We had absolutely gorgeous weather last night, so Bill and I decided to go to the wine stand. It was our first one in a long while. We were sick in mid June, and then we were in Switzerland. I think the one before our sickness we missed because Bill was in Spain, and I hadn’t wanted to attend the wine stand alone.
We sat in the corner, where we usually sit, waiting for people to show up for the event. Bill got me a Riesling, and himself a Graubürgunder. I think the stand was hosted by a local winery.
Below are some photos I took. We talked to our American neighbors, and I told one of them about my Peace Corps experience in Armenia. She said she’d always wanted to join the Peace Corps, but feared it might not be possible, because her partner is in the military. I explained that military members can join, as long as they aren’t involved in intel… and even if they are, I believe that after some time, they can join if they wish. I actually think the two of them would be great Volunteers, if they were ever inclined to join. But, of course, that all depends on if Trump ruins the Peace Corps with one of his horrific policies.
We also met a man who had a beautiful dog named Stella. Stella is an Australian Shepherd and Border Collie mix. She was very friendly to us. I think I won her over with many butt scratches.
The sausages they were selling actually looked really good last night. We probably should have had one.
Sweet Stella!I love what they did with this bottle.
It was nice to go to the wine stand again, even if I did have to pee like a racehorse at the end. I think tomorrow, there’s going to be a flea market, and the wine stand will be open again.
Hopefully, this week, there won’t be any fires to put out. I think Bill has bought some ribs for our modest July 4th celebration, here at home. I don’t see it as celebrating America’s birthday so much as having a reason to cook some awesome ribs. 😋
It’s crazy that it was so hot last week, and today, it’s just 80 degrees. Last night, it was 76, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I’d love to see this weather stick around, if only because maybe my ankles will stop being so swollen.
The featured photo is just one of many majestic sunset pictures I took on this trip to Switzerland.
On Sunday morning, June 21st, we went back down to Jack’s Brasserie for breakfast. Philippe, the cool waiter, served us a hearty meal. I decided to have Belgian waffles that day, and a side of bacon. I don’t remember what Bill had… I think it might have been scrambled eggs. If it had been something interesting, I would have taken a photo!
The waffle was a rare treat!
After breakfast, we bid farewell to Philippe, picked up our luggage in our room, and headed down to the front desk to check out. As we were leaving the Schweizerhof, the receptionist gave us Bern Bears, little cakes that taste like almond and vanilla, which I guess is a thing in Bern.
The bears came in handy during the week, because I don’t like eating in restaurants alone. The breakfasts at the newly renovated restaurant the Sonne Seehotel were so huge that I really didn’t need to eat lunch. But small snacks were handy for tiding me over until dinner.
Cute and yummy!
Then, Bill and I headed the short way to the Bern train station. We didn’t know it when we arrived in the rain on Friday, but the train station is literally just across the street from the hotel. We had read it was that close, but came out of the wrong side of the station to see it for ourselves.
We had first class tickets for a brief journey from Bern to Zürich Hauptbahnhof. I think it took about an hour. The train was a bit older than the Deutsche Bahn train we took on the way down to Switzerland and back to Germany. I amused myself by taking pictures, especially of the really chill Labrador Retriever in the front row. And I also took a few other photos, reminding me of how pretty Switzerland is.
We arrived in Zürich at a little after 1:00 PM. Then we got on a regional train that would take us to Küsnacht. I think that train ride lasted maybe twenty minutes or so. It was pretty painless.
The Romantik Sonne Seehotel is also VERY close to the train station, although maybe not as close as the Schweizerhof is. To get to it, you have to walk down a hill and under a bridge, once you get off the train platform. Thankfully, there was an elevator there. I don’t even think the Bern station had an elevator for our platform. We had to walk up a ramp.
The lady who checked us in at the Sonne Hotel informed us that our room, which turned out to be 410, was not ready for us when we arrived. Since it was lunch time, we decided to try out the hotel’s brand new restaurant, Pavilion. We were told it just opened last week. As of this week, they were just starting to serve breakfast. It was interesting to see how the service evolved over the course of the week.
The gentleman who served us lunch bore a striking resemblance to Prince William, Britain’s Prince of Wales. We later found out that he’s from Mannheim, though, and he’s likely a bit younger than William is. We decided to go all out for lunch and then, maybe, have some snacks at dinner time if we were hungry.
Below are some photos from that delightful first meal. I had a wonderful starter called “Scampi” (shrimp, lobster, roe, avocado, and a delightful sauce, surrounded by endive. Bill had melon and prosciutto. For our main courses, I went for the Perlhühn (Guinea fowl), while Bill had “crispy fish”— hake. Naturally, there was also Swiss wine, sparkling water, and fresh bread.
The “Scampi” was absolutely delightful!I really liked the Perlhühn, too, which came with paella broth, Rosini pasta, rocket, and stuffed pointed peppers.
For dessert, I decided to stick with the cooling theme. I had a scoop of lemon sorbet with champagne, candied lemons, and verbena. Bill had a blackberry tart with sour cream ice cream. I really enjoyed the sorbet, on such a HOT day! But it wasn’t even the hottest day of the week.
When we were finished with lunch (about 300 Swiss Francs! 🫪), we went up to our room. I booked and prepaid for a junior suite, which is the class of room we stayed in last fall. This time, we got the room above the one we were in last time.
It was a very “cool” room… but it was also a very hot room. Like most buildings in Switzerland, the Sonne Hotel does not have air conditioning, and rudimentary science knowledge will remind you that heat rises. The room also doesn’t have the large windows that room 310 has. They did provide a fan, though, and the views were still awesome, in spite of the heat.
