duck with Savoy cabbage, and bread dumplings. Bill had a leek soup with duxelles, and wild boar with mashed potatoes and mushrooms. We also enjoyed dessert– white chocolate mousse with blood oranges for me, and a banana almond cheesecake for him. And we had lovely wine from France, as well as a digestive, hazelnut for Bill, and pear for me…

My only complaint about our stay at Wald Hotel is that the mattress on the bed was too firm for my liking. It felt a bit like sleeping on a sidewalk. I remember last year, the mattress was also too firm for me. However, I don’t remember having that problem on previous stays.

After a nice Eggs Benedict breakfast in the hotel restaurant, we went back to the room, packed up, and processed a bit. Breakfast is not included in the room rate and could be considered expensive– but aside from a generous buffet, they also offer hot selections that are prepared to order and included in the price. We both had Eggs Benedict, but we could have chosen from a number of different items.

Then we went to downtown Stuttgart to wait for our appointments with Dr. Blair. It was kind of a special day, since there was Fasching going on. Lots of people were dressed in costumes and there was music. Some businesses were also closed, including the Markthalle, which is a great food and wine market. We were lucky enough to have sunny and somewhat warm weather, for February, anyway. I took some photos…

*Looks like they knocked down a building and exposed an old sign.*

Dr. Blair was glad to see us. Bill broke the news to him about his broken tooth, and the dental implant process in process with a Wiesbaden area dentist. Dr. Blair was very understanding, and wanted to know about the type of implant used and the process the other dentist used for the sinus lift Bill needed. He had good things to say about my teeth, which were thoroughly cleaned… (gums are sore tonight). He gave me an Implant Pass, which shows the type of implant I got in 2016. He wanted me to show it to Bill, so he could get the information about his implant. That way, if it breaks, the next dentist will have the information.

We made appointments for August, then headed out for lunch at Abacco’s Steakhouse, a steak joint where you get your steak served on a hot stone. I hadn’t wanted to eat there, but there was a big Fasching party going on at the Paulaner Bar next door. I wanted to get photos!

Sizzling steak and sizzling dancers!

We both had small rib-eyes with house fries. Bill’s was from Uruguay, and mine was from Argentina. It wasn’t that easy to eat steak after our cleanings. Maybe we should have had pasta or soup instead… but at least I’m still not hungry many hours later. We each had a beer, then went to buy some Berliners, which we had noticed being set up just before we went to see the dentist.

Below are some photos of the Berliner or Krapfen (Pfannkuchen– doughnuts) and other associated doughnuts. Tis the season to get them!

Our drive back to Wiesbaden was very easy, with no traffic whatsoever, and no building projects. The only drawback was the less than beautiful weather. But at least we got some sunshine while we were down in our old stomping grounds! And now, Noyzi is back home, too!

Bavaria, churches, dental

Italian food in Würzburg… part four

Featured photo was spotted in Würzburg… but it could apply to a number of other things… like my stomach after a big meal.

Thursday morning, we woke up to more rain in Würzburg. I was thinking maybe it would be a good day for us to visit the Residenz. However, we never got around to committing to that plan. I think it was because we were all a bit distracted by that big “issue” I mentioned at the beginning of this series.

My husband’s younger daughter was pregnant with her fourth baby, and she had elected to induce labor on Thursday, February 8th. She had hoped the labor would occur naturally, and because her other three babies had come early, she assumed this one might, too. I believe her due date was actually February 14th, but for whatever reason, she and her doctor decided that the baby needed to be born sooner than that. So naturally, we were excited about the new arrival– a baby girl– who would be joining two brothers and a sister.

We were sitting around talking about the baby, who hadn’t been born yet. Younger daughter lives in Utah, so she’s eight hours behind us in Germany. I think I was also getting a bit grumpy. Physically, I wasn’t feeling particularly well, and although I truly do love Bill’s mom, I’m not used to being around people anymore and was feeling a little company “fatigued”. So, because of that, my mood was a little bit off kilter, too. And then there was the incessant rain!

The upshot is, by the time we left the guest house, it was getting close to lunchtime. Parker also wanted to shop for souvenirs for her friends in Texas who hadn’t already benefited from her shopping trip in Bamberg. We drove back to Würzburg intent on having Italian food at Le Candele, a restaurant Bill found that was in another area of town.

