Friday, November 16th, was our anniversary. We woke up bright and early and decided that since it was our special day, we’d eat breakfast at the hotel. Brenners Park Hotel and Spa offers a lovely buffet breakfast at 41 euros a person. However, I would say that as expensive as their breakfast is, it’s probably the most economical of all of the meal options there. You get your choice of whatever’s on the buffet, which includes breads, cold cuts, cheeses, yogurts, fruits, cereals, and an array of fresh juices, sekt, and coffee or tea. You can also order a hot dish, like eggs or pancakes. It’s all you can eat, so if you play your cards right, you can eat enough in the morning to last you all day. Service is, of course, impeccable.
We were seated at a nice sized round table and served excellent coffee. Then we loaded up at the buffet. I wasn’t thinking too much about having anything else until the very charming chef came out and asked me if I’d like him to make me some eggs. It so happens that I love Eggs Benedict and was about to say yes to that, when he offered Eggs Florentine. Eggs Florentine are pretty much like Eggs Benedict– a poached egg on an English muffin with Hollandaise Sauce. Instead of bacon, you get spinach. He offered to shave some black truffles on the dish, too, but I told them to save them for Bill. I am definitely not a truffle fan.
Eggs Florentine, brought out by a very friendly chef. I liked that he didn’t give me the stinkeye when I told him of my aversion to fungus.
Christmas trees are coming out… We happened to see them putting up decorations for the big holiday. Ours won’t be going up until we’re in our new house next week.
After breakfast, we decided to visit the fitness/pool area. Brenners Park has a very nice spa, which we did use on Saturday. On Friday, we were content to try out the very beautiful pool area.
The water was slightly warm and the pool was pretty deep. At one end, it was over my head. I loved that, since so many of the newer pools in the United States are shallow now.
As you can see, the pool is empty. A couple of other people showed up a few minutes after we did. I believe they allow children to splash to their hearts’ content from 4:00 to 5:00pm. I didn’t see too many children at this hotel, though… only a few. And the ones we saw were mostly beautifully behaved. I liked the view at the pool, which offered a lovely view of the trees and the river.
Bill takes to luxury like a duck to water.
After a couple of hours lounging at the pool, we decided to have lunch. I noticed a sign for Osteria Stomboli and decided it looked like a good bet. I was in the mood for pasta. I did take note that at least two times on the front door and once in the restaurant, I saw signs that emphatically stated that this restaurant does NOT take credit cards. Did you read that clearly? Credit cards are verboten! No plastic! Cash on the nail! Just so we’re clear.
Luckily, Bill is used to carrying cash. He brought plenty so we could enjoy wine with lunch.
I had a tantalizing tagliatelle with salmon. It came with a creamy tomato sauce and cherry tomatoes. The sauce was delicious and the salmon was cooked perfectly. It wasn’t too dry and went beautifully with the sauce.
Bill went with linguini with a white wine sauce and shrimp. He liked his dish, which was also loaded with garlic, but I think we both agreed that my dish was the winner.
Despite how good my dish was, I couldn’t quite finish it. The waiter looked stricken when he saw that I had left about half of the dish uneaten. What can I say? I wanted dessert. Also, I get to a point at which I can’t eat any more protein. Luckily, Bill had room to finish what I couldn’t. He didn’t want dessert.
This was a lovely Sicilian white we had with lunch.
I took this picture of Bill for his mom, who’s always wanted him to enjoy this lifestyle.
I had Limoncello gelato for dessert. It was perfect because it was very light and refreshing. Bill shared it with me and had an espresso.
Sign out front. No credit cards. None.
We kept passing this Konditorei and I noticed all the luscious desserts. We didn’t try any there, but I sure was tempted. On Saturday morning, we had breakfast at the Cafe Koenig, where these delightful sweets were on display.
A sunny shot of the church.
The building near the hotel. For some reason, I never got around to taking pictures of the Brenners Park Hotel. It is, in and of itself, a very beautiful property. It’s decorated with lots of BMWs and Porsches, too. This is a town where the rich like to congregate, even if it did sort of have a sleepy feel to it.
I took this photo from the balcony in our room. This time, the mallards had some female friends with them.
Soon, the trees will be bare.
We were pretty full after lunch, so Bill went out and found a couple of bottles of wine and some snacks. We stayed in and talked on Friday night, sipping wine and reminiscing the best parts of our marriage. You’d think we’d want to hit a nice restaurant like we did last year. But last year, we stayed local and celebrated our 15th anniversary in Nagold. This year, we also stayed pretty local, come to think of it.
Bill did present me with chocolate, though. He said, “These are for you.” as he held them out to me. This kind of thoughtfulness may be why we’re still going strong after sixteen years.
