Happy Saturday, y’all. Bill has to go to Greece on Monday, and he’ll be back Friday, I think. It will be a boring week for me, but maybe I can work on some music projects I’ve been wanting to do. Or maybe I’ll even make a travel video, or two…
For now, though, I want to write about last night’s wine stand. We had really nice weather, so there was an excellent turn out. I believe the stand was hosted by Breckenheim’s bike club. I don’t know for sure, but all of the folks in the kiosk were wearing black t-shirts with bikes on them.
We ran into our American neighbors last night, a same sex couple who live near us and have two kids. I had already run into one of them three times, as I walked the dogs yesterday. They ended up sitting near us, and we caught up on things. Prior to their arrival, we were just sitting quietly at a table, drinking wine. They didn’t have too many that were dry, last night.
Another American couple, their kids, and it looked like maybe the grandparents, also sat near us. We haven’t met that couple. In fact, I only know that the female half of it is from the US. She made it plain that she’s American, because she was wearing a t-shirt that featured a brewery chain that was founded in my home state of Virginia. They seemed to leave rather abruptly. I noticed it was just after I took a photo of Bill, laughed and said a touch too loudly that he looked constipated. 🤣
As they were leaving, I leaned over to Bill and said, “I guess they thought they were the only gays in the village.” (a reference to Little Britain, which is a hilarious British show we discovered the first time we lived in Germany) I don’t know if that’s actually why they left, but it wouldn’t be the first time I turned someone off by saying something “shitty”. 🤭
Or maybe it was just a coincidence that they left after I revealed where we are from… 🤷♀️
Anyway, we caught up with our neighbors, and just after we left, that American guy Alan, whom we met a few weeks ago, also showed up. But by the time he got there, we needed to pee, and didn’t want to use the toilet in the Dorfplatz. So we left… But I did get a few photos. Notice how packed it got! We also had some Spundekäs, which is a local delicacy up here in Hessen/Rheinland Pfalz. I’ve never seen it offered in the Stuttgart area.
Our neighbors said Alan had told them he’d met us, but he got our names wrong and called us “Brad and Janet”. We broke into the Rocky Horror Picture Show song, “Dammit, Janet”. 🤣 And we talked about how we managed to see that movie acted out. It’s not so easy, these days, to find showings of Rocky Horror, where people act out the scenes as the movie plays. I saw it presented that way just once, back in the early 90s, at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Norfolk, Virginia.
Constipated?
I do really enjoy living in Breckenheim. It’s a nice place to be, even if some of the people who build houses here are perverted. By the way, I’ve been working hard to avoid seeing that guy, and I’ve succeeded, as far as I can tell. Or maybe he got fired. I don’t know, but as long as he’s not exposing himself to me, it’s all good.
Although there were heavy clouds in the sky last night, and the air was decidedly muggy, Bill and I decided to attend last night’s wine stand in Breckenheim. It was the first one we’d been to in awhile, since the last one was scheduled due to dangerous weather, and the time before that, I didn’t feel like getting dressed. But we usually do like to attend the wine stands, because they are held for good causes– fundraisers for various local clubs, who host them. Also, it’s often a fun chance to meet new people who live in our little suburban burg.
Our local town square (the Dorfplatz) is usually where the wine stands are held. However, the stand was held at the town hall, because the square is currently undergoing renovation. They’re putting in a public toilet. I understand the toilet idea isn’t particularly popular, especially since the Dorfplatz has only existed for a short while– by German standards, anyway– and there’s a fountain that was only put in about ten years ago that might need to be removed. Prior to its becoming a Dorfplatz, the area was a parking lot.
I guess the toilet will be a good thing, though, since it will allow people at the wine stands to stay longer, rather than either going home, or using the toilets at the Rathaus. Also, there’s been talk about starting a weekly farmer’s market, which I’m pretty psyched about. I hope that happens before we have to move again.