I was looking forward to having some Italian food. I love German food, too, but we ate a lot of it during our trip to Bavaria. It can be kind of heavy, and since lately my stomach has been giving me problems, I thought I’d prefer something else. Le Candele did offer good food and rightfully earned their high ratings on Google. We had a nice, long, leisurely lunch…

It was a really nice lunch. Service was professional; prices were fair; and everything tasted good. The only thing I didn’t particularly like was the pop music that was blaring from a speaker over my head. But that’s just a personal quibble of mine. Le Candele appears to be yet another local gem in Würzburg.

The only problem with such a luxurious lunch is that it can lead to indigestion and having to go to the bathroom, which can be problematic in public places. And, sure enough, shortly after we left the restaurant, I needed to go to the toilet. Parker wanted to buy some fridge magnets, so we went into the Euro Shop, which looked kind of like a store on par with The Dollar Tree in the US. We found some magnets for her friends back home, and noted the the weather, which was getting worse.

I started to feel like I’d rather just go back to the guest house, put on something comfortable, and be near the bathroom, since I figured I’d have some “processing” to do, plus I kind of wanted some peace and quiet. I tend to be kind of introverted, and sometimes I need a little alone time. This is especially true when I have an upset stomach. I don’t blame this on the restaurant, by the way. I have been having some stomach issues for awhile.

I told Bill he should just take me back and he and his mom could go out and do something together. But Parker didn’t like that idea… She also wanted to buy some soaps for her friends. So we headed back toward the Old Main Bridge, where I remembered there was a public toilet.

I was actually a little scared to go into the public WC. It was underground and didn’t look particularly clean. And, truth be told, the area around it was pretty gross. It looked like there was a pile of something right by the door, along with trash. Fortunately, the toilet itself was clean, if not kind of akin to the free roadside toilets on the Autobahn. At least I didn’t have to pay to use it.

Once I had gone to the bathroom, I felt a little better, so Bill went to the Edeka to pick up some snacks and wine for the evening. Then we decided to head back to the car. Parker was reassuring me that she could just buy soap at the airport. But then I noticed a shop that had homemade soap displayed in the window. I told her she should go pick some up for her friends. She protested– obviously not wanting to inconvenience me– but I was getting annoyed, because she had mentioned wanting to buy soap more than once, and there it was, right there! I’m afraid I got a little short tempered and snapped, “Just go get the soap! It’s right there! It’s not a problem for me to wait a few minutes.”

Bill and his mom went to buy the beeswax/honey soap while I took a few more photos of the Neumünster. I considered going in there for a few photos, while Bill and his mom were picking up souvenirs. I noticed people were going in and out of there, so it was obviously open. But then I thought I shouldn’t do that, because then they’d come out and wonder where I was.

So I waited, and Bill and Parker came out with the goods. We went back to the car and drove back to the guest house. I was a little sad… because I would have liked to have done more. I was just feeling icky… both physically, because of the big meal, and mentally, because I felt a little like a third wheel, and because I just needed a couple of hours to relax by myself.

When we got back to the house, I decided to close the door to the bedroom take a nap, which helped my mood. I appreciated that the rooms in the house had thick doors, so it was very quiet in the room. By the time I woke up, I felt better in all ways. I joined Bill and his mom for wine, snacks, and German television shows about the police and paramedics.

We enjoyed one last night at the guest house, and on the morning of February 9th, awoke to the news that Bill had a brand new granddaughter who weighed a respectable 7 pounds 12 ounces! The baby was born at 4:15 PM on February 8th and is very beautiful and healthy.

Friday morning, we packed up, and Bill went to check out of the house. He paid for the wine we enjoyed, and bought a six pack of wines to enjoy at home. Kudos to the wine tasting guide, who remembered that we prefer wines that are less sweet. He replaced the “halb-trocken” wine in the pack with a Riesling.

All in all, we enjoyed our time in Bavaria. I would love to go back to Würzburg and Bamberg when the weather is better. I think next time, maybe Bill and I would stay in a hotel in Bamberg… although I also truly enjoyed Würzburg. You can’t really go wrong in either place; they’re both very nice cities.

