Multiple overlapping blurred Snellen eye charts with various letters decreasing in size

Military, Rheinland-Pfalz, United States

I really needed a drink after yesterday’s eye exam ordeal…

Bear with me, folks. It’s a surprisingly long story… The featured photo is AI, but it kind of looks like the eye test from yesterday, only it’s not as blurry.

Bill and I were greeted with beautiful sunny skies yesterday morning. The temperature was perfectly comfortable. It would have been a great day to drive my Mini Cooper convertible, which really could use the “exercise”. We decided to drive the Volvo, instead, and made our way to Ramstein Air Force Base, so I could take care of my vision test for my driver’s license renewal.

Ramstein is about a 90 minute drive from where we live. It’s not far from the French border– maybe 45 minutes or so. The area around the base is really beautiful, although it’s pretty much a mini America. Ramstein has many facilities and is a convenient perq for those of us with military privileges, living in Germany. Although part of the usual route we take is currently closed for renovation, we made it to the base with plenty of time before the optometry clinic would be closing (3:30 ish).

I didn’t think the test would be a huge deal. We already had the passable results of the eye test I had struggled to take in Wiesbaden last month. However, the optical shop in Wiesbaden couldn’t do the apparently newly required peripheral vision test, so I had to get a new exam done at Ramstein. At least the test in Wiesbaden was free of charge.

The Texas driver’s license officials had indicated that they only needed proof that my peripheral vision was passable, since my vision test results from Wiesbaden were passing. I thought our visit would be brief and uncomplicated. We definitely hadn’t planned on spending so much time with the optometry technician in Ramstein, a tiny white woman who appeared to be about Bill’s age. She immediately made an impression as we approached.

The lights in the optometry clinic were turned off, and she was sitting behind the desk, barely noticeable from outside. At first, I was afraid the office was closed. But then we saw her, and the hours posted on the door. The lady behind the desk– I’ll call her “Mary” (likely not her real name)– was very friendly, but as soon as we started trying to explain what we needed, she broke in and told us that the clinic was going to be shut down in July. Then she started ranting about the driver’s license exams, and how they would not be able to do them, because the two optometrists at the clinic are leaving and there are not any plans to replace them.

I started to worry that she was going to tell us she wouldn’t be able to help us, but then she said the magic words.

“I’m going to take care of you today. We’ll get you squared away.”

She addressed me directly, which I appreciated. After a few moments listening to Mary, I definitely got the sense that I was one of the lucky ones coming in under the wire for services at Ramstein. Unless, of course, something happens, and they get new optometrists to work in lovely Germany, so that people like us can be taken care of by Americans with American credentials, and still be able to renew our driver’s licenses, so we’ll be legal to drive.

I listened to Mary talk about how the requirements for the exams could not be met once the doctors left, because the driver’s license offices in the United States required stamps from licensed US based optometrists. I was thinking about all of the times I’ve renewed my driver’s licenses in person. Never on any of those occasions have I had to submit paperwork from a licensed eye doctor. I just did a very basic test involving looking into a machine with both eyes, conducted by the government flunky handling my request.

I guess things have changed. To hear Mary explain it, officials in the States are getting a lot stricter about eye tests for driver’s licenses. I gather it’s because officials don’t want anyone getting a driver’s license who isn’t “legal”. 🙄 But maybe it really is about public safety. Who knows?

I explained to Mary that I’d already (barely) passed the eye test in Wiesbaden, and the Texas officials had only requested a peripheral vision test. Mary told us she had to charge us $34, whether we did the whole thing or just a part. She seemed to think I needed a new test, and scoffed at what they’d done in Wiesbaden. She even said we should get our money back, and laughed when we said the test had been done for free. I didn’t really care about the $34, I just wanted to get this over with… but Mary seemed intent on doing her job, so I did the whole thing over again.

Thank GOD I brought my glasses with me, because if I hadn’t, I would not have passed. I certainly CAN see well enough to drive, but I am in need of a new prescription. I have astigmatism that isn’t currently corrected by my multifocal lenses. I can see better if I wear toric lenses, but I can’t read with the toric lenses. I can read with multifocal lenses, but my vision isn’t as sharp. My prescription is way off anyway, because it’s been years since I last went to the eye doctor. In Germany, you can just buy your lenses without a prescription. I’m pretty sure I need bifocals.

Mary was very nice, but she was really stressing me out during the exam. She exuded the slight shaming and judging one gets from medical professionals when patients don’t do things exactly as they should or haven’t been “living properly”.

I didn’t use the eye cover exactly right, and she corrected me for that. She was a little disapproving because I had dusty glasses, as I only wear them to watch TV at night, and then only for a few minutes. She chastised me when she did the peripheral test for turning my head as she talked to me. I hate it when medical people act that way. I have authority issues as it is, but it’s especially annoying when you have to pay for that treatment.

Another example of that kind of behavior…

My husband, Bill, has had to take blood pressure meds for almost as long as I’ve known him. He gets nervous when he goes to the doctor, so his blood pressure goes up. One time, he went to see the doctor, and the nurse who took his blood pressure gave him a disapproving look, implying that he wasn’t taking his medication. Bill is an excellent patient. He takes his medications religiously. But the nurse wasn’t convinced, because his pressure was high during that visit. Her castigating was making things worse. She was stressing him out with her disapproval, making his blood pressure rise even higher.

