Our rainy day in Prague… part eleven of our 2023 Czech tour!

On Monday morning, Bill and I enjoyed our first fabulous breakfast at Hotel Nerudova 211. I had already read about the wonderful breakfasts offered at this hotel, which are available until 4:00pm. Yes, that’s right, they serve breakfast all day, in their cafe, which is also open to non-hotel guests. I had booked breakfast with our room, so we were invited to have whatever we wanted from their extensive a la carte breakfast menu.

I ended up having Eggs Benedict, mainly because the receptionist had recommended it so highly. I wanted to see if it would be as good as the Eggs Benedict I had at Monastery Garden in Cesky Krumlov. Bill had scrambled eggs in a croissant. We both had cappuccinos and fresh orange juice, but they also brought out very fresh bread and butter that was absolutely delicious.

I got a kick out of one of the waiters, who deftly handled one rather demanding fellow who showed up and started barking orders. He calmly said, “Yes, of course. Go take a seat and I’ll be right with you.” I could be wrong, but I think I caught a hint of a smirk on his face. Frankly, I couldn’t blame him for that.

After we finished breakfast, we had some filtered coffee, and the same waiter offered us a piece of cake. They had strawberry cake and banana bread. He called the whole piece of cake a “sample”, but was wise enough to bring two forks. It was so good, but boy were we full afterwards! I had asked for cream in my coffee and the guy looked a little panicked as he asked if steamed milk was okay. Yes, of course! I’m just American, and some of us take cream (half and half) in our coffee. I forget sometimes that isn’t how the Europeans do it.

Once breakfast was over, Bill and I set out for the old town in Prague. We made our way to the Charles Bridge, marveling at the number of people walking across it. Somewhere in the middle of the bridge, I looked down and saw evidence of vomit. I remarked to Bill, “Ooh! Someone threw up! It was a lot, too!”

I noticed some guy overheard me and was laughing. I will admit, it was kind of funny… for us, anyway. I’m not so sure about the person who puked.

As we got closer to the other side of the Vltava River, we heard some really great jazz swing music. There was a band of four buskers, just jamming on the bridge. They were great! And they had a CD, so we bought one and brought it home. I’d have to say they were the best of the whole bunch of great buskers we heard in the Czech Republic. I love supporting them with applause and tips, and when they have CDs, I buy their music.

This is the Charles Bridge Swing Band, and they rock!

We stopped near the end of the bridge and looked down at the water. That was when I noticed a furry critter swimming past some paddle boats. I later identified the creature as most likely a nutria, which apparently have invaded Prague in large numbers to the point at which they are considered a nuisance. I got a video of the little fellow, swimming among the ducks.

A nutria is busily swimming in the Vltava River.

Then, thanks to all the fluids we drank at breakfast, I needed to pee. I was trying to get to the nearest pay WC, but was soon accosted by a couple of Black guys in sailor suits. They were selling boat rides. We didn’t take the bait, but maybe we would have, if the weather had been better. Instead we looked at another church, then continued on toward the famous astronomical clock and the cathedral.

We were pretty slack about taking in touristy stuff, mainly because we were kind of tired and ready to go home. Maybe it’s good that we did Prague last, if only because it was the grandest stop on our trip, and had the best chance of keeping us engaged in our travels. But we had such an eventful vacation that we were kind of overloaded by the time we got to Prague. Still, we managed to take a lot of photos and do a lot of walking in the main areas. At one point, we sat down and watched pigeons fight over ham.

*Spotted in one of Prague’s many public WCs.*

We did some shopping for ourselves and Bill’s grandchildren. I managed to find us a couple more paintings, coasters, a tablecloth, soaps, beer shampoo and conditioner (great for your hair), and toys for the grandkids. Prague is a great place for shopping!

*People were rubbing this statue for good luck.*

The paintings we bought were done by a Russian couple who have been living in Prague for thirty years. The man said his friend owned the shop where he was selling his art, but he had trouble making sales, because people tended to want smaller things. I was delighted to buy a couple of his paintings. We were actually planning to buy some art for the house. I wish I’d bought more.

Then, after a few hours of walking off breakfast, it was time for lunch. We found a great Italian place very close to our hotel. After walking past a bunch of touristy places that were crowded with people, I noticed an unassuming restaurant that had plenty of room for us and wasn’t full. It turned out to be a fabulous spot called Pivo & Basilico.

*A great shop with lots of handmade Czech crafts for the home.*

The waitress was a very friendly young woman who turned out to be from Ukraine. She made a great recommendation for wine, and Bill and I used it to wash down some truly lovely homemade pasta. Lunch was so good that we had dessert– a house speciality for Bill with Nutella and vanilla creme, and tiramisu for me, plus a round of espresso. We didn’t need to eat again for the rest of the night! When I told her we were going to Armenia next month, she wished us safety. It turned out she had an Armenian friend at home in Ukraine. It was interesting talking to her… and when we settled the bill, the proprietor was very warm and genuinely friendly. I really liked that restaurant and would happily go back if we’re ever in Prague again.