This trip was marred mostly by the German weather which, unfortunately, tends to suck in February. Also, the guest house’s location wasn’t conducive to being able to walk downtown easily. That last day could have been saved if I could have just gone to a hotel room for a short rest while Bill and his mom walked around some more. But Bill didn’t really want to drop me off and then go out again… and his mom was very worried about inconveniencing us. If we’d had more sunshine, I think it would have been a better visit… but then, that kind of goes without saying. And the fact that we were anticipating a new family member also kind of added to the stress.

I was eager to go home, too, because I missed Noyzi. He’s my baby. He had to go back to the Hundepension again today, though, because we’re going to Stuttgart today for an overnight. It’s time to see Dr. Blair for a dental cleaning and exam, after we missed him in October. We might have stayed two nights, but Bill has a big work project going on, and frankly, Stuttgart isn’t all that exciting in February, either. Ah well… at least we’re staying at the Wald Hotel, which is my favorite Stuttgart area hotel.

Anyway, so ends another series… Time for my ten things I learned post.

dental

Sorry we missed you, Doc… part three of our 2023 Czech tour!

Monday morning, Bill went to get more goodies from the bakery near Hotel La Casa. I was kind of dreading the afternoon, as I was under the mistaken impression that we would be visiting our dentist. The weather was sunny and warm again, and I was wishing the appointments had been made for the morning, so we could get the cleanings done and be on our way to Czechia. But because they were made for 3:00 PM, we were committed to a third night in Tübingen. I would have rather hung out in that town all day, instead of heading for Stuttgart.

We decided to get to Stuttgart early enough for lunch. I wisely packed a short sleeved shirt in my purse, because I had a feeling I was really going to need it. Bill wanted to try a place called NOA Restaurant, which specializes in Middle Eastern cuisine. He made a reservation on OpenTable.de for about 1:00 PM.

We got to the restaurant, located on Tübingener Strasse, and took a seat on their terrace. I ended up really enjoying our lunch at NOA, which has a lot of colorful and tasty selections. I ended up having a Beirut Bowl, which had chicken, avocado, hummus, red beets, salad, fattoush, and almonds. It was dressed with mango chili dressing. I had a lavender lemonade to go with it, that really tasted like Sprite with lavender syrup in it.

Bill had iced tea and a marinated Oriental chicken breast filet with rice. It was notated as a NOA Favorite. I could see why. Bill really enjoyed the way the chicken was prepared. After lunch, we had time for me to have a beer, while Bill had coffee.

After lunch, we crossed the street and went into the Galeria store, which had signs up that they were closing. I was looking for a couple of items that they didn’t have. I was sorry not to find what I needed, but at least I got a couple of photos of an honest to God German going out of business sale… Actually, the location is closing, but I don’t think they’re totally going out of business.

After a few minutes looking in the store, we headed over to Dr. Blair’s office, which we found totally deserted. Bill was confused, as he was absolutely certain that the appointment was for October 2, 2023 at 3:00 PM. He searched his emails to see if there were any from Blair’s office. He found none.

To be honest, we were both kind of relieved… Neither of us really felt like having cleanings done, anyway. Still, if we’d known this was going to happen, we definitely wouldn’t have visited Tübingen. Hell, maybe we wouldn’t have even taken the trip at all. That would have been too bad, though, because so much happened during our visit to Czechia, and a few cool things happened in Germany, too. I guess it was just meant to be for us to be down in Tübingen when we were. We really have missed being close enough to visit whenever we want to go.

We visited a local public toilet in Stuttgart, where it’s free of charge to use the bathroom. I changed into my t-shirt, because it was pretty warm by that point of the day. We drove back to the hotel in Tübingen and walked to the Neckarmüller, where we enjoyed a little more time at our favorite Biergarten. I swear, I wish we had one like it up here where we live now…

When the sun went down, we walked back to the vacant hotel with a bottle of red wine, which we used to wash down the leftover Hawaiian pizza. Bill sent an email to the dentist’s office. It turned out our appointments were for October 5th, and somehow Bill missed the memo. So now it looks like we’re going to have to go back down to Stuttgart in December for our cleanings… or, alternatively, I can just join Bill at the local dentist he consulted when he broke a tooth a couple of months ago. He saw that dentist today, to check on the status of his healing, and the Wiesbaden dentist found two cavities that need filling. Jeez!

