Tag Archives: Greek food

Nagold

Olive Restaurant in Nagold…

We had such marvelous weather all week that I was itching to go have dinner al fresco.  So tonight, Bill and I decided to visit the Olive Restaurant in Nagold.  Although we’ve lived near Nagold since 2014, this was our first time visiting this Greek spot.  I first noticed it last fall when we visited the Waldachtal Restaurant and then when we went into the Black Forest a couple of months ago.  I could see they had a great Biergarten and today’s weather definitely called for that.  And I was in the mood for ouzo, too.  Off we went.

The Olive Restaurant is located on the western outskirts of Nagold.  We pass it when we go to the Black Forest.  Since we don’t always go that way when we head west, it’s easy to see how we missed this place for the three years we lived here before we had seen it.  The last time we passed it was when we went to see the wolf and bear park last month.  I remember making a mental note to go there then.

Tonight, we parked in their small lot, noticing that the restaurant is also a small hotel.  We walked in at 6:30pm.  A few people were already there, enjoying the covered Biergarten.  I was actually very impressed by the Biergarten.  It’s quite large and even boasts a swingset for the kids.  It looked to me like they hadn’t quite squared away the garten for the warmer weather, but I was glad to see it open tonight.

The front of the Olive…  

 

We had a seat and checked out the menu.  I’ve been following this restaurant’s Facebook page, so I know they have some impressive looking food.  But I wasn’t that hungry tonight.  We ordered our usual sparkling water and red wine.  Curiously, they didn’t have any wine in the menu, but we could see people were ordering it, so we just asked for dry red wine.  We ended up with a half liter of something.

Happy Bill.  I think the weather agrees with him.

 

They also brought us ouzo with ice in it.  I was immediately reminded of Raki, which is a Turkish thing.  

 

Bill decided on souvlaki and I went with my usual gyros.  Both dishes came with salads and fries.  I noticed they had fancier dishes that came with “tomato rice”.

 

Salad.  Not long after we ate them, the lady who brought our entrees accidentally knocked over Bill’s water.  It was no big deal and they were quick to clean up the mess.  At least there wasn’t any broken glass involved.

 

My gyros, well seasoned and loaded with raw onions, which I didn’t eat much of…  I prefer my gyros lightly onioned.  

Bill’s souvlaki, which was tender and juicy.  He really enjoyed it.

 

While we were eating, about four firetrucks came screaming through the roundabout right outside, along with at least three ambulances.  I have no idea what was going on tonight, but it appeared to be a pretty major incident.  Bill wondered if a factory caught on fire or something.  There were that many emergency vehicles!

We decided we were too full for dessert or coffee, so we called for the check.  The bill came to 37, 30.  At one point, the proprietor asked us if we were American.  We admitted to being American and said we live here.  He said he lives here too.  All of this was said in German, which seemed pretty cool, to me.

The entrance to the very nice Biergarten at Olive.  It looked like they had a number of regulars.

 

Now that my curiosity is satisfied, I can say that I’d return to Olive in Nagold.  I don’t know when that will happen, though, because I have an ever expanding list of places to try… and lots of places I need to visit again.  But if you’re near Nagold or live in the area, I can report that this is a nice place.  And in the warmer months, the Biergarten alone makes it well worth a stop.  And your kids can play while the food is being prepared.

Standard
Bavaria, short breaks

Rothenburg ob der Tauber: Part two– Eating Greek food and wearing Greek wine…

Friday night, after we checked into the amazing Anno 1499, Bill and I ventured out for dinner.  It was bitter cold and just a little ways into our stroll, the strap on my purse broke.  Oh well… as we passed the beautiful window displays in the stores on the main drag, I knew I’d be able to shop for a new one.  There were quite a few tour buses with many Asians aboard.  One was loading up as we strolled through the town, looking for a place to eat.  Just like Hallstatt in Austria, Rothenburg is obviously popular with Chinese and Japanese tour groups.  We ran into quite a lot of them over the weekend.

Christmas is big in Rothenburg… lots of Christmas shops are there.

Nighttime near the Markplatz.

Alice in Wonderland quote on a hotel door.

Another lovely window display…  this is a great town for anyone who likes window shopping!