When we got back to the room in the late afternoon, we found a really lovely letter on the bed from the owners of the hotel. I thought maybe we’d go out again later, but the cold was catching up to me. So we settled in for our second night at Hotel Nerudova 211, wishing we’d booked one more night. We will have to go back to Prague again soon.

I thought we might go to a beer spa, but we ran out of time. Now we have another reason to visit Prague again, even though we’ve been to quite a few beer spas.

Champagne Bucket trips, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

Visiting God in Gotland… Visby, Sweden!

On Tuesday, June 27th, Regent Splendor called on Visby, Sweden. Visby is a place I’d never heard of when I booked this cruise, but it’s actually a pretty cool place to visit. Located on Gotland Island, off the eastern coast of the Swedish mainland, Visby is a well-preserved walled medieval town, with beautiful gardens, historic homes, and a huge, majestic church.

It looks like there were only two tours offered during our Visby stop. We ended up taking the Medieval Visby tour, which appears to be very much like the other tour, Visby Walk & Historical Museum, except the tour we were on did not include a visit to the museum.

I kind of liked our tour guide, an older lady who was a native of Visby. She was very knowledgeable about Visby, and enthusiastic about her job. I heard her say that she taught classes in a university. I could believe it. She really knew her stuff, and she was entertaining, too. We were all given headsets that made it easier to hear her. The one I had didn’t seem to work very well and with every step, it bounced against my boobs, so I just listened to her live.

Although Visby has a walled in old town, most people no longer live in the town proper, as the historic museum has a lot of rules about what people can do to the historic homes there. There are rules about construction, painting, and even what kinds of windows people can install. Our guide showed us the smallest house in Visby, which she said sold about ten years ago for about $200,000. It’s so small that one can’t even stand up straight in it. The guide, who appeared to be short like me and said she couldn’t stand up in the house, explained that the buyer was actually the next door neighbor, as buying the tiny house was the only way to have more space at his house!

We learned that Visby used to have a train, but it was stopped in 1960. People are apparently still kind of bitter about losing the train, but the guide explained that it wasn’t really practical to have it. Using buses is more efficient. The old train station still exists, and is now used for a different purpose.

We also learned that there are homes in Visby that are built entirely of wood, including the nails holding them together. And when Visby was conquered, residents were encouraged to build stone houses. They were given excellent tax incentives to use stone, rather than wood, as the wood was a valuable commodity for sales abroad. Some residents tricked the tax authorities by covering up their wooden homes with stone facades. To this day, it’s possible to spot homes that are actually wooden, covered up by stone to fool the taxmen.

As interesting as Visby is, I think some people on our tour were a bit frustrated, as the guide moved at a slow pace. I heard one woman loudly complaining to her husband that the guide only went a few yards at a time before she would stop to tell a story or explain something. Also, I know some of us really needed to pee. At one point, I followed a fellow passenger to a restaurant, which kindly allowed us to use their facilities. The toilets were pretty nasty, though, especially the one the other lady used. It reeked of something very foul! She looked horrified when she came out. I held my breath and was spared much of the olfactory torture.

We were only able to visit the chapel in Visby Cathedral, as the main part was not open. I understand there are toilets at the cathedral, too, but they weren’t open, either. I think people who didn’t go when I did used another restroom at a restaurant.

My favorite part of the tour was probably the botanical garden, which was very beautiful and well-tended, with many different trees and smaller plants. We also visited Gallows Hill, and our guide explained how condemned people were treated back in the day. The hill is located well outside of the walled city’s gates, which our guide told us were closed every night, and made it impossible for people to go in or out. For many years, no one lived outside of the walls of the old city, so much of the island was “wild”. Obviously, that’s no longer the case today.

Below are some photos from Visby!

*Of all the places we visited, Visby’s port was the most bombed by seagulls!*

The photos are actually a little bit misleading. Visby was pretty crowded when we visited. I couldn’t help but think that as charming as the town is, I would think all the tourists and tour groups would get very old for the locals. But I guess they do provide some valuable economy for the island. Below are some more photos I took… and as I look at them now, I’m amazed by how pretty they are. Visby is very interesting and charming, but like I said, quite populated with people like us– tourists! However, everywhere we went, except for that one bathroom, smelled heavily of fragrant flowers. The roses and linden trees were especially intoxicating.

