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!
By Thursday morning in Switzerland, I was feeling ready to get back to Germany. I missed Noyzi and Charlie, and there were people in the apartment above us who were driving me nuts. In the early mornings, I’d hear a baby squalling. I’m not sure if it was in the above apartment, or a different place, but it was pretty loud.
Then, within an hour, the “wrestling matches” commenced. I call them “wrestling matches”, because that’s pretty much what they sounded like. I’d hear the pitter patter of little feet, then a big “BOOM” as something hit the floor or thudded, HARD. It happened over and over again.
It was nervewracking, because I couldn’t predict when the noises would happen, and they would startle me. Then, I would get annoyed until the cycle repeated. And it would go on for hours. I thought about saying something, but I didn’t know where the people were from, or if they spoke English.
So, I slathered on more sunscreen, gathered up my stuff, and headed back to beautiful Lake Zürich, for some peace and quiet. Well, at least I thought it was more peaceful… and honestly, it probably was quieter, even though there was construction going on in the lake and near it. There were also cool breezes.
The dancing lady was back!
I don’t actually recall much about what I did during the day on Thursday. Nothing sticks out in my mind. I do remember coming back in the afternoon, trying to read, and once again falling asleep, as I waited for Bill. But something DID happen on Thursday night at dinner.
When Bill got back to the apartment, we decided to go to the Greek restaurant again, Le Beaujolais. The same friendly guy waited on us. He asked us where we wanted to sit, and I chose a table next to the building. It was dirty, so he had to bus it for us. We sat down and Bill ordered some white wine. I ordered gyros, and he chose souvlaki.
We hadn’t been sitting there long before a group of young Swiss folks showed up. They sat at the table right behind us. Within the group, there was one woman, in particular, whom I found very annoying. She spoke in rapid fire Swiss style German, in a voice that grated.
Under normal circumstances, I probably wouldn’t have been as irritated as I was, but I’d been listening to dull, sudden thuds all day in the apartment. I was hot, and recovering from boredom, missing my own space, and the peace and quiet I have in my home. I also missed my desktop computer, because that’s the best place for me to write and make music.
So, the woman kept yammering in her Swiss dialectical German, and then she switched to English, when another person joined their group. I was trying to keep a straight face and get through dinner. And then, it happened…
In front of the restaurant, there was a very busy main drag. Trams go up and down that street every few minutes. There were also many cars coming and going, and people walking past. But, all of a sudden, the street seemed to empty out, and this man in a luxury sedan stopped right by where we were eating. There were no cars near him at all. His window was down, and he was playing loud music. It sounded like Louis Armstrong (Satchmo). The guy either lip synched perfectly, or sang along, complete with facial expressions and hand movements. It was like he was performing “When It’s Sleepy Time Down South” especially for us!
We all kind of stopped what we were doing and stared in amazement as this random guy in his car was singing to us… with loud Louis Armstrong blaring from his windows. It lasted for about one surreal minute, and he wasn’t interrupted by traffic of any kind. Some pedestrians gave him a quizzical look as they passed.
I heard the people sitting behind us murmuring, and suddenly I felt like we were all experiencing this weird, bizarre moment in time. Then I heard the annoying woman behind me say in English, “Now he’s going to want money.”
But just as suddenly as it started, it was then over. The guy rolled up his window and drove away, and traffic returned to normal. It was as if it had never happened. I wish I’d thought to take a picture or a video. He didn’t seem to want money. In fact, the whole thing seemed like a spontaneous act. For all I know, he does this every summer day, serenading random al fresco diners as he drives through Zürich. Maybe he just does it for his own amusement, to break up the monotony of life in such an orderly country. I did look on YouTube to see if anyone had caught him on video. Apparently no one has, yet. Or maybe I’m just using the wrong search terms.
Then, just as we were about to have a round of ouzo, the woman sitting behind us started telling a story in English about her brother, when he went into the Swiss Army. He’d forgotten his toothbrush, so his mother had to bring it to him. As she was telling the story, a man with a dog was passing. He came over and, although he was obviously a stranger to them, started a conversation. He’d heard the woman talking about her brother in the Swiss Army, and decided to tell the group about how he’d joined the Israeli Army and everything was provided, including toothbrushes.
