Tag Archives: music store

Hessen

Our wine barrel bar gets accessorized…

A couple of years ago, Bill and I decided to buy a wine barrel bar from a craftsman from Alsace, France. The craftsman, name of Bijan, is married to a German woman and has run a studio about ten minutes’ drive from our home in Breckenheim. He’s a member of my Facebook wine group, because besides making furniture, he also has a long history of selling wine, particularly at AAFES (our military store). When we bought our wine barrel bar, we noticed that someone else had ordered stools to go with it. Bijan told us he’d be happy to make us stools, too. We just had to let him know when we wanted them.

Within the past couple of years, Bijan had an accident that caused a significant injury, so he’s decided not to make furniture or sell wine anymore. Instead, he makes jewelry. We bought Bill’s daughter a couple of bracelets from him, back in September 2023. Bill has run into Bijan a few times at AAFES, and at some point last fall, he mentioned that he’d love to order stools for the wine barrel bar. Bijan said he’d be happy to make them for us. Yesterday, Bijan let us know the stools were ready. Today, we went to his studio to pick them up.

They look beautiful, but I’m kind of afraid to sit on them! Also, they’re a little tall. Like the bar, they are made from a wine barrel.

I was surprised when we got there, because Bijan’s studio has been turned into a LP/CD shop. Bijan said he was renting out his retail space to a German guy who sells music. I am a big fan of music, as most of my friends know. I could see myself spending time shopping for rare CDs at that place sometime, even though it seems like kind of a strange place to have such a business. Bijan’s studio is just outside a charming little village, which doesn’t really seem ideal for a music store. But what do I know?

Anyway, Bijan had the stools ready, and they looked beautiful. We chatted with him and his American friend, who helps him with his business. It’s too bad he won’t be making more furniture, but we’re glad to have a few of his handcrafted pieces for our home.  

Bijan gifted us a bottle of French dessert wine from 2011. When Bill’s mom comes to visit us next weekend, I’m sure we’ll give it a try. The stools cost 280 euros– actually, he said they were 290, but he charged us 280. Bill gave him cash and offered a VAT form (which lets us avoid paying local taxes, since we’re Americans). Bijan already had a VAT form. So, once we paid and loaded up the stools, we headed to Globus, our “gargantuan” superstore. I wanted to check out the liquor section to see if they had any fun liqueurs. For the record, I didn’t find any… but we did get some wines. Then we picked up a few food items for the weekend.

I actually kind of hate Globus, because it’s so huge that I find being there exhausting. It’s usually pretty crowded on Saturdays, too, as everybody prepares for Sunday, when most places are closed. However, it had been a long time since my last visit, so it wasn’t a bad thing to be reminded as to why I’d rather stay home when Bill goes shopping on the German economy. I usually go to the neighborhood Rewe when I need something and Bill isn’t home. I can walk to the Rewe, although I usually don’t. Globus is absolutely enormous! It makes the Real in our previous town, Jettingen, look positively petite!

I got some photos from my outing, which will probably be the only one I get this weekend. Bill has to go to Bavaria again next week. I hate that, too… but at least it will give me a chance to teetotal. 

Every time I go to Globus, I’m shocked by how humongous the store is. It’s so big that it’s overwhelming. You either leave with too much food, or get too overwhelmed to find what you need. Give me an Edeka or Rewe any day!

English is everywhere.
Undergarments and coffee in the same area.
Very German food!
The colored eggs are hard boiled for kids. They keep them at room temperature, because refrigeration of eggs isn’t necessary in Europe.
Forbidden eggs in the USA…
Gross smoking warnings. They don’t seem to make a difference.
And now you can pay in more ways than ever!

  

  

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holidays, markets

Santa brought me a new guitar!

Yesterday, Bill and I went to Wiesbaden again. Bill wanted to buy me a new guitar for Christmas. Poor guy has the hardest time figuring out what kinds of gifts to buy me at this time of year. Noticing that I’ve made some progress in my guitar skills, Bill decided it was time I upgraded my instrument. So we went to Wiesbaden to pay a visit to Musikinstrumente Matthias Petroll, a music shop in the market square that we’ve passed many times, but never actually shopped in before yesterday.

The Christmas market is still going on, and parking was pretty scarce. It actually worked out in our favor, though, because instead of parking at the theater, where Bill usually likes to go, we found a spot at the Market Square garage. It was a lot closer to the music shop, which was open until 6:00 PM.

The shop is pretty small, and I noticed that the proprietor didn’t have a huge range of guitars. I was thinking I’d like a fairly good step up from the Fender Malibu Classic I’ve been playing since 2020, but the available guitars were mostly of the cheaper kind. However, the salesman– probably Petroll himself– could see that I would like a smaller instrument. He picked out a few and I fumbled with them a bit. None of them had straps, so it was hard for me to play decently. 

The sales guy, of course, could play beautifully… and it wasn’t long before he convinced me that I wanted a Breedlove Pursuit Exotic Concert CE Earth. It was priced at about 1100 euros, which is more than it would have cost in the United States or online. But, it’s a nicer guitar than my Malibu Classic, if only because it will be easier to string, and it has a cut out, which makes it easier to reach the lowest frets. It also has a much nicer onboard tuner. 