The stairs you see above lead into the room. The other suites are also located halfway between floors. To get to room 310 or 210, you have to up or go down half a flight of stairs. To get to the bedroom part of 410, you have to navigate these stylish glass steps. Thankfully, neither of us fell down the steps, although I did hit my head on the ceiling/floor as I was going down one time. Obviously, that room would not be a good choice for anyone with mobility issues.
This room has a closet, a mini bar, a desk, TV, phone, and high ceilings that remind you that the hotel is OLD. We were in the top of the tower that overlooks the lake. The bathroom is open, but it has a stall for the toilet and an enclosed, walk in shower, as well as a bath tub. The bed was comfortable, except for the heat.
Lunch and travel left us tired and needing to digest. We laid down on the bed, and soon I fell asleep. I woke myself up snoring a couple of times! But I was probably out for an hour or two before lunch was properly dealt with by my digestive system.
After I woke up from my nap, we immediately decided to strip down and put on our bathing suits. After being in Bern and longing to swim in the river, I was more than ready to brave the lake. It was awesome! The water was cold, but not freezing. The only difficulty we had was entering the lake without slipping on the rocks or stepping on something sharp. I soon got good at that… I think the direct lakeside access is one of the things I loved most about the Sonne Seehotel.
I think Bill found the water chillier than I did. He complained of “shrinkage”… 🤣 He only managed one swim, but I spent many hours by the lake. For that reason, the rest of this series will probably be briefer, because sitting by the lake, swimming, reading, and writing, was pretty much all I did all week!
Oh… and I did a lot of eating and drinking… We did stop by the hotel’s newly renovated Biergarten, too. We enjoyed some fries and beer, along with guitar music by a very talented guy who came by every night, playing for spare change. I did also get a few enchanting sunset photos.
So… that about does it for June 21st. I’ll be back tomorrow to continue this series about how I got older, and Bill got wiser, in dear old Switzerland. Watch this space!
Featured photo is of the Aare River mist near the restaurant where we had lunch.
Here’s the promised second part to my birthday post, for those who are interested. I know there are at least a couple of folks reading, so I will continue onward.
After our disappointing look at the Bear Pit, which denied us any views of bears, we decided to continue our walk along the Aare River. That turned out to be a good decision. As one leaves the Bear Pit area, there’s a beautiful shady trail right next to the river. Once we walked under the trees, the temperature dropped noticeably, and there were lovely views of the river.
I didn’t know it at the time, but I totally could have gone swimming. I wished I had worn a bathing suit under my clothes, because the water was very inviting. I saw a lot of people who were enjoying the swift current while riding on tubes or little inflatable boats. Some people swam.
Below are a few artsy photos…
Bill and I chatted as we walked, and we stopped at the convenient benches along the way. We were in no hurry, and just wanted to enjoy the sights and sounds of the water, and the waterfall at the end of the trail.
As we got closer to the end of the trail, we noticed a little island in the water. There were also a couple of restaurants where I was sure cold beer awaited. But first, I wanted to put my feet in the water, so I did… and it felt so good! Luckily, I was wearing my Keen sandals, which are great for walking in rivers where there are a lot of rocks.
Not great photos of me, but I was definitely happy… I love a good swimming hole.
Below is a video that features the very refreshing water. The misty part in the video is where the restaurant was… I don’t know if it was part of the engineering or a natural feature of the river. My guess is that the misty part was manmade.
What an awesome river. I want to go back and swim in it.
After my quick walk in the river, we decided to have lunch. There appeared to be an events facility there, as well as a couple of restaurants. One was away from the river, and looked pretty traditional. The other was built on the river and had several venues to include a formal restaurant, a casual restaurant, and a self-serve Biergarten. We got a table for lunch at the Restaurant Terrasse Schwellenmätteli, and enjoyed some surprisingly good food.
Schneider Weisse is everywhere we’ve been!I had delicious spaghetti with a light cream sauce, tomatoes, and mussels. Bill had a vegetarian dish with lentils.I loved the cheese grater. I’m going to have to find one of these.A posing seagull…Gosh, he’s cute… at least to my eyes.
After lunch, we decided to walk back the way we came, mainly because the other side of the river was not shady and probably would have required climbing stairs. On the shady side by the Bear Pit, there is an elevator that will take visitors to the top of the trail. I need to exercise, but these days, I have to pace myself, especially in the heat of the summer. I ended up having to duck behind a bush to pee… it wasn’t easy, because there’s a steep hill by the trail. But I could easily see I wasn’t the only one who did it. Some people left behind napkins.
This sweet dog had the right idea.I brought home a rock from the river.
I was sorry to leave the cool river, but we needed to get back to the hotel and prepare for dinner at Zimmermania, a French restaurant Bill reserved a table at on the night of my birthday. So we headed back down the main drag, and got caught behind a lot of kids who had little situational awareness… along with their equally inattentive adult minders.
Thankful for the elevator.Check in for the Zollhaus, which I mentioned in yesterday’s post. It’s a little one room hotel by the Bear Park.We passed a sex shop that was selling pasta shaped like dicks…👀 Wow…I thought Bill’s daughter might like to see Swiss pastries, Bern style.
We enjoyed a short break in the hotel room, cooling off in the rare air conditioning which, while rather special in Switzerland, was still not quite chilly enough. Nevertheless, I pulled out a lightweight, navy blue, Merino wool dress I bought from Bergfreunde, a few years ago. I was dismayed to see a couple of tiny holes made by moths. 🙄 We have since invested in some “wasps” to eat the moths, but I’m still finding clothes that either need repair or retirement. The dress is still wearable, for now. I’ve worn it twice on this trip.
