Stuttgart, Germany… it’s as lovely as ever in the springtime… part five

Finally, it was Monday, the day we’d kind of been dreading. It was the reason we’d come to Stuttgart in the first place. At 3:00pm, we would be visiting our dentist, Dr. Blair, in downtown Stuttgart, for repairs and cleanings. After breakfast, we went back to the hotel room for a chat, and finally decided to go downtown at a little after 11:00am.

There was another reason to be a little worried about the day. Monday was the day transportation workers were on strike, protesting for more pay and better working conditions. That meant a lot of trains and planes would either not be going or were delayed. Since we were just going downtown, this issue didn’t affect us too terribly, but we did hear a lot of warnings about it.

We parked in the public garage close to Dr. Blair’s office and went searching for lunch. Stuttgart has a number of good restaurants, but not all of them are open for lunch, and quite a few of them take Mondays as their “Ruhetag” (quiet day off). I was wanting to try a different restaurant, too. We often end up eating in places near Dr. Blair’s office. I wanted to go somewhere else for a change, if only so I could report about it in my Facebook food and wine group. I like to be useful whenever possible.

After some time walking around downtown, we finally ended up at the Nesenbach Brauhaus, not far from the Stuttgart Markthalle. Although Bill and I have visited the Markthalle many times, we had never before dined at the Nesenbach Brauhaus. I wasn’t really wanting German food again, but time was getting short before our appointments and we needed to have lunch. Below are a few shots of beautiful downtown Stuttgart, including the festive Stuttgarter Markthalle…

The Nesenbach Brauhaus has a decent sized menu, which did include a lot of local Swabian inspired dishes. Naturally, there was beer, too, and other libations. We sat down at a corner table by a window, near a large group of ladies who were lunching. For lunch, I chose the “filled avocado”, which promised chicken and vegetables in avocado halves, drizzled with nuts and sweet chili sauce. I was a little hesitant about ordering the avocado, since sometimes “mixed vegetables” include mushrooms. But then, I reasoned, who puts mushrooms in avocados?

Bill ordered a “salad from the land and sea”, which included a small piece of salmon, a small piece of beef, Parma ham with melon, white asparagus, and greens. We were reasonably assured that his choice would be fungus free.

Well, the food came, and wouldn’t you know it? The avocado had mushrooms in it… We had to switch plates, because I can’t eat mushrooms. Fortunately, I liked the salad Bill ordered, even though it was quite an array of different things. I wouldn’t have necessarily thought to put melon and Parma ham with salmon and beef, for instance. Bill didn’t mind the avocado, although he said the mushrooms didn’t really go well, and the chili sauce was a little too cloying. Seems to me they should have paired the avocado with bacon or citrus, or something more like that. Oh well, at least it was an attractive presentation.

When we were finished eating, the waiter asked if we wanted anything else, like sweets or coffee. I just sort of smiled at him and, reading my mind, he said “Another beer?”

“Yes!” I enthused. “We have to see our dentist in an hour, and I want to be relaxed!”

The waiter laughed and brought me my suds, which I happily drank, then we paid the bill and walked to Dr. Blair’s office.

When we arrived, there was still a sign on the door requesting that everyone wear a face mask. However, most of the staff didn’t wear masks, and I noticed a number of patients weren’t wearing them, either. I suspect that by the time we see Dr. Blair again in the fall, the masks will be long forgotten. I know not everyone feels this way, but frankly, I hope that is what comes to pass.

After a short wait, I was invited to the treatment room. The assistant left me alone, and I decided I’d better go to the restroom before things got started. That was a good decision, even though she was waiting for me when I got back. I apologized, and Dr. Blair came in and commented, in German, that my filling was “kaput”.

“That doesn’t sound good.” I said.

He laughed and reminded me that the “kaput” filling was why I was there. Then, somehow, we ended up talking about our ancestries. When I told him I grew up near Williamsburg, Virginia, he said he had many relatives buried near there. I asked him if he was related to James Blair, who was a rector at Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg, and whose name is on a number of public buildings there. He said he didn’t know, but his grandmother– last name of Warren– was from there. And then I realized that he was named for his grandmother, as his first name is Warren.

So then, they put a dental dam in my mouth, which is kind of a foreign experience for me, as most dentists don’t seem to bother with it unless the work is extensive. I mentioned that I knew about dental dams, since I used to study public health, which naturally led to a brief discussion about how gay men used to use them during the height of the AIDS era to protect themselves when they engaged in oral sex. 😀 I swear, I’ve never had this kind of talk with any of my American dentists! But Dr. Blair is not constrained by American conventions! He did mention that back in the late 80s, he worked in San Francisco and knew a lot of gay men who had lost people to AIDS. It was definitely a challenging time for his career.

As I tried to hang in there during the repair of my baby tooth, it occured to me that I am lucky to have such a skilled dentist. And I’m lucky that we can afford to see him on a regular basis, even though using a dental dam was vaguely kinky. It was a big relief when he was finished. Then, after another short wait, I was invited to get my cleaning done by the hygienist. She did an especially thorough job. I left the office with a noticeable brighter smile, although half of my mouth was very numb.

Bill’s cleaning went similarly well. Then he went in to get his filling repaired, as it had a tiny sliver missing. Dr. Blair said, “I don’t even need to numb you for this. It won’t take twenty minutes to fix this.”

Bill thought to himself, “Sez you…” but really, he didn’t require any novocaine. Dr. Blair worked his magic, and we were soon on our way back to the Wald Hotel’s bar. We’ll be back to see. Dr. Blair in early October. I will have to find a fun place to visit in the fall! We don’t need to stay in Stuttgart for that visit, since there’s no work planned.

While we were sitting in the bar, the lady from Vermont and her son came back. She said they’d buried her father that morning. They had a taxi coming, as she had plans that evening. During the day, they went to Ludwigsburg and visited the palace (a place I still haven’t seen), and her son, who is an arborist, found a reflective jacket that isn’t available in the United States. He said he managed not to buy the matching pants! The duo said they’d be flying back home on Wednesday, after a day trip to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a place we last visited in January 2018.

