Featured photo is AI generated, because I didn’t think to get a photo of our pile of discards this morning…
It’s about 9:00 AM, and a truck has already come here to pick up most of our bulky discards. This excites me, because that stuff has been cluttering the house for years. I’ve been bugging Bill to get rid of the old freezer he bought from a former co-worker for at least five years. He bought it in 2017 or so, when we lived in the old house, and it quit working in 2019 or so. It probably just needed a new freon bottle, but it seemed like that was more trouble than it was worth, so we never bothered. But it was a large appliance taking up space, collecting dust, and reminding me of yet another time when Bill should have listened to his woman. 🤨
I’m kidding, of course. He listens to me all the time. He just didn’t in that instance.
We also got rid of two US spec TVs that still work, but are outdated and not quite perfect. One was purchased in 2007 or so, when we lived in the Stuttgart area. The other was purchased at a Target in San Antonio. It was fine, until last year, when it became impossible to remove graphics from the screen. It bugged me enough that we got a new TV. The old one was collecting dust in the basement, next to the broken freezer.
At this writing, we’re still waiting for the trash pick up to get our old king sized mattress. That thing was a real bitch to move out of the house, mainly because it has no handles. We’d put it in Noyzi’s room after we replaced the old mattress. Last night, Bill and pushed that thing down the hall, and down the steps. It got hung up on the downstairs ceiling, but with some elbow grease and muscle power, we finally got it out the front door.
Bill’s two friends and co-workers came and helped us out last night, getting the freezer out of the basement. Bill had already taken the door off and removed the drawers. When they were picking up the freezer, the freon bottle released a puff of gas, which got Bill in the face. He wasn’t any worse for wear.
Noyzi and Charlie were absolutely DELIGHTED to meet Bill’s co-workers. I was so proud of Noyzi, especially, because there was a time when he was absolutely terrified of men. Now, he loves everybody. He’s learned that people are mostly good. And Charlie, of course, was his usual social self. He likes men, so he was very happy to meet the guys last night, both of whom are dog lovers, too! One of Bill’s friends noticed Charlie’s eyes staring out from a crack in the door. It was so cute. I wish I’d gotten a photo.
Now, as I look around the house, I see other items that need to be ditched. Bill says we can get stuff picked up four times per year. I don’t think we’ve ever had a bulk trash pickup in all the years we’ve lived over here, but it sure is a nice service. I see our next door neighbor is also ditching some stuff today, including a mattress.
I’m not sure what will happen next year. It’s entirely possible that we may have to move next year, but that’s true of any year. It’s a fact of life, when you’re in the military lifestyle– even after retirement. But it’s good to know that it’s easy to schedule these things, and they work out so well. There’s an app that is simple to use for scheduling. I have a feeling we’ll be using it again soon!
I’m not sure if this service is available everywhere. My German friend, who lives down near Stuttgart, says that it’s not available where she lives. It probably depends on the county. I’m sure she’ll tell me the scoop.
Several months ago, Bill told me he wanted to spend about a week in Küsnacht, Switzerland, a suburb of Zürich. He hoped to attend a summer intensive course at the C.G. Jung Institute, a learning installation founded in 1948, and centered around the study of Jungian analytical psychology.
I knew this was coming, because Bill had been talking about wanting to take this summer course for years. We first came to Zürich in the summer of 2021, and Bill and I visited C.G. Jung’s house, on the banks of Lake Zürich. Bill also started speaking to a Jungian therapist that year. The work he’s done with the analyst over the past four years has done wonders for his mental and emotional well-being. He thinks he might have a knack for Jungian psychology. He definitely has an interest in it.
Naturally, I agreed that it would be a good thing for Bill to go to the Jung Institute. Once we had the dogs booked in their usual Hundepension, I set about looking for a place for us to stay for the week. We had specific needs for our lodging. I wanted it to be in a place where it would be somewhat easy for me to get around and see and do things. It needed to be near a tram station, so Bill could easily get to the Institute. We planned to drive our car, so the place needed parking. And I hoped for air conditioning, which even in “spendy Switzerland” isn’t always a given.