Bill later got diagnosed with white coat hypertension. I, too, was diagnosed with that, back in 2007. But now, I’m pretty sure I have high blood pressure and need to be on meds… and that will require a doctor’s visit, which really freaks me out.

Moving on…

I really wanted to pass the test, even though I almost never drive, because I just wanted to get this pesky chore done. I don’t want my driver’s license to expire, in case there’s an emergency. It wouldn’t be the end of the world if I didn’t pass, but it would be a huge pain in my ass. Mary said that US officials won’t take German doctors’ signatures on the forms (which seems rather preposterous to me, especially if the optometrists are going away). I can’t stand dealing with medical people, and find addressing healthcare issues a huge hassle. I didn’t want to have to come back, or find somewhere else to go.

Mary warned that if I let my license expire, I would end up having to take the driver’s tests again. This was precisely why I have been bugging Bill for a year about completing this particular bureaucratic chore. I knew I’d probably have to furnish a lot of documents and official signatures, thanks to Trump’s micromanaging style of “leading”. I still have six weeks or so until my license expires. Mary was making it all seem so catastrophic and difficult, and this was the last hurdle I needed to clear before I’d be done with this process.

The last thing I want to do is retake the driver’s tests in the US, or have to take them in Germany (although I believe Texas has an agreement that would allow me to just trade in my license). I wasn’t going to argue with Mary, though, because she seemed to think she was 100 percent right about all of the current policies in the USA and Germany. Perhaps she is… but I got the sense she was making much more of a big deal of this than was actually required. All I wanted to do is pass the fucking eye test so I can stay legal to drive, in case I need to in an emergency.

As time passed during my exam, Mary could see I was getting progressively more upset, so as she was chastising and disapproving, she was also reassuring me. She kept saying, “You’re going to pass! Don’t worry!” she chirped, as she made me read off numbers to prove I’m not color blind. (good LORD!). When it came time to do the peripheral vision test, she had me do it without my lenses in. I could see her hands and fuzzy outlines of her fingers as she moved behind me. Thankfully, I did pass that part of the test with no issues. That was what I had come in to do.

So finally, at the end of the exam, as many medical professionals have before her, Mary “passed” me, with a stern warning that I need a new prescription (no shit). She warned that if we tried to call them tomorrow, it would be total bedlam. There are very few appointments left until July, when the office will be closed. I got the sense that maybe a main part of the reason Mary was so angsty is because people were going to be losing their jobs. Bill paid her the $34, and she set me up with an hour long appointment for June 13th, a week before my birthday, and before my license will be officially expired.

At some point, Mary told us that she’s a nurse. AHA! That explains her authoritative, but friendly, demeanor. She also said she’d worked in ICUs. I got the sense that maybe she missed the action of the ICU, given the relative drama of this appointment. Good thing no one else was waiting!

As Mary was signing me up to see the doctor– a man she says is a “talker”– she warned us to show up on time or face a $40 no show fee. And she reiterated that I needed a very thorough exam, which will involve dilating my eyes. I’m sure that will come with a lecture about my blood pressure, which probably does need correcting…

The question is, though… am I strong enough to deal with either authoritative military doctors at Landstuhl, or another German doctor who treats me like dog shit scraped off of their shoes? Time will tell. But I do look forward to getting a new prescription, at least. I do need one.

After my time with Mary, Bill and I decided to have lunch. Ramstein has a huge food court, and a Macaroni Grill. There’s also a Five Guys in the place where a Burger King once stood (and later burned to the ground). We decided to go to the German restaurant, which was set up to look like an indoor Biergarten. They had brews on tap, and I really felt like I needed one. As for lunch, I had a Munich Burger, while Bill had Schnitzel. Neither came with sides, which was a good thing, as the items were huge and messy. I could barely finish the dripping burger, but it did taste pretty good.

*It’s not that convincing as a Biergarten, but they did give it a good try at authenticity.*

After lunch, we stopped in an Italian gourmet shop in the mall. The lady running it was an absolutely adorable and friendly Italian, who was very helpful and spoke with a delightfully thick accent! She was impressed as she watched us loading up on products, and asked us if we were PCSing back to the States. I wanted to get some olive oil and balsamic vinegar for Bill’s younger daughter, who has never had any of the “good” stuff from Italy. I threw in a bag of pasta, too. We also got some stuff for home, including Orangello.

Then I heard music coming from the food court. It looked like a band consisting mostly of high schoolers were playing jazz. They were quite good. The young lady who was singing was very impressive. She had a lovely voice! If I hadn’t been so stressed out by the eye test, I might have stayed to listen for a bit longer, but we needed to get back to the dogs. I wanted to slip into something more comfortable and take a nice deep breath as I recovered from re-entering the “little America” of Ramstein Air Force Base.

Hopefully, the people in Texas will accept this last bit of proof of my worthiness for a Texas driver’s license. Mary said we were lucky. She had to fly back to Mississippi for hers. I guess Mississippi doesn’t make exceptions for people who live on different continents, but vote in Mississippi. I thought I’d have to go back to Texas, too… which, frankly, I would barely prefer over going to Mississippi. No offense to my Mississippi based friends. 🥰

I do appreciate Mary’s help. All in all, she was very kind to me, and I do need to get this taken care of. But it really was a lot more stressful and involved than I was expecting. I pray yesterday’s visit will be the end of the saga, at least in terms of getting my license renewed.