We decided to have a light dinner, so we wouldn’t be starving on Tuesday morning. I had a burger and fries, and Bill had soup. In retrospect, I probably should have had the soup, too. The burger came huge, on a pretzel hamburger roll. I liked the roll and the fries, but the burger patty was “machine molded and compressed”, which seems to be what Germans prefer, as opposed to hand formed. Hand formed patties are not so tightly packed, so they are juicier and lighter.

The patty was also seasoned, so that it kind of reminded me more of sausage. I like my ground beef “natur”, as the locals would put it. And finally, there were tons of condiments on the burger! Like– a really thick smear of mayo, a bunch of onions and tomatoes, and lettuce. My mouth was still pretty numb, but even if I hadn’t been, I couldn’t open it wide enough to bite into the burger, which was dripping mayo all over the place. I ended up having to eat it with a knife and fork, and finally gave up about halfway through.

Ah well… it wasn’t the worst burger I’ve ever had. And it did the trick of preventing me from getting hungry before breakfast.

We went back to the room and watched some German TV. We landed on a show called First Dates, which was about Germans who went to a hotel near Amalfi, Italy, where they had dates with strangers. There were several contestants, but it looked like the gay couple was the only one that found love. They were sent to Mallorca for water sports, too. I’m guessing the specific water sports they enjoyed didn’t just involve Waveriders and surfboards. 😉 I do like how German shows are less about violence, and more about love. 😀

On Tuesday morning, we got up, packed our bags, hauled them to the car, and had breakfast. Bill had to park in the “Tiefgarage” (which costs money), because the free outside lot was full of expensive cars for the businessmen who had converged on the hotel Monday afternoon. I was admiring my new white smile as Bill settled the bill, which was about 2500 euros. Yes, that’s a lot of money, but consider that we were staying in the suite, and we ate and drank a lot at the hotel. It’s still less than what we spent at Bareiss last fall, too.

Now that we’ve stayed in the suite, I can also say that I don’t really think I’ll need to book it again. I might go for the junior suite, which I think is a better room for us. Or, I might just go back to the superior room, which is a lot cheaper and has a really fabulous shower with mood lighting. 😀

Our drive home was kind of frustrating. There was an accident, so of course there was a lengthy Stau. But we managed to get home by the early afternoon, even after enjoying lunch at a NordSee in a rest stop. I resisted the urge to buy one of those obnoxious signs I noticed on the way down to Stuttgart on Friday. But maybe I’ll see if I can find one on Amazon.de, which would spare me some embarrassment. One other byproduct of our trip is a nasty cold sore, which I think was caused by stress. Either that, or Aunt Flow is about to visit for the first time in months.

Every once in awhile, NordSee hits the spot.

As for Noyzi… he came through our short break just fine. Bill said he had to wait a bit before the clients ahead of him were finished getting their dog. When Noyzi finally came out of the pension, he almost knocked Bill over with a literal hug. I almost wish I’d been there to see that!

Anyway, so ends my latest series… Now it’s time to plan a real vacation in a country other than Germany! We might have to bring out the champagne bucket to help us make our choice. I look forward to making the decision soon!

anecdotes, dental

Stuttgart, Germany… it’s as lovely as ever in the springtime… part one

Twenty-four hours ago, I was in downtown Stuttgart, lying on my back, as our trusty German/American dentist, Dr. Blair, was applying a dental dam to my mouth and telling me about his ancestry. It was the first time in a long time since I’d had any fillings done. And I don’t remember any of my previous dentists using a dental dam when I did have them done. I think previous dentists were more likely to only use them for crowns.

I knew this drama was coming. Six months ago, when Bill and I last went to Stuttgart to see Dr. Blair, he said he didn’t like the looks of the filling in my last remaining baby tooth, on the bottom left side of my mouth. I’d last had it filled in 2013, when we first moved to Texas. The tooth above it– also a baby tooth– had a cracked filling, which the Texas dentist repaired. She said she believed the other baby tooth needed a new filling. I was worried, in 2013, that the baby tooth wasn’t going to survive another repair, but my previous dentist assured me it would make it through the procedure. She refilled the tooth. I thought it would be for the last time, since it’s a baby tooth.

One year later, we moved to Stuttgart, and the top tooth that had the cracked filling promptly abscessed. It had a fractured root. I didn’t have pain, because there was an exit for the infection. However, this wasn’t a condition I wanted to let go for too long. Once Bill had dental insurance again, we visited Dr. Blair for the first time. He eventually pulled the abscessed top baby tooth, and in 2016, I got a spiffy dental implant, which has worked perfectly. I know that eventually, I’ll need another implant. Hopefully, Dr. Blair can do that one, too.

Fast forward to yesterday. I was worried about the baby tooth surviving yet another filling, because it’s 50 years old, and was never meant to work for so long. But after 45 minutes in the chair, the work was done. About 45 minutes after that, my teeth were clean and smooth, although my mouth was still numb for about four hours. Bill also had to have a little work done, but his work didn’t require any novocaine.

Lately, I’ve been choosing to pair our visits to Dr. Blair’s office with excursions to places we haven’t yet been. For instance, we’ve done two Black Forest trips and a trip to a part of Alsace, France, we hadn’t yet visited. We decided to stay in Stuttgart this time, because we weren’t just having cleanings done. Next time we see Dr. Blair, unless there’s a problem, we’ll probably go somewhere else relatively nearby that we haven’t been to yet. Maybe my German friend, Susanne, will finally see us visit her hometown of Freiburg. I’ve been trying to arrange a trip there for years!

The trip to see our fabulous dentist was the main reason we went back to Stuttgart over the weekend. However, we had other reasons for going back “home” (Stuttgart has been “home” for us for six out of twenty years of marriage). The fact of the matter is, Stuttgart is a pretty nice place to visit. We made a valiant attempt to see a lot more of it during our most recent four year stint living there, but there are still a lot of places we haven’t been. There are also places we wanted to see again.