I was about to spend about $10k to book a regular hotel room on Expedia.com, when I noticed a listing for a place called Apart-Hotel Hugenschmidt. On Expedia, the Apart-Hotel Hugenschmidt had no availability for our dates. Under normal circumstances, that might have been the end of my curiosity and I would have kept looking. But then I decided to check Booking.com, as sometimes they have things available that Expedia doesn’t. On that site, I could book a one room suite at the Apart-Hotel, which included a kitchenette and a living room– better for a week than a hotel room. The price was also roughly one-third of what I was about to pay for the hotel, and there was parking available, and air conditioning.
We booked the Apart-Hotel Hugenschmidt, and then, just to make sure all was well, Bill called them to confirm that booking and reserve a parking spot. It was a good thing we confirmed the parking, as the hotel, which first opened in 1969, only has two spaces! Besides small apartments, the Apart-Hotel Hugenschmidt also offers regular hotel rooms of varying luxuriousness. A person could opt for a spacious two bedroom place, or get a single economy room with a shared toilet in the corridor. Although shared toilets used to be somewhat common in European hotels, I haven’t seen a place with a communal toilet in years!
With that settled, we looked forward to our third trip to Switzerland this year. Regular readers might recall that we went to Basel, Switzerland in January of this year, just to get away over the MLK weekend. We stopped in Villa Morcote, Switzerland on the way to Italy in March. And now, we’ve been to Zürich– specifically, the Seefeld quarter of the Mühlebach district.
Our trip began on June 28th and would end on July 6th. For me, it would resemble business trips on which I have accompanied Bill. When I go places with him on business trips, I usually end up doing a lot of loitering and picture taking while he tends to his work. This trip was not for his current job, but it could end up leading him to the work he’ll do in the future. As I mentioned up post, Bill has a real knack for psychology. I think of him as a healer. He’s an unusually kind, sensitive, empathic, and introspective person. Analysis has given him insight into who he is, and that has given him much needed peace.
As usual, Noyzi was ready to go!
On the morning of Saturday, June 28th, Bill took the dogs to the Hundepension, while I packed my bags. Then, we set off for Zürich. The GPS sent us down the familiar way to Stuttgart, where we used to live. Although we have lived in Wiesbaden since late 2018, we still go to Stuttgart to see our dentist and sometimes Bill goes there for business. And yet, even though we continue to visit, I’m always shocked by how much has been built since we left. I was especially surprised as we drove through Sindelfingen on A-81, a road Bill used to take every day to get to his job. There’s a whole shitload of construction going on there!
Below are some photos from the drive:
Construction in Pforzheim.The Thyssen test elevator facility, outside of Rottweil. We visited there in 2018, and went to the top of the tower!
On the way to Switzerland, we stopped a rest area to get lunch and enjoy a pee break. It was nothing special, and we’d been there before. I took a couple of photos, anyway…
Seelachs and chips… Could have been better.
The Apart-Hotel Hugenschmidt is a family run business. It doesn’t have a regular front desk. We were asked to let them know when we were going to arrive, so someone would be there to meet us. Bill told them we’d get there between 5:00-6:00 PM. We were well on our way to making the time as we approached the Swiss border. An older gentleman in a Swiss Polizei uniform looked like he was flagging us down, so Bill stopped and opened his window.
The cop said, “Do you want to go to Switzerland?”
Bill said we did.
The cop said, “On holiday?”
Again, yes…
“Bye!” the cop said.
I guess he didn’t actually want to talk to us, after all. Too bad all borders aren’t that easy and uncomplicated.
We got to Zürich at about 5:45 PM. It was sunny and hot, and I noticed a lot of people in bathing suits, carrying pool toys and such. I had come prepared to enjoy the lake. I had a bunch of towels and two bathing suits in my bag, and I envisioned jumping in the water. I thought maybe we’d go to one of the public beaches… and I’d totally forgotten that the hotel was actually in Zürich, rather than closer to Küsnacht.
It took a few minutes to navigate through the busy city, and then once we found the right street, the turn off was so sudden that Bill missed it. Fortunately, the next street took us straight to Karlstrasse 5. Bill nervously pulled into a parking lot across from the hotel for an apartment building, where all the parking spots are taken by the residents. The proprietor was there, waiting for us, and she unlocked the gate behind which our car would be for the week. Bill pulled into the tight space, knowing that we were destined to be blocked in. 😉
After we parked, we signed into the hotel, picked up our keys, and got a tour of our new digs for the week.
