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Lunch at Il Due and I finally signed up for a cell phone contract!

When Bill and I first moved back to Germany in 2014, we resisted signing up for a cell phone contract.  It was mainly because we didn’t know how long we’d be living here and we knew cancelling contracts in Germany can be a pain in the ass.  For three years, Bill has been buying me Vodaphone pay as you go top ups.  They run 25 euros each and I usually need at least one a month.  I get one GB before the speed is throttled… or, at least that was the way it was at first.

I got a new phone for Christmas.  In honor of the occasion, Bill decided to take me out today to sign up for a contract.  He chose O2 because they have a deal where you can get 10 GB of data a month for about 20 euros.  He later said it was closer to 30 euros, probably because they add a VAT or something.  I don’t know.  I am not the one paying the bill.

Before we went to the shop, located in Nagold’s fabulous Edeka supermarket, we stopped at Il Due for lunch.  I decided on the duck special.  Bill ordered swordfish.  He had a Pinot Grigio and I had a Barbera red.  Sadly, the duck came with hated mushrooms all over it, so we ended up trading plates. These are photos from my new iPhone 8+.

 

The swordfish was originally Bill’s choice, but I ended up eating it.  It came with a nice healthy side of vegetables and was covered with a tapenade with onions, capers, and black olives.  I was good today. I even ate the Brussel’s sprout.

Bill had the duck breast with its mushroom infested gravy.  It came with a side of cheesy potatoes, which Bill said were nice, and a side of vegetables.  I actually enjoyed the vegetables, which were cooked al dente and were very flavorful.  If I ate more vegetables, I might be less hulking than I am.

 

This was our third trip to Il Due.  Our first visit was a couple of months ago, even though we had been wanting to try the place for most of the time we’ve been here.  So far, we have not been disappointed by the food.  It’s always been excellent.  Service can be a little slow, but it’s always friendly and competent.  It’s a nice place to stop for lunch when we’re in Nagold.  Today’s lunch before the tip was about 60 euros.

We went to the O2 store after we ate and had to wait about fifteen minutes or so, since the young man who was working there was helping someone else.  When it was our turn, Bill asked if the guy spoke English.  He said a little.  Bill said he speaks a little German.  Then he proceeded to speak German for about 90 percent of their collaboration.

I was waiting for Bill to find the IBAN (account number), since he did not take my advice and get a German bank account and an EC credit card.  He says he’s going to rectify that mistake pronto.  I hope we’ll be here long enough to make it worthwhile.

Bill brought his passport and a utility bill, but neglected to write down the IBAN.  Fortunately, he found it on our water bill.

 

The guy the O2 employee had been helping before he helped us offered to translate if we needed it.  It turned out he spoke perfect English.  We have found that fewer people in Nagold speak English.  In a way, it’s kind of refreshing.  They don’t automatically slip into English when they hear Bill speak German and he gets in his practice.  I am myself learning more of the language, but can’t really speak it.  I understand a lot more now, though.  It’s good to watch the German ads on YouTube and the odd video my German friend, Susanne, shares with me.

We stopped by Edeka to pick up some Champagne for tomorrow night.  We left with several bottles of wine and a box of chocolates.

I was amused by the sweet, well-behaved dogs sitting outside the store.  I wish mine were like that.

We were checking out… and once again, I noticed the warnings on the boxes of tobacco.  I snapped this picture to remind myself to look them up online.  In one warning, there was a shirtless man pictured looking down.  I couldn’t help but wonder what he was looking at.  My guess is that the warning is that cigarettes cause impotence due to heart disease.  I love how blunt the warnings are.  They aren’t simple text like they are in America.  No… here, you get photographic evidence of how nasty cigarettes are.

 

Below are a few photos from Nagold today.  It’s still decorated for Christmas.  I always enjoy visiting Nagold.  It’s hard to believe we live only a few miles away and the landscape is so totally different.  I definitely think we should shop at Edeka in Nagold over the Real in Jettingen.  It’s a lot more pleasant.

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Nagold

New glasses and lunch #2 at Il Due in Nagold…

A couple of days ago, Bill and I went to the optometry clinic on Patch Barracks.  We both badly needed to get our eyes checked.  It had been about three years for both of us and I knew my prescription had changed noticeably.  So we went in and had a good exam, which I wrote about here.

Today, we decided to take advantage of the American/non German holiday and visit a optical shop.  We went to Nagold, because there are several eyewear shops there.  We stopped into Pro Optik, which is clearly a chain, and picked out frames.  We happened to be there during a sale, which was a good thing.  I found frames that I think/hope will be more comfortable than the ones I have now.

The guy who helped us was really young and spoke a little English… his English was better than our German.  Using both languages, we got the job done.  He got us set up for glasses and we gave him a short lesson on American politics.  Like most every German we run into, he was interested in our thoughts on Trump and Clinton.  He even laughed and said, “Fuck Trump.”, which I thought was interesting.  In America, if you heard someone helping you in an eyewear store saying that, they’d probably get fired!

After about a half an hour or so, he had our fittings done and said we’d have new glasses by December 8th.  We’ll be out of town if that’s when they get to us, but at least I have the right contact lens for my right eye, which needed a stronger prescription.  I can see a whole lot better now.  I think our two pairs of glasses will cost approximately five hundred euros together.  I’ll be glad to ditch the ones I’ve been wearing and it’ll be nice to see Bill in a pair that weren’t issued by the Army.

