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Food and wine in Switzerland, Italy, and Liechtenstein… part eight

How great the art….

One of the reasons Bill really wanted to go on this trip to Italy, besides to indulge his love for fine wines and good food, was the chance to visit the Uffizi Gallery in Florence. When we visited Florence in 2013, we were only there for two nights. We stayed in a hotel outside of town. For some reason, we didn’t make time to go to the Uffizi Gallery during that trip. I think it was because he hadn’t booked ahead, and either couldn’t or didn’t want to stand in line at the ticket office. So, on this trip in 2022, we made a point of seeing the art gallery.

Bill loves to look at art. I am less interested in it, although I will admit that some of the paintings I’ve seen in art galleries amaze me. One would think I’d love to look at art, since it’s been such a big part of my life. I have a sister who is an artist, and after his career in the Air Force, my father made a living selling and framing art. But when it comes to museums, I tend to find interactive ones– science and natural history museums– more interesting. During the COVID era, I’ve not been that interested in going to many indoor activities at all. We did go to the Lindt Chocolate Museum in Zurich last year, and that was fun. Especially since tasting chocolate means taking off the damnable face masks. 😉 Below are some photos from breakfast and our walk to the museum.

Breakfast at the hotel.
The breakfast room has a fresco, too.
One person in our tour group said the border looked like an endless row of raccoons. He’s right.

The Uffizi requires booking a time in advance. Bill got us an appointment for 10:00am. After a simple continental breakfast at Hotel Firenze Capitale, we walked to the gallery. On the day of our visit, the Uffizi was still requiring everyone to wear face masks. I’m not sure if that’s still required as of May 1. There were a lot of people there when we were there, so I would imagine that anyone who is very concerned about contracting COVID-19 would want to wear a mask, even if they aren’t required. On the other hand, my guess is that people will get the virus whether or not they wear a mask, especially if they don’t cover their eyes. That is one thing I did notice in Italy. Many people in Italy wore glasses with their masks, which would make it less likely that they would get the virus.

We picked up our tickets, stood in line, and went through security. Then, we walked up several long flights of stairs that left me breathless and lightheaded at the top. I did notice that some people used the elevator. Before I knew it, I was among hundreds of people walking through rooms of beautiful art… with many depictions of mothers and babies, Madonnas, and marble statues of naked men with small penises. There were exhibits featuring Michelangelo, Botticelli, and Leonardo da Vinci, as well as many lesser known, but very impressive, artists. I took a lot of photos.

At one point, Bill wanted to walk into a very crowded room. I demurred and said I would see him later. He thought that meant I was leaving the museum altogether, but I meant I was going to go to a less crowded place. I don’t like crowds, even when COVID isn’t a thing. Later, Bill sent me a private message on Facebook, asking if I was still in the gallery. Yes, of course! And I did enjoy my visit. I went back later to see the paintings I missed when the rooms were full of people. Uffizi has a cafe, for those who need a moment with some coffee to process everything.

All in all, I found the Uffizi more manageable and less overwhelming than the Prado in Madrid was, when we went there in 2014. I haven’t been to the Louvre yet. Bill and I didn’t go there when we were last in Paris, back in 2009. We’ll have to fix that at some point. Below are many photos from the Uffizi.

There’s more to come, but I needed to break up the group. I wish we had spent a little more time around the Uffizi. I wanted to buy some art while we were in Italy, but didn’t get a chance. I noticed some artists near there when we were in line. We did visit the gift shop at the Uffizi and bought a few gifts for Bill’s daughter and her kids.

Medusa!

After we bought gifts for Bill’s daughter, son-in-law, and grandchildren, we walked out of the museum. I heard a British guy say, “Yea! Now it’s drinks time!” Man after my own heart. I spotted a beautiful silk scarf in a shop window and decided to go in there and purchase it. And now I have another cash drain, because the designer, Massimo Ravinale, has a Web site, and I loved their stuff. May be time to order Bill a spiffy new necktie.