Over the weekend, we managed to visit a couple of new places, as well as a place we hadn’t seen since 2008, when we lived in the Stuttgart area the first time. We stayed in the Wald Hotel, our favorite Stuttgart area hotel, albeit in their “suite”, which we’d never tried before. I believe it was our fifth stay at the Degerloch four star accomodation, located near a sports complex and the famed Fernsehturm (TV tower).

We ate good food, drank lots of libations, experienced just about every kind of weather, bought a new rug, met new people, listened to music, picked up souvenirs for Bill’s grandchildren, and spent plenty of euros. I got pictures, too. So I hope you’ll come along with me on my latest jaunt to our old stomping grounds… Maybe you’ll learn something new… or just be entertained. Or maybe not.

I’m just happy my smile is bright again, and my tooth is fixed. Turns out it wasn’t as bad as Dr. Blair thought it was. Stay tuned for part two!

Featured photo is yet another 3D city model… I just saw the one for Wiesbaden a couple of weeks ago. Now I seem to see them everywhere. 😉

Baden-Württemberg, blog news

Hello from Stuttgart!

Here’s a quick post to say hello from our old stomping grounds, Stuttgart, Germany. We got here Friday and will be coming home on Tuesday. I expect to write several posts about this trip, which has turned out to be surprisingly productive so far. We’ve visited a couple of new places, as well as one we haven’t seen since 2008.

The weather has been positively crazy, which is totally normal in March. Today, we’ve seen rain, wind, sunshine, and HAIL! It’s possible there could be snow tomorrow, though I doubt it will stick.

We have to see our dentist in the afternoon. He’ll be repairing things for both Bill and me, and we’ll get cleanings… and then, when we get home on Tuesday, we’ll fetch Noyzi and start planning our next big adventure, which will likely be somewhere totally different. I might even get on an airplane again.

Even though we’re in Stuttgart, this trip is pretty pricey for us. But today, we scored a new carpet for the living room, which desperately needs it after Arran’s many clandestine toilet runs. It doesn’t match the other two carpets, but the rug guy says he’ll be up in Wiesbaden in three weeks. Maybe we’ll just redo the whole living room.

I’ve also noticed a lot of businesses coming and going down here… and a lot more road construction. It’s weird to see the changes.

Anyway, I’m not quite ready to start blogging yet. But I do have a lot to write about… Here’s a short list, so I don’t forget:

Bill mistaking a Muslim woman in dark coat with a hood and a white headscarf as a nun.
The “Familie von Trapp” and the private concert/birthday party we crashed.
Arran is everywhere…
“You don’t need to put a bow on that load…”
Wein fur Eins…

Stuttgart will always have a piece of my heart, in spite of some of the things that happened when we lived here. It’s a beautiful place, with good people, delicious food, and gorgeous scenery. So, watch this space for the new series. Maybe I’ll start it tomorrow, but definitely Tuesday it will commence, if I’m not in the hospital or somewhere else like that. We’ll see.

Schwarzwald

Baiersbronn in the Black Forest– Bareiss Style! Part one

Those of you who regularly read my travel blog might remember that in August 2021, when it came time for Bill and me to visit our dentist in Stuttgart, we decided to book a stay at the Hotel Engel Obertal in Baiersbronn. We spent four pleasant nights at that luxury property and mostly really enjoyed ourselves. While we were staying at that hotel, we visited a restaurant owned by the Hotel Bareiss called the Forellenhof Buhlbach. I noticed a number of guests who were enjoying fresh trout there were also staying at Hotel Bareiss. I didn’t know much about the place, other than it’s where one of the two Three Star Michelin restaurants in Baiersbronn is. I also knew that Hotel Bareiss is considered a pretty swanky place to stay.

In August, Bill rescheduled our dental appointments, to accommodate the Hundepension taking care of our dogs, Arran and Noyzi. Since we moved to Wiesbaden and COVID-19 has been less of an issue, we’ve been combining our trips to Stuttgart with “mini breaks”. Last year, we did Baiersbronn, for instance. In the spring, we went to Sessenheim, France, and stayed in a beautiful little boutique hotel with a gourmet restaurant. I was considering staying in another nice place we haven’t yet been, when I remembered the Bareiss Hotel, and how curious I was about it. So I checked their availability for our dates…

Sure enough, they had room in their “Landhaus”, which is where some of the hotel’s suites and apartments are. After talking about it with Bill– especially given the steep price of the room– we decided to book it. And, because of the steep cost, and the contractual obligation to pay soon after we booked, I also bought travel insurance. It made sense, since the original quote– just for five nights in the room, parking in a garage, and half board, was about 3700 euros. That may seem like a lot, and it is. But you get a lot for your money at this hotel. Besides offering a comfortable place to stay, the Bareiss also has daily activities and many facilities, an awesome spa and sauna world, a huge pool complex with several pools, most of which can be used year round, walking trails, a petting zoo, and lots of child friendly attractions. It’s also an extremely dog friendly hotel, although there is a daily 35 euro charge for each dog.

Having just left the hotel this morning, I can say that the high price was mostly worth it. I liked the Bareiss more than Hotel Engel Obertal. The food was exceptional, especially considering that we mostly ate from the board program, rather than a la carte. The staff is mostly excellent, too. I did have a few quibbles about a few things, which I’ll get to as I write the blow by blow account of our trip. But– overall– I can say that we did enjoy ourselves very much.

I just wish we’d had better weather, because there were some outdoor activities I wanted to do while we were visiting. However, not doing those activities meant that we got to enjoy a couple of fabulous mornings in the pool and sauna world. They were not at all crowded, and were on par with some of the best public mineralthermes/spas/quellens we’ve been to. Imagine going to your favorite pool based spa with almost no one there, competing for resources. That’s what it was like for us at the Hotel Bareiss at this time of year, when most children are in school. I think if you’re a couple or a bunch of ladies who want a relatively quiet and less child populated experience at this property, definitely book in late September or October! In the summer, I’m sure it’s a hell of a lot more crowded and expensive! But then, the weather is also sunnier.

