Those of you who regularly read this blog might know that I spent 27 months living in Yerevan, Armenia, where I served as a Peace Corps Volunteer. I was there from June 1995-August 1997, and the first half of my time there was during a severe energy crisis. Although I would be lying if I said I loved every minute of my time as an “A3” Peace Corps Volunteer (meaning I was in the third group to go there after the program started in December 1992), I am now left with lots of nostalgia. I still remember some of the language, and I have developed an appreciation for Armenian food, wine, and culture.
Last week, Facebook sent me a random ad for a restaurant in downtown Wiesbaden called La Bohème. This beautiful eatery, named for an opera by Giacomo Puccini, specializes in Armenian and Georgian food. I was excited to see that, as I had no idea that Wiesbaden had a proper Armenian restaurant. I have seen some Georgian places, but none that were really Armenian. I told Bill and about La Bohème, and today, we decided to visit.
This restaurant is located on Taunusstrasse, which runs along the perimeter of the old town. We parked our car in the Kurhaus Parkplatz, and then it was an easy and pleasant ten minute walk to the restaurant.
Wiesbaden’s hot spring!
When we walked into the restaurant, there were only two tables occupied. We took a spot by the wall, and the waiter, who spoke perfect English apologized that they only had German menus. As we’d say in Armenia, հարց չկա– (harts ch’ka, or no problem). We ordered our usual water with gas, and a lovely Georgian Mukuzani wine.
Then, we shared hummus with lavash, and xhorovatz (grilled meat). I had pork and Bill had lamb. I was very impressed by the food. It was beautifully prepared and presented. I was wondering where this place had been all my life!
This xhorovatz were outstanding! We both opted for the potatoes, and the dish came with drilled peppers and Armenian salad with pomegranate seeds.
The funny thing is, I never had hummus in Armenia. I didn’t eat in many restaurants because I couldn’t afford it, and there weren’t that many, anyway, during my time in Yerevan. By the time I left in 1997, more places were opening. Now, there are MANY good restaurants in Armenia.
After the main courses, we had dessert, but ended up taking most of it home. We were well satisfied by the Armenian dishes. Besides, the desserts were not as good as the starter and main courses were.
We finished up with a snifter of Ararat Vaspurakan 15 year old brandy for me, and an Armenian “Moka” for Bill, which just means coffee made in a moka pot. He read his future in the coffee grounds, which he said showed Western Europe. Personally, I thought they looked more like a dog.
Well, this looks more doglike from a different angle.
All told, we spent about 135 euros, and came home with leftover dessert. We both really enjoyed our visit and I think we’ll happily dine at La Bohème again. The food was excellent, and a nice change of pace. The prices were very fair. And the waiters were patient with me when I spoke Armenian. I’m better at speaking Armenian than German, although there was no need to speak either language, as they all spoke great English! Europe really does put us to shame when it comes to learning foreign languages!
Obviously, I highly recommend this restaurant. We’ll be back!
We’re back home in Wiesbaden now, after our four night trip to the southern Black Forest (Schwarzwald) hamlet of Horben. Before a couple of weeks ago, I had never heard of Horben. Now, our visit there will live among many cherished memories I will forever have of our years in Germany.
I discovered Horben by way of Facebook. Last month, Bill was on a long TDY assignment in Bavaria, working very long days and nights. Meanwhile, I was sitting here alone, bored and a little depressed. When he got back from his temporary duty yonder, I asked Bill if he’d like to go away for a few days. He said he’d like to take a short trip. I went looking for the right place. I wanted something restful, but in a nice area. I wanted good food and a decent spa. Since it was going to be a short break, I didn’t want it to be too far away, although we did briefly consider flying somewhere.
Facebook kept sending me ads for a place called Luisenhöhe. I was definitely intrigued, because it looked like just the kind of place I enjoy the most. I noticed it was in a very scenic area and promised an excellent dining experience. Then I noticed it’s practically a brand new hotel, had only a few reviews, and it costs a lot of euros to stay there! Also, it’s in Germany, and I was kind of hoping to go somewhere else for a few days. I decided to keep looking. I thought maybe we’d finally visit Basel, Switzerland or maybe Bern. I even had a hotel in mind…
But the Facebook ads for Luisenhöhe were continuing to beckon, and I finally realized that Horben is very close to Freiburg, a city/area my German friend, Susanne, has been bugging me to visit for the ten years we’ve lived here. Susanne is from the Freiburg area, and she’s kept telling us how beautiful it is. I believed her, as we’d driven through Freiburg before on other trips. I’d even looked into staying there, but my plans were always overcome by events.
Finally, I decided to show Bill and get his reaction. He was as attracted to Luisenhöhe as I was. He also liked the other finalist, Les Trois Rois, in Basel, Switzerland. Finally, we decided to let fate settle things. We flipped a coin. Luisenhöhe won. I felt good about that outcome, especially when I realized that Horben is very close to France and Switzerland, and if we got too bored in that area of Germany, we could easily cross either border.
