Our humble July 4th…

We had a very low key Independence Day this year, because I had my very first colonoscopy this week. Those who are interested in knowing the story of that can click here. For the purposes of this post, I’ll just say that I’m glad it’s over, and the doctor didn’t find anything concerning. However, he has yet to address the reason I came to see him in the first place. He also started the procedure before I was unconscious. I’m a bit pissed off about that, along with some other issues going on right now.

Anyway, I started the week doing the bowel prep, then I had the procedure, and the days following were spent recovering from the shock of it. Bill had to work on Wednesday, although he took Tuesday off to make sure I went to the appointment and drive me home afterwards. Actually, I could have driven myself, because they used Propofol to knock me out, and it didn’t leave me groggy at all. It even said on the paperwork I could drive home if I wanted. I never drive, though, unless I have a specific reason.

Thursday, Bill was off work, so we went to the weekly market. We brought Noyzi with us, too, since it was early in the day and he likes to go to the market. It’s good practice for him to learn how to behave in public. There weren’t that many people at the market, nor did they have a lot on offer. The vegetable guys weren’t there, nor was the fish monger. The Metzgerei truck came, as did the ice cream, bread, and Mediterranean Feinkost guys. The wine stand was also open.

We had a couple of glasses of local wines and enjoyed the sunshine. Noyzi said hello to a couple of dogs who also came. Basically, that was it. I did hear some fireworks going off from the post. We live maybe ten minutes from there. We also heard from the lady who is having us rescue another Kosovar dog. What we know now is that it’s been delayed again. But that’s okay. We’re not in a rush.

Yesterday, it was kind of chilly and cloudy, but I decided to take some pictures of the creek in our village. I remember thinking to myself, as someone who has lived in Germany for a long time now, that a person can get used to their environs and miss the really neat stuff. We have a couple of interesting old houses in the Dorfplatz that I know I’d miss if I lived in one of the many cookie cutter neighborhoods in the United States. I think the purple flowers were what attracted me and caused me to take these photos, in spite of the clouds… I’d like to live near the creek. I enjoy the sound of rushing water… except for when I have to pee.

My German friend says the historic house in the featured photo looks like an old schoolhouse. She looked up our village and learned that it was, in fact, built by a teacher and is known as the teacher’s house called Villa Breckenheim. It’s right by the creek.

Bill has been in contact with the tour operator in Iceland. I think we’re close to booking, my health issues notwithstanding. I feel like fucking off of the doctor’s visits and just living life until I just collapse somewhere. What’s the point? I feel like it’s all just going to hell, anyway. But at least I live in a pretty German village.

Health, Hessen

A lightly populated wine stand and dinner at Fabi’s…

Even though Breckenheim had its wine fest last weekend, last night, there was a wine stand. The weather was cool, breezy, and pleasant, so we decided to attend. There weren’t many people there, probably because people are on vacation, and maybe because of the wine fest last week. It was nice to have a lightly attended wine stand. We didn’t bring Noyzi, but we probably should have. It was just the right number of people for him to enjoy interacting with people and not get overwhelmed.

I don’t know who hosted last night’s stand, but they were serving tortellini, which smelled wonderful. We didn’t partake, though, because it allegedly had mushrooms in it. As many of my regular readers know, I hate mushrooms with a flaming passion. However, I was definitely tempted by the wonderful aroma of fresh peppers, basil, and tomatoes.

I tried wine schorle for the first time last night. Basically, it’s wine mixed with sparkling mineral water. I notice a lot of older people drink it. I figure maybe it’s time I embraced schorles more. As I am reminded ahead of my first scoping, it’s time I quit pretending I’m still in college and take better care of my body. Or maybe not… as people process how disastrous the presidential debates went the other night… Anyway, I suspect the doctor will tell me to change my lifestyle, so I’m trying to take baby steps. Today, Bill got a shipment of non-alcoholic wines from a company who made a glass he tried at our last visit to Pizarro Fine Dining. If we both like the wines, maybe we’ll switch to that… give our livers a break.