By the time we were checked in, it was past six o’clock. And although there are several good restaurants near the Apart-Hotel Hugenschmidt, Bill and I were both pretty tired from the drive. We decided to visit one of the two COOP grocery stores near the apartment to pick up essentials, then ordered pizza from an outfit called Pimp Your Pizza. We got Pizza Hawaii and Pizza Missouri… ordering large, so there would be leftovers. There were leftovers, alright! That pizza lasted almost the whole week! But it was surprisingly good, especially on the first night!
We watched German dubbed American movies on TV, while we enjoyed the pizza and Swiss beer. Then we went to bed. The bedroom in our suite had a fan, which was helpful, but not as good as air conditioning would have been. The unit just has one air conditioner, and it’s in the living room. It doesn’t cool off the whole apartment. Most of the year, this wouldn’t be a problem, but we happened to visit during a heatwave.
Ah well…
The next day, we discovered the lake through a new perspective. Stay turned for the next post for that!
On June 18th, it was finally time to be on our way to Vilnius. Bill took Charlie and Noyzi to the Hundepension. I made a video of that… It’s kind of cute, because the dogs were pretty excited to be going. Noyzi is especially delighted whenever he gets a chance to ride in the car. Charlie doesn’t like getting in the car, but he does seem to enjoy the Hundepension, and being looked after by Natascha.
Just a couple of minutes of street dog cuteness.
Once the dogs were taken care of, I did the usual Wednesday chores and packed a couple of bags. Then, at about 1:00 PM, a friendly cabbie came to fetch us for our ride to Frankfurt Airport. We were sitting in the back of the cab, and I got a comment from one of my older sister’s friends. It was someone she knew when she was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Morocco… a Moroccan guy I think still has a crush on her.
I guess the cabbie overheard me say “Morocco”, because he asked us if we spoke Spanish. It so happens, Bill and I both studied Spanish for years, but neither of us speak it very well at all. I know… I know… typical Americans. 🙄 Anyway, the cab driver said he was from Morocco. He spoke Spanish, French, German, Arabic, and Berber… We were able to communicate with him using our rudimentary German skills. The guy was very cordial and seemed quite pleased when Bill gave him a nice tip and a five star review. As we say in Armenia, “Apres!”
Check in at the Lufthansa business class desk was a breeze. No one was in line, so we walked right up and dropped off our bags. Then, after a super quick trip through security, we headed to the crowded business class Lufthansa lounge, where there were few seats to be had, other than stools at a table at the back of the room. I took the opportunity to take obnoxious selfies.
About 90 minutes later, we went to our gate. The flight was almost full, although no one was sitting in the row in front of us. That was nice. No one reclined in my lap! I got a kick out of the flight attendant’s glasses. They were round and green, with wide, quirky frames, and they really suited her. She had the kind of face and haircut that looked good with those glasses. If I’d been wearing them, I would look like I’d dropped in from outer space, or something. She was very nice to us, and kept us refreshed during the whole 100 minute flight. I took a few photos, but got caught in a reflection or two…
Lufthansa offered us some food, which wasn’t too terrible. On the flight over, Bill and I both had ham and asparagus. I don’t remember what the other choice was, but the ham and asparagus weren’t too bad. As airline food goes, Lufthansa usually does alright. They even gave us Neuhaus Belgian chocolates at the end! Fancy! Years ago, I used to sell Neuhaus chocolates. They are excellent, and in fact, Bill often order them on special occasions.
We landed in Vilnius at about 6:15 PM or so. Vilnius is an hour ahead of Frankfurt. Our bags appeared very quickly, and soon we were in a cab, speeding toward Lithuania’s lovely capital city. I couldn’t have asked for a nicer flight. Way to go, Lufthansa!
Once we got to the Grand Hotel Vilnius, Bill tipped the driver, who was shocked by his largesse. We learned on this trip that tipping is not much of a thing in Lithuania. The locals do definitely appreciate tips, but they aren’t necessarily expected. I find that a very refreshing attitude.
A doorman took our bags, and we headed to the reception desk, where a lovely young woman found our reservation and asked me for my Hilton Honors number. Remember in the previous post, I wrote that the reservation was under my name, because booking directly with the hotel would be more expensive because of the flights. I am a Hilton Honors member, but I don’t think I’ve ever used my number for anything. When we stay in Hilton properties, Bill usually does the booking, because his job has led him to do a lot of business with Hilton.