After our tour, we went back to Splendor and prepared for our 6:30 PM dinner reservation at Chartreuse, the ship’s French specialty restaurant. I got the feeling that of the three specialty restaurants, Chartreuse might be the least popular. I enjoyed it, although I felt the food was a very Americanized version of French cuisine. I was especially delighted, though, to get somewhat early reservations. Bill and I are not night owls. I probably would be more of one, if not for Bill, but he’s very much an early bird. His brain goes down with the sun. 😀

Here are some photos from Chartreuse…

*The champagne glasses were a little “sweaty” when we got them.*

As we were leaving, the waiter presented me with a little box. Inside were two fresh pistachio macarons. Very nice, but since we live next door to France, it probably wasn’t as exciting for me as it is for other passengers. But they had no way of knowing that! 😉

After dinner, we had a nightcap in the Observation Lounge. I had some of my favorite Armagnac. Bill had a gin and tonic. We rushed back to the stateroom so I could get shots of the incredible sunset. That was when we noticed the “mail” in the slot by the door… an “invitation” to the following night’s dinner in the other speciality restaurant, Pacific Rim. We also got one for Chartreuse, and I’m sure we had one for Prime 7, too. I just neglected to take photos.

The sunset really was incredible…

We decided to try breakfast in the room on Wednesday, so we made our selections of what we wanted and hung the sign on the door. More on that in the next post!

Sundays

Where has Limburg been all my life?

First thing’s first. I had no plans to visit the Hessian city of Limburg, Germany today. I went there because I follow Wiesbaden Fest Finders on Facebook, and I run my own “wine and food” group, mostly for Americans in Stuttgart and Wiesbaden. My food and wine Facebook group started in 2017, when Bill and I lived in Stuttgart, and we made a point of trying new restaurants and doing new stuff every weekend. In those days, we had no clue that we’d eventually move to Wiesbaden, and we had even less of a clue that there would be a global pandemic.

In late 2018, when we moved from Stuttgart to Wiesbaden, just about everyone in my Facebook group was based in Stuttgart. It was a pretty active group then. Since I spent six years living there in two different stints, I decided to just tack Wiesbaden onto the name of the group. In 2018, I thought I’d be going to Stuttgart often, if only because that’s where my dentist is. The main difference is, I don’t belong to a bunch of Wiesbaden groups. Living in Stuttgart and dealing with social media drama there made me want to be more under the radar. So I kept the group going, but while I thought I’d be going to Stuttgart more often than I do, that hasn’t happened. Thank COVID for that.

I still have lots of Stuttgart members, and some Wiesbadeners have joined. It’s not a particularly popular group, and frankly, I’ve been thinking about going defunct. But just when I’m about to abandon the group, something exciting happens that makes me keep going. Today was one of those days. Today, we discovered Limburg! And no, it’s not where the infamously stinky cheese comes from; that’s in Belgium.

A whole shitload of wine fests are happening right now in the Rheingau. I posted several of them this morning. The Limburg fest happened to be the first one I shared in my group. I was a little curious about Limburg, because in 2020, when we were trying to adopt a dog from a German rescue, we had a home visit done by a lady who was from Limburg. She said it was about 45 minutes away. She approved us for adopting the dog, but tragically, it didn’t work out for us. But no matter. Now we have Noyzi, the wonder dog from Kosovo.

So anyway… that brings me to this morning, as I was contemplating whether or not I wanted to go out, having just recovered from my first official bout with COVID-19. I finally decided that I did want… and NEED… to get out of the house. Like I wrote before, there were many things going on today. We had our pick. But I decided I wanted to go to Limburg, so that’s where we went. And, I have to say, we had a great time! This was our first time in Limburg, but God willing, it will not be our last. What a cute town! It’s on the Lahn River, and there are so many splendid timbered buildings dating back hundreds of years. The weather was perfect, and when we got there, I was enchanted by the many adorable shops. I even found something I wanted to buy, but decided not to, when I realized how heavy it was.

We stopped at the Leon Gerhard Weingut stall and tried several wines. I would have liked to have tried others, but we were a little pressed for time, thanks to the parking garage. It was one where you prepay, rather than pay when you’re done. Bill’s credit card wouldn’t work, and for once, we were short on spare change. While I didn’t think the cops were gonna bust us for overstaying, Bill was in a hurry… and we did have hungry dogs to consider.

There were a whole bunch of vintners at the Wine Fest, as well as food purveyors. As we were leaving, musicians were setting up for live music. I couldn’t help but feel so grateful to be in Germany now… as my homeland is embroiled in endless political bullshit, Germany is having wonderful festivals, reminding us that sometimes you just need to chill out and enjoy some wine and company. God bless Germany. It will always have a piece of my heart.

As for Limburg, it definitely didn’t stink… again, the infamously smelly cheese, comes from the Limburg area of Belgium, not Germany. So although I will make jokes about stinky cheese and cheesiness, this town isn’t the one affiliated with famously pungent cheese. We’ll be back, because I’m sure they have lots of fests. We were only there for a few hours, but I feel like I got a short vacation, and it was great for my soul. Especially when we visited Limburger Dom, which is a uniquely beautiful cathedral that has its origins in the 9th century.