Bill was going to make me a burger last night, but we decided to have pasta at the local pizza joint in our Dorfplatz. Bill has ordered pizzas from them, but I don’t really like German pizzas much. Last night was the first time we’ve ever actually eaten at Fabi’s, even though the guy who runs it is always very nice to Noyzi. He said he used to work with Romanian street dogs. Our experience at Pizzeria da Fabi’s was good… I think we’ll be back. I brought half of my tagliatelli salmone home. Bill finished his tortellini. Both dishes were very satisfying and not too expensive.

Bill is rather excited about my upcoming procedure. He’s already made plans on making sure I drink the whole bowel prep, so we only have to do this once. This morning, as we were eating breakfast, he said they forgot to put in the times for when I should take each dose of the vile liquid that will clean me out. I looked up at him and said, “Do we have to talk about that right now?” He laughed… I mean, I know he’s excited, but I’d like to eat breakfast without any talk about the massive purge I’m about to subject myself to… on purpose!

Anyway… with any luck, we can get this shit straightened out soon. I’ll feel better so we can get back to enjoying Germany and perhaps travel more. It would be nice to have something to write about besides neighborhood wine stands. But even those can be entertaining and educational… especially when the locals talk to us.

Hessen, Rhein

Wine Fest 2024- night number 2!

I kind of wondered yesterday if we would want to go to the second night of the wine fest. It was kind of stormy, and we had about an hour of a steady downpour during the afternoon. But sure enough, at about 5:00 PM, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I’d been watching cop videos on YouTube that were very triggering for me, plus fretting about whether or not I want to go through with being treated by the gastroenterologist I met last week.

We ended up deciding to go to the fest, where we drank more local wines and listened to more live music. Last night, I didn’t see any other obvious Americans, other than a woman who lives very close to us with her partner and works in Frankfurt as a lawyer.

We stayed for a couple of hours, and I got more photos of the event. It looked like it might rain again while we were there, but every time it looked like the sky might open, the sun would come out. It seemed like everyone had a good time enjoying the Rheingau’s most famous products as we all enjoyed live entertainment. Again, I love this about living in Germany, even if my stomach pays for it later.

Below are some photos from last night, and a video that offers a taste of the music.

I didn’t recognize the first song on this, but Bill says it plays all the time on German radio.

A good time was had by all, as you can see. It was a very well-attended event, in spite of the threat of rain. I’m glad we were able to attend this year. Now, the next big event is the ultrasound and blood draw I’m scheduled for next week. With any luck, I’ll have more confidence in the idea that my foray into German healthcare will be more than just an added expense.

Uncategorized

Wine Fest 2024– night number 1!

Last night, after it rained, we decided to go down to the Dorfplatz for the first night of our Breckenheimer Wine Fest. It was actually a pretty good time. There was a good cover band playing, and several local wineries were in attendance. There was also food, and lots of people bonding over many years of friendship. Below are a few photos I took yesterday on Noyzi’s walk. They were setting up the Dorfplatz. It was raining.

I got the usual photos and a video, but also another reminder that there are lots of Americans in this area. Sitting at the table next to us was a group of Americans and their children. They were a bit loud, and as usual, Bill and I were passive aggressively murmuring among ourselves about how Americans don’t seem to realize how efficiently their voices carry.

I decided to give my German friends a thrill on Facebook. I wrote “Americans are very loud” in German. I probably didn’t write it properly, though. I immediately got a warning from Facebook that my post was still up, but other posts similar to it had been removed due to “hate speech”. Wow… really? So I took it down and reposted my comment in English. No issues there.

Last night was yet another example of how different life is in Breckenheim as opposed to Jettingen. We have a lot of social activities in our little town, most of which revolves around wine. Jettingen didn’t really have a lot of these kinds of social things, although there were restaurants there we occasionally visited. Tommi’s Bistro, which closed the year we left, used to be a great place to go for steak and live entertainment. The guy who owned Tommi’s moved to a new location in nearby Nagold, which did have a lot of fests. I loved Nagold, but we couldn’t walk there easily. Here, we can just walk down the hill and be at the party.

It’s not a great video, but we did enjoy the band. I love this about Germany. There’s always something to celebrate.