I wasn’t expecting to use the number, either, since I booked through Expedia. I had read that Hilton doesn’t take the number for third party bookings. Nevertheless, she asked for the number, and I couldn’t find it. I had one ad from Hilton in my email, and my member number wasn’t on it. And Bill couldn’t use his, because the reservation wasn’t booked under his name. She advised us to drop it off later, if we found it, then gave us glasses of sparkling wine as she showed us to our deluxe room with a balcony…
Nice view!
It was a bit chilly when we arrived, and we were a little tired, so we decided to head down to the bar area for a drink and a light dinner. We shared a bottle of white wine from South Africa, and Bill had a tuna salad, while I had salmon soup. The hotel has a restaurant called Telegrafas, which supposedly gets high marks. We didn’t eat dinner in the restaurant, mainly because I didn’t like the chairs. We did eat breakfast in there a couple of days. I wouldn’t call it a particularly special looking restaurant, although they do have a cool glass covered view of the city’s old wall in the floor.
The bread was warm and served with truffle butter. They were nice enough to bring me a plain butter, since I don’t like truffles.Bill’s tuna salad.I liked the salmon soup. I should eat more salmon.They have a little cafe where you can get coffee and little desserts. There’s also a jewelry store which looked like it sold diamonds.
Once we were finished with dinner, we decided to go to bed. It was still pretty light out at about 10:00 PM. But then, after all of these years in Europe, I’ve gotten pretty used to long summer nights, even though technically, it was still late spring until the solstice, which happened on my birthday!
The cathedral from our balcony, taken with my fancy Canon camera…
Several weeks ago, Bill and I visited the local hardware store for some stakes for his tomato plants. While we were there, we stopped by a strawberry shaped kiosk by Hof Birkenhöhe in the parking lot, where a lady was selling berries and wines. We bought a bottle of Fraisecco, a type of bubbly strawberry wine, and a semi street raspberry wine. We put the bottles in the fridge, waiting for the right day to try them.
There’s also another farm called Paul’s Bauernhof near us that sells strawberry wines and other delicious farm fresh products. I originally thought the Fraisecco had come from that farm, but I was mistaken.
Yesterday, we decided it was time to try the strawberry wine. We did that after we’d paid another visit to the hardware store to buy another umbrella for our backyard. Prior to yesterday, we just had one umbrella in the backyard, and it wasn’t quite doing the whole job of shading our patio. I’d have to move it as the sun moved, which isn’t easy, given the 100 pound granite stone it’s connected to. Even though the stone has wheels, it’s very hard to move.
We ended up getting a rectangular umbrella, rather than a traditional one. I think I like it better, because it’s longer and covers more area lengthwise…
Yes, that’s a slide!
I love MS Holz, the local hardware store. It’s so much nicer than Lowe’s or Home Depot… or even the Toom store we used to visit when we lived in Jettingen, down in BW. We spent a little over 300 euros yesterday. It was well worth the cost for the extra shade.
It took some doing to get the umbrella and stone into the Volvo. A big, strong male store employee helped us. He was concerned about what we were going to do when we got the stone back to our house. It was not a big deal, though. I was able to help Bill carry it to the backyard through our garage. Bill set up the new umbrella, then, before breaking out the strawberry Fraisecco, he took my Mini Cooper for a very quick drive.
Getting ready to set up the new umbrella.
Unfortunately, my car doesn’t get used much at all. We bought it in 2009, and it has less than 39,000 miles on it. I don’t drive much, and when I do, I usually take the Volvo, because it’s not in the garage. I did use the car a lot more often when we were in Jettingen, but even that wasn’t often enough. It is useful to have a second car, but most of the time, we don’t need it. However, it’s long paid off, and is fun to drive… when it’s running properly, that is. Right now, it appears that it needs a repair.
Bill said, as he came back outside to the yard, “I think it’s time to blow ‘Taps’ for the Mini.”
He described what happened during his very brief drive. It shook and the service engine came on. I looked up the “symptoms” and learned that the issue is most likely a faulty spark plug or ignition coil. So now, when we get back from Lithuania, he’s going to have to take the car to the mechanic and get it fixed. And then, perhaps we’ll look into buying another car. If we get another, maybe I’ll drive the Volvo and we’ll get Bill something nice for work. One reason I don’t use the Mini very often now, is because Noyzi won’t fit in the back seat. It’s too small. When we had Zane and Arran, I could fit both of them in the back, no problem. There’s no way I can get Noyzi in the tiny back seat of the Mini Cooper.