Well, at least I got some pretty photos, right? And I also got beaned by a couple of huge chestnuts.

*These suckers were falling everywhere! I noticed Germans were pocketing them.*

Tübingen is always a pleasure to visit. And now that we’ve stayed down there for a dentist appointment that didn’t happen, we’d consider doing it again. But next time, I think I’ll probably try a different area, just because it’s more fun and educational that way. It also gives me more to write about in this blog.

Onward to part 4!

Champagne Bucket trips, dental, holidays

Strange welcome back to Tübingen… part one of our 2023 Czech tour!

We’re now back from our trip to the Czech Republic, otherwise known as Czechia. I planned this trip in late July, in anticipation of our bi-yearly dental exams in Stuttgart. Bill usually handles booking our dental appointments, because when we go depends on when he’s able to get away from work. When we last saw Dr. Blair in the spring, Bill made an appointment for early October. A couple of months later, the dentist’s receptionist contacted Bill to reschedule, because the original appointment was for German Reunification Day or thereabouts. Somehow, we got the idea that the new appointment was for Monday, October 2, which technically, wasn’t a holiday in Germany.

I planned our trip around the appointment, deciding that this time, we’d go to the lovely city of Tübingen for three nights instead of staying in Stuttgart or the Black Forest. There is a hotel there that I’d been wanting to try. We used to go there to eat in their restaurant when we lived in the Stuttgart area. I have always loved visiting Tübingen on day trips, and I figured it would be fun to go stay there for a few days, especially since there are a lot of nice areas nearby that are good for day trips.

A week or so before we started our journey to Tübingen, I got a message from Hotel La Casa, the boutique hotel I’d booked. They were letting me know that due to a lack of staff, they were going to have to close their hotel on Sunday, the day after we checked in. But, because I’d booked an apartment, we were allowed to “self-cater” and they’d give us a 20 percent discount for the inconvenience.

It did seem rather strange to be staying in a hotel that would have no staff available, but we’ve certainly self-catered plenty of times. So I thanked the lady for letting me know, and on Saturday, September 30, 2023, we made our way down there. On the way, we stopped at the Hundepension Birkenhof to drop off Noyzi, who was only too delighted to be staying there again. He loves going to the dog hotel and meeting new canine friends.

Noyzi is delighted to be back at the Hundepension!

After we dropped off Noyzi, we visited a very crowded rest stop. I guess a lot of Germans were headed out for the holiday. I got a few photos… I think I was enchanted by the wall of horse toys. When I was a kid, I would have been all over that!

When we got to Tübingen, we spoke to the lady manning the reception. She told us that not only did they have to close the hotel for most of our stay, but they’d also had to close the restaurant! She said they didn’t have enough staff to run it, and there weren’t enough people interested in dining there. I thought that was a pity, since we ate there three times and enjoyed ourselves. But a lack of staff in hospitality, especially since COVID, has been a real problem.

Because the hotel was fully booked when we arrived, there weren’t any parking spots available for us in the hotel’s dedicated garage. But since Tübingen doesn’t require people to pay for street parking on weekends, we just found a spot a block or so away. The next day, when everyone checked out, they gave us a spot in the garage and didn’t even charge us for it.

*The lobby, now sans the restaurant, Refugio.*

We were in Room 105, which was clearly originally a suite with adjoining rooms. The sitting room with the kitchenette had a shower with a rainfall head, while the shower in the bedroom was a spout type. Both showers were very small, but once you got into them, they were nice enough. The room came with free beverages, two televisions, and a rather uncomfortable bed. But there is a pizza/pasta joint nearby, and a couple of grocery stores, as well as a decent bakery, and it’s not too hard to walk into Tübingen… It takes maybe 15 or 20 minutes. We had beautiful weather, so that made it easier for us.

*Interesting lighting system. It was also how to work the “do not disturb” sign (red light or green light).*

Hotel La Casa has a pool/spa/hammam. The hammam, unfortunately, was closed– again, due to a lack of staff. Bill checked out the pool, which he said was pretty, but very small. We didn’t get a chance to use it before the hotel closed. In spite of the closures, we had an okay stay, except the bed wasn’t too good for our backs. But it is a very unique hotel, with decor done in a Spanish/Moorish style, and the staff is very pleasant. I would consider booking it again. Below are some photos from the room.