Then we walked through the crowds to Zimmermania, which was located on a quiet cobblestone street. Zimmermania is a well-regarded, but rather no frills establishment. Bill and I enjoyed the food, and probably could have been more casual. I was glad to see fish on the menu, since I was pretty tired of red meat by June 20th.
I had delightful salmon with spinach, as well as fregola sarda, a pasta from Sardinia I am going to have to find at home! Bill had filet of sole with potatoes allumettes…For dessert, I had a citrus tart, while Bill had flan caramel.Very lemony and refreshing!
After dinner, we walked back through the crowds reveling in the city fest. I got more photos…
In all, we walked over six miles on June 20th. I was a little tired and sore at the end of it, but delighted by the day. I definitely wish we could have enjoyed one more night in Bern. It’s a lovely city, and we didn’t see nearly enough of it. I hope we’ll have a chance to return someday… especially if there isn’t a city festival happening! Unfortunately, the noise kept me awake on the second night, too.
Oh well…
The next day, we headed to Küsnacht. I will continue with that part of the story in the next post.
In my last post, I wrote about an unfortunate encounter the dogs and I had with a pervert who is helping to build a new home on our street. That experience freaked me out a bit, and I hoped it was a “one off”. Unfortunately, it wasn’t.
Yesterday, I walked Noyzi and Charlie again. It was a relatively pleasant day, although it was a bit cooler and more overcast than it was on Thursday. I was taking the dogs out later, because I got busy on a music project and had technical difficulties that delayed me. So, it was around 1:45 PM when the dogs took their walk yesterday. I was relieved to see several people working on the house yesterday when I passed it. There were even a couple of teenagers doing some work there.
My usual route takes me over a bridge that spans over a creek. I was happy to see the ducks in the creek, so I took a few photos. The ducks usually seem to come out more at this time of year, which results in some very nice photo opportunities.
As I passed the house again, on my way home, I looked up on the balcony, and there was that guy again. I wasn’t sure it was him at first, but he smiled at me and said “Hallo.” He had his pants up, much to my relief.
I said a curt “Hallo” and hurried home. I took a shower, changed into something more comfortable, and ate lunch. As I was cleaning up the lunch dishes, I noticed the trash receptacles were stinky from salmon packaging Bill threw in there. So, even though the bins weren’t full, I decided to empty them. As I was walking back to the house, I looked up, and I saw that worker, once again, very confidently lower his pants while standing on the unfinished balcony.
My jaw dropped as, once again, I witnessed this man apparently urinating up there, his junk on full display for everyone to see. Across the street from our house is a home with a balcony. The male half of the couple living there was on the balcony putting up a shade. He was fixated on the shade, and apparently didn’t notice what was going on across the street.
I watched the worker for a minute or so. He was not at all in. a hurry or worried about who would see him. As I passed the house yesterday, I confirmed that anyone could see him standing there with his private parts hanging out. There is no solid barrier to block the view.
I looked outside again a little while later, to see if he was still exposing himself from the balcony. I didn’t see him then, but when I went out on our front balcony, I looked over to that house and took a photo. I looked down, and the guy was there by his car, looking up at me. I wonder if he thought I took a picture of him. I didn’t… but below, you can see what the balcony looks like from our house, and from just under it, where I saw the man’s genitals.
From my house’s front balcony. There is no barrier preventing anyone from seeing on the balcony.This was about where I was standing when I saw the man peeing. He was between the two far left pillars on the balcony. The scaffolding did not block the view.
I told Bill about what happened, and I’m considering filing a police report. I don’t want to invite trouble, but that house is right next to a school. There are kids and elderly people who live in this neighborhood. Above all, I DON’T WANT TO SEE THIS PERSON’S PRIVATE PARTS! It’s annoying, creepy, shocking, and disgusting. I shouldn’t have to tolerate that shit. It’s a CRIME.
We did have a good wine stand last night, even though it was a bit chilly. That very friendly elderly German couple joined us last night, and we tried to speak terrible German with them. I showed them some pictures from our wedding, and a few from my horsey days. The lady saw a photo of my mom and asked if that was my sister! I’ll have to tell her about that. It will make her day! I got a couple of photos of a plane passing, too… We’re right on the flight course to Frankfurt.
Today, I have plans to go on post, get an eye exam and a passport photo, and pick up a couple of items I need. Texas has told us we can renew my driver’s license by mail, since we’re still living out of state. That’s a relief, because I don’t want to have to go back to Texas just to update my license, and I don’t particularly want to trade my license for a German version. Let me just say, it was a real PITA to get a live person in Texas to tell us this was going to work. AI is a pox on customer service. But at least I’ll still be legal to drive after my birthday in June.
On the morning of Wednesday, January 28, 2026, Bill and I packed a couple of bags and some dog food for Noyzi and Charlie. We had plans to stop at the Birkenhof Tierpension to drop off the dogs. I had done some preliminary housework, so we could come back on Sunday to a somewhat clean house and freshly made bed.
Because it had been snowing on the days before our departure, there was a snow shovel on our front stoop. Noyzi and Charlie knew we were going somewhere. Noyzi was especially excited. He loves riding in the car, and he absolutely adores the staff at the Birkenhof. Still, he is almost always very respectful of the front door and doesn’t try to run outside anymore. He was so excited on Wednesday, though, that he forgot himself. Since the snow was melted, I reached out to grab the snow shovel, so I could put it away in the garage. Noyzi took the opportunity to dart outside, unsecured.