I do like the convertible– it’s a blast to drive and easy to park. But it’s not very practical for our needs now. It also has a stick shift, and I think I’m at an age at which I don’t want to mess with a manual transmission anymore. Besides, the stereo/sound system is obsolete.
Bill opened the Fraisecco, and I was pleasantly surprised. I had expected it to be sweet and cloying, but it was refreshingly dry, tasted of super fresh strawberries, and went down easy on a hot day. It also only has 8.8% ABV, which is a good thing for my liver. I’d buy it again. In fact, I wish we’d bought another bottle yesterday.
Maybe we’ll find some more when we get back from Lithuania. We’ll see. Actually, days after we get back from Lithuania, we’ll be heading for Switzerland for another 8 nights. So it might be July before we tend to these new issues.
On May 10, 2025, Bill and I visited our favorite art dealer/picture framer to get some art framed. Most of the pieces we had done were ones we’ve had for years, but never had the time, money, or will to have properly framed. Wednesday of this week, Bill got a call from the picture framer, letting us know that our order was ready to pick up. After he got home this morning from his latest business trip to Poland, Bill stopped by and fetched our art.
Below are some photos of the finished products by Kunst-Schaefer. Except for three pieces, all of the art in these photos was framed by this gallery in downtown Wiesbaden:
We had a photo of Bill’s daughter’s family framed. She had sent us an older framed photo before her youngest was born.The one on top was custom framed.I hope to add more art to our stairway… Hopefully, there will be some available in Lithuania.The Van-Gogh inspired piece was done on this round. The art dealers were fascinated by it. They did something special. The smaller pieces were purchased already framed.We finally got our drink paintings done… The same artist who did the Van-Gogh knock off did these.All of these were framed by Kunst-Schaefer, but the ones in the middle are the latest.They were gushing over this, which was done by a military wife who did an art and wine class in Stuttgart.
In other news, Bill’s cherry tomato plants have produced two cherry tomatoes. I have put them in the chili that is on the stove cooking right now. Charlie is absolutely delighted that Bill is home. So is Noyzi, of course, but Charlie is Bill’s dog. He’s been giving me the cold shoulder. Now that the pack is reunited, all is right in his world again. I may have to make a reunion video at some point.
I think this latest batch of framing ran us about 600 euros or so, after using a VAT form… The matriarch at the gallery was gushing over the paintings done by the military wife we bought them from in 2014. I wish I was still in touch with her. I’m sure she’d get a kick out of knowing that a German art dealer was admiring her work!
I’m not sure what we’ll do over the weekend. If the weather is nice, maybe we’ll venture out somewhere… Or maybe not.
I was dying to get out of the house today. Normally, on Saturdays, Bill ends up doing chores or sleeping in. But we have good weather today, and the temperature is finally warm. I wanted to do something besides hang around in my nightie all day. We thought about several things we could do this afternoon, and finally decided to take Noyzi and Charlie to the Bootshaus Flörsheim. It’s right next to the Rhein/Rhine River.
I think Bill and I were assuming we were going to be visiting a much more casual, low key restaurant today. A couple of years ago, we took Noyzi to this place on the Rhein that was near Mainz-Kastel. Looking back, I see we took him there May 28th in 2023. That place was also called Bootshaus, but it was a different one, with a very laid back Biergarten that served drinks and sausages. It was more like a stand. The place where we went today was a real restaurant. I think the other place also has a real restaurant, but the day we went, they just had their little beer stand going.
Because we were directed to a different establishment, we were a bit confused as we approached the restaurant. But we didn’t need to be. It was very dog friendly, and several canines were enjoying time with their people today.
I was a little nervous about dining at the place, because it had been awhile since we last took the dogs out. I expected the less fancy place with grass on the ground and Bratwursts on a grill. But the dogs ended up mostly doing okay. Noyzi was nervous and a little chatty, but he was not as spooky and nervous as he’s been on previous outings. That didn’t stop a few folks from giving us side eyes as they inexplicably decided to sit near us.
Bill and I ordered beers and water. To eat, I had a Caesar salad with chicken and bacon, while Bill had beef croquettes with salad and sauces. It took awhile to get the food, which offered us time to get the boys more settled. Noyzi sat after a few minutes and eventually rested on the pavement, only to spring up when a person approached, especially someone with another dog. Noyzi made friends with one guy’s adorable puppy, who actually tried to mount Noyzi. That was ambitious of him, because Noyzi is about four or five times his size. Charlie was also nervous, but less so. Since he’s smaller, he’s also easier to control. Below are some photos from the Biergarten.