We passed a Greek restaurant on our way toward the Marktplatz.  I had originally been wanting German food, but suddenly Greek food seemed more appealing.  Since I was freezing and annoyed by having to carry my purse rather than slinging it over my shoulder, we decided to turn around and try the Greek place.  It was called Kreta and located on Spitalgasse, the same street our rental house was located.  We arrived rather early, so there was only one other couple in the place when we sat down.

I ordered gyros with calamari and Bill had plain gyros, both of which came with salads.  As usual, we also ordered red wine and sparkling water.  This is where things went a bit awry.  Because Bill wanted two glasses of the same wine, the waiter suggested that we get a half liter, which came in a small pitcher.  Instead of putting the glasses down on the table and pouring the wine, our waiter chose to try to pour it while balancing the glasses on his tray.  Having waited tables before myself, I couldn’t help but think he was courting disaster. Sadly, I was right.

As the waiter poured the wine, the glasses pitched forward and fell onto the table, where one shattered, splashing red wine all over the place and spraying shards onto the table and carpet.  Fortunately the wine didn’t actually get on Bill or me– except maybe a few spare drops.  The waiter and the bartender cleaned up the mess with minimal help from Bill and me.  Meanwhile, our salads came out while the bartender went to get us more wine and new glasses.

A well deserved shot of ouzo after a disastrous first wine service attempt.

Nice salad, although I didn’t have much time to try it before our main courses were served.

My gyros and calamari with fries.  I could have had rice instead if I had wanted that.

Bill’s gyros.

The sign outside.

Greek pop music played and the waiter, who had a surprisingly decent voice, sang along.  We enjoyed the food, although no one else came in while we were eating.  It’s definitely low season in Rothenburg right now, though it wasn’t totally dead there.  A number of businesses had signs up indicating that they are going to be closed until mid March.  I wasn’t surprised because Ribeauville, France was the same way last year during MLK weekend.  This is when the hard working folks in touristy areas take a break.

We had a little more wine after dinner, then went back to the house and watched German TV before going to bed.  Since we don’t get German cable at our house, I always enjoy watching it when we travel, if only so I can note the differences (and inevitable similarities) in programming and advertising.  I slept very well Friday night!

Standard
Herrenberg

Herrenberg… and lunch at Cafe Atelier…

The weather is a bit gloomy again today, so Bill and I decided to keep today’s outing low key.  We went to Herrenberg for lunch and tried a place new to us, but not to the city.

The morning market was just finishing up when we arrived.

Herrenberg is such a cute little city.

 

We came upon Cafe Atelier, a cute little place I’d noticed a few times over the years but had never tried.  They had a bunch of chalk boards and a menu outside that made the place look inviting.  I could also see a large display case full of desserts.  Desserts will lure me every time, so we ventured inside.

A little cafe with lots of yummy looking baked goods out front.

 

When we walked in, we noticed a man standing behind the counter reading the paper.  There were two tables with ladies sitting at them, conversing animatedly.  I get the sense this cafe is very popular with ladies who lunch.  The inside is very feminine looking and cute.  Bill wondered if maybe the front room was only for people having coffee and pastries.  He walked toward the back room and the guy behind the counter stopped him and told him we could sit in the front room.

The encounter was a little bit awkward… but we had a seat.  I knew what I wanted immediately, a glass of Greek cabernet and the gyrosteller.  Bill ordered a different red.  The guy took our menus before we had a chance to order food.  Below is Bill’s expression at that…

Actually, he had a funnier one, but I was too slow on the draw to capture it.

Lots of good looking desserts!  We didn’t try any, though, because lunch filled us up.

 

The guy came back over after pouring my wine and told Bill that his choice was not available.  So Bill had a glass of the same cabernet I ordered.  We both settled on the gyrosteller.  I guess I must speak my limited German with a terrible accent, because I had to repeat myself a couple of times.  I should get someone to teach me to say “gyros” at the very least.  Happily, I no longer pronounce it “guy-rohs” like I did many years ago.

The little salad that came with the gyrosteller.  It had a rather strong mustard vinaigrette that was oddly sweet.  It wasn’t bad, but the flavor was more intense than I would have expected.  I appreciated that the salad wasn’t really big.  I prefer little salads.