For a moment, Noyzi looked kind of drunk with freedom. He headed for our landlord’s house next door and looked around, obviously excited at being “free”. I knew that all he wanted was to be able to get in the back of the Volvo. I told Bill to open the car, and sure enough, Noyzi took a flying leap into the cargo space. I tossed Noyzi’s leash and harness to Bill, who got him “suited up” for the drive. I put Charlie’s harness on him, and Bill put him in the car.
I have to admit, I was little scared when Noyzi ran outside, only because we live so close to the Autobahn. Fortunately, he’s not a runner, and wasn’t interested in hunting or escaping us. He simply couldn’t wait to get in the car and head for his boarding facility! I’d say that’s a vote of confidence that he gets excellent care there. Indeed, he barked excitedly most of the drive to the Birkenhof, which is probably at least a half hour’s drive from where we live.
I normally take photos and videos of the boys before our trips, but I never got around to it this time. When we got to the Birkenhof, I let go of Noyzi’s leash. There’s a fenced in walkway to the office, so there was no risk in letting him go. He took off running for the office, straight to his favorite caregiver, Natascha. Charlie was also very excited to see her male counterpart, whose name I don’t yet know. I think Charlie likes men more than women, while Noyzi is very much a fan of the ladies… especially young, pretty ones, like Natascha!
He was delighted!
I did get a very short video of Noyzi to send to his rescuer, Meg, who was worried when I posted on Facebook that Noyzi had given us a scare. As you can see, he was just fine, once he got to his “home away from home.” This is a dog who loves a little break– but when the vacation is over, he’s just as eager to come back home and park himself in his big bed in his own room. The proprietor of the Birkenhof, Ulrike, was there last night when Bill picked up the dogs. She is a BIG Noyzi fan. She even calls him “Schatz”!
Once the dogs were safe at the dog pension, we made our way southeast. It was an uneventful trip, and aside from stopping for gas and a piss, we didn’t even take a break. Waiblingen is about two hours’ drive, on a good day with no Staus. We didn’t run into any significant traffic on Wednesday, so we arrived in Waiblingen at about 1:00 PM, parking at the marketplace garage located just next to Marktplatz in Waiblingen, and very close to our hotel.
We couldn’t check in at the Bachofer until 2, so we walked around the town and got some first impressions. We also searched for a place to have lunch. We could have found one, if we’d tried harder. As it was, we decided to go to a place that only served breakfast and dinner. But, since we had dinner reservations at Bachofer, that was okay. Below are some photos of our first look at Waiblingen… Too bad the weather was so crappy.
And here are some photos from Wyn Kitchen and Bar, which had the distinction of being our first stop in Waiblingen. This place looks like it might offer good food, if you happen to be there when they’re serving something besides bar snacks. I did like the hot chocolate and cappuccino. They kept me going until dinner. 😉 Bill just had coffee and a glass of iced tea, because he’s on medication that can’t be mixed with dairy within certain hours of being taken. He sure looks great in the Alpa sweater from Finland I got him for Christmas.
Once we finished our beverages, we headed for Bachofer. It was a short walk from everything in the “inner city”. Waiblingen is a compact little town, with everything in the old town very close. When we walked into the restaurant portion of our lodging, I noticed immediately that it smelled really appetizing. I was excited about that, because we had dinner plans that night.
A smiling young man who reminded me a little of Freddie Mercury greeted us and checked us in. At the Bachofer, the nine rooms are all named after spices. We were assigned Kardamom, which was a 33 square meter double. Internet and breakfast are included in the rate. Below are some photos…
View from one of the windows.
The Bachofer is very generous with perks. They have a room stocked with snacks, coffee, tea, and simple breakfast staples that are included in the room rate. They also have an honor bar with beer and wine available for purchase. You just write down what you consumed and pay for it later. Every day, they gave us little bags of gummi bears and ear plugs. Thankfully, I never needed the ear plugs… at least not because of street noise. 😉 The bed was quite comfortable, although I never did get the huge rainfall shower hot enough for my liking. That’s a pity, because the shower was pretty nice. You can’t see it in the photo, but it lights up green in that room. I see from Bachofer’s Web site that other rooms have showers that light up in other colors.
We paid about 660 euros for four nights, which I thought was a good deal, especially since breakfast is included. Dinner at the Bachofer was about 400 euros, to put it in perspective. 😬. My only other complaint was that, for some reason, housekeeping didn’t leave an extra roll of toilet paper after the first day. Without getting too specific, I use a lot of toilet paper in the mornings. Bill went out and bought a couple of rolls. I guess the housekeeper noticed, because on Saturday, they left us three extra rolls! Oh… and it also seemed like one of the outlets in the room didn’t work properly. I had to move my computer to the other outlet, because it wouldn’t charge on the outlet near the desk.
Bill had a short lecture at the Jung Institute on Wednesday night, so we hunkered down in the room. The plan was for him to sit through the talk, and then at 8:00 PM, go down to the restaurant for dinner. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t want dinner so late. Or, at least Bill wouldn’t. I love him so much, but being married to Bill is like having a rooster for a husband! He is definitely an early riser who prefers to go to bed early. I guess I’ve adapted to that, too, although I still tend to read until about 11:00 PM and wake up with him at 5:00 AM.
I entertained myself while Bill took his class, then after freshening up a bit, we headed down to try out the Michelin starred Bachofer restaurant. Since there are a lot of photos, I will write about that in the next part. Stay tuned!