We indulged in a few glasses of wine, then came home and had dinner. I’m sure we’ll go to the fest today, too, if only because it’s so easy to just go down the hill and hang out. They’ll have a different band playing. I should probably quit enjoying wine so much, given my digestive issues of late… but hell, you only live once. These are some pictures of the fun before it got busy. It got pretty crowded after a couple of hours.

When the place started filling up, we gave the table over to the group of young Germans who sat with us. They were really nice and didn’t smoke us out of our table! I did kind of pay for last night this morning… not gonna lie. I’m probably getting too old to drink like a college student.

art, markets

My birthday at the weekly market…

Yesterday was my birthday. Normally, Bill and I would have liked to have gone out somewhere, or gone on a trip. Last year, for instance, we went to Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, and Denmark, in honor of my 51st turn around the sun. This year, we have a lot going on, plus we just got back from Bulgaria.

Today, Bill will be getting his new tooth. The dental implant saga he’s been on since last August is about to end.

Then there’s my recent journey into German healthcare that is requiring some appointments for tests.

Then there’s our plan to adopt a new dog from Kosovo, who could be here in a couple of weeks…

With all of this stuff going on, there was no time for a birthday trip this year. So we stayed home. I wrote about the first part of yesterday on my main blog. When Bill got home from work, we decided to go to the weekly market and have some wine. The market was operating with extended hours yesterday. It usually ends at 6:00PM, but last night, it went until 9. There were a few people selling crafts, rather than the usual food. We didn’t stay long, though, because Bill had to talk online with his analyst.

We ran into our landlord and his wife and half of an American couple who live nearby. I soaked up the festive atmosphere, as tonight and tomorrow night, our village is having its now annual wine fest. We missed it last year. I’m sure we’ll attend… I just hope I don’t get too wasted. 😀

As we were walking back to the house, we ran into our neighbors. One of them gave me a big hug and wished me a happy birthday. I never got a reception like that in Jettingen, down in BW.

Below are some photos from last night’s festivities. I do really like this little town where we live. I will hate to have to leave it someday. People are so community minded.

*This guy bears a resemblance to one of my cousins. Every time I see him, I’m struck by it.*

Hessen

Noyzi at his first wine stand of 2024…

Although the weather warmed up a lot this week, we had a pretty nasty storm on Thursday night that cooled everything down again. I wasn’t sure if Bill and I were going to want to go to the wine stand last night, because the weather was still kind of iffy. But, as the afternoon wore on, the temperature went up, and the sun sort of peeked out again. Bill and I decided at the last minute that Noyzi would be joining us at the wine stand.

I know a lot of Americans have a hard time grasping why anyone would want to take their dog anywhere public. Or, at least that’s the impression I got on a recent social media post, during which I got shamed for admitting that we take Noyzi out sometimes. Here in Germany, it’s a normal thing to take your dog with you, especially if the event is outdoors. Noyzi does get nervous in new situations, but it’s good for him to be exposed to other people, dogs, sights, and sounds. It helps him become a better canine citizen.

Besides, he’s a great ice breaker. Germans seem to love him. And really, what is NOT to love about this dog? He’s very charming in every way. 😉 And he’s obviously very comfortable in this environment, especially when he’s in his bed.

Before we went to the wine stand, Noyzi took a very deep nap… An hour later, he was up, and we took our walk past the crazy creek! Lots of rain has made it run very high.

We got the wine stand at a little bit past six o’clock. At first, Noyzi was a bit nervous. He hasn’t been in public in awhile. They also just added a book schrank to the Dorfplatz, which he had never seen before. When a boy opened it to retrieve a book, Noyzi was very startled by the sound and the sight. Bill took him over to check it out, and after that, it wasn’t so scary to him anymore.

After about 45 minutes or so, a couple of locals came over to say hello to Noyzi. He was a little timid at first, but quickly warmed up. It’s amazing to see how much he really loves people and wants to be friendly. There was a time when he was petrified of men. Now, after the briefest hesitation, he wags his tail and eagerly says hello. He also loves Bill now, and begs him for belly rubs every night when Bill comes home from work. I’m still the queen bee, though, and he listens to me a lot better than he does Bill.