 

While we were waiting for our gyros, I noticed the man behind the counter, who seemed to be a little bit over it.  He sneezed.  I was relieved when I saw him go to the sink.  But then I watched him rinse his hands without soap.  The public health educated side of me cringed a little.  A few minutes later, he blew his nose.  Then he went back to the sink and rinsed his hands again.  I guess I should be that grateful that he did that much.  Some people don’t.

Behold… the gyros with pommes and tzatziki.  These weren’t too bad.  They were well seasoned, at least, and I didn’t get the sense that the pork was really intended to be a schnitzel.  However, I don’t think the gyros were prepared the way they are at my favorite taverna, on a spiese.

 

We had a leisurely lunch and when it was all said and done, it cost just 29 euros before the tip.  Hopefully, we won’t be catching a cold.  Bill visited the restroom and noticed that the proprietors are okay with non customers using their toilet if you give them fifty cents.  I figure that’s fair, as long as the toilet is clean and stocked, which it evidently was.  I didn’t visit it myself.  We walked around the corner and passed a fruit and vegetable market, where there was some excellent looking fresh produce was offered.

I should have gotten one of these.

Produce worth getting excited over.

If we hadn’t purchased over two pounds of cheese in Alsace last weekend, maybe we would have stopped in…

Unique gifts for Christmas!

We decided to walk back to our car via Edeka.  Herrenberg has a large, impressive one that sells all manner of food, drinks, bras, and underwear.  They also have beer Advent calendars.  I already have a calendar full of liquor that I ordered from Master of Malt.  I like beer calendars, I guess, but German beers mostly taste the same to me in each of the few styles available.  But I can see why people get excited about them.

We bought ice cream instead.

 

A very considerate lady noticed we only had one item, so she let Bill go ahead of her.  It always makes me feel good when people are unexpectedly kind like that.  On the way home, I noticed the very dramatic skies…  Winter is on its way.

Looks like a spaceship is about to land.

I love it when sunlight streams through the clouds like this.

Standard
Baden-Württemberg, holidays

So much for Labor Day weekend…

I have been itching to get out of town for awhile now.  Thanks to Bill’s new job, he no longer has any leave accrued.  We will be leaving next weekend for a vacation in Scotland and Northern Ireland, but Bill will be “in the hole” for awhile until he makes up the days he’s going to take off.

We were thinking we might sneak away this weekend, since Monday is a holiday.  Then our RAV 4 started having some problems and Bill had to get them fixed.  The car is running decently now, but it wasn’t fixed in time to book anything for the weekend.

I thought maybe we’d go to the Weinfest in Stuttgart this weekend, but our dog Arran has been vomiting.  He doesn’t seem really sick, but I don’t want to leave him alone.  So I’ve been sitting here binge watching ER on iTunes, hoping nothing shitty happens before Saturday.

Maybe tomorrow we’ll get to go somewhere fun so I can blog.

We did manage to visit Agais in Entringen on Friday night.  If you’ve been reading this blog, you may know that Agais is kind of a special place for Bill and me.  We used to go there often when we lived in Germany the first time.  The proprietor, a man we jokingly call The Mad Scientist (but his name is actually John), was delighted to see us.  He thought we’d moved back to the States and was happy when we told him we won’t be moving for at least a year.

Bill looking plucky…

Flat bread vorspeisen…

I decided to have schnitzel with t’zatziki.  It was the first time I ever had schnitzel at Agais.  It was pretty good.  Not too large.  I still didn’t finish it, though.

Bill went with the usual gyros with baked potatoes.

It was nice to see the Mad Scientist and his wife again.  I wish we could have gone somewhere else this weekend, but I hope to salvage tomorrow… or, at least miss a trip to the vet.  We’ll make up for this week’s dearth of travel blogging after our trip to the U.K.

Standard
Baden-Württemberg

Dinner at Restaurant Bei Stefan in Jettingen…

Last night, Bill came home in a great mood because he managed to do something very good at work.  Add in the fact that we didn’t have much in the way of dinner fixings available and you have a situation that calls for dinner in a restaurant.  There’s a Greek place at a sports club in Jettingen that we hadn’t tried before last night.  Although we are fairly regular visitors to Taverne beim Griechen, which is at a sports club in Unterjettingen, we had never been to Restaurant Bei Stefan, which is a Greek restaurant at a club very close to Jettingen’s Real store in Oberjettingen.  I’m always up for finding new places to review, so off we went.