The huge photo load in this post has made loading much too slow. It necessitates closing this one and starting a new one. Sit tight for part nine.

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The Eagles sure didn’t stink in Cologne… part 4

I’ve noticed that as I age, some mornings I wake up hurting.  Tuesday was one of those mornings.  I had really bad lower back pain.  I don’t think it had anything to do with the bed, which was very comfortable.  Anyway, because I was hurting, I popped a couple of Advils and we decided to have breakfast at the hotel.  Naturally, breakfast wasn’t included in the rate.  I don’t think I had the option to add it.  If I had, I would have.  It’s probably because there’s a choice between continental breakfast or just eggs at a lower price, or the whole shebang.

Excelsior Hotel Ernst has a nice spread at breakfast, which one would expect when they charge 34 euros a person.  There are many breads, pastries, cereals, sausages, smoked salmon and smoked trout, and even a shrimp salad.  You can order eggs done any way you want them, or get Eggs Benedict with truffles.  You can also have pancakes or French toast made to order and champagne, if you want it.

The first morning, we went with the buffet and lingered over breakfast while I waited for the ibuprofen to kick in.  I never eat enough to justify the high cost of a buffet and I often end up taking more than I want or need.  Still, I was happy to try some of the vast choices at the buffet.  We could hear our new American friend in the next room, talking to other English speakers.

Bill looks at the menu, then decides on the buffet.

 

The hotel offers high tea for lunch, so we decided to book that with some champagne.  The staff prefers it if you book the tea 24 hours in advance, but they were able to accommodate us for 2:00pm. I figured that was perfect, since our concert started at 8:00pm, and I didn’t want to go there hangry, like I did for Elton John’s show.  Of course, we were supposed to get access to a buffet before Elton’s show, but we got stuck in Stuttgart’s hellaceous traffic, which made us right on time for the show.

After breakfast, we decided to go for a walk, which took us close to Cologne’s Colonius TV Tower.  Yes, like most German cities, Cologne has a TV tower with an observation deck.  Colonius, which is owned by Telekom, was finished in 1981; however, the observation deck and restaurant are not currently open to the public and evidently haven’t been since 1992.  Why?  Because they lack a vendor.  This information comes from Wikipedia, which I’m so glad I consulted before we wasted the energy walking to the tower itself.

The forever closed to the public Colonius tower, which I suppose is still a place of business for some people.  I guess it’s interesting to look at from the ground, anyway.

I did read that the powers that be are trying to find a way to reopen the tower at some point.  Every year, the discussion ends because of the cost of the renovations that have to be done to make it safe.  They’d have to upgrade the fire protections and build another elevator.  According to the article I linked, no one has the 15 millions minimum it would take to make those improvements, nor does anyone want to raise the money.  Given how much Germans seem to enjoy observation decks, I’m kind of surprised Colonius hasn’t been reopened by anyone after so many years.

My back was still hurting, so we headed back toward the hotel and stopped by the Cologne City Museum, a really cool art museum I noticed the first time we visited in 2012.  This museum is memorable because there’s a car with wings on the roof and it has bright red and white shutters, like one sees in The Netherlands.  Adult admission is 5 euros and, though it didn’t take long for us to see the whole museum, we thought the exhibits were interesting.  They all seemed to be done by young artists.

I took these photos a couple of days ago, but I have similar ones from 2012.  

 

The first exhibit was a showcase of postcards the artist got.  Some were rather startling.  They were displayed on tablets mounted on the wall.  I thought the message directly above was the most interesting.

 

There was an exhibit about Native Americans in Montana, faced with living on reservations.  It was both interesting and very sad.  Native Americans have faced many cruel challenges thanks to the invasion of us European types.

I was very moved by this exhibit that focused on a young woman with Down’s Syndrome named Sofie.

Look carefully at the faces in these photos…  I once knew a woman with two different colored eyes…

There was even a video exhibit about the Masons.  Very interesting to me, since I have uncles who are Masons and a husband who used to be LDS.  If you know anything about either group, it’s not hard to see how similar they are in some respects.