*Every time I turned on the TV, we got the “fish”, with its “tranquil” music.*

We managed to discover a new “to us” Biergarten in Tübingen that we’d never been to before caled Brauwerk Freistil. They do craft beers and snacks there, as well as offer fun activities like karaoke and billiards. We went there for a beer and to have a look at the Neckar River from the other side of our usual favorite Biergarten, the Neckarmüller. We actually went to the Neckarmüller twice, because although they make typical (excellent but kind of boring) German beers, their Biergarten is awesome.

It was interesting to stay just south of Tübingen. We had never had the opportunity to explore the southern side of this college town when we still lived in the Stuttgart area. It was a new experience to walk around there and see what was in that part of town. Below are some photos from our first night, Saturday the 30th. We were a little surprised the Biergartens were still open, as they’re usually closed by the time we visited. But the weather was unusually warm and very beautiful, so I guess it makes sense that they kept the outside areas open. Usually by this time of year, pants, closed shoes, and jackets are essential, but not in 2023. I needed my shorts and t-shirts.

Wow! Just look at these photos! Tübingen is just as beautiful as I always remember it, with plenty of people out and about, enjoying the city. I’m glad we stayed in Tübingen for this trip, even if it ended up being for naught. More on that in the next post… I need to take a pause and walk Noyzi.

dental

Rheingauer Weinwoche in Wiesbaden– 2023 edition! And more dental woes for Bill…

Yesterday, I lamented to Bill that yet another Saturday was about to get away from us with no fun outside of the house. His answer to me was to suggest that we go to downtown Wiesbaden, where the Rheingauer Weinwoche is going on. This annual event started on Friday and will run through August 21st. COVID kind of messed it up in 2020 and 2021, but we attended in 2019 and we went several times last year.

Although we had some rain yesterday, we managed to get to the festival after most of the weather had passed. It was just partly cloudy with some breezes and a few drops from the sky. As usual, the big celebration is going on in the Schlossplatz, and there are dozens of wineries from the Rheingau region represented, along with some food stands and live entertainment.

Bill and I parked at our usual garage at the theater, where we soon noticed that they had a brand new parking system in place. It used to be, when you drove in, a machine would give you a ticket that you’d later feed into the payment machine. It would tell you how much you owed when you reclaimed your car. Now, you just drive in and input your license plate number when you leave. I also noticed that they had designated a bunch of spaces on the first floor for electric vehicles. I guess that’s one reason to get an electric car. You get prime parking spots downtown! 😉

Anyway, it had been awhile we were last in downtown Wiesbaden. We should probably go there a lot more often than we do, because it’s a really nice town… much prettier than downtown Stuttgart is. There is often a lot going on, too.

We walked around the fest, just to see what was available. I stopped at the first WC I saw, noticing that the price of a whiz has gone up to 1 euro. However, you can purchase an all day ticket for four euros, or a family pass for six euros. I ended up going four times and Bill went twice yesterday. Next time we go, we’ll have to get a family ticket. 😀

We stopped at a random wine stand that had plenty of seating and a good view of the festivities. I had a glass of Riesling and listened to a female singer in the distance, but noticed I could also hear a brass band on the other side. I was more in the mood for the brass band, so we left after one glass and went to the other side. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of seating there, so we went around the corner and sat at another random wine stand that happened to specialize in Sekt.

That other stand was also near a WC, which was very handy for me… so we just sat there and people watched, drank wine, and took some photos. I’m sure we’ll be back again at least once, because just as they did last year, Bill’s co-workers have reserved a table for this coming Friday night. I have a feeling Bill will be ready for a celebration, because on Monday morning, he has to visit a local dentist to have a tooth extracted and start the process for his very first dental implant.

Wednesday, he was at work, eating a gummi bear, and suddenly noticed that there was some rattling in his mouth. He spit out a hunk of gold, which turned out to be a root canaled and crowned molar that he’d had done in 2011 or so. It just sheared right off! He called our usual dentist in Stuttgart, but as usual in August, he had shut down his practice for his annual vacation. Since this was not a situation in which Bill could wait until next week, when Dr. Blair returns, he asked a colleague for a local suggestion. Her dentist turned out to be pretty excellent, too.