It’s funny that we’ve lived in Jettingen for almost three years now and we’d never dined at the sportsplatz near the Real.  It’s located right next to a roundabout on the other side of the road from the big store.  You drive down a road into a lovely wooded area and can pretty much forget how close you are to Jettingen’s shopping mecca.

These were the specials last night.

A good shot of the sign.

The small building where the restaurant is.  It’s right next to a soccer/football field.

 

I approached the restaurant cautiously and was taken off guard when a gentleman sitting on the terrace said “Guten Abend” to me.  I probably came off as rude as I mumbled a response.  I’m always a little timid when I approach people or places I don’t know.

We entered the restaurant and were welcomed by a friendly guy who shook our hands and invited us to sit anywhere.  We sat at a two top and started checking out the menu.

Bill in his usual restaurant pose.

 

Bill went with the souflaki, which was one of the specials last night.  I went with the Rodos Teller, which was gyros with calamari and t’zatziki.

Our dishes came with salads.  These were pretty good.  I liked the yellow beans on the bottom.

My Rodos platter looked and smelled great and wasn’t too much food.  

But I was even more impressed with Bill’s dish, which included two skewers of succulent grilled pork and oven baked potato slices.

As we enjoyed dinner inside, we watched some guys playing soccer on the field and listened to the obnoxious pop music being played in the dining area.  We also talked about politics.  Fortunately, Bill and I have similar political leanings, so our chat wasn’t one to induce indigestion.

We were the only ones in the dining room.  All of the other patrons were sitting outside on the terrace.  We might have joined them except it was unusually chilly last night and I didn’t bring a jacket.  After about an hour, we asked for the bill.  It came to 41 euros.  Although we didn’t get a house shot of ouzo like we do at Taverne Beim Griechen, we thought the food was pretty comparable.

I noticed that Restaurant Bei Stefan offered an interesting array of dishes.  They have Greek food, but they also have rib eye steaks, roast beef, grilled salmon, and even an impressive list of burgers.  I am often a little cautious about burgers in Germany (they tend to like to use a pork/beef mixture rather than just beef), but looking on their Facebook page, I see what looks like a tasty burger.  We may have to go back and try one sometime.

I am continually amazed by the number of sportsplatzes near us with decent restaurants and Greek food is always a pleasure in these parts.  This one in particular offers convenient access to Real, so we took the opportunity to stop in for some ice cream for me and dog toys for our boys.  Friday night is a great time to shop at Real, by the way.

I don’t know what today has in store for us, but it looks like we’re spoiled for choice.  Stay tuned!

Standard
Uncategorized

A long overdue visit to Agais…

Bill and I decided to eat out last night.  Since our usual go to Greek place, Taverne bei Dimi, came under new management/ownership, we haven’t been eating as much Greek food.  We decided to head down to Entringen to see the man we call “The Mad Scientist” (naturally, not his real name).  We used to live two kilometers from his restaurant when we lived in Germany the last time.  We were frequent visitors then, but we don’t get down there so much nowadays.

It had been awhile since we were last at Agais.  I like to get down there every once in awhile because I know the Mad Scientist and his wife enjoy our visits, both for the company and the money we spend.  The wife was the first to see us and welcomed us warmly.  Then, when we opened the door to the restaurant, her husband also lit up.  I’ve been kind of worried about him since we moved back to Germany because I know he had some health problems during our five years away.

When we lived in Germany the first time, our old friend spoke English like and native.  He told us he had lived in Canada for years and worked as an engineer.  Nowadays, his English is not what it was.  We have to speak more German, which is not really a bad thing, although we’re not so good at it.

We sat outside on the terrace. The weather was perfect!

We ordered some delicious flatbread, which was doused in olive oil and garlic and heated.  It was so good!

Bill had lamb with oven baked potatoes.

I had my usual gyrosplatter.  We also had sparkling water and our usual red wine, Athos.