We did stop for lunch at Werner-Senger Haus, which is a very cute and historic restaurant in a building that dates from the 1200s. We ate in their garden, which was up a couple of flights of stairs, or accessible from a gate on the other side of the restaurant. It was hot, so we drank Weizens, and I had a Wildschwein Burger, while Bill had Wildschwein Bratwurst with Pfifferlingen mushrooms. The food was good, and there was plenty of it, although it was a bit messy! Both dishes came with a Preiselbeer sauce that was a bit heavily applied on my burger, which was “molded” rather than hand shaped. But it tasted okay, even if it was a little rarer than I like it.

As we were leaving Werner-Senger Haus, I noticed a portrait on the wall near the door. I thought maybe it was Werner Senger, but my German friend was kind enough to edify me with the startling truth. Apparently, the man in the portrait is the Schinderhannes, Johannes Bückler. The restaurant is in the house where he was brought after he was captured. Wikipedia tells me that Johannes Bückler was an outlaw and thief who lived from 1778 until November 21, 1803, when he was guillotined in nearby Mainz. Bückler was famous for organizing one of the biggest crime sprees in German history, so we were dining on true historic ground! I did marvel more than once that I thought the restaurant was really cool looking, but now I know it’s very historic, too.

I might have preferred street food at the fest, but I needed to pee, and as we walked through there, the public WCs weren’t quite open for business. They were when we came back an hour or so later. Our bill at the restaurant was about 49 euros. I would like to go back, if only because it really was such a unique and historic building, just as so many others in that town are. I felt like I got a half day vacation!

Below are some photos…

More fun with selfies. He makes me happy.

We had a great time today. I am sure we’ll be back to Limburg. It’s a very nice town, and I’ll bet they have some great fests. And once again, I am so glad to be living in Germany. I don’t know how long we’ll be here, but today was a reminder to enjoy and learn from every moment. Today was a treat, and I hope we can get back into enjoying them more often. At least until COVID gets bad again.

Uncategorized

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

Finally in Florence!

We arrived in Florence during the mid afternoon. It was Bill’s first time driving there, and he was pretty nervous about the prospect of finding parking. Tom, our winery guide, a member of the wine group I formed on Facebook, had advised us to leave our car in a “free” parking lot, not far from the hotel he had booked for us. But, by the time we got to Florence, all of the spaces in the lot were full. When we first arrived, Bill also didn’t know that there was a huge parking garage located nearby. If we had known about the garage sooner, it would have spared Bill about an hour of driving around, looking for a space. Florence is a very busy city!

The GPS sent us down a narrow, one way street that didn’t seem like it should have vehicular traffic. Bill turned left, only to be confronted by a congested side street with cars crammed together. We found our lodging, Hotel Firenze Capitale, which was located on the second floor of a beautiful old building with frescoes on the ceilings of the bedrooms. However, thanks to the many scooters parked in front of the building, unloading our luggage was a very hasty project resulting in indignant horn honking from the vehicles behind Bill. I finally jumped out of the car with several bags and dashed into the building, completely missing the doorbell for the hotel. That was a critical error, but I was so flustered and anxious about successfully moving the bags, I just didn’t see it. I might have noticed it if someone hadn’t left the front door open, which was not a normal thing, as we found out over our three nights there.

Next, I was confronted by the old fashioned elevator. It was very tiny, and the kind of elevator in which one must close the doors manually. I barely fit in the lift with my two big bags and purse. Then, I realized I had to lean over and close the front door, then the two internal doors, and hold my breath as the tiny elevator ascended. Once I got to the second floor, I got myself and my stuff out of the tiny lift. To my left, there were the electric sliding doors comprising the hotel’s entrance point. However, there was no doorbell, and the doors didn’t open automatically. I stood there puzzled for a moment, not knowing what to do.

Remember, I had been preoccupied with getting the bags to the hotel, and I wasn’t given instructions about accessing the lodging. Bill had gotten the instructions from Tom, but he hadn’t mentioned the unusual means of accessing the lodging. Or, if he did, I missed the memo. But yes, I was confused when I reached the hotel. Usually, when I go to hotels, the door is open– and there’s someone there to help with bags or valet parking of some kind. I sent Tom a Facebook message, asking what to do.

An Asian man, who had been cleaning the stairwell, noticed my confusion as I stared at the door, not knowing how to access the hotel. He spoke Italian to me, and I didn’t understand… however, the gist of what he was saying had to be something along the lines of, “Why are you just standing here in the hallway looking clueless with your bags?”

