Tag Archives: people watching

markets

Weekly market in the dark…

Yesterday was Thursday, so that meant the weekly market was going on in the Dorfplatz. I also neglected to walk the dogs yesterday morning, mainly because the weather was so cold and damp. When Bill got home from work, we decided to see what was being offered at Breckenheim’s weekly market.

The weekly market is a new thing. It started in September, and now that Daylight Savings Time is over, it now runs partly in the dark. Every Thursday, the market starts at 1:00pm and closes at 6:00pm. Bill doesn’t get home until about 5:00, so now when we venture out to the market to shop for produce and local goodies, we have to do it in the dark. Last night, we brought Arran and Noyzi with us, because we didn’t feel like “Arran proofing” the house, to prevent him from raiding anything remotely resembling food while we were out.

Last night’s market was pretty sparsely attended. Or, at least there weren’t many people there by the time we got there. Bill ended up buying some shrimp and scallops from a fish monger who shows up regularly. We also enjoyed a glass of Riesling.

While we were having wine, we ran into an American neighbor, who was down there with her two kids. Meanwhile, Arran was insistently trying to get under one of the benches. Someone had dropped some bread there, and he desperately wanted to eat it. In spite of his age and cancer diagnosis, Arran is surprisingly strong and, when it comes to food, he’s very determined. When I told him “no”, he started to loudly and indignantly howl, causing the locals to laugh at him. I suppose that’s better than the scowls we usually got in Baden-Württemberg, whenever Arran or our sweet Zane (RIP) would misbehave in public.

Our neighbor had new running shoes and wanted to take a quick jog in them, so she basically told her son to hang out with us. She wasn’t gone long, but we were reminded of an incident that happened to us on a train to Nice, back in 2014. Basically, we (really Bill) got tasked to watch a single mom’s child on the train for a few hours. That was a bit strange, as the woman was a perfect stranger. Last night’s encounter wasn’t really, since our neighbor was only gone for about fifteen minutes and we had met her before. It was the first time I had ever talked to her son, though… a very bright, polite, and adorable eight year old chap. After his mom came back, he came over to us and said, “I’m going to go over there, if you don’t mind.” Hilarious!

His mom laughed and said, “I guess he really thought you were watching him.” I guess he did, since she told him to stay with us! But it was not a big deal. She was back before we were halfway done with our wine.

We had a brief chat with our neighbor, and then our landlord came up and said hello. Noyzi was pretty nervous at first, but then he submitted to petting by a couple of people. I could tell he was delighted, as his little stubby tail was going a mile a minute. Yes, indeed… I think that eventually, Noyzi will be less nervous around people and he’ll be able to join us when we’re out and about. He doesn’t bugle like Arran does. Arran likes people, but he gets tired when he’s out. He’s also loud when he wants to complain about something. Noyzi genuinely loves people, especially women. He’s just been traumatized by abuse in his past. He’s also a street dog, and they’re stealthy.

Once we finished our Rieslings, we went back home and had biscuits and gravy for dinner. Bill had a date with his Jungian therapist, while I did some Christmas shopping. A good night was had by all.

Again… I love this about living here– weekly markets, getting to know our neighbors, and bonding over dogs and wine. I suppose that could happen in the USA, but our neighborhoods aren’t usually as perfect for this kind of community fellowship. I’m glad we’ve been able to experience this… and I’m so glad we moved to Wiesbaden.

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short breaks

Food and wine in Switzerland, Italy, and Liechtenstein… part ten

We want some wine!!!

Friday morning, after breakfast, we made our way back to the center of Florence with no specific plans for the day. We were scheduled to meet Tom, our guide, at 6:30pm at Santa Croce plaza. From there, we would go to a restaurant owned by friends of his and taste our first of many wines. Then, we’d have that Bistecca alla Fiorentina we’d been seeing for the past couple of days. But what to do for the rest of the day? Well, we did what we always seem to do when we travel, especially during a pandemic. We wandered around, people watched, and ate. Below are some more photos from Friday.

No, we weren’t drunk…
at least not at that time of the day…
But we were having fun!
Santa Croce. A different photo came up in my Facebook memories today, from 9 years ago.
Horses!
Ponte Vecchio.
The view of the Arno is better on less famous bridges.
A little church meditation.
We started looking for lunch.
I am always fascinated by what people will paint on buildings.

Near the Ponte Vecchio, we were in a narrow alleyway, where we were greeted by a “friendly” Italian man who saw us looking at menus and told us his place was opening in twenty minutes. I was more open to taking him up on his welcome than Bill was. Bill was put off by the guy for some reason. I guess he doesn’t like being approached. Neither do I, but I’m somewhat less reluctant than he is.

Unfortunately, after that encounter with the local, it took us awhile to settle on a lunch venue. We wandered around several places and considered dining at one place, only to change our minds when we saw a woman send back an obviously underdone pizza (horrors!). There was an Irish pub that looked inviting, with its many fried options… Sadly, I am a big fan of fried food.