Hessen

Breckenheimer “Kerb” or “Kerwe” October 12, 2025…

Yesterday, Bill came back from walking the dogs and said our village was having some kind of event in the Dorfplatz. He looked it up on the town’s Facebook page, and discovered that for the first time since 2009, they were having a “Kerb” or “Kerwe” (depending on your preference). This is a regional term for a street or village fair.

They had a carousel for kids, a game booth, snacks, beer, wine, cakes, and live German music. They also had tractors pulling trailers that played music. I don’t know much about who organized the Kerb, or what it was about, but it looked like several youth clubs put it on. It was very well attended, so I have a feeling that it will be something they do more often.

One thing I really like about living in Breckenheim is that there are a lot of social events. They are family friendly, and promote community. And, as a foreigner, I never feel unwelcome, even if we are “Ausländer“.

Below is a video I made of clips I took. I wasn’t very steady with the camera, because I didn’t want people to think I was focusing on them. I also took some photos…

Eight minutes of German style community fun!

I don’t know how much longer we’ll get to enjoy this community, but I really have enjoyed my stay here so far. I love this about living in Germany. I wish we could do stuff like this in the United States and not worry about idiots with guns or people getting violent over politics. We could learn a lot from the Germans.

Eastern Europe, Hungary

Back to Budapest– A brief journey back to the Iron Curtain days… part six

On Thursday morning after breakfast, I decided that instead of walking all over the place, I’d go visit that cool looking Retro Museum. So, after doing some writing on my main blog, I headed back out toward St. Stephen’s Basilica, where I had noticed signs for the museum. Instead of turning right on the street named Oktober 6, I turned left. Seconds later, I spotted the museum. It was impossible to miss it, as the facade was in bright red. I might have thought of it as a tourist trap, but actually, I thought it was a fun museum, creatively put together for those of us who remember life before the Iron Curtain fell.

Below are a couple of photos from Thursday morning, before I walked into the museum. I didn’t get a chance to try the chimney cake, but they were being offered all over Budapest. I think I even saw a class offered for making them.

After taking a moment to listen to the many noisy children playing at a nearby playground, I walked into the museum. A man in a red vest immediately said hello and directed me to the ticket counter, where I paid 5500 forints (about $17 or 14 euros) to take a trip back in time, before most people could so easily visit Hungary.

The Retro Museum covers three floors and offers an interactive experience that allows patrons to get a sense of what Budapest was like back in the day. It took me a minute to realize that they had designed exhibits by putting them in what appeared to be mock ups of block style housing. Each “building” had little doors on them that could be opened, revealing an artifact from the communist days of yore. There were quite a few of these “building” exhibits… maybe more than were really necessary. But they did have some interesting stuff in them– schoolbooks, records, toys, books, medals, and even displays of packaged foods from that era. I also noticed they had a display about Hungary’s now defunct national airline, Malev. Bill and I flew on Malev the first time we visited Budapest, but it went out of business in February 2012.

I particularly enjoyed the exhibit about what school was like back in the day. If I had been born in Hungary, that was how MY schooling would have been. I’d also be a Russian speaker, because Russian was required learning for schoolkids until the late 1980s.

There were also some interactive quizzes visitors could take to test their knowledge. Unfortunately, most of them were only offered in Hungarian. I tried a couple of them, anyway, just to see how much I could understand. Not surprisingly, I did poorly. Below are photos from the “building exhibits” in museum…

Some of the stuff they had on display were things I remembered from my American upbringing. For instance, they had a Commodore 64 computer in there, complete with cassette player for computer games. That was a real blast from the past!

Once I got past the faux Soviet era buildings, I encountered a “TV studio”, inviting patrons to pretend they are newscasters. One lady had brought her two children and one of the kids was doing a good job pretending. I heard two older ladies singing in Russian (or maybe Hungarian) along with the music that was playing. Obviously, these were songs most kids learned back in those days, as the school curriculum was uniform across the country.

Next, there was a mock up of a Hungarian kitchen from back in the days before the Iron Curtain fell. I got a kick out of that. It reminded me of the kitchens I encountered in Armenia, right down to the old fashioned refrigerator. Actually, the kitchen was nicer than what I had in Armenia, where I lived in one of those “block style” buildings.

The kitchen led to a living room, where the two singing older ladies had made themselves comfortable, sitting on one of the old couches, watching old TV… They even had an exhibit in which you could stand in front of a green screen and try on Hungarian fashions. I wasn’t wanting to do that, because I don’t like looking at myself in the mirror.

From the living room, there was an elevator, leading down to the first floor, where the space program was displayed using cool interactive exhibits. They also had an exhibit showing other technology. There was one exhibit that I couldn’t quite figure out. The lady with the two kids kind of pushed me out, anyway, before I could determine how the exhibit worked.

And then finally, there was a room highlighting transportation. There was a car from the Iron Curtain era, as well as a “police car” that people were allowed to sit in and try to “drive”. I didn’t attempt to “drive” the police car, because the seat looked like it was made more for children! But I did watch one lady try to interact with that exhibit and heard her shriek with surprise at how difficult it was to “drive” the cop car. They also had old phone booths with recordings of jokes, songs, and newscasts, among other things.

All in all, I really enjoyed visiting the Retro Museum. I probably could have spent more time in there. I will say, though, that there was a lot of stuff in there, and it was kind of overwhelming. And some of the exhibits were a bit limited to Hungarians, and mostly understandable to people from Hungary. I noticed a lot of local people, especially of a certain age, getting the exhibits more than the younger folks. And, of course, some of it was only in Hungarian, which surprised me.