The guy’s dog, a sweet, older, female, plopped down next to the talkative woman, and he told them (and us) about how he’d been a performer in the Israeli Army, and it had led him to Switzerland. He met his Swiss wife in Zürich, and worked in the arts there for many years. He said he’d been working as a clown, at one point. And he said his dog’s name was Gille (if I recall correctly). He said the name meant “comfort” in Hebrew, and added that she is a comfort to him.
This guy is an Israeli who lives in Switzerland with his Swiss wife and dog…
Bill and I sat there quietly, not actively involved in the conversation, yet passively involved in that we were hearing it. Bill could have piped up, too, as a 30 year Army veteran from the United States. I could have spoken up and talked about how I have my own performances as a singer. But nowadays, it’s hard to tell how people will react to the revelation that Americans are near. I’m sure they knew we were Americans, anyway. Bill has told me that it’s easy to work with soldiers from other countries because, when it comes down to it, they’re all mostly cut from the same cloth, doing the same job.
Still, it was a very weird evening… surreal, even. As annoyed as I had been with that woman sitting behind us, I suddenly felt like she’d given us a gift. Because she was engaging the guy from Israel, and allowing us to hear his story.
Stay tuned for the next installment, when I describe visiting the C.G. Jung Institute and seeing where Bill might soon be a student.
I was dying to get out of the house today. Normally, on Saturdays, Bill ends up doing chores or sleeping in. But we have good weather today, and the temperature is finally warm. I wanted to do something besides hang around in my nightie all day. We thought about several things we could do this afternoon, and finally decided to take Noyzi and Charlie to the Bootshaus Flörsheim. It’s right next to the Rhein/Rhine River.
I think Bill and I were assuming we were going to be visiting a much more casual, low key restaurant today. A couple of years ago, we took Noyzi to this place on the Rhein that was near Mainz-Kastel. Looking back, I see we took him there May 28th in 2023. That place was also called Bootshaus, but it was a different one, with a very laid back Biergarten that served drinks and sausages. It was more like a stand. The place where we went today was a real restaurant. I think the other place also has a real restaurant, but the day we went, they just had their little beer stand going.
Because we were directed to a different establishment, we were a bit confused as we approached the restaurant. But we didn’t need to be. It was very dog friendly, and several canines were enjoying time with their people today.
I was a little nervous about dining at the place, because it had been awhile since we last took the dogs out. I expected the less fancy place with grass on the ground and Bratwursts on a grill. But the dogs ended up mostly doing okay. Noyzi was nervous and a little chatty, but he was not as spooky and nervous as he’s been on previous outings. That didn’t stop a few folks from giving us side eyes as they inexplicably decided to sit near us.
Bill and I ordered beers and water. To eat, I had a Caesar salad with chicken and bacon, while Bill had beef croquettes with salad and sauces. It took awhile to get the food, which offered us time to get the boys more settled. Noyzi sat after a few minutes and eventually rested on the pavement, only to spring up when a person approached, especially someone with another dog. Noyzi made friends with one guy’s adorable puppy, who actually tried to mount Noyzi. That was ambitious of him, because Noyzi is about four or five times his size. Charlie was also nervous, but less so. Since he’s smaller, he’s also easier to control. Below are some photos from the Biergarten.
We brought a bottle of water, but Bill didn’t bring a bowl. I told him to, but he forgot. At one point, some guy brought a bowl over to Noyzi. It had a little water in it. He got excited and bumped into it, making a racket. A lady sitting near us had given us the side eye a few times. I knew she was going to do it again when Noyzi crashed into the bowl. I was ready for her and headed her off with a side eye of my own. 🙄
I know… that’s not nice or particularly mature, but they’re dogs, and dogs are unpredictable. I can’t help it if they freak out. Children also make mistakes in public. Show some grace and realize that within the hour, we’ll be leaving your life forever. Aside from that, it’s hard for dogs to learn how to behave in public if they never go anywhere. Noyzi has made a lot of progress over the years. I was overall very pleased with his behavior.