Then, without another word, the guy leaned over and knocked on the door for me. How embarrassing! I should have thought of doing that myself. But, in my defense, I didn’t know what was behind the sliding electric door. I was also flummoxed by the sudden movement, and being confronted with an unorthodox hotel that I didn’t choose. I knew nothing at all about the place, or what was expected of me when I arrived.

Thanks to the kind custodian’s knock, the door opened. I profusely thanked the Asian man who helped me. Then I turned my attention to my host. There stood a man named Giuseppe. I did know from one of Tom’s messages that I was looking for Giuseppe. He greeted me and asked why I hadn’t rung the doorbell. I said I hadn’t known about it. I wasn’t the one who received the information about the hotel. I told him that Bill was looking for parking. Giuseppe told me about the parking garage and advised me to call Bill. But then I realized that, one, I didn’t even have Bill’s phone number, and two, even if I called him, he probably wouldn’t answer while he was driving. I did make a point of getting Bill’s number when we were reunited, about an hour later! He had found the garage on his own.

I gave Giuseppe my passport and, as he took it, he put on a mask. So I put on a mask. That turned out to be the only one or two masked interactions we had, as it seemed that the city of Florence was not quite as strict about masks as the cities we visited in Emilia-Romagna had been. We were assigned room 7, a superior class room, which, as promised, had very beautiful frescoes on the ceiling. Giuseppe gave me a very brief tour of the room, but forgot to give me the WiFi code. Fortunately, I had bought a cellular plan for my iPad, so I didn’t have to sit there in boredom while I waited for Bill to make his way to the hotel.

I turned on the TV, and was shocked to find an episode of the 80s era American show, The A-Team, airing. That was an ongoing theme all week in Italy. Lots of 80s vintage shows that were popular when I was a child were on prime time. It was pretty funny!

Once Bill was settled, we decided to take the fifteen minute walk to the historical center of Firenze… that would be where the city’s huge Duomo is. We didn’t bother to go into the cathedral during our visit, since we went to Florence in 2013, and visited it at that time. Frankly, I am much more impressed by the outside of the cathedral there, which is very striking to me. When we visited in 2013, the inside of the cathedral seemed rather plain. I didn’t want to stand in line to see it, either. So we skipped the church in 2022, but you can see my 2013 photos here.

*Free masks were offered outside a science research building. We finally took some on the last day.*

It was exciting to be back in Firenze/Florence, which is a wonderful city. Because it’s so wonderful, there are many, many visitors there at any given time. This was my third visit to Florence, and I remember it was packed on the other two occasions, too. Tom told us that the beginning of COVID was kind of interesting, as the tourists all funneled out and Florence was quiet and empty. I would have liked to have seen it that way. I mentioned that Parma and Modena were not touristy. Well… Florence definitely makes up for that. I heard so many Americans in Florence! It almost seemed like there were more Americans than Italians!

After we walked around for awhile, we realized it was time for dinner. I was getting cranky because of the crowds. Somehow, we ended up on the wrong street, and an enterprising restaurant hawker noticed the look of irritation on my face, as I slowed down to look at a menu. He said, “You want something to drink?”

“Yes.” I said. “God bless you.”

We sat down at a table just inside the restaurant… and much to my shame, I somehow forgot to get a picture of the name of the place. It wasn’t a particularly special restaurant. The waiters all wore t-shirts with the name on it, and I looked it up on Google and noticed the mixed reviews. But I was still grateful for the rest and the beer. We were seated near another American couple. The male half kept raving about the Florentine steak he ordered, which was 800 grams. Bistecca alla Florentine seems to be Florence’s most famous dish. Every restaurant we visited had their own version of it. The guy tried to talk us into ordering the steak. I had to admit, it smelled great. But we knew we would be having it on Friday night, when we met our tour. So I had fried fishy stuff, instead. Bill had beef tagliata, which is steak with rucola and Parmesan cheese.

The American guy who had the steak was so impressed that he came back twice more to tell us! It was pretty funny! I wonder if he had it again during his visit. He looked like he enjoyed steak a lot, if you catch my drift. But then, so do I. 😉 I think if I was going to have steak Florentine, I would pick a slightly more upscale place. In spite of the lukewarm reviews, we had a good time.

Edited to add: Thanks to the Dream store photo below, I figured out that we dined at Ristorante Pizzeria Ginori. I knew the name started with a G.

After we ate, we went back to the hotel and crashed. It had been a long day, and we had big plans for Thursday morning. More on that in the next post.

churches

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

Meandering around Modena…

I mentioned in the previous post that Bill had decided against visiting Bologna on this trip, mainly because parking can be tricky there. Bologna has an area where it’s strictly prohibited for non-residents to park their vehicles. The areas supposedly aren’t well marked, and fines are steep. So, since Modena also looked like an interesting place, he decided we’d go there.