The museum has a bistro, which offers food that might be considered “retro”. I didn’t partake of anything from the bistro. It looked like most of what they were offering were variations of hot dogs and sausages, along with something called “Hungarian Fatty Bread” (yikes). They also had many kinds of non-alcoholic drinks, coffees, beers, and wines. They even offered cocktails! I do think it’s funny that “condiments” in Hungary are considered “dips”. Americans don’t consider ketchup, mustard, and mayo “dips”, and typically, we don’t charge extra for them. But, of course, I ain’t in America anymore, right?

After I visited the Retro Museum, I walked back toward Elizabeth Square. It was then that I noticed something unusual on a tree…

Yes… that is Michael Jackson. Someone in Budapest LOVES him. They made a shrine, and it has not been “molested” by anyone. I was surprised by that, so I took photos. I made the mistake of sharing one on YouTube, and got chastised by someone for “glorifying” a “child molester”. 🙄

I don’t know the truth behind Michael Jackson’s dalliances with children. I have heard the stories, and no matter what, I think that what he was doing was inappropriate. I also think that some of the blame for that lies with the parents of the children, who allowed their sons to spend nights with Michael. It would not have been a choice I would have made, myself, if I had ever had children of my own.

What I do know is that he was a huge star, and has now been dead for 16 years. And, like it or not, he was a big part of my childhood, just like Bill Cosby was. I don’t think sharing a photo of a shrine that I didn’t build is “glorifying” Michael Jackson. I just found it interesting.

I sat for awhile and was visited by pigeons who were almost completely tame. A couple of them got close enough that I could have easily touched their feathers.

Later, when Bill came back after work, we decided to go looking for dinner. We stopped first at the Ritzmajer Downtown. Hungarian Beer Bar. I was curious about the place. Although they offered food, we decided not to eat there after we had a round.

Instead, we turned down a street and wound up at a random bistro, where there was yet another excellent Hungarian gypsy music band playing. I bought another CD…

I don’t even remember the name of the restaurant (it was Rezkakas Bistro). The food was good, but I was mostly impressed by the live music. It started with an older man playing violin with a guy playing hammer dulcimer. Then, an hour later, more musicians showed up, and they moved to the other side of the restaurant. My view wasn’t as good then, but I was really impressed by the second violinist who played. He was much younger, and had real passion. When we bought the CD, the older violinist said it was his son. I was very impressed with him! I wonder if he makes love the way he plays his instrument. If you watch toward the end of the YouTube video below, you can see what I mean. His obvious passion for his music is written all over his young face.

They played everything from traditional Hungarian songs to Coldplay. At one point, they played “God Bless America”, which was very well-received, especially since it was 9/11 on the day of our visit. There were quite a few Americans in the restaurant, and they all cheered.

A sampling of the music we heard on Thursday night. I also thought the bartender was cute.

Again, the food was okay… service was a bit lackadaisical. But I really enjoyed the music. I especially enjoyed the lead violinist’s son, who really was entertaining. Unfortunately I got so emotional that I forgot to take a photo of the restaurant’s sign. But, after some sleuthing, I managed to figure out that we ate dinner at Rezkakas Bistro. According to their Web site, they are currently closed until October 1, 2025.

In any case, we enjoyed our visit to Rezkakas Bistro, especially for the music. It was a very nice evening!

Stay tuned for my post on our last full day in beautiful Budapest and the flight home to Germany!

Eastern Europe, Hungary, YouTube

Back to Budapest- Power walking, live music, and spontaneous singing… part three

Monday morning, Bill and I got up and had breakfast. The D8 Hotel has a pretty decent spread, with lots of breads, fruits, cereal, some hot items, cold cuts, juices, hot tea, coffee, and even some sweets. After we fueled up, Bill went off to work. The first day, he walked about twenty minutes to get to the conference location, but then he figured out the tram system and took that.

I went back to the room and did some writing. Then I put on shorts and a t-shirt and headed out to explore Budapest on my own. The first thing I did was cross the Chain Bridge, which is probably the most famous of Budapest’s many bridges across the Danube. I didn’t really have a clear plan in mind for where I was going. I thought I’d just walk far enough to get some good pictures of the Parliament building. It’s hard to get them on the Pest side, because the building is huge, and it’s not possible to get far enough away to get the whole thing in a photo. So here’s a batch of photos from that initial goal:

And below are a couple of photos from 2009… Check out the differences! There were a LOT more boats in the river in 2025, than the same time of year in 2009.

Once I got my photos, I looked up and saw Margaret Bridge, which was closed the first time we visited Budapest in 2009. The below photo was taken in 2009.

*This was taken in 2009. The bridge was CLOSED!*

I decided I wanted to visit Margaret Island again. Even though the bridge was closed in 2009, it was still possible to go to the island. It just involved walking around construction and climbing stairs. In 2025, the bridge was fully functioning, complete with trams. In retrospect, I should have taken the tram, but I decided to walk… and walk I did, for a few miles. I did stop for park bench rests and photo ops. It was hot. My back hurt. My thighs were chafing. I was sweating a lot. But I kept going, heading for that bridge… wondering if I was actually going to venture into Margaret Island, too…

And then I climbed up the steps to the bridge and started to cross it. I got to the middle, where trams going either direction stop and let people off to go to the island. I decided to rest on the marble bench near the crosswalk. I will not soon forget the feeling of cool marble against my thighs. It was a brief moment of exquisite heaven, as I contemplated whether or not I had enough steam to explore the island, knowing I was also going to have to walk back to the hotel.