The woman got the message and quit glaring at us after I returned fire. Isn’t it funny how so much communication is non-verbal? Dirty looks are definitely international language… kind of like music.
It wasn’t easy to eat the salad while holding Noyzi, so Bill took over so I could finish. Then, we finished our beers and paid the check. I got a few more photos while Bill used the bathroom. There was plenty of free parking at the Bootshaus. That’s a definite plus!
An old Porsche.
We are now back, and Noyzi is behind me, resting, panting, and farting. We need to get him some dog food made of poultry. It’s now cloudy and looks like it might rain.
I don’t know what we’ll do tomorrow. Maybe we’ll go somewhere and do something fun. Or maybe we’ll find another Biergarten and take the boys. The sooner they learn how to behave in restaurants, the better off we’ll be. I think Charlie will be a pro in no time. Noyzi might need a few more lessons.
Bill has been in Norway all week, and I’ve been left to my own devices here in Germany. I’ve been keeping busy with random chores, making song parodies, and watching lots of YouTube videos, while I ponder and worry about the future. Nevertheless, I can’t deny that we had some beautiful weather this week. The temperatures are up; the sun is out; and I’ve been fighting the urge to drink wine on the terrace. This week, my liver has gotten a much needed break from booze.
I did take a few pictures this week, to show our lovely little town erupting into spring. Yesterday, I noticed they put up the Easter display in our Dorfplatz, just like they do every year. I may not be German, but I sure do enjoy living here. It’s nice and quiet, predictable, and civilized.
Charlie strikes a pose. He sure looks happy!Easter is here!
I wish I had more to report. When Bill goes away, I just kind of hunker down and get through things. I did go to the Rewe yesterday to get some groceries. I had a big brainfart while standing in line. Everybody seemed to want to check out at the same time, and the lady in front of me wanted cigarettes, which required the cashier to fetch them.
When she brought them to the register, I guess they either weren’t what she wanted or were too expensive. So then the cashier had to take them back. Meanwhile, my blood sugar was in the toilet and I was getting irritable. I counted out some money, but didn’t realize that I had mistakenly counted a five euro bill as a twenty euro bill.
And the lady in front of me said something in German, so much to my shame, I blurted out “I’m American.”
She came back in perfect English with, “I hope you aren’t in a hurry.” (or something along those lines)…
By the time she left, I was all flustered, and the cashier was telling me that I needed to give her more money. Fortunately, I noticed the shortage and gave her the twenty I had originally meant to give her. And then, on the way out of the Rewe, which is about a ten minute walk from my house, but I had the car, there was a huge group of people on bikes to navigate.
The only other significant thing that happened this week is that the dogs got much needed dentals done. That was no big deal, except for when I needed to find a parking spot. Our vet has little parking, and everybody seemed to be collecting their pets at the same time. After I paid the 1100 euro ($1400) bill for Noyzi and Charlie, I took them home. Today also happens to be the fifth anniversary of the day I saw Noyzi’s photo for the first time and fell in love with him. It took about six months to bring him home from Kosovo.
Oh… and today, I learned how to refill the salt in our dishwasher. That was quite a life skill. Seriously, Bill always handles that task, so I didn’t know. I had to guess that was why the dishwasher wouldn’t run. Below is a helpful video for those who are similarly questioning:
Let’s hear it for doing it yourself…
This week should be even more tranquil… although given what’s going on in US politics, maybe not. Ah well. Bill will be home on Saturday, and he’s taking the following Monday off. So maybe there will be something new to report then. As for today, I’m probably just going to hang out in the house…
I guess this post turned out to be more than I thought it would be.
I’m interrupting my Italy series for a quick photo dump of pictures from this week. We have some photos from our weekly market on Thursday. Bill and I picked up a few items for dinner, including chicken shawarma sandwiches from a new Syrian vendor we’d never seen before. The guy spoke English, was very friendly, and seemed delighted to talk to Bill about Doha, Qatar. As for the rest of the people at the market, they seemed to be giving us the side-eye more than usual. My guess it’s because they know we’re Americans and Trump is a major league asshole… Oh, and there’s also a photo of me in a Guinness hat Bill got at the drink market.