 

I noticed that the portion size was a bit smaller.  Also, the salads used to come out separately with a basket of bread.  This time, the salad was smaller and on the platter with the gyros and there was no bread.  I didn’t mind, actually.  I usually end up wasting the bread and the salad, anyway.  That salad was just enough, although I would have liked another pepper.

We had a really pleasant meal at Agais last night.  We don’t really go for the food, but to see our old friend from our first Germany tour.  I’m glad to see that he seemed to be feeling alright and was in good spirits last night.  We’ll have to get back to see him again soon.

Standard
Uncategorized

Eating Greek at the sportsplatz…

Last week, I wrote about how our neighborhood Greek restaurant had apparently changed hands.  Although we were sad to find one of our standby haunts overtaken by smoking compulsive gamblers, maybe it’s not such a bad thing that Dimi’s is no more.  There’s another Greek place in Jettingen and I actually like the food better than Dimi’s.  It’s just that we could walk to Dimi’s, while the other place requires a very short drive.

I have written about Taverne Beim Griechen a few times on this blog, but it had been awhile since our last visit.  We decided to go last night because neither Bill nor I felt like cooking.  The usual waitress was there, offering her friendly brand of service without speaking English.  I kind of like that about her, especially since I’m finding it easier and easier to understand the local language.

I went with the Neptune platter, which consists of gyros and calamari with t’zatziki and rice.

Bill had the Korfu platter, which is gyros and souflaki.

 

As usual, the food was excellent.  I got a kick out of the music they were playing, too.  At one point, they were playing “Long Train Runnin'” by The Doobie Brothers.  Below is Bill’s reaction when I recognized the song.

Actually, I think he was just stunned because the flash caught him off guard.

 

We had wine and ouzo and got a kick out of the owner coming over to talk to a cute little girl and give her a little treat.  One thing I love about local restaurants is seeing how children get treated.  It seems like the Italians and Greeks are especially enchanted by kids.  It’s always funny that in that particular Greek place, they always bring me a “cowardly” shot after the meal.  I give it to Bill and drink the ouzo they give him.

I will miss Dimi a lot, but at least now I can visit the other Greek place without feeling too guilty about two timing him.

Standard
Uncategorized

A fabulous Friday!

Yesterday started off with Bill and me visiting the dental lab in Stuttgart.  I am in the end stages of getting a dental implant done for a baby tooth that abscessed last year.  There was no permanent tooth under my baby tooth, so I’m replacing it with an implant.  Last week, we went to the dental lab to allow them to get pictures and measurements for the new tooth.  The crown has now been fabricated.  Yesterday, I tried it on and got it adjusted before it gets permanently installed on Wednesday of this week.

Though it took some time to get the crown right, we finally got it to a point at which it’s pretty much perfect.  I was very excited to see the new crown, especially since it looks completely natural.  I will take a picture of my new smile next week as I write a detailed post about my whole experience of getting a dental implant in Germany.  I can hardly wait to get the big hole in my smile filled in!

After Bill dropped me off at home, I took the dogs for a walk.  We have a “dump” for yard waste in the forest area near our home.  Next to it is a locked area that I think is used to dump discarded bricks and lumber.  To be honest, I’ve never taken a long look at it to see what all gets left there.  This dump is located at about the midpoint of our usual route.  As we were about to pass it, we ran into a German guy with a tractor.  He was unlocking the gate to the dumping area.  It’s near a field we usually walk through when we’re exercising Zane and Arran.

As we were about to pass, suddenly a huge European hare bolted out of the gate, only to be confronted by my two hounds.  Both dogs were eager to chase the hare and it was all I could do to hang on to Arran, who was barking furiously and lunging at the scared creature.  The hare then spun around to go back the way it came, only to be confronted by the guy with his tractor.

The poor thing was confused and terrified and spent several seconds going back and forth in an frenzied attempt to escape.  I looked up at the German guy and met his eyes for a split second.  It was like we were both amazed and amused at the sight of this poor wild hare running for its life.  Finally, the hare figured out that it needed to go in one of the other two available directions.  It dashed to the left and made its escape.  I was finally able to drag the dogs away, though not without some effort.  I wish I’d been able to film that scene.  It was the kind of close encounter with nature you don’t see every day.