Finally, I decided to go for it…

*This is where you cross to go to the island. I was sitting on the cool bench, gathering steam.*

I immediately recognized the big sculpture, which I saw in 2009…

Then I started walking, realizing I could use a whiz… But I didn’t have any change, and all I saw was a pay toilet. I figured it was probably pretty gross, too. There are restaurants and bars on Margaret Island, but I hate going to such places alone, so I just walked around and took photos and rest breaks.

I also made a short video. If you watch this, I recommend not missing the end, as that’s where you can see the “singing fountain.” There’s also a random lady with her dog in the video. Lots of people were letting their dogs run on Margaret Island, and plenty of people were jogging, biking, or riding in rented pedal propelled carts. Margaret Island is a unique and beautiful part of Budapest. It’s absolutely worth visiting. I’m glad I forced myself to make the effort, even though it was hot; I was tired; and I am out of shape (but not as out of shape as some people might assume by looking at me).

That fountain was very inviting… But I maintained discipline and didn’t jump in.

I decided that I didn’t feel like trying to eat on Margaret Island, so I left it, thinking maybe Bill and I could visit it together later in the week. Unfortunately, we never did get back there. But below are a few photos from our 2009 visit.

I made my way back to the bridge and headed back to the hotel.

By the time I got back to the hotel, it was after 1:00 PM, and I was burning up. I’m sure I was a sight to see, after walking over 6 miles in the summer heat. I went to the bar and ordered a large lager, which tasted wonderful. Then I went back to the room and took a shower and a long nap. I was kind of proud of myself for managing to walk that much. There was a time when it was a lot easier for me than it is now.

Bill got back to the hotel a few hours later. I was a bit “hangry”, because I didn’t eat lunch. This is when we ended up having dinner at a rather mediocre touristy restaurant called Panorama Terasz, that turned out to be kind of special. I wrote the story of our evening meal and my decision to burst into song here. I don’t want to rehash it too much, since this post is already pretty long. But, suffice to say, when we got there, I was in a cranky mood. When I left, I was all smiles. And below is a video of our time at the restaurant, although there is no clip of my spontaneous songburst.

Here, you can hear the band play, along with a bunch of merry Brits who were also keen to sing along. Budapest is a wonderful city for music lovers!

An added benefit at eating at this restaurant is that we had a great view of the river, and I got some great shots of the sun going down and the lit up attractions along the river. Then, on our way back to our room, we noticed an unusual public toilet. I got a few photos of the outside, and we promised ourselves we’d check it out before leaving the city. We did, and I’ll include photos in a later post.

Well, that about does it for today’s post about Budapest. Stay tuned for the next installment, which I’ll probably write tomorrow.

Eastern Europe, Hungary

Saying “yes” to the tourist trap was a good idea…

Yesterday was a memorable day that turned out to be quite special. I’ll be writing a longer, more detailed version of this story when I write about this trip, but for now, I want to preserve the memory while I can.

I did a whole lot of walking yesterday. I used to walk a lot, but nowadays, I’ve gotten pretty out of shape. What I did yesterday is no longer normal for me. I probably won’t repeat it today, when I venture out on my own.

I went from the hotel, across the famous Chain Bridge to the Buda side of the city, down the Danube to the Margaret Bridge, around Margaret Island, and then back to the hotel. It took several hours, and I walked close to six miles. I got tired and thirsty, and never managed to eat lunch, although I did have a wonderful cold lager that tasted so good…

After a nap, it was getting close to Bill’s quitting time. I decided to rest in the hotel room. I thought maybe we’d go to the Italian restaurant near our hotel that looked really cool. But since Bill had walked to his conference yesterday morning, he wanted to show me a shopping area very close to where we’re staying. I didn’t bring my purse with me. Instead, I left my bag in hotel room, and carried my phone, some Carmex, and my keycard in my pocket. We were looking at a display in the street, and I dropped my keycard. A few minutes later, I noticed I didn’t have it, and we were walking quickly back to the display to see if we could find it.

On the way there, a modestly dressed, overly friendly woman tried to stop us because she wanted to talk to us… (probably about Jesus, but I don’t know for certain). I was anxious about the keycard and annoyed by the woman. I snapped, “We don’t have time to talk.”

We found the keycard and decided to leave the busy plaza. The intrusion by the proselytizer had put me in a foul mood. I was hungry and tired, and in no mood for people and their bullshit. So I forgot about the Italian place, and we rounded a corner, where we were confronted with a bunch of touristy restaurants… the kind with pictures of the food.

I don’t like to eat in touristy restaurants. I find that the food is usually overpriced and mediocre, and the service is half assed. When we went to look at the menu, there was a very young, pretty woman in a very short skirt, clearly there to lure in male customers. That, too, was a bit of a turn off.

Then a group of Asians rudely pushed in front of us as we were talking to the hostess. They didn’t even end up eating there. By all rights, we should have just walked away and found someplace less obnoxious.

Nevertheless, I really needed to eat something, and didn’t want to repeat the process at the next restaurant. So although I had low expectations, and was put off by the tackiness of the menu and the hostess’s attire, we said yes to the “tourist trap”.

The short skirted hostess pointed to a four top table, right by where the stream of guests were walking in, which I didn’t like. The chair was also not very comfortable. The faux arm rests, which weren’t actually functioning arm rests, dug into my thighs (more long walks without lunch might solve that issue).