Charlie is glad to be home.
And then today, we went on post so I could buy makeup. Afterwards, I was feeling hungry, so we went into Wiesbaden and had lunch at the Ratskeller Biergarten. There, I had a Haxn Salad and a Hefeweizen. Bill had Tafelspitz (beef with horseradish sauce) and a Dunkel. Nice to see people and dogs out and about, flowers blooming, and open outdoor spaces! Our IKEA also set up a Swedish Easter decoration!
A few days ago, Bill asked me what I’d like him to cook for Thanksgiving. Since it’s just the two of us, we don’t often want to do a big Thanksgiving meal. It takes us forever to eat all of the food, and we lack both the storage facilities and large oven to cook a whole turkey.
Although Bill and I both like to cook, I thought about what cooking a large meal would entail, and I said, “Why don’t we just go out to eat?” Thanksgiving isn’t a holiday in Germany, so this was a perfectly reasonable suggestion. Bill agreed, and booked us a table at Die Scheuer, a restaurant in the nearby town of Hofheim am Taunus. We had eaten at this fabulous place just once before, because it’s often packed. After yesterday’s lunch, I can see why. The restaurant itself is fairly small and cozy, and the food and service are both very good.
Bill and I seemed to amuse an older German couple who sat near us and heard us speaking English. Who knows what they were thinking? But they were very friendly and polite, and wished us a good appetite as we enjoyed starters and main courses. I would have been up for dessert, but we were the last ones there at the end of the lunch service. They let out a couple of very sweet, friendly dogs while we finished our wine. And then we decided to just stop by the little Christmas food kiosk “village” near the Chinon Center (a mall where we usually park).
As for what we ate… I started with fried scallops with pumpkin puree. Bill had a spring roll made with goose. Then for our mains, I had Viennese fried chicken with homemade fries and lime Schmand. Bill had smoked duck with red cabbage and a dumpling. I was originally going to have the duck myself, but then I saw the chicken and decided it would probably please me more. I was right, although Bill loved the duck dish! I would have been pleased with it, too. Our wine was Kunstler Spätburgunder– pinot noir– which went very well with both dishes. The chicken was served extremely hot, and was moist and crispy. I found myself wishing I was better at frying chicken… but then, that’s a food I’d do well to eat less of.
It would have been nice to have had dessert, but at least we had beautiful weather, and it made walking to the temporary ice skating rink a real pleasure. We decided to share some red Glühwein (German mulled wine) while we watched people be festive.
After we got home, we decided to go down to the weekly market to see if there was any food there we wanted to buy. It was rather lightly populated yesterday, as there weren’t many vendors. But we did enjoy some wine and I got a photo of the Christmas tree they put up every year. I believe this weekend, there will also be a one night Advent Market. That’s always a fun event in Breckenheim. Christmas is always magical in Germany!
In spite of my gloomy feelings about the state of the world, I couldn’t help but enjoy Thanksgiving yesterday. It’s always a blessing to be with Bill. We had a very a peaceful, pleasant, lovely Thanksgiving. I hope we can visit Die Scheuer again. What a great restaurant! Next time, we’ll get there earlier.
Last night, while Bill and I were processing the afternoon spent with our neighbors, drinking beer at our little Oktoberfest, we decided we’d like to go out to lunch today. Bill went looking for appropriate lunch venues, and finally decided it was time for us to go to one of our favorite places, Landhaus Diedert. We’ve been to this restaurant numerous times. It’s always a pleasure, as the food and service are top notch, and the restaurant itself feels like someone’s beautiful home. It is, indeed, also a hotel, although it doesn’t feel like a hotel. It was originally a Kloster.
It wasn’t very busy at the restaurant today. Some people ahead of us pulled into the parking lot and we parked next to them. And then we were seated at the table next to theirs on one side, and another couple with an adorable terrier on the other side. The people we parked next to had main courses and left rather quickly, but the other couple shut down lunch service with us. Bill and I had a very sumptuous two hour feast. I doubt I’ll need anything else until tomorrow morning.