I’m going to start from the beginning of our five night stay and give a very detailed account, then do my usual quick and dirty top ten things I learned post, for those who want to skip the details. I hope you’ll come along with me on our latest Black Forest journey!

Uncategorized

Will be home tomorrow… and a new blog series will commence!

We’ve spent the past few days in Baiersbronn, again, and will be finishing up our trip and coming home tomorrow morning. If you’re one of the handful of people who looks for posts on this blog, I would encourage you to come back tomorrow. I plan to have some fresh content hot off the presses.

As for now… we’re going to enjoy the final hours of this trip before we go home and face everything that will be waiting for us, to include sweet Arran and his big, younger bro, Noyzi. Arran has been ailing lately, so we’ve been concerned about him. But, as far as we know, at this point, he’s okay. So we’ll see him tomorrow at about this time.

It sure is pretty in the Schwarzwald. We should probably come here more often than we do. This is the one thing I miss most about living near Stuttgart.

Alsace, dental, short breaks

Reunited with France… and it felt so good to be back! Part two…

On Wednesday, March 2nd, we loaded up the Volvo with our bags and our pooches. I can’t say “beagles” anymore, since Noyzi is definitely NOT a beagle. Our first stop was the Tierpension Birkenhof, where the dogs stay when we leave town. I dug out a FFP2 mask for the brief time we would be inside, settling up with the Hunde Pension. Noyzi was absolutely delighted to be back at the doggy hotel. He barked almost the whole way there. Arran, on the other hand, was pretty cranky and kept barking back at Noyzi, probably telling him in dog language to STFU. I was doing the same.

Once the dogs were taken care of, we made our way to Stuttgart, with one quick pee stop at a rest station. I noticed they already had their Easter display up. I wasn’t able to get a picture, which may be a blessing. On the other hand, I don’t remember ever seeing an Easter display put up by a rest stop in the United States.

I had to pee again as we arrived in Stuttgart, so we decided to go into a McDonald’s. As I was making my way to the restroom, I heard someone behind the counter yelling “Entschuldigung!” Ahh… she wanted to check my COV-Pass to make sure I’ve gotten jabbed. The restroom in that McDonald’s was on the second floor, so it wasn’t like I could just duck in and out. I showed my credentials, did my business, and Bill handed me a very small Coke that he bought me for the privilege of using the can.

We got to downtown Stuttgart a couple of hours early, so we decided to have lunch at the Paulaner am alten Postplatz, a German restaurant on Calwer Strasse, the chic street where Dr. Blair’s office is located. Ever since COVID hit, I’m never quite sure of what I should be doing. We went inside, and a waitress checked our COV-Passes and IDs… a step further than what the lady at McDonald’s did. I was shocked, since the first floor of that restaurant is for smokers, and plenty were doing that when we visited! Fortunately, there was a non-smoking area upstairs.

Bill and I both opted to have daily specials. I had duck leg with red cabbage slaw and a bread dumpling. Bill had pork goulash. We had beer– the only beer we had all weekend. It was our first restaurant visit in months, and, I must say, it was great. The food was good, as usual, and it was kind of nice to be around other people. I especially got a kick out of the lady with a large puppy she carried in.

After lunch, we headed over to Dr. Blair’s office for our cleanings and waited, dutifully wearing the oppressive FFP2 masks. Bill got a stern lecture about his flossing habits. I got a lecture about my hesitancy in seeing doctors. I have an area of chronically red gum tissue under my front teeth. Dr. Blair always asks me about it. Then he ribs me about being anxious. He’s a very good dentist, and I think he truly cares about his patients, but I also think he takes my anxiety personally. He really shouldn’t. I had a terrible experience with a physician years ago that has left me very reluctant to see medical people. Dentists are, generally, an exception. I do get nervous before procedures, though. He has never forgotten it, even though it’s been years since he put in my implant.

After our appointments, we made our way toward Sessenheim, which is located just inside the border of France. Even Dr. Blair knew about Sessenheim, correctly identifying it as very close to Baden-Baden. But once you cross the border, everything changes! From the beginning of our trip, checking into Auberge au Boeuf, until the end of our stay, COVID rules were much less inconvenient. We walked into the hotel wearing FFP2s and immediately removed them for the rest of our stay after we were confirmed vaccinated. The same conditions applied at every restaurant we visited. We showed our passes, and it was like 2019 again. The FFP2s were also not required. Regular surgical masks were perfectly okay.

Auberge au Boeuf only has four rooms, and each one has a name. We rented L’Idylle, which is one of the larger rooms. It has a balcony that overlooks the beautiful church next door, it’s own private sauna, a jacuzzi, a rainfall shower, and an impressively stocked minibar. Below are some photos of L’Idylle.

We were still full from lunch and pretty tired from the day’s events, so we decided to stay in. We watched French news, drank wine from the local Aldi, and went to bed early. We were off to a good start.

Alsace, short breaks

Reunited with France… and it felt so good to be back! Part one…

The featured photo is of a sign in a German restaurant… I share the sentiments of the person who drew the sad face. That’s why we went to France.

Ever since we moved to Wiesbaden in late November 2018, we have used visits to the dentist in Stuttgart as an excuse to get away for a few days. Or, at least that was the original plan, before COVID-19 wreaked havoc on the planet. Thanks to the pandemic, we haven’t been back as often as we had originally planned. We did combine a trip to Stuttgart to see the dentist in May 2019 with Elton John’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road concert. We went to the Spring festival, saw Elton, and got our teeth cleaned. We also stayed at the Wald Hotel, which is our favorite Stuttgart area lodging. We even brought our dogs down to stay with their Stuttgart area pet sitter.

Then COVID struck, and we couldn’t get back down there again until August 2021. I had planned another trip to the Wald Hotel, but it was totally booked during that period. So I decided we’d visit Baiersbronn, which is a little Black Forest town known for its excellent restaurants. We loved visiting Baiersbronn when we lived near Stuttgart, so it made sense to go stay in the area for a few days, see the doc, and eat some really excellent food for a few days.