We brought a bottle of water, but Bill didn’t bring a bowl. I told him to, but he forgot. At one point, some guy brought a bowl over to Noyzi. It had a little water in it. He got excited and bumped into it, making a racket. A lady sitting near us had given us the side eye a few times. I knew she was going to do it again when Noyzi crashed into the bowl. I was ready for her and headed her off with a side eye of my own. 🙄
I know… that’s not nice or particularly mature, but they’re dogs, and dogs are unpredictable. I can’t help it if they freak out. Children also make mistakes in public. Show some grace and realize that within the hour, we’ll be leaving your life forever. Aside from that, it’s hard for dogs to learn how to behave in public if they never go anywhere. Noyzi has made a lot of progress over the years. I was overall very pleased with his behavior.
The woman got the message and quit glaring at us after I returned fire. Isn’t it funny how so much communication is non-verbal? Dirty looks are definitely international language… kind of like music.
It wasn’t easy to eat the salad while holding Noyzi, so Bill took over so I could finish. Then, we finished our beers and paid the check. I got a few more photos while Bill used the bathroom. There was plenty of free parking at the Bootshaus. That’s a definite plus!
An old Porsche.
We are now back, and Noyzi is behind me, resting, panting, and farting. We need to get him some dog food made of poultry. It’s now cloudy and looks like it might rain.
I don’t know what we’ll do tomorrow. Maybe we’ll go somewhere and do something fun. Or maybe we’ll find another Biergarten and take the boys. The sooner they learn how to behave in restaurants, the better off we’ll be. I think Charlie will be a pro in no time. Noyzi might need a few more lessons.
I didn’t write any travel posts over the weekend, because Bill got home from Stavanger, Norway on Saturday afternoon, and I spent yesterday hanging out with him. We are slowly catching up with some of the stuff that went undone while he was gone. He’s going to collect our mail today and maybe drop by the commissary to get a few things. I may decide to make a video and take care of some household chores that need attention. Or maybe not.
At the moment, we’re planning a trip to Zurich, Switzerland for late June/early July. We went there in 2021, and visited Carl Jung’s house. Now Bill wants to go again, so he can take some courses at the Jung Institute. I will go with him, although I won’t be taking any classes. Maybe I’ll go on a tour or something… or just get some reading done while I enjoy views of Lake Zurich. Last time we were there, it was during the pandemic. This seems to be our year to visit Switzerland. We’ve already been there twice so far in 2025.
Bill did some good work in Norway. I think it was a successful trip for him. He enjoyed Stavanger, too, and wants to visit there for recreational purposes. I wouldn’t mind that. Hopefully, it will be within the realm of the possible, but with all that’s going on right now, who knows?
As you can see, Charlie was very happy to see Bill. I took a few more photos of their reunion, along with a video… And Bill also enjoyed the lasagna I made the other day. I used to be a pretty damned good cook.
The dogs are so glad to see Bill again! So am I!
Tomorrow, we’ll have newly framed art to hang. Several pieces are works we’ve had for years, but one piece is new. I’m still trying to decide where to hang it. Maybe I’ll put it in Noyzi’s room. 😉 We’d pick up the art today, but like many businesses in Europe, Monday is the art gallery’s “Ruhetag” (quiet/free day). When my parents ran their framing and needlework business, they also closed on Mondays. But they were open until the early afternoon on Saturdays. Same with the art gallery in Wiesbaden.
Anyway… that about does it for this post. Not too much went on in the past week, other than the usual angst and spending. Maybe there will be more to report during this year’s Holy Week. I’m sure in the mood for a miracle or two, aren’t you?
Bill has been in Norway all week, and I’ve been left to my own devices here in Germany. I’ve been keeping busy with random chores, making song parodies, and watching lots of YouTube videos, while I ponder and worry about the future. Nevertheless, I can’t deny that we had some beautiful weather this week. The temperatures are up; the sun is out; and I’ve been fighting the urge to drink wine on the terrace. This week, my liver has gotten a much needed break from booze.
I did take a few pictures this week, to show our lovely little town erupting into spring. Yesterday, I noticed they put up the Easter display in our Dorfplatz, just like they do every year. I may not be German, but I sure do enjoy living here. It’s nice and quiet, predictable, and civilized.