Today, I woke up to more snow. It’s much snowier down near Stuttgart, which is where Bill and I will be headed on Wednesday. But up here, I think we got maybe a little under two inches or so. It’s bitter cold outside and still pretty cloudy. I won’t be surprised if there’s more snow or a few flurries before the sun sets.
I don’t have much travel stuff to write about today, although if I were feeling more ambitious and hopeful, I might write about some other travel related topics. For example, I could write about some of my favorite YouTube creators, who inspire me to look into fancy trips in Europe. A couple of the people I watch regularly are somewhat annoying, but they do go to some interesting places.
Lately, thanks to videos I’ve watched, I’ve been thinking I’d like to visit Finland and do a proper visit up there. I don’t really love freezing cold weather, but I do like coziness and snow… if I can be inside by a fireplace with some wine, that is. 🤣 I’d also settle for a hot tub.
It’s also hard to think about traveling when our government is so screwed up, and people are protesting, fighting, and literally dying in my homeland. It’s not lost on me that Americans aren’t all that popular right now, mainly due to the “dictator” in the White House. Listen, y’all… my disdain for him is about his shittiness as a human being, rather than conservative politics as a whole. He’s not a conservative. He’s a fascist. And he’s making things worse for EVERYONE, except maybe his billionaire “buddies”… who aren’t even his buddies.
People like that don’t really have friends, do they? They just worship money. Money is no substitute for real human connections, love, and freedom. Personally, I think the vast majority of super rich people are hollow inside. They don’t have normal relationships. They don’t live happy lives. They can’t trust people to love them, because people simply want to use them and take what they have. And so, I think they’re very lonely folks, who crave what money can’t buy for them. If you think about it, it’s pretty sad.
Bill is coming home early today, because he’s going to start his very first course at the Jung Institute. The online class he’s taking today will run for five hours. He plans to take a couple more while we’re on our visit to Waiblingen, which starts on Wednesday.
Anyway, I wish I had an interesting trip to write about today, but I don’t. However, I will soon be adding content to this blog, because during our trip to Waiblingen, we have reserved tables at two very nice restaurants, which we booked on OpenTable.de.
I’m sure there will be other places we’ll try, since we’re staying down there until Sunday. Yeah, it seems weird to stay in Waiblingen for four nights, when we could just go see the dentist in a day… but I think it will be fun to go there and hang out in our old stomping grounds. I don’t know if I’ll ever have another chance to live near Stuttgart, but it will always occupy a spot in my heart.
So… please stay tuned for my Waiblingen series, such as it will be. After that, who knows where the road will lead. I can pretty much guarantee that we will be in Switzerland again this year at some point, if we don’t have to leave the continent because of Donald Trump.
Until my next post, bis spater…
Here are a few photos I took of our cozy German house this past week… Bill made homemade scones (by Nigella Lawson) and hot tea for breakfast yesterday, along with a soft boiled egg, a little sausage, and fresh orange juice. The dogs approved!
Also, I sent off a ballot request, so I can vote in the Texas primaries. I don’t know how much good it will do, but it’s something, at least.
Here’s a video and photo dump from New Year’s Eve 2025/New Year’s Day 2026. We got a new neighbor last month, and I think he might have influenced our other neighbors to set off a shitload of fireworks. We usually get a pretty good show on New Year’s Eve, but last night was beyond the pale. This was my 14th New Year’s Eve in Germany, and I’d rank it as one of the wildest yet!
This is kind of long, but it was hard to choose a segment to feature. It was a little scary at one point. The fire was pretty close to the house!
The dogs were a little scared at first, especially Charlie, who clung to us all night. By the end of the evening, they were used to the noise and realized it wasn’t going to hurt them. The fireworks went on for about an hour, allowing us to go to bed at about 1:00 AM. Bill was getting perturbed, because they were setting stuff off pretty close to our house and car.
A bit blurry… zoomed in image of all the ambulances at the top of the hill.
We had fondue for dinner last night– something we don’t do that often. Today, Bill made cheese souffles for breakfast, and he’s using the sous vide to cook a pork shoulder for dinner. We listened to music and talked, and had a good time. You can see Charlie is in his jacket. I thought it might work like a Thundershirt to calm him down. We later took it off, because we didn’t want him to get too warm.
I used to like to go out for New Year’s Eve, but now I like staying home, so I don’t have to put on a bra. We went through some sparkling wine, and tried a couple of cocktails. It was a nice evening. Of course, now I’m going to have to take down all the Christmas stuff. Maybe this weekend, that will get done.
Hope you have a very Happy New Year, and a successful 2026! I’m grateful we survived last night without any house fires or injuries! And I’m glad the dogs managed to chill out. They even went potty before things got really nuts!
As my regular readers probably know, I like to sum up my travels with top ten lists of new things I learned. This was not my first trip to Istanbul, but it was my first trip there in 29 years. Times have changed a bit since my first visit to Istanbul in 1996, so I definitely learned new things on this brief jaunt back to the Middle East. So here goes with ten things I learned in Istanbul… this time!
10. Americans no longer have to buy a visa at the border! Keep in mind, it’s been a long time since I was last in Türkiye, but there used to be a rule that for Americans to enter the country, one had to buy a visa. In the 90s, it was a sticker they put in your passport, and it cost about $20. I remember this, because I had to buy that thing twice in 1996! Then it went to an online system, I think. Anyway, as of 2024, US citizens can stay up to 90 days without a visa, as long as they have at least six months left on their passports.