We did eventually find a really great local restaurant for lunch, Osteria Cipolla Rossa (red onion). And we found it just as I was about to give in to the pull of the tourist traps! We got to Osteria Cipolla Rossa at just the right time. There weren’t many people in the place when we arrived. But, by the time we ordered our food, the restaurant filled up with many locals. Bill had a wonderful vegetarian dish of homemade fettuccine with crushed pistachio nuts, mint, and Mediterranean vegetables. It was unique and interesting. And I had chargrilled chicken breast with roasted potatoes. The chicken was tender, juicy, and very flavorful. When Bill tasted it, he had a look on his face that he usually only has when he’s mid orgasm. Sadly, I haven’t seen that face as often as I used to. I know… I know… TMI.

I loved this pasta dish!
And this chicken was amazing!
I had vanilla gelato with cherries for dessert.
Bill had the dessert of the day, which was some kind of delicious custard, with chocolate powder on top.
We would go back!
Buskers…
And beautiful Italian flowers and produce.
More buskers. Bill gave them some euros.

By the time evening rolled around, we had walked several miles. My feet were killing me. But we had to walk back to Santa Croce to meet up with our wine group. I was curious about who would be attending the tour with us and how large the group would be. We saw Tom De Vries of Sommeliers Choices waving at us from across the square, so we made our way over there to meet Shawna and John, a married couple, and Heather, a married mom of two who came by herself. All three were Americans who live and work in the Stuttgart military community, as Bill and I used to. I think Tom does more business with the Stuttgart community, though he’s also in my Facebook group, which started out being Stuttgart based, and is now more Wiesbaden centric because I live in Wiesbaden.

To be honest, I’ve often regretted starting that wine group. As I wrote at the beginning of this series, I was actually reluctant to do this tour, because I am not good at being in groups. I’m probably even worse at leading them! But… I can’t deny that it has led to some fun travel and food experiences, like this tour we did over the weekend. We did have some lovely experiences on the very brief, but intense, tour with Tom. I got lots of beautiful photos, drank some beautiful wines from small, family owned wineries, met new people and dogs, and found some places Bill and I might try to visit on our own at some point.

Below are some photos from Friday night’s dinner and tasting at Francesco Vini in Florence. The restaurant was really interesting, especially with the cool “bunker” basement, where we did our tasting. Tom says he does a lot of tastings in the cellar.

Santa Croce in the evening.
A look at the cellar.
Orange wine from a tiny island near Tunisia. No, it’s not made of oranges. The color comes from the grapes’ skins.
Bill tries the first red.
Tom does his stuff.
These were the star attractions with our dinner.
Appetizers!
Fried pizza dough with dip.
The big steaks!
Bistecca all Fiorentina. There were also truffled mashed potatoes for the fungally unchallenged.
A nice restaurant.

One of the group members needed gluten free food because of celiac disease. I’m happy to report that all of the places we visited were great about proving gluten free options for the group member who needed them. Tom was also great about indulging my aversion to mushrooms and truffles. Besides the truffled mashed potatoes with the above dish, there were also plain roasted potatoes offered. The gluten free group member said that Italy was surprisingly accommodating in proving gluten free options, even at pizzerias!

After dinner, Bill and I were too exhausted to walk back to the hotel, so we split a cab with the solo group member. It was about ten euros total, and worth every euro cent. My feet are only now starting to deflate from all the wine and walking we did!

Stay tuned for part eleven.

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Cruising around Calw…

Last weekend, when we visited the Baumwipfelpfad Schwarzwald, we were forced to detour through Calw.  I kept seeing signs for this town and had heard it was pretty.  Bill wanted to go out for a few hours, so we took a short outing to Calw, which is about 18 kilometers from our home in Unterjettingen and was Hermann Hesse’s hometown.  Hermann Hesse won the Nobel Peace Prize for literature in 1946.  He was born in Calw on July 2, 1877.

We left the house at about 1:30 or so, prior to having lunch.  By the time we got to Calw, it was about 2:15.  I was hungry.  The first order of business, once we parked at the huge Kaufland parkhaus, was to find lunch.

Hermann Hesse’s town…

 

Unfortunately, Calw was pretty dead yesterday and a lot of the restaurants there do the traditional pause, meaning their kitchens close at 2:30.  We wandered around looking for a place that didn’t close at 2:30 and saw a couple of cafes and ice cream shops.  We were turned away at one restaurant and a helpful German guy advised us to come earlier “next time”.  Duh.  I guess I should have been flattered that he didn’t immediately see us as Americans and assume we were “on holiday”.

I was getting crankier and crankier as my blood sugar dropped and Bill was apologizing to me for dragging me to such a quiet place when we ran across a gasthaus in the main square.  A smiling man was standing there with three huge chalkboards.  They were still serving lunch.  Success!

As much of the gasthaus’s sign as I could get with my iPhone while sitting down.  