I very rarely wear glasses, so I have never really shopped for them very often.  Today, after realizing that we don’t speak German, the sales staff kind of left us to our own devices to pick out frames.  It was kind of nice.  Usually, I get some lady in the optometrist’s office trying to get me to upgrade.  I remember in 2002, I bought new glasses and got the kind that turn into sunglasses.  They were very expensive and ultimately a waste of money, since I rarely wear my glasses out of the house.  Last time, I bought a pair in Georgia.  They were on sale and look okay, but they aren’t very comfortable.  I think the new pair is a little more comfortable and more my style.  I probably still won’t wear them much, though.

After we ordered our glasses, we decided to have lunch at Il Due, which is an Italian place we tried for the first time last month.  I’ll be honest.  I wasn’t planning on having lunch in Nagold, but the smell outside of Il Due was so good that I was lured in.  Bill was game, too.

Today, we opted for some traditional Italian.  They had lasagne as a special.  After finding out there were no mushrooms in it, I ordered that.  It came with a side salad.  Bill had a Pizza Salami.

My side salad.  They have a few varieties of dressings available.  I went with a vinaigrette.  

Bill’s pizza was outstanding!  We will have to come back and get take out from there.  It was probably some of the best locally made pizza I’ve had yet.

And my lasagne, which was delightfully cheesy and included peas and meat sauce.  It was a little bland, but otherwise very enjoyable and filling.  I couldn’t quite finish it.

As we were enjoying lunch, we were marveling at how many nice restaurants we have in Nagold.  Seriously… for its size, it really does offer a great variety of high quality eateries.  I think I like it more than even Tuebingen.  We had half of Bill’s pizza packed up and paid about 33 euros before tip for our lunch.  Tonight, I think we’re having pork loin at home.  I’d like to have a Thanksgiving meal, but it’s just the two of us.  That’s one bummer about being in Germany during the holidays.  But at least there are good restaurants here.

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Baden-Württemberg

Lunch at Il Due in Nagold…

I have been wanting to try Il Due (the two), an Italian restaurant in Nagold, for ages.  We went there one night and they were totally full.  Most times, when we visit Nagold, we notice this restaurant right off the main square is completely packed.  Although I was struggling with very irritated eyes thanks to fall allergies, we decided to go to Nagold today… and wonder of wonders, we managed to get a table at Il Due.

The place was rather full, but not entirely so.  We sat down next to a very pleasant looking German couple who were very friendly to us.  After we ordered drinks, they moved to another recently vacated table because they ran into another couple they knew and were invited to join them.  I didn’t know it at the time, but the same thing would happen to us about an hour later.

Anyway, Bill and I decided to order from today’s specials.  Bill had a glass of Pinot Grigio and I had a glass the Barbera region in Piemonte.  He had ravioli with Steinpilzen (stone mushrooms) and I had Seeteufel (monkfish) with black tagliatelle and vegetables.  The dining room was energetic, with plenty of of locals enjoying the Italian fare.  I’m pretty sure there was a birthday party going on in a private dining room, too.  We saw people leaving with bouquets of flowers.

Bill studies the menu.  We had plenty of time to look at the menu because service was a little slow.  No big deal, though.

There were only a couple of women taking care of the whole dining room, so service was a bit slow.  It wasn’t a big deal, though, because we weren’t in a hurry.  Our big plan after lunch had us going to the Lidl to buy German style American food for tomorrow’s blog post.  When our food did arrive, it didn’t disappoint.  I could see why Il Due is so popular.

A well stocked wine shelf.  Il Due has a nice bar area with padded benches.  

I went with a Barbera that was on special.  It had really nice jammy flavors with rich red fruits and was just very slightly effervescent.  Bill had the house Pinot Grigio, which was tart, but not all that exciting.  He liked it fine.

Bill’s ravioli, which was priced at about 14 euros.  It was filled with mild mushrooms and topped with rocket, freshly shaved Parmesan cheese, and a cream sauce.  I didn’t try it because mushrooms are of the devil.  But Bill loved it.

I was very happy with my choice, which sold for 24,80.  I’m pretty sure the price was mainly because of the saffron cream sauce.  Seeteufel is monkfish, which is also known as angler.  It’s very dense and reminds me a bit of catfish, without the dirt essence that usually comes with catfish.  It was lightly fried and served with black tagliatelle, black because it was infused with squid ink.  And there were lightly sauteed green beans, carrots, and broccoli.  I really enjoyed this dish, though I couldn’t finish the pasta.

As we were eating, Bill noticed the family that lives across the street from us.  They sat at a table at the back of the restaurant and didn’t notice us by the window.  Just as we were finishing lunch, they saw us and we ended up hanging out for awhile.  I had a couple more glasses of wine, switching to primitivo, which was also very nice had a pleasant vanilla essence.  Our neighbor had a rose that she said was a bit sweet.  We ended up having a great chat and I almost felt a little sad for the wait staff, since they were having their “pause”.  I will note that they were very gracious.  Our neighbors’ daughter had tiramisu for dessert.  The neighbor had a beer; his wife had another glass of wine and so did I.  And we finally got to know each other better after having lived across the street from each other for three years.

I guess Il Due is that kind of place… where people meet and hang out.  We saw more than a few people running into each other there today.  The food was very good.  The service was pleasant and professional.  I would not hesitate to visit again, although I would recommend reservations if you’re going on a popular night like Friday or Saturday.  It’s not a big restaurant and it’s very popular in Nagold.  Pizza and pasta is available, as well as fish and beef.  Warmly recommended!

In warmer months, outdoor seating is available.

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