Bill got home from work early, so we enjoyed a couple of beers.  Then we went to Taverne bei Dimi, which is a Greek restaurant in our neighborhood.  We’ve been there quite a few times in the almost two years we’ve lived in Jettingen, though our last visit was a couple of months ago.  Dimi was happy to see us and had clearly upped his culinary game.  I have already reviewed his restaurant a few times, but thought I’d include a few photos of new stuff he offered last night.  I think he has someone new cooking.

A nice green salad and ouzo.  I prefer to skip the kraut because it gives me gas… 😉  Dimi also brought out an amuse, which is pictured on the salad plate.  Basically, it was a fried zucchini and cheese fritter.  It was delicious!  

Our usual gyros with an unusual dusting of paprika…  I brought about half of this home.

And then Dimi brought out a little surprise dessert for us.  This was a little piece of cake with a dollop of yogurt, some honey, and cinnamon.  It was an unexpected treat.

 

We came home and chatted a bit over beer.  Then we had a good sleep.

Today, we have plans to go to Ludwigsburg to their market.  We have to pick up a case of wine we ordered from a vintner in France.  Last time we lived here, we ran into these folks at the Tubingen market and liked their wine enough that we’d buy it regularly.  I got an email from them out of the blue a couple of weeks ago letting us know they’d be in Ludwigsburg today.  So we ordered the wine and will pick it up.  I was thinking we might visit Tubingen later, but it’s raining now.  We’ll see what happens.

Standard
Uncategorized

Another American in Jettingen!

Last night, Bill and I decided to go to Taverne bei Dimi’s for our Friday night Greek fix.  It turned out to be an interesting evening, mainly because there were more English speakers than Germans there.  In fact, we noticed one German couple sitting between our table and a large table of Germans and at least one Brit.  Everyone was speaking English.

The waitress was one I hadn’t seen before.  She seemed to be German and was very pleasant.  Dimi was happy to see us, too, and offered a wave as he served lots of food.

Bill and I decided to have something different and ordered a sampler platter for two…

We got two of these beautiful farmer’s salads.  I was enjoying filling up on the vegetables until I got an unusually hot pepper!  I could have used some yogurt!

This was our platter.  It came with Dimi’s yummy fries, bifteki, souvlaki, gyros, and pork steaks, as well as plenty of t’zatziki.  We managed less than half and brought the rest home.  This was a pretty good deal, too.  For two people, it was 27 euros.  

 

While we were eating, an older black gentleman and his son and daughter arrived.  I knew he was an American immediately because he wore a wedding ring on his left hand.  He sat down with the group of Germans and their British friend, but I noticed he kept looking over at us.  He eventually came over and introduced himself.  It turns out he and his family live in Oberjettingen.  His wife is German and he is a government civilian who wished to become a contractor because he’s about to be rotated out of Germany.

So he and Bill talked and it turned out he was trying to score an interview with Bill’s company.  Bill, being a “pay it forward” kind of guy, promised to talk to his boss.  I’m kind of a big believer in fateful encounters.  As I mentioned last week, I have a knack for running into people I used to know.  I also have a knack for doing things that end up benefitting others.

When I was in the Peace Corps, I helped out a beautiful young Armenian woman who was hoping to go to college in the United States.  I didn’t know her, but had noticed she had posted an ad in the Peace Corps office looking for people who had attended certain private east coast colleges.  She needed to be interviewed by alums in order to be accepted.  I happened to know a couple of people who had gone to the colleges she was interested in attending, so I took her number and passed it on to my friends.  They both talked to her and were very impressed.  She ended up getting a full scholarship to Bowdoin College.  She also got accepted to Hamilton College, which was the other school she wanted to attend.

I know about this because I ended up meeting her one night while visiting another friend.  She was dating an American teenager who was the son of a professor who worked for the US Department of Agriculture.  When she found out what I’d done, she thanked me profusely.  The Peace Corps does attract a lot of graduates of small, private, liberal arts colleges, but the odds there would be two local alums available in Yerevan was pretty slim.  Fortunately, someone noticed her ad and knew two people who could help her.