A few weeks ago, Bill reminded me that it was time to see the dentist again. We had appointments for March 2. I thought maybe I’d find us a little rental home or a cute hotel in a different part of the Black Forest, since we had so much fun in August. There are still so many places we’d like to see there. But then I noticed how strict the COVID rules are, down in that part of Germany… and I realized that having been triple vaxxed and never venturing out much at all for months, I’m pretty damned sick of COVID rules.

Or, at least I’m sick of the super strict ones. Baden-Württemberg has been requiring people to use FFP2 masks, which I find very oppressive and obnoxious. I know… I know… they’re supposedly “better” masks, and all, but I still hate wearing them. I am not a rule breaker, but if I can go somewhere else where I don’t have to wear the fucking things, I’d prefer to do that.

I noticed as I searched for places in the Black Forest, I was also getting suggestions for Strasbourg, France, which is really close to the Black Forest. I didn’t really want to go to Strasbourg, though, because that was where we went during our last trip to France in February 2020. I enjoyed Strasbourg, but I wanted to go somewhere different, especially since the wine expo is set to go on at the end of March and we may end up going there for that. We haven’t yet decided if we will go.

It was at that point that I remembered Soufflenheim, which is a little French town known for its pottery. We have a few pieces from there that we bought in Ribeauville a few years ago, but we’d never actually been to the town itself. I realized that since it was just a little bit north of Strasbourg, it would be on the way back to Wiesbaden, anyway. And this would be a great chance for us to get pottery for ourselves, and Bill’s younger daughter, who is expecting a baby boy soon.

So I searched for a place in Soufflenheim, and soon noticed ads for a Michelin starred restaurant that also has four hotel rooms. Auberge au Boeuf is located in adorable Sessenheim, which is right next to Soufflenheim. A quick peek at the reviews on Google and Trip Advisor, as well as Booking.com, told me that this was a nice play to stay. Better yet, the cost of the room in France was about half of what I would have paid at the Wald Hotel, a nice hotel in a city I’ve been to many, many times, and will no doubt go to again at least once in the future… and probably more often than that. Maybe my next Wald Hotel visit should wait until I need a dental procedure.

Then I realized that France is not nearly as uptight about COVID-19 as Germany is… the latest rules changes in Germany notwithstanding. Those changed while we were away, plus I was booking before they were still being considered. I ran the idea of going to Sessenheim by Bill. Not surprisingly, he was all about it. The fact that the great German poet, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, spent so much time there clinched the deal. Bill and I are literature lovers, too… Bill is more so than I am, in spite of my English degree.

So I booked our room at Auberge au Boeuf for March 2-6. I also booked their restaurant for the third and fourth nights of our stay. I eagerly looked forward to the trip, as I warily watched Vladimir Putin’s increasing aggression toward Ukraine. I don’t normally do this for short trips that don’t involve flights or cruise ships, but I was nervous enough about Putin that I even booked travel insurance in case Bill had to cancel and go to work. Fortunately, that didn’t happen, and now I have lots to report!

Stay tuned for my latest multi-part series about the many wonders of France! Boy, was it great to be back there! But first, it’s time for lunch.

dental, Schwarzwald

Seeing “stars” in Baiersbronn… Part two

Bill’s driving habits turn to shit…

Thursday morning we woke up early with big plans for the day. Because we had dental appointments in Stuttgart, Bill decided that we’d need to skip breakfast. He said our appointments were at ten o’clock and eleven o’clock, and as downtown Stuttgart is about 100 kilometers from Baiersbronn, it would take over an hour to get there. Plus, there’s Stuttgart’s famous traffic to consider, and scheduled road work that was going on. Well… as it turned out, we certainly could have eaten breakfast. But more on that in the ensuing paragraphs.

I took this photo during our visit in 2018. I took two more this year, but they didn’t turn out as well as this one did…

The sun was shining as we set off for our old stomping grounds. I busied myself by taking photos of the enchanting landscape as we passed through charming towns and past green fields full of sunflowers in bloom. Bill was trying very hard to make sure we got to the dentist on time. He decided to take a route that directed us through Horb, a town we only managed to visit once during our time in Jettingen, even though it’s a nice looking and easily accessible place from our old town. Going through Horb turned out to be a time consuming decision, since there was road construction going on. A detour sent us through more picturesque towns that delighted the senses. I took a few more photos as Bill continued to stress and stew over making our appointments.

We stopped at a bakery for coffee, juice, and bread. I noticed what appeared to be a new chain of bakeries… or maybe it’s not a new chain, but I had never noticed them before our visit over the weekend. I counted at least four outlets of Ziegler’s Bakery on our drive. We stopped at one in Horb, then Bill got back on the road and immediately got blitzed by a speed camera! Then, about fifteen minutes later, as we entered the hamlet of Eutingen im Gäu, Bill got blitzed a second time! To put this in perspective, I think in seven years of living in Germany this time, Bill has gotten just one speeding ticket. That time, it was near our old town of Pfäffingen, where we lived from 2007-2009. I guess in a few months, he’ll get the tickets in the mail.

A quick shot of Horb from the bakery’s parking lot, moments before Bill got blitzed the first time. This is a really cute town that deserves more exploration.

Despite the detour and blitzing, Bill managed to get us to Dr. Blair’s office at 10:00am. The sunshine we enjoyed in the Black Forest had disappeared behind clouds. Rain was forthcoming.

*Bill waits patiently in his high speed mask. I can’t stand the FFP2 masks, so I wear a disposable surgical mask. Using homemade cloth masks alone is no longer permitted in Germany.*

There were several other people in the waiting room. I’m not sure what happened… Bill said he’d reconfirmed the dates and times, but it turned out we were early. It was after noon when I finally got in the chair. I had a clean checkup, but Bill has to return this Thursday for a repair. He told Dr. Blair about a trouble spot in his mouth. As Blair was poking around, the tooth, the filling fell out. Fortunately, Bill can easily take the ICE train from Frankfurt and get to Stuttgart much faster than he would if he drove. Blair’s office is even close enough to the main train station that Bill could easily walk to his next appointment from there, rather than taking the U-Bahn.