Charlie strikes a pose. He sure looks happy!Easter is here!
I wish I had more to report. When Bill goes away, I just kind of hunker down and get through things. I did go to the Rewe yesterday to get some groceries. I had a big brainfart while standing in line. Everybody seemed to want to check out at the same time, and the lady in front of me wanted cigarettes, which required the cashier to fetch them.
When she brought them to the register, I guess they either weren’t what she wanted or were too expensive. So then the cashier had to take them back. Meanwhile, my blood sugar was in the toilet and I was getting irritable. I counted out some money, but didn’t realize that I had mistakenly counted a five euro bill as a twenty euro bill.
And the lady in front of me said something in German, so much to my shame, I blurted out “I’m American.”
She came back in perfect English with, “I hope you aren’t in a hurry.” (or something along those lines)…
By the time she left, I was all flustered, and the cashier was telling me that I needed to give her more money. Fortunately, I noticed the shortage and gave her the twenty I had originally meant to give her. And then, on the way out of the Rewe, which is about a ten minute walk from my house, but I had the car, there was a huge group of people on bikes to navigate.
The only other significant thing that happened this week is that the dogs got much needed dentals done. That was no big deal, except for when I needed to find a parking spot. Our vet has little parking, and everybody seemed to be collecting their pets at the same time. After I paid the 1100 euro ($1400) bill for Noyzi and Charlie, I took them home. Today also happens to be the fifth anniversary of the day I saw Noyzi’s photo for the first time and fell in love with him. It took about six months to bring him home from Kosovo.
Oh… and today, I learned how to refill the salt in our dishwasher. That was quite a life skill. Seriously, Bill always handles that task, so I didn’t know. I had to guess that was why the dishwasher wouldn’t run. Below is a helpful video for those who are similarly questioning:
Let’s hear it for doing it yourself…
This week should be even more tranquil… although given what’s going on in US politics, maybe not. Ah well. Bill will be home on Saturday, and he’s taking the following Monday off. So maybe there will be something new to report then. As for today, I’m probably just going to hang out in the house…
I guess this post turned out to be more than I thought it would be.
Sunday morning, we woke up to more cold, wet weather. It was raining in Colle Isarco, which means that it was probably good to move on, although it’s not fun to drive when the weather is inclement. We loaded up the car with our stuff, then sat down to another hearty breakfast. I enjoyed another one of those incredible warm crescent rolls… I don’t need the recipe for those things, but I wish I had it!
Our hotel bill was already settled, so after breakfast, we were on our way. Very soon, we ran into snow! It’s probably the last snow we’ll see this season. We drove through the “skinny” part of Austria, after we crossed Brenner Pass. We had one rest stop, where peeing was a reasonable 50 cents… I think. Maybe it was 70 cents. I remember when peeing in Germany was only 50 cents. It’s a euro now.
I don’t know why this appears so early in my photos. We weren’t that close to the border.
My German friend, Susanne, mentioned the huge outlet center on the Italy/Austria border. Maybe if it hadn’t been snowy and Sunday, we might have considered stopping there. But the snow was coming down like crazy, and it was probably too early, even if the outlets were open on a Sunday. I didn’t have a chance to check. I wanted to get a picture of the signs for the outlet stores, but I wasn’t fast enough.
Frankly, I find outlets kind of depressing. I used to work at an outlet store at a fairly nice outlet mall in Williamsburg, Virginia. Even though it was a “nice” mall, it still kind of made me sad, because there was a real push to keep overhead low, which would make the shops look kind of picked over and sad. Still, working at the outlet menswear store got me a generous employee discount, which was a great thing in 1995. I loaded up on clothes and shoes to wear in Armenia.
Our drive north was pretty uninteresting. We tried to stop at a Rastplatz for lunch, but thanks to a shitload of trucks that took up multiple parking spots at a time, there was nowhere for us to park the Volvo. Fortunately, the next stop had more parking, and it also had a Nordsee– which is a German fast food outlet that specializes in fish and shrimp. I wouldn’t necessarily call Nordsee “cheap eats”, but it beats going to McDonald’s.
Mmmm… fried things!This must have been a consistent problem for them to put up this sign!
