Tag Archives: family friendly

Hessen, Sundays

Charlie’s first Biergarten visit!

On August 20, 2023, I wrote a blog post about how we took our Kosovar street dog, Noyzi, to the Birkenhof Hofladen’s Biergarten, the Bembelschänke. Noyzi had a great time during that visit. I was thinking we’d go back there more often this year, but we’ve been so busy that we never got around to it. Yesterday, the weather was warm and sunny, and we decided it was time to go back to the Biergarten. Charlie has now been with us for three weeks, and we wanted to see how he’d handle a car ride. We already know that Noyzi is always up for a road trip!

We arrived at the Bembelschänke at about 3:00 PM. The Biergarten had plenty of empty tables, so we chose one far from the crowd. I noticed the owners had put in a sprinkler/fountain that kids were playing with. It wasn’t there last year. Other than that, it was a comfortingly familiar place, as I recognized several of the wait staff who were there last year.

There was a large family in one corner of the Biergarten. They were having some kind of celebration, as they were singing a song together. This isn’t the first time Bill and I have stumbled across a celebration in a public place involving some of kind of performance. I found it charming!

Bill had a cheese plate, while I had wurst with farmer’s bread and a nice fresh salad. I don’t usually get that excited about wurst, but I really liked what they had… and I especially enjoyed the salad. I’ve noticed that cherry tomatoes in Germany are sweet and delicious– almost like candy! In the states, tomatoes taste kind of sour to me and I don’t enjoy eating them raw. But here, they are completely different and vastly superior. As someone who needs to eat more produce, I appreciate that tomatoes, peppers, and lettuce are so lovingly grown here.

The boys behaved pretty well, although Noyzi was barking a bit. Charlie was completely chilled out and at home. He’s going to be the kind of dog we can take anywhere. After we enjoyed some beer, we stopped by the Hofladen’s self-service fridge and picked up a couple of farm fresh items for home. You just pick out what you want and you’re on your honor to pay for it, although that particular Hofladen has security cameras.

Below are some photos…

Noyzi loves car rides!
This was really good!
The hall they have for parties.
A good venue for winter!
Charlie was exhausted after our visit to the Biergarten. He took a nap in our backyard.

Our visit to the Bembelschänke was an excellent way to cap off a memorable weekend in Germany. I hope we can do it again before fall arrives. But… actually, we’re going to be in Iceland very soon, so maybe our next visit will have to wait until 2025.

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Sundays

Our first visit to the Bad Camberg Treetop Walk!

“Tree walks” have become extremely popular in Germany, and in Europe as a whole. When Bill and I first moved back to Germany in August 2014, we heard about the very cool Black Forest Treetop Walk (Baumwipfelpfad Schwarzwald). It was completed in September 2014, and Bill and I visited there in May 2015. We were amazed by the innovative, well-built, family friendly structure that offered easy views of the Northern and Central Black Forest as visitors also got their daily exercise. We meant to visit again, but never got around to it, since there are so many awesome things to do in the Schwarzwald.

Fast forward to today. I am a member of a few Facebook groups that feature photos and ideas for things to do in different parts of Germany. Yesterday, someone shared a post about the Bad Camberg Tree Walk, which opened in May 2023, and is only about a 35 minute drive from Wiesbaden. Since Bill and I are hoping to get moving again, for the sake of our health, we decided to go there today. We had a great time!

The Bad Camberg Baumwipfelweg is much like the Baumwipfelpfad Schwarzwald in terms of its concept. However, it does not appear that these attractions are run by the same companies. The Bad Camberg tree walk is administered by an outfit called Forest Adventures, while the Baumwipfelpfad Schwarzwald is operated by Adventure Academy AG.

I noticed differences between the two walks. The one in Bad Camberg is extremely solid and sturdy and family friendly, just as the Schwarzwald tree walk is. But the walk in Bad Camberg doesn’t have a slide, nor does it have as many kid friendly activities. It also has a lot more steps to climb than the Schwarzwald tree walk has. However, I bet that once this attraction has been around a bit longer, they’ll build some activities for children. Bill and I think the next upgrade will be a playground, probably with tables and chairs and a kiosk, so the parents can have a drink while their kids play.

Unlike the tree walk in the Black Forest, the Bad Camberg location allows dogs. Parking is free of charge (at this writing), and there is a restaurant connected to the walk itself, rather than run outside of the tree walk. I thought the Bad Camberg tree walk offered better views and a slightly more “adult” experience, although the tree walk in the Schwarzwald is stroller friendly and doesn’t require steps. The Schwarzwald tree walk is a gradual ramp to the top, while the Bad Camberg tree walk requires climbing many stairs.