I was not all that enticed by the menu, which was a lot of heavy Hungarian dishes, along with pastas, salads, and other stuff. I ended up ordering a draft beer and a Caesar salad with shrimps. Bill had chicken paprikash.

As expected, the food was fairly mediocre. My salad was mostly iceberg lettuce, with quartered toasted white bread, a small slice of bell pepper, some greens, dressing, and Parmesan cheese. I think there were six medium sized prawns. I was glad they weren’t overcooked.

About halfway through dinner, a quartet of musicians showed up. One guy was playing what looked like a dulcimer, while the other three were playing a violin, viola, and upright bass violin. I shouldn’t have been surprised that they played extremely well.

The violin player was obviously leading the act, and he noticed me enjoying the music. He acknowledged my admiration with a big smile, and kept playing Hungarian hits of centuries ago. And then they started playing “I Could Have Danced All Night”, a song from My Fair Lady I often tease Bill with by changing the lyrics to something obscene. Before I knew it, I enthusiastically burst in, singing along like Julie Andrews. People stopped to listen, like it was something out of a movie. The fiddle players came over and started accompanying me. Then they played “Memory”, which I could have sung, but the key wasn’t ideal.

Bill gave them a big tip and we bought their CD, which made me happy, because I love buying music from buskers. It’s probably my favorite souvenir. However, Bill had given them such a big tip that he was short on cash to cover the price of the CD. They wisely sold it to us, anyway. LOLOLOL… Well, it’s not like we didn’t already pay them with the tip.

They played to most of the other people sitting on the terrace and a group of Brits really got into singing “Edelweiss” and “Do-Re-Mi”. One of them came over and paid me a compliment on my voice, and I returned the compliment to him and his group, when he jokingly said, “You weren’t as good as we were!” 🤭

Bill and I had wine for dessert, and left there feeling a lot better than we did when we arrived. And it later occurred to me that this is something that happens to me quite often. I show up somewhere in a foul mood; something amazing happens; then I leave with great memories, or a new story to write about in my blog. When I am back at my usual computer, I’ll have to write more about that phenomenon. I don’t know if this is something unique to me, but it’s happened to me a lot of times in my lifetime.

Anyway, I’m sure this is what the band does all the time… get the crowd going and earn tips, which is exactly what they should be doing. But they were truly kind and talented gents, and I couldn’t help but realize how much time, money, and energy went into what they do. They were stellar musicians. I didn’t hear them put a single note wrong. And as someone who is also somewhat of a musician, I really appreciated that. But I also love that they gave me a wonderful memory and a new story to share.

Bill was emotionally overwhelmed last night, and so was I. The musicians brought tears to my eyes, because they were so good. And when we left, they bid us an enthusiastic good night. I felt like I made new friends! 😁 Music truly is an international language that brings people together.

Every time we travel, something crazy happens… But even if we hadn’t encountered the wonderful musicians, we also saw a guy who came up, perused the menu very obviously, and then walked along the terrace and tapped all of the flowers in an odd and entertaining way. If anything, Budapest is a great place for people watching.

I don’t know what today holds. I’ll probably try to explore the area we vamoosed out of last night, since it looks like it might be a good place to buy stuff for the grandchildren. I don’t think I’ll walk six miles again, though. I need to let my thighs heal from all the chafing.

Hessen

Rheingau Weinwoche 2025

Bill and I were supposed to go to the first night of the annual Rheingau Wine Festival on Friday evening. His company had reserved a tent for employees and their families. We usually go to that gathering and have a good time. But this year, Bill decided he’d rather hang out at home with me instead of being crowded, hot, and breathing second hand smoke. We usually go to this particular festival on our own, on our preferred Sunday afternoons, when it’s usually a lot less crowded.

So, that’s what we did today… We had beautiful, sunny, relatively cool and breezy weather. The lovely weather made it even nicer to visit this yearly event, which always seems to herald the onset of the fall season for me. I know we have about a month to go before summer is officially over, but years of living in Germany has taught me that in about a month, it’s possible jackets will be necessary once again. On the other hand, I have noticed that things are warmer now than they were in 2007, when Bill and I moved to Germany together with the Army.

Anyway, I don’t have much of anything to report on things that happened today, but I did get some photos and a few recordings…

The first thing we did was go to the WC, where a very cheery Klofrau (toilet lady) was taking one euro per person. She was kind of funny, so I didn’t mind giving her the money. At least the toilets were clean and stocked, right?

We started looking for a place with plenty of shady tables, so we could have something to eat. I finally spotted a good table near some live entertaininers– a guy from Ocean City, Maryland who sang and played keyboards and his German sax player. They were really good, and played music I loved. Bill went to get some bratwursts and pommes (fries), while I drank Riesling. I wish the food had been as good as the live entertainment was. But, the wines were all decent, so there was that.

I really enjoy Wiesbaden, if only because of the fests!

Just before the musicians were about to take their pause, a family sat at the table right behind us. I kept getting bumped by one of them, whose back was against mine. Then, someone from that table kicked rocks, and some wound up in my shoe. Next, a woman sat on the bench in front of me. She was nice enough not to block our view, but her husband then sat down and lit up a cigarette. It was allowed, of course, but pretty annoying. We decided to get up and move to the next booth, run by Barth Weingut, which is a local favorite of mine. When they saw that we were moving, the table muggers quickly moved to take our vacated spots.