By the time we were finished with the city museum, it was raining.  We walked back to the hotel, getting soaked in the process.  While we probably could have fit in another museum before our high tea date, I kind of wanted to rest for awhile.  Also, Cologne’s sidewalks are often cobblestone, and I swear I almost fell at least four times, stumbling on the uneven pavement.  So we went back to the hotel for a rest… drying off in the process.

At 2:00pm, we went to the piano bar and waited for the lady who is in charge of high tea.  We did high tea at the Merrion Hotel in Dublin last year.  It was a rather fancy thing to do.  At the Excelsior Hotel Ernst, it’s a bit more laid back.  That was a good thing, since I didn’t bring any nice clothes with me.

Well, it beats working, right?  We enjoyed a nice glass of champagne before the tea and snacks were brought out.

We had four kinds of sandwiches: egg salad, smoked salmon, ham, and cream cheese and chive (or something similar).  We had brownies, little fruit tarts, and blondies with nuts, as well as macarons, caramels, nougats, and chocolates.  We also had warm scones with jams and clotted cream.  I think the scones were my favorite part.

Bill picked out a tea for me and a tea for him, and we sat there sipping it with our pinkies out…  I’m kidding about the pinkies.  

Before the tea service started, we had creme brulee made with tea.

I really liked this custard.  It was creamy and the tea gave it a very interesting and pleasant herbal flavor.

 

I think I enjoyed the Merrion’s version of high tea more than the Excelsior Hotel Ernst’s version.  It was still enjoyable, though, and held us through the evening so we didn’t have to eat wurst at the concert.  I think the high tea with champagne ran about 44 euros a person.  I’ll have to double check.

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A lovely lunch in the garden…

I’ve been a bit cooped up for the past few weeks, stewing over my dog, Zane.  The truth is, Zane is not really very sick, but I happen to be coping with traumatic memories of a few years ago when his former beagle brother, MacGregor, was dealing with an inoperable spinal tumor.  We lost him the week before Christmas 2012.  For that reason, Zane’s bout with a mast cell tumor and what I think may be a resurgence of a tickborne illness has me a bit wrecked and I’ve been staying in more than usual.

Bill insisted that we go out today, though, because I have been spending way too much time hidden away in my little German house.  So we decided to go to Tuebingen…

Little did we know that Tuebingen would be a freakin’ madhouse today.  There was no parking to be found!  Moreover, there were annoying construction projects that conspired to  block us from parking at our usual go to parking area.  After hearing Bill swear more than once over the situation, I suggested that we go to Im Gärtle, a lovely little restaurant/art museum in Ammerbuch-Entringen.  We last visited there on Valentine’s Day evening this year.

I mainly decided to go to this restaurant because they are on OpenTable.de and it’s super easy to make a reservation online.  I also remembered how much we enjoyed our dinner there last February, even if it did lead to my being blocked by someone on Stuttgart Friends 2.0.

We arrived at the restaurant about ten minutes ahead of our reservation.  Our table was ready for us, complete with a sign and two fuzzy blankets to protect against the non-existent draft.

For those interested in the art museum…

And the outdoor menu…

The table was all ready for us.

 

We walked in, wished the waitress a good day and told her of our reservation.  She showed us to the table.  She was very patient with our German skills as we decided what we’d be having for lunch.  The restaurant offers a weekly special menu, a regular menu, and what appeared to be some kind of brunch.  They also had lots of salads.  Im Gärtle also runs without a pause, so you can go there and enjoy a late afternoon repast without fear of evil stares from the wait staff.  There’s plenty of free parking and, at least today, no obnoxious crowds!

Dorky obligatory pictures of my husband, Bill.

 

Bill went with the set menu for the week, which offered three courses with two choices for each course except dessert.  I went with the main menu.  We each had three courses.

I started with a delicious pumpkin soup garnished with toasted pumpkin seeds and cream.

Bill had a delicious roasted red pepper soup.  If I’m honest, I liked his soup better than mine…  but both were velvety smooth and delicious.  I love a good soup this time of year.