Modena, which, like Parma, is also located in Emilia-Romagna, is on the south side of the Po Valley. It was about a 40 minute drive from our castle accommodations, which took us through some areas that reminded me a little of Mississippi. Probably the most traumatizing thing about our drive to Modena was when we passed a roundabout where there were cop cars. There were dozens of shattered wine bottles on the road, because a guy in a truck went too fast around the corner and lost about half his load. The police were sweeping up the glass and directing traffic as we passed. I wasn’t prepared to take a picture, which is just as well. It was a very sad sight indeed.

Modena has a huge parking garage outside of the walls of the city. From the parking garage, it’s easy to access the town with a short walk. Modena is known for its balsamic vinegar and expensive sports cars. Ferrari, De Tomaso, Lamborghini, Pagani and Maserati are either based there now, or were in the past. Lamborghini has since moved from Modena to Bologna.

Again, because of COVID restrictions, we didn’t have any big plans to see anything specific. Our goal was to get a feel for the city, have lunch, and people watch. One thing that I noticed and liked about both Parma and Modena, but especially Modena, is that the town did not seem touristy, at least during our very brief visit. I didn’t hear any Americans at all during my visit to Modena.

Maybe it seems wrong to write this, since I am myself an American, but it really is nice to be in a very authentic Italian town where there aren’t shitloads of my countrymen milling around, talking too loudly, and being obnoxious and obvious. On the other hand, I remember being that way when I was a lot younger and less aware of myself. But anyway, if you like places that aren’t catering to tourists, Modena is a good bet. And there’s plenty to look at and smell while you’re there. Modena was the one place on our entire visit where I routinely caught the aromas of things that smelled heavenly. I think it was mostly pizza, though…

In the photos, you might notice several young people wearing garlands on their heads. I’m not sure what that was about, but I got the sense it had to do with graduation. Modena has a university that was founded in 1175.

Here are some photos from our visit…

Right after I took a picture of the anti-dog poop street painting, we discovered our lunch spot, La Brusca Caffe, which happened to be near the pizzeria take out place that was giving off such heavenly aromas. This little hole in the wall was nothing fancy, but offered good food at inexpensive prices. We took our time and sat outside, enjoying the atmosphere of “the real Italy”. By that, I mean this is a place where you can get an authentic feel for Italy.

As for the food… it was okay. I would say it was nothing to write home about. Looks like some people on Trip Advisor agree. But it satisfied us and didn’t cost much at all. And they had decent wine. If we ever go to Modena again, we will make a different restaurant choice.

For some reason, these tables were closed.

We walked around a little bit more, then made our way back to Torrechiara. We stopped briefly at a rest area outisde of Modena, as we both had to process lunch. I note that when we stopped, mask rules were still in place. And, as is the custom in Italy, in order to leave the building, we had to walk through the food and gift store. On the way back out of Italy, a few days later, we stopped at the same rest stop. At that point, masks were over.

The next day was Wednesday, the 26th of April. It was time to move on to Florence. More on that in the next post.

churches, holidays

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

Parma on Liberation Day…

As I mentioned in part three of this series, I chose to stay at our castle location near Parma because I knew there were several places of interest nearby. There’s Parma, Italy, where Parma ham and Parmesan cheese come from, Modena, which is known for wonderful balsamic vinegar, and Bologna, which is just alleged to be a beautiful city with great food and sightseeing. Bill did some research about Bologna and decided not to visit there, because parking was too much of a hassle. I definitely wanted to go to Parma, and Modena was interesting enough for a visit, too.

On the day we visited Parma, which was Monday, April 25th, it was Liberation Day. We did not know it was going to be Liberation Day before we planned our visit. We have a habit of being in different countries on their major holidays. We did the same thing last fall when we visited Wels, Austria. Anyway, Liberation Day was first celebrated in Italy in the year 1946. It was to commemorate the 1945 victory of the Italian resistance to Nazi Germany and the Italian Socialist puppet state. Because it was a holiday, the streets were crowded; some shops were closed; and there was a parade.

We managed to visit Parma’s beautiful cathedral and monastery, followed by lunch at a really cool restaurant where blues were accompanying the delicious food. Below are some photos of our day. Again, masks were required at that time, but as of May 1, 2022, masks are mostly only needed on public transport, in medical settings and nursing homes, and in sports venues, concert halls, or theaters. I note, once again, that Italy is stricter than Germany is right now. One of these days, I’m going to make a video of all the beautiful cathedrals I’ve seen in Europe.

Flags were everywhere because of the holiay.

A busker entertained us with Bach. He made me cry.

The monastery is located very close by the Parma Duomo. We had to wear FFP2 masks to see the library.

After more walking around, and more photos taken, we found our way to a quiet little plaza where we had lunch at a restaurant called Osteria del Teatro. This was a cute and popular place where excellent blues music paired with really nice local dishes and wines. Old vinyl records were used as placemats!