9. Turkish Airlines is kind of hit and miss… There were some things I really liked about flying Turkish Airlines, both down to Istanbul, and back up to Frankfurt. I thought the business class experience on my most recent flights was pretty good, except for the jerk flight attendant I wrote about yesterday. Having read up on Reddit, it does seem like a lot of people are fine with Turkish Airlines until a customer service issue arises. I don’t know if or when I’ll fly with them again, but I did mostly enjoy my most recent business class flights.
8. Maslak is very far away from the historic area of Istanbul, but there is a metro stop there. I would have preferred to stay closer to the historic part of Istanbul, so I could have walked around more and seen and done more things. But I’m not sorry we stayed in Maslak this time, because now I know what part of Istanbul I should avoid if I’m in Istanbul for touristic purposes. For business, that’s another story!
7. Manspreading is not allowed on the Istanbul Metro!
Need I say more? I think this is very civilized!
6. You won’t find pork on most menus… Actually, this doesn’t surprise me. Türkiye is an Islamic country, after all. Even secular Muslims don’t usually eat pork. But I was reminded of the fact when I came from pork loving Germany to beef eating Türkiye.
5. You also won’t find alcohol on many menus… Türkiye is an Islamic country, so drinking alcohol is forbidden for a people who follow the Muslim religion. There certainly are bars in Istanbul, and you can find alcohol if you want or need it. However, in a lot of restaurants, there’s no booze. Instead, you get delightful fruit juices, coffee drinks, teas, soft drinks, and water.
4. But you will find prayer rooms in many places… I was surprised to find prayer rooms in so many places. I could understand there being a prayer room at the hotel where we stayed, but I was shocked to find one at a restaurant.
You can have a salad and then go pray…
3. If you want to swim, even in a hotel pool, you may need a swimming cap. I’ve actually been researching what it takes to go swimming in Türkiye. I was surprised to find out that it isn’t easy to go swimming there if you aren’t a local. I read some things about needing a doctor’s exam first. But I was especially annoyed and surprised to discover that apparently, swimming caps are necessary, even at hotel pools. I can understand that requirement at a public pool, but it seems strange at hotels, which serve people from all over the world. Anyway, just letting you know. Bring a swimming cap if you want to swim. I think it might even be the law in Türkiye.
2. Traffic in Istanbul is positively INSANE! When I was in Istanbul in 1996, I didn’t remember it to be quite as gridlocked as it was last week. I noticed traffic at all hours, but it was especially bad during the traditional rush hour. We took a cab from the cruise port to Maslak. It was maybe 13 kilometers. It took an hour and cost Bill over 50 euros! The metro is definitely your friend, but it gets pretty crowded.
And 1. Turkish music is beautiful. I heard a busker playing a unique instrument in the Taksim metro station and decided I needed to have a recording of it here. Off I went to my favorite music source to find some instrumental qanun (kanun) music for my next mood. I was reminded then that Turkish music is very beautiful. When Elaine and I went to Istanbul in 1996, we discovered an amazing band called Kizilirmak. I still have the album we both bought copies of. It’s aged beautifully…
My favorite track from the album I bought in 1996…
Qanun music
Honorable mention: Istanbul is TEEMING with stray cats who mostly seem to be well taken care of. There are also stray dogs, but I saw far fewer of them than the cats.
One of many cats I saw in Istanbul. I saw some eating cat food put out by locals.
Well… it’s Thanksgiving, and we have lunch plans, so I’m going to wrap up this post and get on with the day. Unfortunately, I need to break out the vacuum cleaner, because it’s Thursday. I do hope you enjoyed my Turkish series. I also hope we can visit Turkey again… maybe stay in an area that is a little less chaotic than Istanbul is.
For now… Güle güle… (Pronounced “goo-lah goo-lah” Turkish for “bye-bye”, which I did learn back in 1996!)
We woke to partly cloudy skies on Friday morning. I had been thinking maybe we could go somewhere outside of the city, but those hopes were dashed when Bill made an appointment to have his second interview with one of the analysts on his committee. Not that I was disappointed… It put him a step closer to completing the application process.
We went down to breakfast and chose a table by the wall. The day before, a guy had sat in the chair right behind mine in the dining room. He kind of slammed into me while I was finishing up. I was determined not to let that happen again, so I sat on a bench against the wall, facing away from the mirror that offered unwelcome reflections of people eating. Seriously… why put mirrors in a dining room? Who wants to see themselves chowing down? 😃 Not me.
We saw the slender, dark haired lady we had talked to the day before. She came in as we were finishing and waved hello to us. We also saw a family with a toddler aged boy and the most beautiful male German Shorthaired Pointer. The dog was very sweet, but his owner seemed a bit uptight. I noticed when the dog moved, he didn’t put weight on one of his forelegs. He held it up and hobbled on three legs. But he was otherwise very bright and beautiful, with a gorgeous shiny coat. He was also pretty well behaved.
After breakfast, Bill and I made our way to the train station. He had purchased two first class tickets for us to go a couple of stops, then get on the tram, which is not as fancy, but would take us straight to the analyst’s office near the Opera House in Seefeld. As we waited for the train, I looked up at someone’s balcony overlooking the tracks. They had big plants on the balcony, maybe to make it look more inviting as an outdoor space. I couldn’t help but think I’d hate to live by railroad tracks. I did that in South Carolina, and it got old pretty fast!
The train came and we made our way into the city. The analyst, a guy I’ll call J.J., shares his office space with another therapist. As we were walking into his building, a lady with a dog came out. We later found out that she’d had to bring the dog with her to her session. I immediately liked J.J. for accommodating his client’s dog!