Below are some more photos from the other booths we visited. I hope we’ll get to go back again, before the festival ends a week from today.

As for yesterday, we mostly spent it hanging out in the backyard, listening to music, drinking wine and beer, and tearing down the ivy on one of the fences. We didn’t quite finish the job, but now the yard looks both a little naked, and like a tornado hit it.

Bill loves the t-shirt. I ordered it for him a month ago, but it just got to us, along with a couple of others. This coming Saturday, we’ll finally be getting a new mattress, which means somehow hauling the 16 years old one out to be picked up. That will be fun.

I wish I had more fun things to report on… but it does look like I might be able to go somewhere with Bill soon. When the plans are in place, I’ll announce where.

German lifestyle, Hessen

Last night at Breckenheim’s annual Wine Fest…

This weekend happens to be the weekend for Breckenheim’s annual wine fest. We were able to attend last night, and we had a great time listening to live music and trying wine from one of four vintners that were there. I got some photos and spent awhile talking to an American couple who had come to Germany to help one of our American neighbors with her kids. My neighbor’s spouse had to go back to the States, and she had to work, so an aunt and uncle came all the way from Massachusetts to help. They came over and introduced themselves.

I really enjoyed talking to both of them, but especially the wife. It turned out we had some things in common. We traded travel and waitressing stories, and we both expressed our chagrin at the current state of things in the USA. And she told me about how, when she was very young in the 1970s, she and a friend were camping in the Schwarzwald and wound up getting arrested because they were in an area where they weren’t supposed to be. And the cops, instead of kicking them off the property and issuing a fine, took them to the Stuttgart jail! She said they were really kind to them, and even gave them pillows and blankets, as well as tea!

I don’t know what Germany was like in the 70s, but I do know about the Black Forest. I would imagine there weren’t a lot of hotels open that could have taken them in, since it was presumably quite late. She said it seemed like the police were doing them a kindness by having them spend a night in jail. It was a great story, though. It ranks right up with my story about being trapped with my friend, Elaine, on the Georgia/Turkey border in 1996.

I’m sure I’ve written that story somewhere in the blog, but the short version is that Elaine and I arrived at the border too late and wound up having to spend the night in an office on the Turkish border, after the customs manager asked me if I’d go home with him. The next morning, we happened to catch the Greek bus back to Yerevan… it was a bus that went back and forth to Greece every two weeks to pick up goods, and it just happened to be there when we needed a ride back to Armenia. I think God was looking after us, because that story could have gone bad so easily!

Anyway, below are some photos and a video I took of the live entertainment, which was quite good. Please excuse my harmony! I was a little drunk. I love that we have these little celebrations in Germany, where people come together for wine and song. No one gets drunk or obnoxious, drives in a crowd, or brings weapons. People just have fun! The first photo was from earlier in the day, when they were setting up. The first night was very well attended, with lots of people making merry!

We sang along! Or, I did, at least…

Hessen

The Rheingau Wine Festival… August 17, 2024…

Yesterday, Bill and I decided to go to the Rheingau Wine Festival in downtown Wiesbaden. This is a yearly event that happens every August. When there’s not a pandemic going on and we’re in town, we always make a point of attending this festival. Bill’s company often hosts a table on the opening night, but this year, Bill had a business trip and was too tired to attend the company event. We usually go on our own, anyway, and that’s usually more fun for us. Instead of just sitting at one winery’s stand, we can visit several different ones and try different wines.

As it turned out yesterday, we tried wines at three different stands, two of which were near a stage where a FABULOUS band called Swingtett was playing. Because I am a music lover, we ended up picking wineries near the stage so we could enjoy the music and watch all of the people dancing. I took videos and combined them into this super long video posted below. I don’t expect anyone to watch the whole thing, because it’s really long. On the other hand, I have trouble deciding what to edit out! The video is more for me, anyway, so we can remember this experience.

I was happy to see the WC providers offered a “day ticket” for four euros. We could either pay by the visit, or get the day ticket and pee all we wanted on that day. Bill sprang for the day ticket for me, and it definitely came in handy.

A long video featuring Swingtett! I also made a YouTube version.

The festival is also running today; it will close tonight. I’m not sure if we’ll go today, but I wouldn’t be averse to it. Wiesbaden is such a beautiful city, and when you add in wine and music, it really does become magical. In the video, you can see how family friendly this festival is, as children joined in with the dancing. One adorable little tyke was right by the stage, conducting!

My only regret is that I tend to drink more than I should at this particular fest. We don’t always stop for food, either, although we did decide to have a sausage break before we went home. We left at just the right time, too, as it started to rain as we were headed for the garage.

Below are some photos from yesterday…

I’m not sure if we’ll go to the wine festival again today. It might be a better idea to stay home and relax. However, this particular fest only comes around in August, so maybe we will go again. It depends on the weather. It looks a little rainy today.

Hessen, Rhein

Wine Fest 2024- night number 2!

I kind of wondered yesterday if we would want to go to the second night of the wine fest. It was kind of stormy, and we had about an hour of a steady downpour during the afternoon. But sure enough, at about 5:00 PM, the rain stopped and the sun came out. I’d been watching cop videos on YouTube that were very triggering for me, plus fretting about whether or not I want to go through with being treated by the gastroenterologist I met last week.

We ended up deciding to go to the fest, where we drank more local wines and listened to more live music. Last night, I didn’t see any other obvious Americans, other than a woman who lives very close to us with her partner and works in Frankfurt as a lawyer.