We started with aperitifs– a non alcoholic rose for Bill, which tasted like Christmas punch. I had a prosecco based cocktail that smelled of fresh oranges. We enjoyed fresh bread with the drinks as we decided on what we would have for lunch.
One of the soups wasn’t ready to serve yet, which was no big deal. I had my eye on the Wachtel (quail), while Bill had a salad with Pfefferlingen mushrooms and bacon. For our main courses, I had salmon with ricotta filled tortellinis, while Bill had deer saltimbocca… I really enjoyed both of my dishes, but Bill’s deer was so tender and delicious. I don’t usually eat venison myself, but I think I would have enjoyed what he had, with its chestnut puree. Have a look!
I had quail with a salad… This was delicious, and a bit pricey!Bill’s salad.Salmon with tortellini for me…Bill enjoys fresh, tender venison with Brussels sprouts and chestnut mash…
I couldn’t finish my salmon, so I asked for it to be packed. I wanted dessert. While we were waiting for it, we struck up a conversation with the couple next to us. They had an adorable, well-behaved little dog. It turned out their dog, a four year old named Archie, was very friendly and cute. We showed them pictures of Charlie and Noyzi while we waited for dessert. Chocolate ganache with sour cream ice cream and berries for me, and flambeed pineapple with coconut ice cream, watermelon, and mango puree for Bill… All the while, we bonded with the couple next to us. I love how dogs are such great ice breakers in Germany.
The chocolate ganache is off the chain!I say that, even though it was a lava cake.Bill enjoys a tropically inspired dessert with fruit and ice cream.Archie!
As usual, the food, service, and ambiance at Landhaus Diedert were outstanding. We have yet to have a bad time there, or a disappointing meal. It’s such a pleasure and a treat to get to spend time with my favorite person in a place with such great food.
I love the fireplace!
Naturally, I highly recommend Landhaus Diedert. And you can see more of their excellent dishes in this blog, if you do a search. If you’re in Wiesbaden or its surroundings, you should stop by for a fabulous meal.
Bill came home from the United States on Wednesday. He has to leave again for Stuttgart tomorrow. However, he was around this weekend, and we were able to attend Breckenheim’s annual Dorfplatzfest, which is a fun event that celebrates our little suburb of Wiesbaden. Since we didn’t have anything else to do, we went to the Fest on Friday and Saturday nights.
The first night, there was live music provided by a local band featuring none other than our neighbor, Dr. Blendinger, the veterinarian who, along with his veterinarian wife, owns the veterinary clinic where we take our dogs. Dr. Blendinger is also a singer-songwriter and guitar player. He wrote a song about Breckenheim, which he sings every year. There’s a snippet of it in the video below.
I’m kind of glad we don’t live closer to the Dorfplatz. It’s probably annoying when there’s a Fest and you don’t feel like a party…
There were brats being fried on the grill, as well as a wine stand, and a stand for beer drinkers and teetotalers. Yesterday, there were even a couple of bumper cars for the kids! I was surprised to see that!
We enjoyed yesterday more than Friday night, because we ran into an American couple who were housesitting for another American couple we know who are on vacation. It was fun chatting with Americans, especially since this is their first time in Europe. We brought Noyzi and Charlie with us yesterday, mainly because they blocked the door and wouldn’t let us go without them. Noyzi gets nervous at events, but he also loves going to them, and meeting new people. Charlie had no problem at all fitting in and was charming everybody he met!
Below are some photos from the event. We were blessed with decent weather, although we did have a few rain clouds last night. Next weekend, Wiesbaden Wine Week starts. That will be a lot of fun!
Breckenheim has a great mayor!Brats!Bumper cars!Noyzi and Charlie were having a blast.
I also swabbed Charlie’s mouth for an Embark DNA test. It’ll be interesting to see if he’s got anything in him besides Eastern European Village Dog, like Noyzi.
He sure is CUTE!
I will try to hang in there this week, while Bill is gone again. When he comes back, we can plan in earnest for our long anticipated trip to Iceland at the end of the month! I like August better already.
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