Below are some more photos from our day in Parma. Some decorations are in honor of the holiday.

By late afternoon, we were ready to go back to the B&B and drink more wine… which we did.

I loved this white. It was like peaches!

After our wine break, we watched old American shows dubbed into Italian… The Dukes of Hazzard, The A Team, and Walker, Texas Ranger! No wonder I saw so many Confederate battle flags in Italy.

churches, Germany, Mainz, restaurant reviews, Sundays

Mainzer Dom and lunch at Caleo…

Bill and I never made it out yesterday, mainly because the weather is starting to change. It was rainy off and on yesterday, and we just didn’t feel like going out anywhere. So we stayed home, ate takeout, listened to music, and enjoyed some libations on the patio.

Today, we had nicer weather. Bill wanted to go out. I was still kind of inclined to stay in, because I have become a slovenly old battleaxe over the course of the past 18 months or so. However, it’s really not good for my mental health to stay home, nor is it particularly good for my physical health, since I tend to sit around and drink. So I let myself be convinced to go out. We could have gone to the Frankfurt Dippemess, which is going on until next weekend. But there’s no parking at the fairgrounds, and Bill and I don’t ride the rides or anything. I mean, I probably would, but Bill doesn’t like to.

I had mentioned yesterday that I wanted to go inside the Mainzer Dom (Mainz Cathedral). Somehow, despite living in Wiesbaden for almost three years, we never bothered to go inside the cathedral, which is massive and gorgeous. So today, we decided we’d go. Below are some photos from today’s visit. The Mainz Cathedral dates from 975, and has been renovated many times during its long history. I was very moved by how massive and beautiful the cathedral is. There are so many gothic accents and beautiful windows. There are also new stained glass windows, which were made by the glass artist Johannes Schreiter and installed in 2004.

The Dom costs nothing to visit, although donations are gratefully accepted. It’s open to visitors outside of service times Monday through Saturday from 11:00am until 4:00pm. On Sundays, it’s open to visitors from 1:00pm until 4:00pm (although Google says it’s open until 6:30pm).

As is his habit, Bill bought a candle for his father, who died in November 2020. He wasn’t able to go to his dad’s funeral, thanks to COVID-19. So, now when we enter cathedrals, Bill usually lights a candle and says a prayer. I have been to a lot of cathedrals since we’ve been over here. I think Mainz might have one of the most architecturally impressive ones I’ve seen yet. It’s really beautiful. I would love to hear the organ.

After we took a quick tour of the Mainzer Dom, we walked around the area so I could get more photos. I actually have a bunch of pictures from around Mainz, but the flower gardens are always changing. Plus, Mainz is just one of those cities that seems to pulsate with life and energy.

My German friend reminds me the sculpture is the Heunensäule.

We were feeling a little hungry and needed to visit the restroom, so we went searching for food. I found Caleo on my trusty iPhone, indicating the restaurant was open all day with no pause. So we headed for there, first taking a detour to the river, so I could get a few photos.

This isn’t too far from the “beach” on the Mainz side of the Rhein.

We were kind of impressed by Caleo, which boasts an innovative menu with some interesting menu choices. There were some exotic items on the menu. Bill ended up ordering a crocodile steak, for instance. I went with a Spicy Wagyu Burger, which came with cheddar cheese, tomatoes, jalapeno peppers, onions, chili mayo, and lettuce. I have a feeling Bill would have liked the spicy burger more than I did. But it was definitely better than last week’s burger in Wiesbaden.

We started with chocolate stout beers from Yorkshire, England. They were definitely chocolatey, and a little bit sweet. But they were a nice change from the usual.

Service at Caleo was professional and friendly. Our server mostly spoke German to us, but did know English pretty well. I was flattered that she didn’t immediately peg us for Yanks. I guess all of these years in Europe have rubbed off on us. I was impressed by the food and the menu, which definitely offers some exciting choices. They had bison, for instance, and their vegetarian burger has a bun made from jackfruit. They also had a burger called “zebra”, made of zebra meat. I wasn’t about to try it. I think zebras are gorgeous. Sigh… I probably should be a vegetarian.

The weather today has been fabulous— sunny, and about 75 degrees during the afternoon. It was nice to get outside and walk around. And I was delighted to finally visit the Mainzer Dom, which is as stunning on the inside as it is on the outside. It made for a nice Sunday afternoon activity. I’m glad we went. Hope we continue to have such great weather.

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Our Heidelberger Birthday Holiday! Part six

Yesterday morning, we enjoyed another “lie in”, then packed up everything for the relatively brief trip home to Wiesbaden. I’m glad we went to Heidelberg. It’s not far from where we live, but it has a different feel. It was nice to leave Hesse, even if we were just over the line. I could have used another day, to be honest.