We stayed for a couple of hours, and I got more photos of the event. It looked like it might rain again while we were there, but every time it looked like the sky might open, the sun would come out. It seemed like everyone had a good time enjoying the Rheingau’s most famous products as we all enjoyed live entertainment. Again, I love this about living in Germany, even if my stomach pays for it later.

Below are some photos from last night, and a video that offers a taste of the music.

I didn’t recognize the first song on this, but Bill says it plays all the time on German radio.

A good time was had by all, as you can see. It was a very well-attended event, in spite of the threat of rain. I’m glad we were able to attend this year. Now, the next big event is the ultrasound and blood draw I’m scheduled for next week. With any luck, I’ll have more confidence in the idea that my foray into German healthcare will be more than just an added expense.

Hessen, Rhein, Rheinland-Pfalz

We visited Rüsselsheim and Oppenheim over the weekend…

Since I run a food and wine group on Facebook, I try to keep an eye on relevant food and wine events going on nearby. Not that people really care if I go to these events, mind you… My Facebook group is actually pretty dead these days. But running it does give me a reason to get out and see things, instead of giving in to the temptation to stay home and sit on my ass.

I noticed an ad for a wine tasting event in Rüsselsheim, which was going on Saturday and Sunday. The event required tickets, which could be bought for 10 euros ahead of time, or 12 euros at the door. I found out about it from a Facebook ad, and since Rüsselsheim is so close to where we live, we decided to check it out. It was our first time in Rüsselsheim, although one of Bill’s colleagues lives there.

The Wine Messe, as it was called, was held in, the Festung Keller, which is a rather cool venue. It was hosted by an outfit called Wine-Crew. On Saturday, the event ran from 2:00 PM until 8:00 PM. Sunday, it went from 12:00 PM until 6:00 PM. We got there at about 3:00 PM on Saturday, managing to find parking at a garage a couple of blocks away from the venue. I was actually pleasantly surprised that there was plenty of parking at the garage. We were going to take a cab so Bill could enjoy the event more, but none would accept the fare.

The 600 year old Festung is right next to an art museum, which appeared to be closed on Saturday. The museum has a parking lot, but it was full, and probably not intended for winos. I think I would like to attend more events at that venue. It’s really nice, and because the walls in the cellar are so thick, one can’t spend all their time on their phones.

We met some very pleasant people, including a young couple who ran a winery near the French border and operate a holiday apartment. They were so nice that I might consider visiting them for a weekend and having a tasting. They brought their young son with them, which was kind of nice to see. He had on the winery’s polo shirt. Another representative cracked us up with his energy and enthusiasm, especially for a certain Feinherb wine that he described as “sexy”. Another vintner was curious about us, as Americans, living in Germany. I recognized still another vintner as one who provided a truck for our village while the winestand kiosk was being rebuilt last year. We bought some of their wines.

Below are some photos from the Wine Messe. We came home with about 15 bottles of wine, none of which were particularly expensive. Bill had to ferry the wines over a couple of trips back to the car. It was good for him to do that, because it prevented him from drinking too much wine.

Then yesterday, we ventured to the very fetching town of Oppenheim, which is right on the Rhein River and is home to a lot of Weinguts. They were having a spring city fest. The fest featured crafts, wines, street food, and live music. Or, so that was what was advertised. The event took place over a “mile”, which consisted of stations around the town.

We never did find the wine or street food, but I will confess we didn’t look for that long. We both got hungry, and decided to have lunch at Royal Maharaja, an Indian restaurant by the Zentrum. I don’t usually go for Indian food, so this was a real treat for Bill, who loves it. Actually, I really enjoyed our lunch. I probably ought to be braver about eating Indian food.

I really enjoyed visiting the churches in town. The Catholic church was pretty plain, but the Evangelical church (St. Katharinen) was beautiful and very historic. I loved the beautiful windows, as you can see from my photos.

Below are some photos from Oppenheim, which I thought was a very charming place. I’d like to go back and see more of it, and the surrounding villages. It looked like there were quite a few wineries and interesting buildings, plus it’s right by the river. In fact, I noticed yet another Viking cruiselines gangway in the town of Nierstein. We do live in an area where people vacation, after all!

*A guy carried his adorable pooch in the carrier on the back of his bike.*

As we were leaving Oppenheim, I heard live music. A man and woman were playing guitar and covering songs by Norah Jones and Carole King. I thought they were very good. Of course, the singer was no “knotty”… 😀 (kidding, of course. She had a lovely voice.)

A very short video catching the vibe. I was looking for the source of the music.

Now that we no longer have pandemic restrictions and the bridge is being rebuilt out of Wiesbaden, maybe it’s time we spent more time visiting the charming Rhein towns that are so close to us. Oppenheim is about 30 minutes from where we live, and yet it has a totally different vibe. It might help me develop more affection for Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz. I think people here are friendlier, but I do really miss the beauty of Baden-Württemberg. The extraordinary beauty of BW helps ease the pain of some of the awkward interactions I’ve had with a few of the locals. 😉

Anyway, that about does it for our second weekend of April 2024. It was great to go out and see some of the area where we’re so privileged to live. It’s time to get back in the groove of enjoying Europe again.

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: live music

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Rheingau Weinwoche 2025

Last night at Breckenheim’s annual Wine Fest…

The Rheingau Wine Festival… August 17, 2024…

Wine Fest 2024- night number 2!

We visited Rüsselsheim and Oppenheim over the weekend…