After our appointments, I had a date to drop off corks with a member of the Stuttgart military community. But Bill wanted to eat lunch first, so we stopped by Abacco’s Steakhouse, a chain restaurant that offers steaks served on hot stones. We had eaten there once before, back in 2016. As we entered the restaurant, our waiter checked our COVID-19 passes. Every restaurant we visited over the weekend checked our vaccination status.

Abacco’s Steakhouse offers soups, salads, and steaks. The steaks, which come from the U.S. or Argentina, come out lightly seared and very rare. The idea is to let them cook on the hot stones to your preferred level of doneness. I’m not all that excited about cooking my own steak in a restaurant, but I have to admit the 300 gram rib eye steak from Argentina was good after a lean morning no protein. It came with barbecue sauce, horseradish, and a chimchurri sauce, as well as steak fries.

Bill is smiling, even though he has to go back to Stuttgart this week.

With lunch done, we headed to Panzer Kaserne, where we dropped off our corks. The lady we were meeting is a longtime member of the Facebook food and wine group I run. It was nice to put a face to the name, especially since we’ve been conversing for several years! I always collect corks from the many bottles of wine we drink, since I’ve found that a lot of crafters want them for their projects. Every time I’ve asked if anyone wants them in my Facebook group, someone always does! I could just as easily dump them at the store, but I like to help out the crafters when I can, since I’m not particularly crafty myself. Besides, it’s a nice way to meet people.

I was pretty shocked to see how things have changed around Panzer in the time we’ve been here. When we lived in Stuttgart the first time, the bucolic road that links Vaihingen to Sindelfingern, Pascal Strasse (affectionately known as Frog Road by Americans, thanks to the ponds and many frogs on it) was completely sheltered in forest. I used to love driving on that road, since it was so pretty compared to the A 81 Autobahn that runs next to it. When we moved back to the Stuttgart military community in 2014, that road started to change. The end of it was diverted to a nearby state road and the traffic pattern was completely rerouted. Since we left in late 2018, the area has changed even more. It made me feel sad, since I always enjoyed driving on Frog Road. Looks like it’s being torn up now.

After we dropped our corks, we headed back to Baiersbronn. Bill opted to go back a different way, one that would take us through Herrenberg and past our old town of Jettingen and Nagold, where we spent many wonderful weekend days during our second stint of four years in the Stuttgart area. I must admit, as enjoyable as Wiesbaden is, I really miss living close to the Schwarzwald. It really is a beautiful area, even on the edge where we lived, and in spite of our troublesome exit from our previous house. ‘Nuff said about that… I want to keep this blog post positive!

Lovely Nagold. The sun came back out as we approached!

Our alternative route also took us past Freudenstadt, which is another great town where we spent a lot of time. Freudenstadt is very close to Baiersbronn, too, so anyone who is tempted to visit Baiersbronn after reading this area can easily do a trip to Freudenstadt shopping or eating or other activities.

On the way in to Baiersbronn, Bill’s driving was tested again. We rounded a curve, where we were suddenly confronted by some guy who’d apparently had a single car accident. His small car was pointed in the wrong direction in our lane, as if he’d slid into the wrong lane. Bill had to swerve to avoid hitting him, since he was sitting in the middle of the road, wearing his orange vest but having neglected to put out his warning triangle to alert other drivers. We narrowly missed having a collision ourselves, as other cars were coming in the other direction. That was a near miss!

When we got back to the hotel, we decided to try the pools. The Hotel Engel Obertal offers several pools and whirlpools, as well as saunas. It was a bit crowded when we got there. We had to check in, and thanks to COVID-19, there were limits on the number of people allowed in the pool at a time. The lap pool was pretty empty and quiet, so we basically hung out there. Lots of people with kids were in the big fancy saltwater pool that offers egress to the outside. We skipped the saltwater pool, because there were many kids in it and there weren’t supposed to be more than four people using it at a time. We also skipped the Naturalbadsee because it’s entirely outside and the weather was a bit too chilly for swimming outside. However, we did see some intrepid Germans using it, including one woman who went nude!

We opted not to have dinner, since we had a big lunch and Bill had an online appointment with the Jungian therapist he’s been talking to for the past few months. While Bill did his hour with the shrink, I sat in the bar and listened to love songs from the 80s and 90s. Bill joined me later, and we enjoyed a few cocktails. Next post, I will write about our gourmet extravaganza! Stay tuned!

Schwarzwald

Seeing “stars” in Baiersbronn… Part one

Our Black Forest adventure begins…

A few weeks ago, Bill finally decided it was time for us to get our teeth cleaned. Actually, it was long past time. We hadn’t seen our Stuttgart area dentist in over two years. I’m usually really regular about my dental visits. In May 2019, when we went to Stuttgart to see Elton John, I had every intention of coming back in November for a six month visit. But Bill ended up being very busy in November 2019, so we never did get back down there. Then, COVID-19 shut everything down. Going to the dentist seemed like it could even be unsafe.

We finally got vaccinated a few months ago. In July, Bill tried to get us appointments to see the dentist. He was booked solid through July, and then would be on vacation. The earliest Bill could get us in was August 26th. I tried to get us a room at our favorite Stuttgart area hotel, but it was fully booked. Then I remembered how much we had enjoyed visiting the Black Forest (Schwarzwald) when we lived in the Stuttgart area. I remembered a day trip we took to Baiersbronn, which was located just 40 minutes or so from where we lived. I recalled how I ate quiche there after having read about the many gourmet restaurants in the sleepy, but pretty town in the forest. I remembered a wonderful article I read in the New York Times Magazine about Baiersbronn. Then I started searching to see what kinds of accommodations were available there.