I immediately set about booking our stay in a 31 square meter “Wellbeing Room”, facing the garden. Since we booked within two weeks of our stay, we were committed to paying. So, I prayed everything would go according to plan, and we’d manage to finally visit the Freiburg area. Now that’s we’re home from our trip, I feel like it was meant to be that we would discover the Freiburg area and this amazing new hotel with food that blew our minds!
I’ll be writing in detail about our unique experience over the next few days. I will also be sharing photos of some of the most picturesque views I’ve seen in Germany. As we were saying goodbye to some of the very friendly staff members last night, we were warmly thanked for coming, and welcomed to come back soon. I honestly hope we can. As long as Bill works these crazy TDY assignments, I think it’s within the realm of the possible!
I hope you’ll follow along as I write my series. I’d really like to help this new hotel succeed! The food alone is something amazing to behold…
Once again, thanks to the weather and COVID-19, it wasn’t a very exciting week in Deutschland. Even if the pandemic weren’t an issue, I doubt I’d want to go out and about in the gloomy weather that happens every January in this part of Europe. It’s chilly–not particularly cold, which is unusual for Germany in January– and there’s a lot of rain. We had a couple of dustings of snow, but nothing remarkable. The backyard is still a slop pit. Last night, I was cutting pieces of our felled crepe myrtle and feeding them to the fireplace, surprised by how easily they burned, despite being newly cut and not seasoned.
Our landlord usually supplies us with free firewood, but he hasn’t offered any lately and Bill hasn’t requested any. We don’t use the fireplace as often as we probably should… we both love having fires, and we haven’t been lucky enough to live in a lot of places with fireplaces. So far, I count two homes with fireplaces and one with a really awesome masonry heater. Sometimes I wish we could transport this house and its landlord to Baden-Württemberg, where we had snow more often.
Anyway, none of that is either here nor there. Today’s post is about yet another Facebook purchase I made. I don’t usually buy stuff off of Facebook, but one night, I was on the brink of falling asleep, and I saw an ad for the DryMee quick dry bath mat. I was half asleep when I made this purchase decision, and once I made it, I kind of regretted it. The mat cost about 40 euros, after all. And then I noticed how long it would take to get to me– 10 to 15 work days, I think. Why? Because it was coming all the way from China!
But the mat arrived this week, and I have to say, I am pleased with it for one major reason, which you can see by the photo above. The mat is flat and thin enough to fit under the door when it’s open. So now I don’t have to stand on a wet floor after a shower or move a mat there while I’m showering. Also, while I can’t say that the mat is absorbent as it appears to be in the video on the Facebook ad I bought it from, it IS quite absorbent and makes quick work of sucking up the water from the shower.
On the Web site where I bought this mat, it says that they’re running a “New Year’s Special” with 50 percent off the suggested price of 79,90 euros. Well, folks, I think the suggested price is bullshit, and I wouldn’t pay that much for that mat or any other mat, unless it was capable of massaging my feet or something special like that. But for what it is, and what it does, I have to admit I am satisfied. It does what we need it to do, and I am delighted that I can open and close the bathroom door without having to move it.
One thing I also have to mention… When you order stuff from other countries, sometimes you have to pay duties or customs fees. I didn’t have to pay anything for this mat, although I was prepared with some euros just in case. When I made my hasty impulse purchase, I didn’t realize this would be shipped from China. If I had known it was coming from there, I probably would not have bought it… not because I have anything against China per se, but because it takes so long for orders from China to get to us. On the other hand, as I wrote earlier on my main blog this week, I have gotten some real and honest enjoyment out of some Chinese products, like the hat pictured below.
Yes, that is a picture of Mister Rogers with his two middle fingers raised.
Last year, an enterprising Chinese businessperson offered this nifty hat for sale on Amazon.de. And yes, as an impulse buyer, I decided to purchase one. The hat came in handy this week after an encounter with a drunk hoodlum in our neighborhood. You can read about that incident on my main blog, as it’s not PG rated enough for this blog. Kidding about the PG rating… but not about the obnoxious uninvited visitor. I also wrote an update after some of our other neighbors posted about the intruder in our neighborhood Facebook group.
Mister Rogers did this while singing with little kids. Clearly, he wasn’t aware that raising the middle finger is taboo.
I like how community minded Breckenheim is. I was going to cross post that story on this blog, since it needs some love, but I decided that a lot of the people who are currently reading this blog also read the other one. So if you’re not a reader of my main blog, now’s your chance to check it out. I hope it doesn’t offend.
Noyzi the Kosovar rescue dog went to the vet for some routine vaccines. He charmed the vet with his stumpy little natural bobtail, which is always wagging. He becomes more adorable by the week, especially as he trusts Bill more and more. It really is rewarding to have him. Sometimes, a little ghost of Zane (his predecessor) comes out. But Noyzi is very much his own dog with his own personality.