Yesterday’s menu…

My salad.  It did the trick…

And the rest of our lunch… served on Hermann Hesse commemorative plates from 2002.

We sat down at an outdoor table overlooking what appears to be a massive construction and
restoration project.  Many elderly people were standing in groups.  I wasn’t sure what was going on.  I almost thought maybe there was a protest, but no one looked pissed off enough for that.  I was too focused on eating to investigate, but I think maybe they were hanging around after the weekend market.

The menu at the gasthaus included several dishes featuring asparagus and Hollandaise sauce.  I ordered the ham and asparagus plate for 11 euros and Bill had the turkey breast and asparagus plate for 13,50 euros.  Both dishes came with a trip to the self service salad bar and salted potatoes.  We washed lunch down with hefeweizen.  The food was good and hearty and it took about three seconds for me to stop being so hangry.

Cool buildings in the main square…

 

Bill enjoys a little more wheat beer.  It was surprisingly chilly yesterday.

 

Although we had come to Calw to see what was there and maybe find something fun to do, it was really pretty quiet yesterday.  So we decided to people watch.  It was an interesting way to pass the time.  I noticed that Calw seems to have a resident cat.  I’m not sure if it was a male or female, but I saw it three or four times.  It was a grey striped kitty with white “socks” and a crooked right ear that seemed to be perpetually cocked to the side.  The cat was distinctive looking and appeared to be quite a character as it followed people and wandered around the main square.  I never did manage to get a picture of the kitty.

I also noticed that Calw appears to have a lively music venue.  Roger Hodgson, former lead singer of Supertramp (one of my favorite 70s and 80s bands) is due to perform there soon.

Concert posters visible from where we sat.

 

We continued to watch the world go by from our table.  I saw the smiling proprietor of the restaurant warmly embrace an elderly lady as if they were dear friends or perhaps relatives.  I saw lots of kids go up to the fountain and dip their water guns into the water.  They’d fill the guns and shoot at the lion sculpture on top of the fountain.  Shopkeepers would get water from the fountain and water the potted shrubs in front of their stores.  It was a scene one wouldn’t necessarily see in the United States.

As we finished eating lunch, I noticed a small sign by the door at the gasthaus…

Nette Toilette?  What the devil is that?

 

I heard two girls talking about needing the WC and a man said, “Nette Toilette”– “nice toilet”.  So I looked it up on my iPhone.  Apparently, it’s a program in certain German cities where restauranteurs allow their toilets to be used freely by the public.  I think that’s a nice idea.  The reason behind this program is that there aren’t enough public toilets and it would cost money to build, maintain, clean, and protect them from vandalism.  Public toilets are also usually only in the center of the city, leaving necessary facilities out of reach for those who venture out further.  In exchange for allowing people to use their toilets, restauranteurs get money from the city and they may also get the odd impromptu guest who decides to stick around for a meal.  Calw is just one of many German cities with this program.  It’s good to know that if I see the red and yellow sign and need to pee, I can do so guilt free!

Our lunch tab was about 38 euros, which we thought was a good deal.  After we finished eating, we decided to wander around a bit.  I took a few photos of Calw’s beautiful old downtown district.

At one point, we heard lots of drums and Turkish horns.  I looked down an alleyway and noticed a large number of Muslims standing near a building as the noise continued.  It was obviously a wedding.  I think it was the first Turkish one I’ve ever seen in Germany.  People stood around, looking on curiously.

Someone’s pretty yellow roses.

 

When we got back to Kaufland, I realized nature was once again calling.  We went into the massive store and I found a clean and free WC.  Calw’s Kaufland is very nice as opposed to the one Bill visited in Herrenberg.  It’s very big, clean, and offers most anything you’d need.  We decided to pick up a couple of items.

I couldn’t resist taking this photo…  German quality written in English!

 

I never knew McDonald’s made ketchup.  I thought they just used Heinz.  Learn something new every day…  No, we didn’t buy any.  

 

Scary wine drink consisting of merlot and cola flavoring.  You’re supposed to drink it iced.  Nein, danke.

This was taken from the parking garage.  You can see the popular brauhaus across the river.

Street sign…

Our trip to Calw wasn’t long on structure or activity, but it was interesting nonetheless.  Calw is a really pretty town.  Next time, we’ll have to get there earlier and check out some of the museums and other restaurants.  At the very least, I got to learn a little about Hermann Hesse and the Nette Toilette program, right?

I was feeling pretty good about our little impromptu trip to Calw until we got home.  It was obvious Zane and Arran had engaged in a little scuffle in our absence.  Zane had a couple of bite marks on his face and it looked like he’d also thrown up.  I think they got in a fight over their Kongs, which they had been successfully using for months.

I cleaned up the mess and felt kind of bad for leaving them, while at the same time I was grateful that no one got seriously hurt.  I am forever fretting about the dogs.  Maybe it’s time we started taking them with us like Germans do.  That might necessitate a new blog all on its own.

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