It turned out that a lot of the hotels in the Baiersbronn area were booked, but I did find us a room at the Hotel Engel Obertal, a five star property in a tiny hamlet called Obertal. The property had just about everything I was looking for in a hotel, as well as a few special extras, like the salt pool. I decided to book us a superior room with a balcony facing the countryside. I paid in full ahead of time and waited eagerly for the big day.

On Wednesday, August 25th, we made our way from Wiesbaden to Obertal, having dropped off our dogs at their usual accommodation. The drive down was mostly on the Autobahn and took about 3 hours. I sighed with contentment as we turned onto a two lane state road that took us into the countryside. I had forgotten how much I love the Schwarzwald. When we lived in Jettingen, we could easily visit on the weekends, spending a few hours enjoying the scenery and relaxed mood. Now that we’re in Wiesbaden, it takes a bit longer to get to the forest, but it’s still not a super long drive. We did get stuck behind a truck, which was pretty annoying. It’s not easy to pass on the tight roads into the idyllic German countryside. But we weren’t in a hurry. We were hoping to relax.

We arrived at the hotel at about 1:30 or so. The receptionist who checked us in easily found our reservation and checked our COVID status. Obertal is located in Baden-Württemberg, which recently passed an ordinance that requires everyone to show that they have been fully vaccinated, have a recent negative COVID test, or have successfully recovered from the illness. Not all German states are doing this yet. I suspect it’s just a matter of time. But Baden-Württemberg was the first to implement this new rule, which perhaps will make new lockdowns less likely to happen.

We were assigned room 109, but it wasn’t ready for us. Check in wasn’t until 3:00pm anyway, so we went to the restaurant for lunch. The hotel offers free breakfast, buffet lunches, and fancy multi-coursed meals that are preferably booked ahead of time. On Wednesday, the hotel was offering penne pasta with ratatouille, chicken breast, potatoes au gratin, salad, breads, and dessert. They also had several lovely cakes available. We also had some beer vom fass as we enjoyed the sunshine and mild temperatures. This was the only day we had lunch at the hotel. It was worth it just for the cake!

After lunch, our room was ready, so we completed the check in, and the receptionist led us to our accommodations. I wasn’t expecting a super modern room, and my expectations were met. But the room was very large, with a comfortable bed, huge balcony, and sitting area. Bill ordered a split of champagne and pralines. I’m not sure why he did that; he doesn’t usually spring for extras. But it was all set up for us when we walked into our room, along with a bowl of apples and a bottle of complimentary sparkling water. The room also had a mini bar, which offered, beer, wine, soda, and extra water at customary minibar prices. The room had a TV, CD player (how retro), free WiFi, and a phone.

I enjoyed the shower. It got great pressure and was generously equipped with Molton Brown toiletries, as well as plenty of large towels, slippers, and robes.

The room wasn’t air conditioned, but the weather was cool and pleasant, so we didn’t miss climate control at all. And it was so quiet and peaceful that the first thing I did was take a nap while Bill booked dinner at the hotel. The hotel offers regular rooms, but it also has chalets and apartments for rent. There’s a free parking lot and limited street parking, as well as a garage that costs ten euros a night. We only used the parking garage last night, because the parking lot was completely full when we came back to the hotel.

Obertal is a tiny little village, but there are a few other restaurants that are within walking distance of the hotel. There’s also a small convenience store and a few shops that appear to cater to the wealthy spa crowd. Across the street is a large Asian spa hotel, complete with a sign in Chinese and a mural of a beautiful Asian woman.

After our one lunch, we ate all of the rest of our meals at the same table. That was also true for dinner on Wednesday night. We weren’t very hungry after the big pieces of cake, but I am glad we stopped in for a dinner, just to see what they had on offer.

The restaurant offers vegetarian selections and heartier fare, like Schnitzels, as well. We found the food quality at the hotel to be fine, especially washed down with a locally produced Spatburgunder, but it would pale in comparison to the two gourmet meals we planned for Friday. Still, we were too full for dessert, so we decided to head off to bed after dinner. We had a big day planned for Thursday. More on that in the next post.

Uncategorized

Welcome back to Stuttgart… part 3– clean teeth, The Gardener’s Nosh, and kids who can’t tell time

Friday morning, Bill and I had appointments to see our dentist. We got up and enjoyed Waldhotel’s buffet breakfast. It costs extra, but I booked it with the room. At about 10:00am, we headed for the U-bahn (Waldau stop) and made our way to Stuttgart Mitte. (ETA: My German friend says that Stuttgart has no “U-bahn” as in “underground”. The U stands for unabhängig– “independent”. Stuttgart’s trains are all technically “Stadtbahns”.) I had a big bag of wine corks to be delivered. It so happened that the lady who was taking them for her crafting projects had an appointment in Stuttgart, too.

I really like Dr. Blair. We started seeing him in January 2015, after I read many good reviews of his work in local Facebook groups and on Toytown Germany. When we first started using his services, I had an upper baby tooth that had abscessed, and needed to be pulled and replaced with an implant. I was very nervous about the whole experience, but he did a tremendous job. I’ve had my implant for three years and it feels and behaves just like a natural tooth. I still have another baby tooth that will probably need an implant. If we’re still in Germany when the work needs to be done, I’ll probably have him do it. If you’re interested in the whole implant saga, you can read about it in this blog. I got the tooth pulled in September 2015 and the implant was finished in June 2016.

Dr. Blair was having a hard time on Friday. He was working on a little girl who was wearing braces that had been applied with extremely strong cement. The poor girl was crying as he was trying to remove one of the appliances. How do I know this? Well, I could hear it… but he also told me about it. It’s always interesting to me how the concept of patient privacy differs in Germany than it does in the United States. Germany is very big on privacy in general, but I guess, not when it comes to healthcare.