Anyway, because a large portion of the square has been cordoned off for the construction of the toilets, the wine stand has been moved, and that’s a good thing for us, because we live even closer to the town hall than we do the Dorfplatz. So, even though Noyzi and Arran protested loudly, Bill and I walked down the street to have a couple of glasses of wine. It started to sprinkle, but we decided to let the locals have the tables under the shelter.
After about ten or fifteen minutes of sipping Riesling and telling jokes, we met two Americans who live very close to us… Actually, they live even closer to the town hall than we do, since their house is just behind the parsonage for the church. They heard our American accents and came over to introduce themselves. It turns out that the two women have two kids, and they’re living here as ordinary residents. I was really fascinated, as one did have ties to the military, but is in the Reserves and drills back in the States. The other is a lawyer and a pastor! She told us the combination isn’t as unusual as one might think! Right now, she works as a pastor, but will soon start a new job as an American lawyer for a bank. I’m assuming it’s an American bank with a branch nearby, but I didn’t ask about the details.
They told us about the process of getting new German driver’s licenses, and what is required for that. Unfortunately, they didn’t come from a state where they could simply exchange licenses. Some US states do have a reciprocity agreement with Germany. Texas is one of those states. And their kids go to the local schools, one of which is within sight of our house. Both speak German, too, even to their kids.
We really enjoyed talking to them… I do hope I didn’t come off as too forward, though. Not everyone knows what to make of me, especially when I’ve been socially distanced for two years. But I thought they were a nice couple, and I’m sure we’ll see them around.
We won’t be at the next wine stand, which will also be held at the Rathaus, because it will take place just before my 50th birthday. Bill has plans to whisk me off to Antwerp, Belgium for the weekend. I look forward to it, since I love Belgium. There’s great beer, delicious frites, exquisite chocolates, and dirty humor… Any place where one of the country’s symbols is a little boy peeing is alright with me. 😉
Here are a few random photos from last night’s activities!
The sun was out earlier.I could still hear the dogs barking as we approached.The school in the background as Bill stands in line. A new one is being built.Multiple attempts to take a cute photo.This one isn’t bad.Sponsors of last night’s festivities.All done.
I think we’ll go out for awhile today… See if we can find anything fun to do.
Those of you who have been following this blog for awhile might remember that a couple of years ago, before the COVID-19 plague began, my currently adopted town of Breckenheim would have wine stands during the warmer months. Naturally, that tradition had to pause last year, as the threat of the coronavirus among unvaccinated people was too great. We didn’t have them for most of this year, either, and the local powers that be even dismantled the permanent kiosk that used to be set up in the Dorfplatz.
In August, the wine stands finally started again, although not with the same regularity that they were held in 2019. We had to miss the first one in August, because we were in the Black Forest visiting the dentist. 😉 They had another one two weeks ago, but I got sick with my cursed stomach bug and we couldn’t attend. Finally, last night, the stars aligned, and Bill and I managed to make it to the wine stand, located just down the hill from where we live.
I was wondering what the stand would be like in the COVID era. I brought my purse with me, just in case masks were required. As it turned out, they weren’t. I also thought to wear warmer shoes and a wrap, because I had a feeling it would get chilly as the sun set. Here are a few photos!
Bill checks in with the Luca app.
This was one of the only things different about the wine stand last night…
And this was another, as we used to have a kiosk that was permanently stationed in the Dorfplatz. I’m told they will build a public restroom and a new kiosk soon.
The menu. I think the people who used to run the Alte Breckenheimer Stubchen were working.
First glasses of locally produced wine…
They had brats and broetchen…
And the aforementioned pumpkin soup, with curry. Bill enjoyed that. I also had a pretzel roll!
The event was well attended. I enjoyed watching everyone mingle.
Wine and chat everywhere!
The leaves are turning.
I took one guy by surprise as my camera flashed. Oops! I said “Sorry”, and he said, “Kein Problem!”
Lots of people were still partying when we left at about 8:00pm.