I got a few photos of last night’s festivities. They aren’t super exciting shots, but we did have a really good time. Breckenheim is such a friendly town, and people are very social. That’s probably why the photos aren’t that exciting. We were too busy chatting.

Noyzi was shedding even more than usual last night, so he got a bath this morning. I don’t know what we’ll do today. The weather is a bit overcast, but it’s not super hot outside. Maybe we’ll go to a Biergarten or something. Noyzi would love that.

We ran into our neighbor on the way home. She’d asked me earlier if I’d ever heard of a Texas seasoning sauce called Dale’s. I hadn’t… but I said I’d asked Bill. When I found it listed on Amazon, I decided to order some. I told her we’d hook her up. It’s a good way to keep neighbor relations healthy. She mostly talks to us when she wants American products… but as long as it keeps the peace, it’s not a big deal.

Hessen, markets

Socializing at the weekly market…

Last night, I told Bill I wanted to go to the weekly market. We hadn’t been in a long time, and I was thinking I’d like to see if the Metzgerei from Mainz that usually attends had any interesting looking cold cuts. Originally I wanted Bill to go down there by himself, but he asked me to go with him. So I put on some warm clothes (it’s still pretty cold here) and walked down there with him.

We left Noyzi at home, because I didn’t want him to run into that jackass who swatted at him last year. I didn’t see him there last night, but there were several dogs. Maybe it was better that we didn’t bring Noyzi, because although he’s very sweet and friendly, he does get excited when he sees other dogs. There might be a wine stand tonight. If there is, and we attend, maybe he can go to that. He does love the wine stands.

We ended up buying some very heavy bread, fresh asparagus and tomatoes, and several kinds of cold cuts. Then we decided to have a glass of wine. Bill actually hadn’t wanted to, because he had an online appointment with his Jungian therapist. But I live for wine in the Dorfplatz… so we had one, and then our landlord showed up and we hung out with him for an hour. He bought us another round of wine. His wife later joined us. I was reminded, yet again, why we really like Breckenheim and living up here in Wiesbaden. People are very friendly, especially for Germans. 😉 But maybe that’s because my first experiences living in Germany were in Swabia.

Below are a few photos. I wish I’d gotten one of a dog we saw on our way back up the hill. He looked just like his owner, complete with mustache! Both dog and owner seemed very friendly. I would have liked to have talked to them, but Bill was in a hurry.

I love that we can just walk down the hill from our house every Thursday and buy fresh food. Then afterwards, we can have some wine and hang out with the locals. Maybe things have changed in the United States, but I don’t remember ever being able to do this with ease back home. And it’s so nice to have landlords who are also really good neighbors.

Hessen

Our first wine stand of 2024!

March is the time of year when our village, and a lot of others in the Rheingau region, has wine stands. In Breckenheim, the wine stands occur every other week. They’re hosted by clubs as fundraisers, but they are also a great opportunity for people in the neighborhood to get together and be social.

The first Breckenheim wine stand of 2024 actually occurred at the end of February, which is a bit unusual. I believe that one was hosted by the Christian Democrats political group. Bill and I didn’t attend that one, since we aren’t Germans, and no one cares how we vote (although they’d prefer we don’t vote for Trump). Also, the weather wasn’t so great that night.

Then there was another one on March 8th, but Bill was in Bavaria, and I didn’t really want to go drink wine by myself. I’m sure I would have had some company eventually, if only because some people might have wanted to know where Bill was. But I was also making a concerted effort to avoid drinking alcohol while Bill was away, and I succeeded.

We decided to go to last night’s wine stand, as the weather was basically pleasant, and it had been too long since our last one… As you can see by the photos, it was a well attended event. I got a kick out of the Mayor saying “Hi” to us as we passed the wine kiosk. He knows who his American residents are, I guess. I don’t know the Mayor well at all, but I have noticed that he works very hard and really seems to want to do good things for Breckenheim. In fact, I’ve noticed that he’s organized a lot of nice events for our Wiesbaden suburb, since we moved here in late November 2018.