I waited for Bill while he had his interview, sitting in a rather uncomfortable straight backed chair. I passed the time with games and reading my latest book, which is about Alexei Navalny. It’s a fascinating book, but a bit depressing. I have to take it in short stints. I look forward to finishing it.
When Bill was finished, he came out of J.J.’s office with a huge smile on his face. I knew the session had gone well. He told me that J.J. had said he would make a “fantastic” analyst! I don’t think that was flattering bullshit, either. I have always thought Bill would be good in such a role. He’s a natural healer, a kind, caring person, and a good listener. Maybe it’s time for a change in direction. I know that eventually, it will be time for him to do something new.
We decided to have lunch at a place called Brasserie Schiller, which is a bustling restaurant by the Opera House. The place was full of patrons, but we managed to score a table. Our waitress was a friendly older woman with a lot of personality. She struck me as a worldly type of person who would be a lot of fun to hang out with outside of work. She seemed like the type of person who swears a lot, enjoys a drink, and probably smokes, too.
We were in a celebratory mood, so we had a nice big lunch… I had entrecote (rib eye steak). Bill had venison. We skipped the starters, because we wanted dessert. That was a consistent theme during this trip! For dessert, I had chocolate mousse, and Bill had a lemon tart.
They put my steak in a pan with sauce and kept it on this burner.I think this was another Swiss wine… a spicy Syrah.
Our lunch was very luxurious and leisurely, and we were among the last patrons to leave before the pause. Our waitress told us she had to set up for a special event that evening. I looked outside and saw that it looked like they were setting up a stage for some kind of festival. We paid her and got out of her hair. Having been a waitress myself, I understand the pain!
Instead of taking the tram and train back to the hotel, we decided to take one of the shuttle boats. It took quite a bit longer, but we had the benefit of lake views and watching people… I also watched a spider make its way down from the ceiling, spinning its silk just behind Bill’s head. He doesn’t like spiders, so I smirked when I told him there was a spider climbing down its silk. The lady sitting at the table next to us seemed horrified as she looked for it.
A gymnast shows off her moves… I think they were Ukrainian.
When we got back to the hotel, it was late afternoon. I laid down on the bed for a rest, and soon fell fast asleep. I think I was out for about two hours. We were so full from lunch that we skipped dinner and went to the bar, instead. A group of Americans were in there, being pretty loud… But that didn’t stop us from enjoying the bartender, cocktails, and the bar that looked like the bow of a boat. To be honest, I would have preferred beer, but besides an unremarkable Helles on draft, they only had Erding Weissbier in bottles, and I didn’t want that. Our ex landlady is from Erding, and I didn’t want to be reminded of her.
I also got some nice images of the sunset. Lake Zürich is like an ever changing canvas.
Hugo spritzerHibiscus Margarita
Saturday was our one day with no plans. I will write about that in the next post.
I got a kick out of the Art Toilet– especially the cat’s asshole…
After breakfast, after I did some morning writing, then picked up some vending machine tokens Bill had left over after getting water and a beer from the hotel vending machine. I figured after my walk on Wednesday, I could get something from the machine on the way up to the room.
The temperature had dropped, and the skies were cloudy. It looked like it might rain, so I figured I wouldn’t be walking many miles. To be honest, I wasn’t wanting to walk for that long, anyway. Nevertheless, I set off, and the first place I went to was a square where there was a statue of Archduke Joseph of Austria. On either side of the statue, there were two smaller ones with fountains that looked like they were made of ceramic. I was more impressed with the colorful, smaller, newer statues on either side of the bigger, older one of Archduke Joseph of Austria.
I continued walking and soon found myself near St. Stephen’s Basilica, a beautiful church with a treasury and observation terrace. I didn’t go into the basilica, because you have to buy tickets, and I prefer going to places like that with Bill. But I did take some photos, and I see I got a picture of that basilica in 2009, too…
From 2009…
I noticed this “Stolperstein” in Budapest. I didn’t see any others during our visit, but I’m sure they exist. In Germany, these are all over the place to memorialize people who died in the Holocaust.
I noticed signs for the Retro Museum near the basilica. That was a place I was actually willing to visit without Bill, so I headed in that direction. But, I turned the wrong way and headed further into the residential part of Budapest. Soon, I found myself near Liberty Square, looking at a very moving memorial for people who died in the Holocaust. Some of the papers in this memorial offered English translations.
I kept walking and passed a rather impressive looking playground, next to a large, rather Soviet era building, that didn’t seem to be maintained very well. The map tells me the building was the Exchange Palace. Close to that was the Soviet War Memorial, which commemorates Russian military who served in World War II. Looking at the war memorial brought back eerie flashbacks of my time in 90s era Armenia. A lady with four cute little dogs was also there. I focused my attention on them.
The sky darkened a bit, so I decided to move on. I walked through an unremarkable neighborhood, but noticed an interesting looking Hungarian restaurant called Taste of Hungary. You have to reserve to eat there, but I thought Bill might like it. I also noticed a familiar looking van… Unfortunately, we never got around to visiting the bistro, but maybe if we manage to visit Budapest again, we’ll make it there.
As I walked down the street, it looked like maybe there was a major road that might take me to an undiscovered part of the city, but as I got closer, I realized I was just looking at the Danube River. Soon, I noticed the Parliament building, which had become very familiar. I sighed and turned toward the now familiar Akademie Street, which I knew would get me back to the hotel. My ankle was starting to ache from all the walking, and soon it was painful. I decided it would be best to go take a rest.
I tried to decide if I wanted to eat lunch, but then determined I’d rather just relax for a bit. I got to the hotel and went to use the tokens for the vending machine. Unfortunately, I mistyped my choice, and wound up with a bottle of still water and M&Ms.