Noyzi does one thing that most of our rescued hounds have never done. I think the one exception was CuCullain (CC), our very first beagle mix (with husky) rescue. That is, Noyzi will often “stand guard”. He will sit or lie next to me, facing the door. CC was a tri-colored beagle mix with bright blue eyes and a horrific husky-like undercoat that shed a lot. But he did have some of those big dog– prey oriented– traits. Sometimes, Noyzi reminds me of him. Like CC, Noyzi also doesn’t bark much, nor is he a licker. He will, however, happily plunge his nose into my ass, especially if I’m bent over. As someone who usually has beagles, this is a strange thing to get used to. All of our dogs have been too short to do such a thing.
Dogs are the best company.
The only other major event that came up this week is that our landlord came over to settle the Nebenkosten (other costs– water, gas, etc.) for 2021. Once again, we didn’t use as much water and trash service as we paid for, so we got about 600 euros back. And once again, I am amazed at the differences between this landlord and others we’ve had. It’s so nice to rent from someone who is fair, honest, and treats us with basic respect. I hope we can stay awhile… at least until our stocks recover from the recent plunge. I doubt that will be a problem, given the state of the world today. But I’ve also learned after years as a spouse to a military guy, sometimes Uncle Sam has other plans. Or, barring Uncle Sam’s plans, some meddlesome, narcissistic twit who doesn’t mind upending other people’s lives based on their own whims.
Our landlord told us to just take 630 euros off our next month’s rent.
Someday, we WILL travel again. Or we will eat in a restaurant. But for now, so ends another gloomy winter week in Deutschland… as the post Christmas blues slowly wane into the February blues.
Well, it’s another dismal weekend weather and pandemic wise, here in Germany. Since COVID-19 numbers are so high, and it’s cold and drizzly outside, I’m sitting here watching dog grooming videos on YouTube, giving Arran and Noyzi a thrill.
Bill has had trouble sleeping for as long as we’ve known each other, and he is chronically exhausted once the sun goes down. He is not willing to use drugs for sleep purposes, but he’d done everything from getting a sleep study done (resulting in a diagnosis of “poor sleep hygiene”) to putting weird holographic stickers on his temple and forehead. I am constantly picking up ear plugs that he puts in his ears, I guess to drown out my snoring. He says I don’t keep him awake, but I know I snore sometimes. So does he!
The ear plugs always fall out of his ears when he tosses and turns, and wind up being sucked up by my vacuum. He’s also used white noise machines, and every night, we run a fan so he can zone out.
A few days ago, Bill got a package he had been eagerly anticipating. It’s a sleep aid device called Kokoon NightBuds, which he discovered from a Facebook ad. With a 30 percent discount, Bill paid 179 euros for this innovative gadget with ear buds. The Kokoon ear bud/headphone devices come from a manufacturer in London, and were developed with the help of sleep scientists. He did not have to pay any customs fees when it arrived. There’s a handy app that works with Bluetooth technology to help improve sleep quality. Prior to his receiving the ear buds, the company sent Bill a questionnaire to assess his sleep style and give him some tips on getting better sleep. According to the Kokoon folks, Bill is a “morning lark”. I could have told them that without a questionnaire!
The Kokoon NightBuds strap around the back of Bill’s head and play soothing background noise to help him sleep, as it also monitors how long he sleeps and judges his sleep quality. He’s been using the NightBuds for a few days now, and is enjoying checking out the evolving data they collect every day. My husband is a real gadget geek, so the NightBuds are right up his alley. Below are some photos that show how this cool invention works. I have also made a very short YouTube video that shows a little bit more about what’s in the box and how it all works.
The buds plug in his ears.And wrap around the back.The infrared sensor monitors…It can tell when Bill drifts off.The next morning, he can see how long he slept.One of several backgrounds and sounds to choose from.Over the ear headphones are also available.It has a case.The packaging is biodegradable.Some of the pictures look the same, but there are differences.
So far, Bill says the Kokoon NightBuds have helped him sleep better. As a bonafide geek, he also enjoys getting the sleep data every day. The buds come in different sizes, which are included. Bill uses the mediums, which were pre-loaded on the gadget.
Pretty nifty!
I notice that the Kokoon over the ear noise canceling headphones are available on Amazon, and it looks like it gets mixed reviews there. I didn’t consult Amazon before I wrote this post, so I have only reported what Bill has said about using this device.
For the record, Bill is using the NightBuds, which he says are not capable of noise canceling. However, he says they can be used for audiobooks, watching YouTube, or even answering the phone. And if you set your phone with an alarm, you will hear it through the buds. The Kokoon itself doesn’t have an alarm on it.
Personally, I don’t have trouble sleeping, so I haven’t tried them myself. I also don’t like to wear ear buds because I have small ears and I usually find them uncomfortable. But Bill says the NightBuds are comfortable for him, and they do come with a variety of included sizes for best fit.
I’m not being sponsored for this post… I just think this is an interesting gadget and wanted to share Bill’s experience. And since it looks like it might snow today, I don’t have any big plans for an outing. Maybe soon, the sun will come out, and we can go dine outside after we show our vaccination proof…
Sheesh, COVID-19 really sucks. I really hope we can enjoy some normalcy soon. But in the meantime, maybe we can help Bill sleep better. The featured photo is one rare instance in which Bill took a nap with Arran, device free.
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