We moved on to second courses.  I had salmon with an herb and Parmesan crust.  It was served with a potato salad with cucumbers that were just slightly pickled.  

Bill had the sea bass, served with gray risotto and vegetables.  Both dishes were delicious and came with sauces on the side.

This was our second round of wine.  Instead of ordering a bottle, this time Bill got glasses of white from local sources.  Both were very satisfactory dry whites, although I liked my Gruener Veltliner more than I liked Bill’s white.

But obviously Bill was enjoying it…

 

I was bound and determined to save room for dessert.  I’m so glad I did…

Bill’s fixed menu choice came with apple strudel with vanilla ice cream.  I love this particular interpretation, which is basically just lightly fried apples with sugar and cinnamon…  It was soooo good!

 

I had a very lovely panna cotta with orange marmalade and honey, along with delightful crispy balls on top.  😀  I liked Bill’s dessert better for this time of year, but the panna cotta was very good!  The honey was a very nice touch.

 

For our two hour lunch, we spent 71 euros before tip.  The service was friendly and gracious, even though I could see the lady taking care of us was taking care of everybody.  It was very relaxing and pleasant and I was happy to get out of the house for a nice meal out.  Someday, we need to actually look at the art museum, too.

We came home to find the house and dogs intact, as well as a funny note from the DHL person, who obviously knows we aren’t German…

 

I liked the crude map!  Now our dogs have plenty of food for the next couple of months.

 

If you happen to be down in the Ammerbuch-Entrigen area, I would highly recommend a visit to Im Gärtle.  It made for a nice stop today after disappointment in crowded Tuebingen.  I still can’t believe that we used to live just a few miles from this restaurant the first time we lived in Germany and we never found it.  It’s a real gem!  And for you antique hunters out there, I can tell you that there’s a great antique shop very close to this restaurant, which makes the excursion even more worthwhile.

By the way… this was our second visit and the second time we saw the proprietor of the place… an elderly gentleman who wished us a Gruess Gott (I know it’s misspelled… I need a German keyboard).

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Valentine’s dinner at Im Gärtle in Entringen…

Ever since we moved back to the Stuttgart area in 2014 after a five year absence, I have often remarked to Bill that it feels like we never left.  And yet, this time around, we are doing a lot more things locally than we did the first time we lived here.  During our first tour, we lived in a little town called Pfäffingen, which is about 10 kilometers from Herrenberg and maybe 7 from Tübingen.  Because we were living between two decent sized towns, we spent a lot of our time in those two towns.

This time, we live in Jettingen, which is also about 10 kilometers from Herrenberg in a different direction.  We spend time in different places now, but still like to go to our old stomping grounds.  Entringen is a little hamlet in Ammerbuch, maybe two or three kilometers from Pfäffingen.  We had to drive through it any time we went to one of the four American military installations near Stuttgart. Now, we go to Entringen by choice when we want to see our old friend we nicknamed “The Mad Scientist” or are headed to Tübingen.  We don’t even have to go that way if we don’t want to.  We can access that area via a different route that doesn’t take us through Herrenberg.

Somehow, the first time we lived here, I never heard of Im Gärtle.  It’s in Entringen, kind of on the outskirts in an area of the town we had never before explored.  While Bill was in Africa last week, I was tasked with finding us a nice place for dinner on Valentine’s Day.  When I noticed Im Gärtle on OpenTable, I was intrigued.  At first, I thought it was in Tübingen.  When I saw that it was actually in Entringen, I was very curious.  Then I saw that it got really good reviews on OpenTable and Trip Advisor.  I also noticed that all the reviews were in German.

I am a firm believer that locals are the best judges of local cuisine.  Most everyone had good things to say about Im Gärtle.  Both the food and the ambiance got good marks.  So I decided to make the reservation for 7:00 tonight.  We arrived right on time.