You have to walk about five hundred meters on a gravel road to get to the Bad Camberg tree walk. There are hills on the walk, but it’s got a lovely canopy of trees shading the way.

Tickets for adults are 9,90 euros. Family tickets are available, and children between the ages of 6 and 17 get in for 5,90 euros. It was clear to us that this attraction is very new, but there were many people visiting. I didn’t hear any other Americans besides us, though. You enter and exit the tree walk at the same place, which is also different from the one in the Schwarzwald, where you don’t backtrack at all.

The restaurant has just opened, and we had lunch there. Although the service was a bit slow, mainly due to everything being cooked to order, the food was quite good and reasonably priced. They offer burgers (including vegan), Flammkeuchen, salads, and a variety of snacks and beverages. Restrooms are clean, although on my first visit, the ladies room needed to be restocked. The job was done by my second visit. Please note, the restaurant only accepts cash payments! If you just want ice cream and/or a beverage, you can get that at the entrance where you buy your tickets.

Below are some photos from today’s adventure. I think we’ll be back. I’d love to visit when the leaves are changing. We did get a little rain when we were at the top of the tree walk.

I had a regular cheeseburger.
Bill had a Bad Camberg cheeseburger, with cranberry sauce and Camembert cheese.

And below are a few shots I got as we were leaving Bad Camberg, which is a cute town that begs to be explored more…

Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves, and I hope we can visit again. If not, I hope this post will inspire a few readers to make the trip. Just be sure your knees can take it before you go! There are a lot of steps to climb. Also, be aware that if you get vertigo at heights, you might not want to try this activity. I’m not afraid of heights, but I did notice that I got a little dizzy at the top!

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Lunch at Wichtel Hausbrauerei in Böblingen

Tonight is the last night we will spend at our soon to be former house in Unterjettingen.  Tomorrow, the packers will come and we’ll spend a night at the Hotel Adler in Nagold.  Tuesday, we’ll load up our stuff and be on our way to Wiesbaden.  It will be my last day in the house.  Our new house has no carpets (hallelujah) and is a bit larger than the house we’re leaving.  I love not having carpeting to worry about, but I do worry about the beautiful new floors that are in our new home.  We decided to visit the Turkish rug guys at Panzer and load up on some floor coverings.

Now… this was not my first time buying carpets at Panzer.  A couple of years ago, we bought a couple of rugs for our living room.  I have to admit, they kind of look like hell now, mainly because they’re stationed right by the doors to the outside.  I don’t expect the new rugs we bought today will hold up much better.  They are better, and more expensive, than the shitty rug sets often sold in the PX, and I like the way they look more than the German rugs I’ve seen.  For many reasons, IKEA really doesn’t do it for me.

But before we bought rugs, we went into AAFES to buy new toothbrushes and some face cream. We ran into Bill’s soon to be former boss and Bill chatted with him.  Then we happened to check out behind a guy who had a rather complicated order that took some time to process, so I took the opportunity to crack inappropriate jokes.  Bill later told me the guy is a high ranker on post.  I wasn’t surprised.  He definitely had the air of a general.

Then I was waiting for Bill to use the men’s room.  While I was waiting, a vendor offered me free chocolate.  I thought about taking it, but a pre-teenaged girl swooped in front of me and grabbed it before I could act.  I kind of laughed about it, and the vendor said he had more chocolate, but I plan to be pounding beer throughout the rest of the moving process… except when we’re driving to Wiesbaden.  I have to be totally sober for that.

Anyway, after we bought our AAFES stuff, we went to see the Turkish rug guys, who were only too happy to help us.  I walked out of there with three large rugs, a runner, and a smaller rug for my office.  They threw in the hall runner for free.  Nice of them, and I’m sure we’ll use it.  I’m also sure I’ll be visiting the rug guys in Wiesbaden, if they have them there.  I’m not sure why they wouldn’t, since I’ve seen those guys at every European base I’ve been to… perhaps with the exception of Lajes Field in the Azores.

After we dropped 1200 euros on rugs, we decided to have lunch.  I think Bill was originally planning to visit Patch to return some electronic Swiffer products we bought without realizing they won’t work without massive transformers.  But after our large purchase, I think Bill was ready for a drink.  We decided to try the Brauhaus in Böblingen, but as usual on a Sunday afternoon, it was packed.  So we moved on to the Flugfeld, where I knew there were a couple of restaurants besides Check Inn Foodport we hadn’t tried.