Last night’s wine stand turned out to be especially interesting. At one point, a lady came up to us and asked in German if she could sit down with the two adorable children with her. Bill answered in German. She continued speaking German, but Bill misunderstood her. She wanted to push in the bench so the kids wouldn’t get soup all over them. He thought she was just asking to sit down.
It turned out she was American, and had moved to Germany over forty years ago when her father was in the Air Force and stationed in Wiesbaden. She married a local and is now a very convincing German Oma to the two kids, who looked to be about 4 (boy) and 6 (girl) and were absolutely charming, with blond hair and blue eyes. They had these little bags of what looked like puffed rice cereal that they poured into the pumpkin soup. They reminded me of Trix, only they weren’t colorful. The American lady said they were salty. I had never seen them before, but I was curious. It looked like maybe she got them at a bakery. I’m not sure they were puffed rice, either. She said they were a type of grain.
I never did learn her name, but we traded a few stories. Her family is back in the United States, but I could see that she was totally integrated here– and I would have imagined so, after forty years! The folks at our table knew her and she was chatting easily with them. In fact, the locals were even friendlier than usual to us, too. Oma asked where we were from, and we told her– Arkansas for Bill, and Virginia for me. She didn’t know either state… although she does know Texas, and Bill spent a lot of time in Texas. I got a sense that maybe she kind of missed the US a bit, but that was only due to a fleeting look of wistfulness on her face.
Oma and the grandkids left, and the very friendly lady across the table, who didn’t really speak much English said she wanted us to meet someone. She kept mentioning that he was a gardener. Next thing we knew, a British guy was standing near us, chatting. The guy’s name was Steve, and he came from the northwest of England, which gave me a thrill. It turned out that before he had moved to Breckenheim, he had lived in Nagold, down at the edge of the Schwarzwald (Black Forest). Nagold is, of course, the town that was closest to us when we used to live in Jettingen! Bill and I used to go there all the time before we moved up to Wiesbaden! It was one of our favorite places in our old stomping grounds.
Steve said he’d lived in Nagold for about fifteen years. We sat there and talked about all of the little restaurants we visited, and Steve told us about how, back from 2008-2010, the city of Nagold did a massive beautification project because they were hosting a garden show there. We lived in Germany from 2007-09, also near Stuttgart, but that time we were in a little town called Pfaffingen, which is closer to Tubingen. We never discovered Nagold during our first German stint, although I do remember hearing it mentioned.
For all of the crap we went through in our last home near Stuttgart, I am still glad we lived there, because it did afford us the opportunity to visit a lot of places we would have missed if we’d lived closer to the military installations. I still miss Nagold a lot. It had a lot of what I love about cute towns, without the huge crowds and obnoxious traffic. If we ever move back to that area, I wouldn’t mind finding a home in Nagold… as long as the landlords are fair and respectful.
Steve was telling us that he really missed living in Nagold. I could relate. Wiesbaden is a nice area, and there are things about it that I enjoy, like wine stands. But I find the area near Stuttgart to be more authentic and interesting. It offers more of a pure German experience– or, actually, more of a Swabian experience, which is something else entirely. Up here, people are friendlier and more laid back, and there’s not as much thriftiness, but housing costs more and it’s a bit more built up. Curiously, despite being more built up, the traffic is much less terrible up here. Steve explained that a lot of the people in Breckenheim are politicians or are involved in finance. I can tell this neighborhood is kind of well-heeled. It has a different feel than either of our previous German towns. Down in BW, the atmosphere is more agrarian, although that doesn’t mean the standard of living isn’t high.
I think a big reason why the Frankfurt area seems less charming and authentic is because a lot of historic buildings were destroyed during World War II. And the ones that were rebuilt don’t have the same old world quaintness that the destroyed buildings had. But, I am glad we moved up here, if only because I can compare and contrast my German experiences, now. And wine stands are one nice tradition that Bill and I really enjoy.
Hopefully, this weekend, we will continue to have some fun, especially since it’s technically a holiday weekend. I think Bill is going to work on Monday, though, so we can take a trip soon.
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