It was still late morning when I got back to the hotel. I went to the room, but it wasn’t yet made up, so I grabbed my iPad and peed, and went back to the lobby to wait for a bit. I noticed the housekeeping cart was in the hall, across from our room. I figured they would get to us soon. I played games on my iPad, ate the M&Ms, and drank the water.
After about 45 minutes, I went back to the room. It still wasn’t done, and they were still apparently cleaning the room across from us. I couldn’t help but wonder what the hell had happened in there, because they were doing an unusually thorough job of cleaning. I went back down to the lobby and then decided to take a short walk around, again thinking maybe I should have lunch. But I didn’t want to eat alone, so I went back to the hotel to try again.
Another Jewish memorial.I made a note to visit this place…
I went back to the hotel… and ordered a large lager, just in case the housekeepers needed more time. When I went to pay for it, I was told one of my 1000 Forints notes is no longer valid. It’s old currency. I made what I’m sure was a hideous face when the lady told me that. Fortunately, I had another 1000 note that is good in 2025. I gave her that to cover the 2173 Forint bill for my beer, and told her to keep the change. I drank the beer, feeling really pissy and wanting to go home. Then, I went back up to the room, expecting that the room might finally be ready.
Below are 1000 Forints notes. The one on the left is no longer valuable. We’re going to send it to Bill’s grandson. Maybe he’ll find it interesting.
Unfortunately, once I got to the room again, they still hadn’t done the room. It was, at that point, after 1:00 PM, and I was feeling kind of cranky, because my ankle was hurting. As I was opening the door, one of the housekeepers appeared and asked if I wanted her to clean the room, or just change out the towels and get more toilet paper. I asked how long it would be before she was ready, and she said ten minutes. I told her she could skip us, because I didn’t want to loiter in the lobby anymore.
With the room situation settled, I took a nice nap. When I woke up, it was raining. I decided that would be a good excuse for us to go around the corner for dinner and eat at the Mercatino Ristorante Enoteca, an inviting looking Italian place very close to our hotel. When Bill got back to the room, that’s exactly what we did.
We walked to the restaurant, but first stopped at a very unusual public toilet near our hotel called Art Toilet. The below photos from from the men’s side, and we didn’t realize it was an actual working toilet until a woman used one of the stalls on the other side, which were identical, except there were toilets instead of urinals. You pay a machine admission, walk through a turnstile, and then get assaulted by the bizarre! There was weird 16 bit computer music playing, too. There was an art store next door, and a location of Madame Tussaud’s wax musuem. I think it was affiliated with Madame Tussaud’s. Have a look…
After we visited the quirky public pay toilet, we walked to the restaurant. We soon found ourselves sitting at a communal booth in the cozy restaurant. It was the kind of place where the tables were situated pretty close to each other, to maximize the number of people who could be served at one time. I understand that is a necessity in a city with as many restaurants as Budapest has, although it can lead to people being “trapped” at their tables, as they don’t want to have to squeeze their way out from between two tables that are close together.
I liked the inside of the Mercatino Ristorante. There were lots of bricks and a beautiful bar area, although it was just for preparing drinks, rather than sitting. The restaurant was pretty small, and I think reservations are probably a good idea there because of that. I got the sense that the manager/proprietor was very money focused, as well as loyal to his locals. He was clearly saving the coveted window seat for a regular who had made reservations.
Both a male and a female server served us. When the female server took a dish that had focaccia bread from us, I commented that I liked it. She hadn’t heard me, so I repeated myself. The male server piped up and said, “She doesn’t speak English very well.” I noticed that the comment offended the female, and she flipped him the bird. She and I privately shared a good laugh, as the male server was oblivious to his colleague’s middle finger salute.
There was an American couple sitting two two tops down from us at the banquette, and when two ladies showed up and said they had reservations, they were seated at the two top between us and the other American couple. The younger lady had asked if they could sit by the window, but the proprietor answered curtly, “No.” I was a bit taken aback by that, but perhaps I shouldn’t have been, after the way the male server had openly insulted his female colleague. I sensed a touch of sexism in that place.
The two ladies were speaking French, but they also spoke English. It turned out they were from Montreal, Canada. The American couple volunteered that they were in Budapest to start a two week cruise on a Viking ship. They asked if we were also on the cruise, and I said that Bill was in Budapest working, and I was tagging along.
The American couple gave off conservative vibes. They were from Florida, and I heard the American man asking about the taxes in Budapest. They only had main courses. The ladies from Canada shared an appetizer and had main courses. Bill and I had a bottle of wine, sparkling water, main courses, and dessert, so when we were paying the bill, we rated a house shot of limoncello. The manager asked us to rate them on Google, which I did. Below are some photos…
Bill had spicy tiger shrimp with black squid ink spaghetti.I had seafood risotto.I had pistachio cake for dessert.Bill had tiramisu.
I liked the restaurant fine, but was a little put off by the rather curt manager and the male waiter. I also didn’t like that they held our wine hostage, and we had to ask them to top us up. Still, the food was good, and it was nice to talk to the Canadian ladies from Montreal. When the American couple left, it was kind of clear that they weren’t fans of our current POTUS… although they were polite about it. We didn’t bring up politics, by the way. The American guy at the other table did, just before he complained about Hungarian taxes.
As we were leaving, the female server and I shared another laugh and a hearty goodbye. I liked her. She clearly has spunk and personality to go with her good looks. I think she’ll go far.
Well, that about does it for Wednesday, September 10th. Stay tuned for part six!
You must be logged in to post a comment.