Actually, that complex has at least three restaurants.  There’s Check Inn Food Port, which is very nice for a dinner date.  Tower 66 Steakhouse is open for lunch until 3:00pm on Sundays, then takes a pause until 5:30pm.  And then there’s Wichtel Hausbrauerei.  I noticed Wichtel got some pretty mediocre reviews on Google, but they didn’t have a pause.  Sold!

We walked around the restaurant’s generous terrace, which still had some tables out, though they weren’t set up for outdoor dining.  To enter the restaurant, you must walk into the Motor World building.  Then you go in and find a seat.  Unlike at the Schoenbuch Brauhaus, there were plenty of spots open at Wichtel Hausbrauerei.  We chose one near the taps.  I needed a slight boost to get up on the tall seat.  I actually like high chairs because I’m short, but I’m also getting old, which makes getting up and down on them harder than it used to be.

The outdoor area.  You have to walk around this to get inside the restaurant.

Welcome!  I really should have stopped to look at the specials for today.

An adorable young man stopped to ask for our drink orders.  Seriously, he was super cute.  I bet his mom is proud of him.  Not only was he good looking, he was also very charming and congenial.

I asked for a weizen and he rattled something off in German, which took me by surprise.  Actually, I know he was asking me which size I wanted.  At Wichtal, you can get a beer in three sizes– .33 liter, .5 liter, or a liter Krug.  Bill started answering in German, but then the guy switched to perfect English and offered me a menu in my native tongue.  I actually do pretty well reading German menus.  It’s just speaking German that kills me.  I can only sing in German.

Bill decides on lunch.  The choices are somewhat limited if you don’t want pizza.

So Wichtel has what appears to be a hybrid of regular pizza and Flammkuechen.  I asked the waiter what it was like and he said it was like both pizza and Flammkuechen.  He said the rest of it was “marketing”.  Our winsome waiter was not only friendly and adorable, he also had a sense of humor.  What a cutie pie!  Too bad I’m happily married, fat, and old enough to be his mother.  I noticed his name was Valentin.  He’s aptly named.  Hubba hubba!

I ascertained that the “pizza” would be too big for me to eat by myself and I am not trying to bring home more food as we’re trying to clear out of here.  I ended up ordering what was described as “roast beef”.  I had a choice of spaetzle, potato salad, or fries as a side.  I decided to be extra healthy and went for fries.  Bill ordered a schnitzel.

If I had paid more attention, I could have ordered today’s special, which was half a duck.  I believe they had another type of braten on special today.  Besides pizza, schnitzel, and “roast beef”, they also had salads, sausages, and other drunk food.  They also had a kids’ menu.

I liked their coasters.  They reminded me of myself.  Bill said they reminded him of Starbucks.

Someone was doing shots of some sort… You can see the barkeep pouring them.

So this was my lunch.  It turned out the “roast beef” was actually a strip steak.  Bill reminded me that sometimes what we think of roast beef is not really roast beef to Germans.  It’s steak.  This was German beef, which was okay.  It was smothered in a brown gravy and dried onions.  Not the way I usually eat steak, but it wasn’t bad.  I’m probably done eating for the day.

Bill’s Schnitzel was your standard Schnitzel.  It came in two pieces with a side of potato salad and gravy.  While I don’t know that we necessarily really wanted to eat German food today, it wasn’t a bad thing that we did.

 

Prices at Wichtel are very reasonable.  It’s a very family and kid friendly place.  And although Google reviewers gave it mediocre reviews, we thought the service was quite good.  I was smitten with Valentin.  I wonder if he’d be my Valentine…  LOL… I’m kidding.  I only have eyes for my Bill.  Anyway, our tab came to 41 euros, which gave Bill significantly fewer heart palpitations than our purchase of five rugs did.  But I figure I could spend that much on one really nice rug from the Middle East.  And as long as I have dogs, I won’t be doing that.

So ends today’s review… perhaps the last one I write of a restaurant in this area for the time being.  Or maybe we’ll go somewhere in Nagold tomorrow night, our last down here on the edge of the Black Forest.  I’m seriously going to miss it…  Especially the views from our house.  But as the Brady Bunch sing, when it’s time to change, it’s time to change.

One more picture for the road.  My view is about to change substantially.

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