I heard Dr. Blair apologize to the girl’s mom as they were leaving. I also heard him rather sternly tell the little girl that the trauma “wasn’t his fault.” I guess it technically wasn’t, since he didn’t use that super strong glue on her braces, but she was still pretty upset. This seemed like another incidence of “blame shifting” and “fault claiming” that appears to be a cultural thing here in Germany. I notice that as a whole, many Germans seem to be very averse to accepting fault and/or blame when things go wrong. I’ve written about it before, because as an American, it’s interesting to me to observe the differences. This isn’t to say that Americans are any more willing to accept fault or blame– just that German culture seems especially against it. Maybe that’s why lawsuits are so prevalent here.

After our teeth were cleaned and the wine corks were delivered, we decided to have lunch at The Gardener’s Nosh. This is a restaurant on Calwer Strasse that I heard about in the food and wine Facebook group I run. I wanted to try it when we were still living near Stuttgart, but never got the opportunity. I think they recently expanded their hours. I seem to remember the reason we couldn’t try it was because they closed in the afternoons and we were always in Stuttgart too late. Now, I see they serve dinner, although the restaurant focuses on healthy breakfast items served all day.

Nice to finally try this place.

Breakfast all day.

We happened to get there right after a hen party had departed. I think a couple of the “hens” remained. I noticed that the noise level in the restaurant was rather energetic. We might have sat outside, but the weather was kind of iffy– we’d have a few minutes of sun, then the rain would start. It was also surprisingly chilly outside.

Delicious mint tea!

Pretty Eggs Hemingway! Next time, I might try the French toast.

Bill’s turkey bacon and cheese sandwich. I liked the avocado creme around the plate.

A nice spot for lunch downtown!

I decided to have Eggs Hemingway, which consisted of poached eggs, fresh spinach, Hollandaise Sauce, and smoked salmon on bread. You get your choice of breads– toasted Brioche, “farm” bread, or whole wheat. I chose the “Bauern” bread. I wish I had chosen Brioche instead, but other than that, I really liked the dish. It was almost too pretty to eat! I also had Moroccan mint tea, which was served in a fancy golden pot.

Bill had a grilled turkey bacon and cheese sandwich. I think I might have liked his sandwich even more than I did my Eggs Hemingway. They used a mild cheese, kind of reminiscent of Swiss, on hearty farm bread. He paired it with iced tea with fruit.

We used public transportation to get to and from the dentist’s office. Getting back to the hotel was kind of exhausting, since we got turned around in the train station. I spend a lot of time alone these days, so being around so many people kind of wore me out. We had plans to visit the Frühlingsfest, but by the time we got back to the hotel, I wasn’t sure I still wanted to go. It was cold and rainy.

But I gamely got dressed anyway…

And Bill liked it. I think the dirndl brings out the animal in him.

Since we were going to the concert on Saturday, Bill preferred to go to the Fest on Friday afternoon. I relented and put on my dirndl. While I was getting dressed, a Waldhotel staffer dropped by to give us a gift because I left positive feedback on Expedia about our check in.

Should be interesting to try this! It has Jalapeno Chilis in it. Seems dangerous for German tastes!

We took public transportation back to Bad Cannstatt, where it promptly started raining. By the time we got to the tent, I looked like a drowned rat.

Not the best look for me. Glad I didn’t waste time fixing my hair.

Our one and only Krugs, thanks to the inconsideration of kids who can’t tell time.

We sat at a table that was reserved for 6:00pm. It was about 3:30 when we arrived, and the table was completely empty. There was no music, and we were too late for lunch, although we didn’t really want to eat, anyway. I took some photos and we started enjoying our first Maßkrugs. At about 4:00pm, a large group of kids showed up and took over the table. After about thirty minutes, before we were finished with our beers, one of the “kids” asked us to move. The guy said they had a reservation.

Bill was way too nice to the boy, who was admittedly asking us nicely, but still being a self-centered little shit. The kid suggested that we sit at one of the other tables, all of which were also reserved, and mostly for times earlier than 6:00pm. I was really pissed, though. I looked at the kid and said in a really bitchy tone of voice, “It’s not six o’clock yet.”

The kid looked rather horrified at Bill, who then looked at him sternly. I probably looked like I wanted to kill him. I have one of those faces that says a lot more than what comes out verbally.

I probably looked even meaner than this.

In retrospect, maybe I should have said, “Young man, you can wait ten minutes while I finish my beer. Your reservation starts at 6:00pm. If you needed the table sooner, you should have reserved it for earlier than 6:00pm. You don’t get to claim the table for all day. Didn’t your parents teach you how to tell time? And didn’t they teach you basic manners?”

But I could tell Bill didn’t want me to make a scene, and I knew that if I did, it would ruin the Fest for all of us. So we moved to another table. I finished the beer and we left the tent to frequent some of the outdoor Biergartens we usually miss at the Fests. I think I’m getting too old for the Fests, anyway, but I wanted to get more use out of my pretty dirndl. I don’t think they wear them up here in Hesse. Germany is definitely wearing off on me. I’m not as laid back as I used to be… not that I’ve ever been laid back, but I’m even more uptight now. Just wait until I go through “the change”.

I should have tried this. It might have improved my mood.

Germans are serious about their rides. I probably would have liked to try this twenty years ago. Bill doesn’t like rides, though, so I was content to watch.

Interesting sign… I think I took this after I used the WC, where the Klofrau beamed at me for leaving a euro instead of 50 cents.

We eventually switched to wine. I think when it comes to the Fests, the wine tents are more my speed. Unfortunately, they weren’t running one at the Frühlingsfest like they do in the fall.

We should have just gone to this place instead of trying to hit the beer tents. You can see the ambulance passing… probably to go pick up one of the little Scheissers at the Wasen.

It’s amazing how it wasn’t as crowded on Friday afternoon as it always is during the fall and yet, thanks to some obnoxiously self-centered kids, I had a worse time. Well, it wasn’t all bad… At least I didn’t end up kissing anyone, like I did a few years ago. We took a cab back to the hotel, visited Angelo at the bar, and then retired to our fancy suite and tried out the humongous bathtub behind the bed. That experience saved the evening!

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: dentist