A photo of the sign.  It was dark out… 

 

To get to the restaurant, you drive down B28 to the little town of Entringen, then turn onto a narrow residential street.  Hang a couple of more turns on equally narrow residential streets and head up a hillside.  The restaurant is at the top and offers a nice view… or, at least I think it would be very nice during the daytime.  I can see by the photos taken during the spring and summer that those are the best times to visit.  Then you can sit in the garden.  Parking for the restaurant is free and fairly plentiful.

The lady who greeted us didn’t speak any English at all.  That was okay.  One of the waiters did, though he wasn’t obvious about it.  Bill and I probably got more practice speaking German tonight than we have in a long time.  The dining room was full and we were, of course, the only Americans there.

Obligatory shot of Bill.  Right after I shot this, he ordered a Bordeaux and some sparkling water.

They brought out some delightful fresh bread, which was served with excellent butter.  There were two slices each. 

Next came an amuse.  Sweet slivers of peppers, zucchini, and eggplant drizzled with a little balsamic vinegar…  They were a nice way to start the meal.  

We each got green salads.  My dish did not come with a salad, so this is a photo of an a la carte salad. Bill’s dish came with salad and his was smaller than mine was, but just as good.  Underneath the towering greens and endive was a small pile of potato salad and a mound of carrots.  The salads were topped with peanuts, cashews, and sunflower seeds.  This salad was too much for me to eat in one sitting, but it was delicious.  The dressing was like a smokey mustard vinaigrette.  I stopped after eating maybe half.  I knew the rest of dinner would be huge.

I had a porkloin with a side of colorful vegetables and spatzle.  I’m pretty sure the gravy was made with mushrooms (it had an earthy flavor), but I was able to avoid it easily enough.  The top of my pork is a garlic crust.

Family sized spatzle.  We took most of this home with us.

Bill had vension with spatzle, sauteed mushrooms, a roasted pear with cranberry sauce, and potato croquettes.  There was also a side of cream and venison meant to drench over the meal.  Most of that venison and cream came home with us.  Bill loved this dish… but he loves game anyway. 

For dessert, I had hot love…  that is, vanilla ice cream with hot raspberries, whipped cream, and a white chocolate/chocolate garnish.  The raspberries weren’t actually that hot, but that was okay.  They tasted very fresh.  This restaurant prides itself on farm to table dining and that was evident with every dish, including dessert.

Bill had a Grand Marnier parfait.  It came with plums on the side.  The parfait was a little melted.  Bill enjoyed it anyway.

And we had espresso… and that came with cookies and sweets.

Service was leisurely, friendly, and very professional.  I could tell there were a lot of return visitors.  One couple had brought their well behaved dog with them, while another had a little boy who was honored with the task of bringing out the check.  This is definitely a family run establishment; everyone working there seemed invested in its success.  The two wait staff members were very nice and welcoming and the food was excellent.  And, at 119 euros, it didn’t break the bank.  We were also allowed to pay with a credit card.

Another shot of the sign.

Not such a good shot of the beautiful wrought iron gate and steps leading to the restaurant.  Be advised if it’s icy, you have mobility problems, or are walking in heels for the first time in awhile, like I was.  

Im Gärtle is a very charming restaurant.  The interior is a little 60s, with sort of a Brady Bunch vibe.  The music on the sound system was also straight from the 60s and 70s.  We heard “The Entertainer” and “Behind Closed Doors” by Charlie Rich on the sound system, at least until most everyone had left.  Then they turned off the music in the dining room and played some alternative tunes in the kitchen.  Bill got a kick out of that.

On the walls, there are many works of art.  Indeed, the restaurant even has an art museum, which is open for limited hours on the weekends.  Edited to add, my German friend Susanne says that 85 year old Manfred Lutz founded the restaurant over fifty years ago.  The artwork in the restaurant and museum was all done by him.  His grandsons are now in charge of the restaurant.  I think I saw Manfred Lutz at the restaurant last night.

I recommend making reservations.  It’s very easy to do that using Open Table.

Tonight was our first visit to this restaurant, but I doubt it’ll be our last.  We really had a good time and I want to see what it looks like when the weather is nice and the view is easier to see.  Highly recommended!

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