We got home in the late afternoon, thanks to a couple of delays. Bill had to immediately turn around and pick up the dogs, who had a great time at the Birkenhof Tierpension. They were happy to be there, and just as happy to come home, which the proprietor said she is always glad to see. Likewise, it’s a relief to see how much Noyzi and Charlie enjoy going to stay there when we take our trips!
All in all, I’d say our vacation/house hunting excursion to Switzerland and Italy was a success. I always enjoy going to Italy, if only because of the food and wine. Do I still want to invest in property there? I am intrigued by the idea. I think Abruzzo is beautiful, although given my ‘druthers, I might prefer to settle in an area further north and slightly more prosperous. On the other hand, I can’t deny that there are great bargains on properties to be had in Abruzzo, and it really is a gorgeous place, with friendly people, good food and wine, and breathtaking views of the Adriatic Sea and the Apennine Mountains.
There are a few issues that make me worry a bit about investing in Italian property. Mainly, it’s the fact that owning property there doesn’t mean you can live there full time. And with Trump’s heavy-handed governing, I’m not sure how long Americans will still be welcome in Europe. We don’t have a lot of money to spend on a place we might not get to use. On the other hand, I have no desire to move back to Trump’s version of the United States. Living there is also way more expensive on many levels.
So… we’ll see what happens. I’ll just keep socking away money and make sure to keep my eyes peeled for places where we might be able to settle. It was good to get away. I think we may visit Portugal this year, too… if we don’t get deported, that is.
The next post will be my usual ten things I learned… Hope to see you there.
I don’t have a lot to report about this week. I mostly stayed home and wrapped Christmas presents, or otherwise tended to business as usual. I also made more videos than usual, although maybe that’s a lost cause. Every once in awhile, I make a video that resonates, which then attracts haters. The rest of the time, people don’t care about my videos… but they still get more hits than my blogs do!
We did go out to the Globus yesterday. I have written about Globus before, so I’m not going to get into the specifics of what it is. Suffice to say, it’s a huge store– like Walmart on steroids– that has everything from toys to household goods to groceries. I don’t think I’ve ever explored the whole thing. I find going there utterly exhausting. However, they do have a nice booze section, and sometimes it’s a good place to go if we need something unusual.
Bill and I killed what was left of our vodka the other night (it was about two or three shots). I don’t drink that much hard liquor anymore, because it really seems to upset my stomach. Lately, I have mostly been sticking to hefeweizens. But we do keep some of it around for the odd occasions when we have cocktails. So we went to Globus and ended up buying some toys for Bill’s grandchildren, candles in case we break out the fancy china on Christmas, some liquor and wine, and a chicken for last night’s dinner.
I’m not even sure how long we were in the Globus, but by the time we had crossed the store from the toy section to the meat section, I really felt tired, numb, and apathetic. There was a time in my life when I liked going to huge stores, but now they cause sensory overload and fatigue. It was bad enough yesterday that I worried about collapsing in the store! I’d hate to have to work there! I guess this is just one more thing about getting older.
I remember when my mom, an Air Force wife, was about my age, or a little younger, she didn’t like going to the large commissaries at Fort Eustis or Langley Air Force Base. About once a month, she’d make a trip to the Naval Weapons Station in Yorktown, Virginia, which had a smaller commissary that had pretty much all we needed. Back then, I never understood why she preferred the smaller store, which was closer to our house, too. Now that I’m 52, I understand it perfectly.
Of course, the commissary at the Naval Weapons Station closed many years ago, so my mom eventually did have to start going to Fort Eustis when she wanted to stock up and get somewhat less expensive military commissary prices. Now, she lives on Fort Monroe, which is no longer an Army post, and shops at a regular grocery store. Fort Monroe used to have a commissary and other military stores.
When we were at Globus yesterday, I was thinking about how I’d rather be at our neighborhood Rewe, which is much smaller, but has pretty much everything we need and isn’t quite as tiring to navigate. I mean, it takes energy just to walk the length of the Globus. When we got home last night, I needed to rest for about an hour! Below are a few photos from our trip… Yes, we did a booze run. Globus is better for booze shopping than Rewe is.
And below are a few goofy dog photos of Noyzi and Charlie… They were wanting a walk.
I’m not sure what we’ll do today, if anything. This is the time of year we tend to hibernate. It does look like we have better weather, though. I suppose we could decide to go out somewhere, although Bill says he wants to go on post today and order heating oil and get something for dinner. I think I’ll stay home and read.
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