He called that dentist’s office and they got him in at 10:30. The oral surgeon– a young German guy who went to school in nearby Mainz– said he couldn’t save the tooth, which had a huge cavity in it under the gold crown. But since the tooth had already been root canaled, the dentist said Bill could wait until Monday to have it extracted without risking infection. Then, perhaps, he might even be able to get the implant put in without having to wait for the tissues to heal first (like I did when I got my implant in 2016). Truthfully, though, I have a feeling he’s going to have to come back later for the implant. They’re probably going to have to do a sinus lift, which will take more time. I had to get one of those, too.

So… not only did we just buy a bunch of new appliances for our house, but now Bill is going to have a big dentist bill. We do have dental insurance, but it’s still going to be pricey work. And when we go back to see Dr. Blair in October for our cleanings, he’s going to be like “WTF”? 😀

Honestly, though, given the number of appointments it takes to get a dental implant, it’s probably a good idea for Bill to have it done locally. If and when my other baby tooth finally gives up the ghost, Dr. Blair can do another implant for me. I know he does excellent work. The one I had done in 2016 is still perfect.

I figure the wine fest will offer Bill some pain relief, after he has his extraction on Monday… I don’t know if we’ll go back today. Bill just brewed a new batch of beer last weekend, so he needs to bottle his brew. My car also needs a spin to keep the new battery functioning. It looks a bit cloudy, too. On the other hand, the wine fest is a lot of fun– there’s also beer and non alcoholic beverages for those who aren’t into wine, as well as plenty of food. We capped off yesterday by having a rare east Sicilian treat called arancini. I noticed them early in the day and was intrigued. They’re deep fried rice balls, covered with bread crumbs and stuffed with mince meat and/or vegetables, mozzarella cheese, peas, and ragu. The ones we had yesterday were delicious and filling!

Here are some photos from our excursion…

I do love this about living in Germany… There’s always some kind of fun or interesting activity going on, and the vast majority of people are well-behaved. Yes, the police were there, and there was security, but I saw little need for them to intervene. The same isn’t necessarily true at events in the United States. So, I’m grateful to live here… and raise yet another toast to the annual wine festival week in Wiesbaden!

dental, trip planning

Our next trip is shaping up…

So, in my last travel post, I mentioned that I was planning our next dental side trip. If you are a regular follower and actually care about my posts (I don’t like to assume), you might already know we’ve done a few of these trips. Basically, they entail going down to Stuttgart, seeing our fabulous dentist down there, then taking a few days off to explore.

Bill and I love planning these breaks. These dental side trips give us a much appreciated break from Wiesbaden, and provide content for my travel blog… which is not as popular as it used to be. Of course, thanks to the pandemic, and the fact that we both had to get some work done last time we went to Stuttgart, we haven’t broken much new ground on the last few excursions.

We moved to Wiesbaden in late 2018, so prior to that, we had no need to do “excursions”, since we still lived in the Stuttgart area. In May 2019, we went down to Stuttgart to get cleanings and see Elton John perform, supposedly for the last time, but I believe he came back to Stuttgart again after that show. We never got around to coming down for cleanings in the fall of that year, because Bill was very busy at work. Then came the pandemic…

Our next journey to see the dentist occurred in August 2021. I got the bright idea to book a few days in Baiersbronn, which is a small town near where we used to live, famous for its many excellent Michelin starred restaurants. We stayed in a nice resort, but that only made me curious about an upgraded experience at the Bareiss Hotel, which is where we went last fall. We spent lots of money and ate wonderful food, but what really sticks out to me, besides the friendly goats and ponies, is the Bareiss Hotel’s incredible pool complex. I’d go back there just for that!

In the spring of 2022, we visited Sessenheim, an area of Alsace, France we had not seen on our many prior visits to the area. We stayed in an awesome little hotel that had its own Michelin starred restaurant, and we bought lots of new French pottery. We mostly decided to go to France because its COVID rules were much less obnoxious than Germany’s, but that was a great trip, anyway. I love Alsace!

Now that the pandemic panic has somewhat passed, it’s time to branch out a bit, and go further afield. As I revealed in the previous post, the Czech Republic won the coin toss. Folks, I think it’s going to be a really great trip. I think we’ve got a good itinerary shaping up.