I am certainly not responsible for her success.   She was a very bright and engaging young woman who impressed my friends, who were alums.  All I did was help set the conditions for her success.  I’m thinking that maybe Bill can do the same thing for the man we met last night.  I think it’s a good way to foster positive karma.  I don’t know how my Armenian acquaintance’s story ended.  I’d like to think she enjoyed four years at a very exclusive school.  But I didn’t even know her well enough to be able to Facebook stalk her.  I only remember her first name.

Anyway, this guy we met last night has very good reasons for wanting to stay in Germany.  His son is in high school and plays football.  If they have to move, it’ll be to Fort Polk, Louisiana.  Granted, I haven’t been to Fort Polk, but I have heard it’s not exactly the greatest place to be.  And if you are a civilian, there’s no telling how long the government will keep you in an assignment stateside.

So, I’m hoping things work out for our new friend.  In any case, it’s nice to know we aren’t totally alone out here on the edge of the Black Forest.

Standard
Baden-Württemberg

Lavazza in Ludwigsburg!

Bill and I decided to go to Ludwigsburg today and stop by Heinrich’s to drop off some old beer bottles and pick up some new suds.  Because we left our house at noon, we got to town at about 1:00, which is kind of close to the “witching hour” of two.  That’s when some places quit serving lunch.

We’ve been to Ludwigsburg enough times to know where we can get a bite to eat all day, but I’m always looking for new places to try.  Since it’s been awhile since my last local restaurant review, we decided to look a little harder than usual.  Today, we left the main square, which we hadn’t done in a long time.  I think we went that way some time ago and didn’t think there were any restaurants around there.  We were wrong.

I noticed the inviting smells of seafood and a sign that said “Mediterranean Grill”.  We turned the corner and ran into Lavazza, a Greek cafe/coffee bar/restaurant.  They were doing a pretty good business when we came in and sat down at a large table in their small dining room.  A friendly lady gave us a couple of menus and I found myself tempted by a number of different options.  They had some enticing specials available, everything from mussels made with wine sauce to chicken breast with oven baked potatoes.  They also had a nice looking regular menu with many different and appetizing dishes to choose from.

Obligatory shot of Bill, looking happy to be about to eat lunch on the town.

 

I was really happy that we found a Greek restaurant.  It’s been too long since my last hit of t’zatziki.  Though I was definitely tempted by the fish, I ended up ordering plain old gyros.  The waitress, who spoke excellent English as well as Greek and German, asked if I wanted regular gyros or their gyros salad.  Not being an especially healthy eater, I went with the regular ones…

These were delicious.  The pork was very fresh, well seasoned, and flavorful.  I liked the way they did their t’zatziki, too.  And the pommes, while pommes, were thick and hot.  I paired this with a glass of Chilean sauvignon blanc because at first, I thought I was having fish.  Next time, I will have fish for sure!

 

Bill had one of the specials.  It was grilled pieces of chicken breast and olives served with baked potato wedges.  He had a glass of very nice St. George wine from Greece.  It was dry and tasted a bit like sour cherries.  Perfect wine for a nasty rainy day like today.  

I really enjoyed the atmosphere in Lavazza.  Though it was a little crowded in the small dining room, their bar area was a little more conducive to smaller parties.  There were pub tables in there.  I noticed they were playing sexy Spanish music on the sound system.  I even had to Shazam one or two songs because I liked them so much.  I also noticed the awesome looking cakes on display.  Had I not been so full after failing to finish my lunch, I might have tried one.  They offer breakfast, too.

The outside.  There’s an umbrella set up out front for those who want to smoke.  

Service at Lavazza was very friendly and competent.  I told Bill I hoped we could go back and have dinner there sometime.  They had some dishes that looked very interesting and were priced accordingly.  The bill for today’s lunch was 38,90 before tip.  It included a house shot of ouzo.

We parked near the train station.  On the way there, I noticed the ebikestation.  You can book one and ride all over town to your heart’s content.

And they have instructions in English, too.

Random graffiti shot.

 

After lunch, we went to Heinrich’s, bought some beer, and proceeded to annoy a bunch of Germans because I picked an item that wouldn’t scan.  We ended up having to leave without it because there was no way to pay for it.

Then, we visited some friends on Kelley and enjoyed a little gathering…  It’s been awhile since I last socialized.  I may need to make more of a habit of getting out and about.

Standard