For most of the evening, we sat alone at our table. I think the locals are often wary of sitting with us foreigners. But then, a very nice older couple, along with a couple of ladies about their age, asked if they could join us. It turned out the wife of the gentleman could speak English fairly well, but her husband couldn’t. Bill conversed with the man in his imperfect German. I surprised myself by understanding much of what was said. Speaking German, however, is still pretty painful for me. I’m better at singing in German (memorizing the words). 😉

We had a very nice conversation with the couple, although I think I shocked the lady when we were talking about Donald Trump and I said that my mom had advised me not to go back to the U.S. if I could avoid it. I’m sure things are not as bad as they look from over here… but I do know that the USA is not the same country it was when we left there in 2014.

We decided to leave when the sun was completely down, after we’d had a few glasses of the fine local wines. We said goodbye to the couple and assured each other we’d meet again at a future wine stand. I really like Breckenheim. It’s probably my favorite of the three German towns we have lived in so far. The people are very friendly, and it’s surprisingly social. When we told the folks that we’d also lived near Stuttgart, they said “Here, it’s better.” But they also said they don’t know people living down there. I liked the Stuttgart area fine, but people up here really are much easier to get to know. They’re better at small talk, as far as I can tell… or, so it seems, anyway.

Here are a few photos…

And here are a few spring photos from walks with Noyzi…

*I don’t know if this machine works… it’s attached to someone’s house. The hammer and sickle is newly painted.*

I’m not sure what we’ll do today. The sun is going in and out of the clouds, and it’s a bit chilly and windy. I may work on finishing reading my latest book.

Hessen, holidays

Bring on the Easter eggs…

The featured photo was taken last year. I’ll probably get a 2024 era photo later today.

It amazes me how time flies. It seems like we just had Christmas, and now it’s time for Easter. I have been noticing that, along with the new blooms in gardens and on the trees and bushes, we also have some “eggs” showing up in the neighborhood. I’ve seen a couple of Ostereierbaum (Easter egg trees) springing up in the village.

A few years ago, I wrote a blog post about the German tradition of people putting up an Ostereierbaum in their yards to help celebrate the spring holiday season. I haven’t yet taken any pictures of the ones I’ve seen in Breckenheim, but I did happen to walk Noyzi while a huge crew of neighborhood folks were putting up our Dorfplatz Easter display…

Based on our local Facebook group’s postings, it looks like there was also trash pickup. I really like this community spirit in our neighborhood. People are friends with each other and they work together to make the community better. It’s a spirit I rarely saw in the United States, although I do think Gloucester had its moments… at least back in the 80s. I’ll bet there was beer and/or wine drinking after this chore was accomplished.

I’m sure I’ll see the newly erected Easter egg decorations as I walk Noyzi later. I’m glad it’s Sunday, because that means that Bill will be home in just a few days. It would have been nice to have company yesterday. The weather was pleasant… or, at least it was sunny outside, rather than cold, cloudy, and depressing. The sun lifts my spirits and makes me want to plan trips!

But first… we have a new family member who will hopefully be joining us very soon… Stay tuned!

Edited to add: A few more 2024 era photos…

Hessen

I survived another winter in Wiesbaden…

I don’t have much to write about today, as Bill is on another one of his TDYs to Bavaria, and I’m here alone, pondering the future and whether or not I want to be part of it. I have come to hate March in Wiesbaden, because it pretty much means I’m going to be alone for a good portion of the month. The weather tends to be psycho, too… although today, we have very nice temperatures and sunshine.

I decided to take some photos around the neighborhood. It usually cheers me up to see the beginnings of spring, as the first flowers start to bloom. One thing I do love about life in Germany is that so many people are great at gardening. I love to see the vibrant colors and smell the fragrances of fresh blooms. Pretty soon, we’ll be in the thick of nice weather again, and hopefully that will improve my outlook on things. But for now, I do still at least have the pictures.

Below are some neighborhood shots I’ve taken over the past few days, hence the different skies. Notice the local church is celebrating a birthday. I like the daffodils; they remind me of my hometown, an unofficial “Daffodil Capital of America”.