Although Esslingen won the coin toss for local lodging in the Stuttgart area, I couldn’t find a hotel that was particularly exciting. I ended up booking us at Hotel La Casa, which is a boutique hotel in Tübingen. If you search this blog, you will see that we’ve spent a lot of time in Tübingen. We lived near there during our first Germany tour (2007-09), and visited often when we last lived in the Stuttgart area (2014-18). We have also dined at Hotel La Casa on three occasions.

Even when we lived down that way, I was keen to stay at the hotel one weekend. I actually thought about putting our dogs up and just doing a weekend at Hotel La Casa, even though we lived about 20-30 minutes away from the town. I liked the staff, the restaurant, and the hotel’s interior design. Now that we live in Wiesbaden, we have the excuse to book a stay. Plus, Tübingen is just a really cool town.

*One of many iconic shots that can be taken in Tübingen… It’s a very beautiful city!*

Once I booked that hotel, though, I realized we might have a slight problem. In retrospect, I should have listened to my friend, Susanne, who had suggested a visit to Schwabisch Hall, a very beautiful town about an hour north of Stuttgart. I decided against it, because traffic around Stuttgart is a nightmare, and I didn’t want to be stressed about getting to our appointment. But Schwabisch Hall is actually more conducive to getting to the Czech Republic, as it’s just off Autobahn 6, which is the route we’d be taking under normal circumstances. Staying in Schwabisch Hall would have been more convenient (and I do plan to stop there sometime– maybe in the spring!).

Tübingen is south of Stuttgart, so to access A6, we’d have to drive about an hour north, and that might involve dealing with more traffic. It would definitely require backtracking, which I wanted to avoid if I could.

But then I got to thinking… We really have no agenda. The one place I do want to visit in the Czech Republic is Brno, which is pretty far east. There’s nothing to say we have to access it via A6. We can always get there using a different route.

Then I remembered that in 2008, we went to Passau, Germany for my 36th birthday. I had been there before, in 1997, when I was coming home from my Peace Corps stint and spent a month hopping trains all over Europe. I knew nothing at all about Passau in 1997, and just got off there because I was tired of being on the train. I ended up loving the city. It’s very pretty… and it happens to be exactly halfway between Tübingen and Brno. Below are a few shots from our 2008 trip to Passau. I love the cathedral there, and it’s mighty pipe organ! And I love the confluence of three rivers: the Inn, the Ilz, and the Danube.

Then I remembered that October 3, which is the day we’d be traveling, is a German holiday. And I wanted to get out of Germany for the holiday, because things tend to be closed on German holidays, although restaurants, tourist attractions, and hotels aren’t. I’m as excited about German Reunification Day as anyone is, but I’ve been here for nine years (this time), and I already know how Germans celebrate that day. Besides, what better way to celebrate that day than going to a former Eastern Bloc country? Why not cross back over the eastern border for a chance of pace?

In the late 1980s, Bill actually used to help guard the border between Germany and the Czech Republic. When we visited there in 2008, he got visibly nervous as we approached the border, which, of course, was wide open! I remember stopping to change money and get a vignette, and two sexy Czech girls started cleaning the windshield of our Toyota RAV 4. I said to Bill, “I think you are expected to tip them”. He did, and we were on our way to a very memorable exploration of southern Bohemia.

*The Czech border circa 2008. Bill was so nervous, even as two pretty teenaged girls cleaned the windshield for us.*

I briefly considered maybe staying in Austria. I stayed in Linz back in 1997 and found it kind of boring, but we went back in 2008 and discovered a great Biergarten there. But other than the Biergarten, on our last visit, I still found Linz kind of boring. Other travelers’ reports confirmed that it wasn’t just me; there are more exciting places to be. So then I remembered Cesky Krumlov, which is a VERY charming town east of Passau.

Bill at said Linzer Biergarten… I’d love to go back to that place, but October is kind of when a lot of Biergartens tend to close, anyway. And I’m sure there are things to see in Linz, but there are more exciting cities nearby.