We decided to get the guitar and he took about a half hour to set it up for me. Bill and I, meanwhile, went to BrewDog for a late lunch/early dinner. By the time we came out of there, the sun had gone down, and we had a view of the lights! But there were so many people there, that it was very difficult to make our way back to the music shop to pick up my new toy. Breedlove is based out of Bend, Oregon, and has an environmental focus, even though their cheaper guitars (like the one I got) are manufactured in China. I look forward to getting used to my new guitar. If I ever get decent enough at playing, maybe I’ll make the leap to a nice Martin or Taylor. But that’s down the road…

Below are some photos…

Cluck Norris and a side of mac n’ cheese for me. Bill had a roasted chicken and sourdough bowl.
And a couple of craft beers…
My new guitar!

 

 

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Hessen

On a mission in Wiesbaden…

Bill invited me to lunch today in Wiesbaden. Our original plan was to stop by the ADAC store and get a vignette for Switzerland. Then we’d go have lunch somewhere. As we were headed into town, Bill said if the ADAC store had a line, he’d just get the toll sticker at the border. But when we got there, the ADAC store was closed. So, I guess we’ll just get the sticker at the border. Our mission a failure, we decided to walk around a bit more… It’s always a pleasure to walk around in Wiesbaden. It’s such a quaint, lovely city.

Interesting anti-mask sticker that seems to reference The Matrix– red pill or blue.
The church was looking lovely today… and someone was playing “Musetta’s Waltz”, a Puccini aria I know well and used to sing.
The neighborhood near the ADAC office. Wiesbaden is a beautiful city with lots of money.
“Musetta’s Waltz”… sounds like it was being played by someone…

The market was still going on, so I got a few photos, and we stopped by a music shop so Bill could ask about getting our guitars set up properly. We’ve only been playing them for a year, right? Well, we have five of them, and none have been set up. So we’re going to try to do that at some point soon. It’s on the list. We need to take Arran in for a checkup, too, and a doggy dental. There’s always something that needs to be done.

More photos from our lunchtime stroll…

The market was in full swing.
Pretty flowers…
The city was alive.
Lots of lovely produce. Wish we’d brought a shopping bag.
Buying music?
Or flowers…
I didn’t go in, because I figured I’d get GAS. 😉
This is a pretty damned cool ukulele, though…
The train was running, too. It was packed. Everyone wore a mask.

Today we stopped by La Cantinetta for lunch. We haven’t been there in awhile, but it is a favorite Italian place for me. I like the food, even if it’s kind of in Wiesbaden’s “restaurant row”. We encountered our usual buskers– same guys we ran into two weeks ago at Scotch N’ Soda, which is right next to La Cantinetta. Maybe we should have found a new place today, but it was kind of crowded and I didn’t feel like hunting. Besides, I do like this restaurant. The waiters are charming and professional, and the food is always beautifully presented.

I had Tagliata Manzio– sliced roast beef with roasted rosemary potatoes, rucola, and Parmesan cheese. Bill had a Parma pizza, half of which he brought home. It had buffalo mozzarella, cherry tomatoes, Parma ham, and rucola. I was kind of tempted by the pizza, too, but I can never finish pizzas here. We enjoyed a couple of glasses of Barolo, a nice red wine from Italy, and listened to more live music from the buskers.

The people sitting at the next table had to deal with cars going in and out of the parking garage situated near us. I chose the table where we sat because I didn’t want to sit in the sun. I went light on the sunscreen today. But the downside was being close to the garage, where well-heeled people driving Audis, BMWs, and even a Jaguar were going in and out. I think I would hate to live in that building, always dodging diners when I want to drive out of the garage. I have to admit the location is nice, otherwise. It’s a lovely neighborhood on Restaurant Row. Based on the cars, it’s probably a pretty fancy place to call home. The guy in the Jaguar actually brushed up against a bench at Scotch N’ Soda, though. We also saw a fairly new looking Porsche. Germans sure do love their expensive rides!

I got a kick out of the description for Saltimbocca– sage in whine wine sauce!
Love these buskers… The sax player is very charismatic.
They’re all pros, but I especially like watching the bass player. He relies entirely by muscle memory. I wish I could do that with my guitar.
Nice looking pizza.
You won’t find it at Domino’s or Pizza Hut.
Tagliata Manzo. I won’t need anything else tonight!
Interesting that there’s a picture of a church on this cigarette machine. I guess that’s where you end up if you smoke… but then, don’t we all?

As you can see, the recent floods that have affected Germany and Belgium aren’t a problem in Wiesbaden. We are a couple of hours’ drive away from that area. I know the local emergency crews are helping in the Eifel Region, where the flooding was especially bad. A year ago, we visited the Eifel for a long weekend. It doesn’t look like Meerfeld got flooding, but several places nearby did. The news is just terrible– many people have died, been injured, or lost everything. Some animals have also died, including a couple of horses that got caught in the flooding. It’s strange, because although we did get rain last week, it wasn’t especially unusual or heavy where we live.

We have had beautiful weather today and yesterday. In fact, it was actually a bit chilly last night. This year’s July has been pretty mild. Hope it holds next month… or even just next week, when we finally visit Zurich and Kusnacht for the first time. I look forward to writing about travel again!

Gosh, he’s cute. I think I’ll keep him.

Total damage for today’s lunch was about 75 euros. We should have had a bottle of wine, since we ended up having four glasses between us. I think it would have saved us some money and time, since the wait staff was a bit weeded today. But we had a great time, nonetheless. Wiesbaden is so beautiful, and it’s so nice to be able to go downtown again.

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