I didn’t take pictures of yesterday’s breakfast, which was much like the one before it, although we had it inside instead of out in the courtyard. I mentioned that it was my birthday and was hugely surprised by a special gift from the kitchen…

*This was a delight! I truly wasn’t expecting it.*

After breakfast, we brought our own bags down to the reception desk. They greeted me with a “Happy Birthday!”, having noticed it on the paperwork. All told, our extravagant weekend ran us about $2000 or so– including two nights in the junior suite, a couple of trips to the bar, breakfast, parking, one dinner, and a couple of bottles of wine. Yes, it was very expensive, but we felt it was well worth it after such a difficult and strange year. For us, personally, it wasn’t as difficult as it’s been for a lot of people… but it was definitely weird. I’m hoping for better and less odd days in the near future, as more people get vaccinated against COVID-19. We choose to enjoy life while we still can… and splurge when we can. Bill’s latest TDY per diem will be paying for this trip.

Since we couldn’t pick up the dogs until 6:00pm, we decided to go home a different way and spend a couple of hours in Speyer, a town in Rheinland-Pfalz I had heard a lot about but never had a chance to visit. On the way there, my German friend shared this adorable happy birthday video with me.

Bwahaahahahaaha!

After we parked the car, we started walking toward the picturesque city, when I spotted this…

I’ll pass on the one with the face mask. I’d like to forget those as soon as possible.

We decided to just stroll through the town and take some photos, since we were really full from breakfast. Founded by the Romans, Speyer is one of Germany’s oldest cities. It’s the kind of place where it’s just cool to be there. It has a unique look and a different vibe. After our brief look, we’ll definitely have to go back for another visit and perhaps an overnight or two. Parking was cheap and easy in a huge lot near the downtown area.

After an emotional visit to the Dom, we strolled through the park, where there was a small fest going on. I kind of wanted to hang out for awhile, but Bill only paid for two hours of parking. Bummer… we will have to go back. This cute little festival was a nice reminder of what was, and what hopefully be again. Gotta keep the faith.

The dog was enjoying watching the kids on the ride!

We got home in the afternoon, just enough time for me to start the laundry and this travel series. We picked up Arran and Noyzi at the Tierpension Birkenhof 6:00pm. I could hear Arran all the way out to the car. He has a very distinctive bay! I’m happy to report that the boys did fine… When the caregiver opened the gate, Arran came right out to us.

*Noyzi needed to be redirected. I’m glad to see he enjoyed his accommodations at the Tierpension Birkenhof!*

Noyzi got confused and went back to his “room”. It actually took some convincing to get him to come out to us. Both dogs said goodbye and were relaxed and happy as we loaded them into the Volvo. I felt good about that. I didn’t expect Noyzi would have any trouble and he didn’t disappoint. I think the lady who watched them fell in love with Noyzi, which doesn’t surprise me, either. He’s a very sweet, gentle, easy to handle dog.

Arran says hello before he had his accident in our backyard.

My birthday would have ended up on a great high note, if not for Arran’s exuberance when we got home. Once we let him off the leash, he took off running outside. At some point, he must have careened under the bushes at a high rate of speed. He and Bill were having a reunification bonding session when I noticed blood on Arran’s shoulder. I took a closer look at the fresh wound and realized that he’d torn a big gash open, with a flap hanging down. It wasn’t bleeding a lot, but it was kind of deep.

So poor Bill had to take Arran to the Tierklinik Hofheim for debridement and stitches. Sadly, a lot of people were having pet emergencies last night, so although Bill got there at 9:30pm, he didn’t get home until 4:30am, about 825 euros poorer. The vet clucked sympathetically over the cost, which was pretty high… but in the United States, it would have cost a hell of a lot more than 825 euros to get emergency stitches for our dog in the wee hours of the morning. So while we wish the accident hadn’t happened, we’re grateful the clinic was available and Arran’s situation wasn’t worse. Bill said he counted three people who lost their pets last night. 🙁

Arran seems no worse for wear today, except for the stitches. They loaded him up with antibiotics and painkillers, and I suspect the forced rest will cramp all of our styles a bit. He jumped up on the bed at 4:30am, gave me a kiss, and went right to sleep. He’s been napping all day today. We’ll be taking the hedge trimmers to that bush in the backyard. This is the second time Arran has cut himself on it.

Well, that about does it for my birthday celebration for 2021. If you’ve been following along, thanks so much for reading. We really had a great time. I guess if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the pandemic, it’s that travel is a wonderful privilege that shouldn’t be wasted or taken for granted. And every once in awhile, it’s a good thing to splurge. I suspect our next splurge will be when we book our long awaited dentist appointments in Stuttgart. That will probably be next on the agenda… and after that, maybe a real vacation! Dare to dream!

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: cathedrals