Funny story about Cesky Krumlov. We visited there in 2008, too. The owner of the hotel where we stayed in Passau had recommended it. The day we were there was my birthday, and it happened to be when they were having their annual Five Petalled Rose Festival. We ran into many locals dressed in medieval garb, and there were games going on. I took an awesome photo there that remains one of my favorite pictures of all time. I thought we’d stumbled into a theme park! I had no idea the festival was happening. I remember thinking the town was very charming, and I would have liked it even if the festival hadn’t been happening. The fact that it was going on only added to its charm.

From Cesky Krumlov, we went to nearby Cesky Budejovice, which is where the Czech Budweiser is made. 😉 I remember having lunch there and thinking I’d like to stay in that town. Below are a few shots from our 2008 trip. I wasn’t as much of a shutterbug in those days. I also used Microsoft computers, which aren’t compatible with my Mac.

For our upcoming visit, I found us a cute hotel in Cesky Krumlov that gets excellent reviews. We’ll stay there for two nights, then move on to Brno, which is maybe three hours away. I found another hotel in Brno that isn’t quite as cute as the one in Cesky Krumlov is, but has a lot of amenities. It’s located on the outskirts of town, but from what I’ve read, a lot of Brno’s charm is found outside of the city itself. Since we’ve never been to Brno, we’ll stay three days there, then move toward home.

At this point, I’m tentatively planning our last stop to be two nights in Prague. We last visited Prague in November 2008, as part of a trip we did to celebrate our 6th wedding anniversary. In those days, we had a lot less money, but thanks to Hilton Honors Points, we were able to score two free nights at the Hilton Old Town Hotel. I remember they brought us sparkling wine and strawberries because we were there on our actual anniversary. I also remember they had an awesome old school pool that was DEEP. But I think this time, we’ll stay somewhere different.

I still came home with tons of cool souvenirs from Dresden, Poland (Bolesławiec), and Prague. I’m hoping we can find some art for the house. Last time we went to Prague, I bought a painting at an art gallery with an Armenian proprietor! I got to speak some crappy Armenian with him. I had (and have) forgotten a lot. Below are a few shots from Prague. It was COLD during our visit!

I can’t book the Prague hotel yet, though, because we have to make sure Noyzi can stay an extra night at the Hundepension. I don’t expect it to be a problem, but you never know. I gave some thought to stopping at the Chodovar Beer Wellness Land in Chodova Plana (very close to the German border), but recent reviews of the place make it sound less than enticing. I’d like to go there, though, if only to pick up some beer and their awesome flavored mineral water. Last time we were in the Czech Republic, we found some at a grocery store, but there wasn’t much of it to be had.

Chodova Plana isn’t far from Karlovy Vary, which is a great spa town overrun with Russians (last time we were there, anyway). We bought two paintings from a talented Russian artist, last time we were there. The town of Chodova Plana itself, though, is pretty desolate, other than the brewery, beer spa, and hotel. Prague offers a hell of a lot more to do, plus they’ve now got beer (and wine) spas, too. That wasn’t the case in 2008.

From Prague, we can reach Wiesbaden in about six hours, barring terrible traffic. I think it’s doable… If it turns out Noyzi can’t stay another night, maybe we’ll stay somewhere a little bit closer to home. Brno isn’t super far from Prague. I think it’s only a couple of hours’ drive.

Hopefully, we can finalize these plans over the weekend. Bill is coming home from his latest trip today. I look forward to seeing him, as it’s been a very quiet, boring week here in Wiesbaden. On the other hand, my liver has gotten a break, as I have mostly been teetotaling. I had two beers last night, but they were my first since Saturday.

Anyway… I love trip planning. I hope to do more of it… at least until the next war or pandemic sidetracks everything. Maybe we’ll even get a chance to stop by the border of Slovakia, so I can get a new mug to replace the cracked one we bought in 2015. 😉

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Category Archives: dental

A winter break in Waiblingen… Off to see the dentist! (part four)

A winter break in Waiblingen… How did we end up there? (part one)

Getting to Bad Wörishofen, and our first night… (part two)

Mother’s Day in Deutschland, 2024…

Less than 24 hours in Stuttgart…

Italian food in Würzburg… part four

Sorry we missed you, Doc… part three of our 2023 Czech tour!

Strange welcome back to Tübingen… part one of our 2023 Czech tour!

Rheingauer Weinwoche in Wiesbaden– 2023 edition! And more dental woes for Bill…

Our next trip is shaping up…