A winter break in Waiblingen… Saturday market day (part six)

Saturday morning, we had a bit of a “lie in”, as the Brits would put it. The third location we could try for breakfast, Cafe Bar Sachsenheimer, would not be open until 9:00 AM. This establishment is slightly more of a walk from Bachofer than Cafe Tagblatt or the Kauffmann bakery is. Of the three places where we had breakfast, the Sachsenheimer Cafe was my favorite. Once we arrived there, I could see that it’s a favorite of the locals, too, in spite of somewhat low ratings on TripAdvisor.

When we got to the eatery, it was bustling with business. Nevertheless, we lucked into a table, and proceeded to order from a menu that offered many appealing choices. I ended up having Eggs Benedict, but I could have had blueberry pancakes, French toast, or Huevos Rancheros, among other things. Bill decided on an Avocado Stulle. We both had large coffee drinks, a cappuccino for him, and a latte macchiato for me. I wish I had ordered orange juice, but it turned out I probably would have been too full to enjoy it, anyway. We probably should have made reservations for Saturday. I would definitely recommend reserving for Sundays, because I’m sure that place gets full!

Saturday was also a market day, so there were lots of vendors selling food items, flowers, and other local products. I got some photos of the action. We also heard some great buskers playing, and I managed to get a CD from one of them. I love to buy music from buskers. I find music and art make the best mementos from any trip!

The weather was nice, so we also went down to the park, just below the city Marktplatz. I got some photos down there, too… as well as a few overlooking the park. I got warm enough that I ended up carrying my heavy coat! We stopped by the church for awhile and just sat there, listening to the water flow, and watching the world pass. We got a few new pictures of ourselves, too.

We continued walking a different way back toward the city center. Our plans for Saturday night included dinner at another fine restaurant, Untere Apotheke. We knew that would be a big meal, so we decided to have a snack instead of lunch. Schöllkopf Backwaren was just the place for a stop– we had beer and super delicious and fresh butter pretzels! I don’t usually get that excited about pretzels, but the ones we enjoyed on Saturday were fabulous! It was the perfect thing to carry us over until dinner.

I really enjoyed the festive atmosphere on Saturday. It seemed like everyone was out and about, and neighbors were saying hello and catching up with each other. It was delightful to be part of that, even briefly, and give thanks that we can enjoy being in a place where there’s no violence or strife on a sunny winter Saturday.

As you can see in the pictures, there are still remnants of a wall that used to surround Waiblingen. They were pretty cool to look at and well-preserved.

Our dinner at Untere Apotheke was a great high point at which to end our brief winter visit to Waiblingen. I will write about it separately in the next post, since I know some people are only interested in my restaurant posts, and not so much about city views in Waiblingen. I’m really glad we stopped there. It’s a great little town for a low-key break.

*I got a kick out of this little light by our room door. It helped us let the housekeepers know when the room was open for cleaning.*

dental

Rheingauer Weinwoche in Wiesbaden– 2023 edition! And more dental woes for Bill…

Yesterday, I lamented to Bill that yet another Saturday was about to get away from us with no fun outside of the house. His answer to me was to suggest that we go to downtown Wiesbaden, where the Rheingauer Weinwoche is going on. This annual event started on Friday and will run through August 21st. COVID kind of messed it up in 2020 and 2021, but we attended in 2019 and we went several times last year.

Although we had some rain yesterday, we managed to get to the festival after most of the weather had passed. It was just partly cloudy with some breezes and a few drops from the sky. As usual, the big celebration is going on in the Schlossplatz, and there are dozens of wineries from the Rheingau region represented, along with some food stands and live entertainment.

Bill and I parked at our usual garage at the theater, where we soon noticed that they had a brand new parking system in place. It used to be, when you drove in, a machine would give you a ticket that you’d later feed into the payment machine. It would tell you how much you owed when you reclaimed your car. Now, you just drive in and input your license plate number when you leave. I also noticed that they had designated a bunch of spaces on the first floor for electric vehicles. I guess that’s one reason to get an electric car. You get prime parking spots downtown! 😉

Anyway, it had been awhile we were last in downtown Wiesbaden. We should probably go there a lot more often than we do, because it’s a really nice town… much prettier than downtown Stuttgart is. There is often a lot going on, too.

We walked around the fest, just to see what was available. I stopped at the first WC I saw, noticing that the price of a whiz has gone up to 1 euro. However, you can purchase an all day ticket for four euros, or a family pass for six euros. I ended up going four times and Bill went twice yesterday. Next time we go, we’ll have to get a family ticket. 😀

We stopped at a random wine stand that had plenty of seating and a good view of the festivities. I had a glass of Riesling and listened to a female singer in the distance, but noticed I could also hear a brass band on the other side. I was more in the mood for the brass band, so we left after one glass and went to the other side. Not surprisingly, there wasn’t a lot of seating there, so we went around the corner and sat at another random wine stand that happened to specialize in Sekt.

That other stand was also near a WC, which was very handy for me… so we just sat there and people watched, drank wine, and took some photos. I’m sure we’ll be back again at least once, because just as they did last year, Bill’s co-workers have reserved a table for this coming Friday night. I have a feeling Bill will be ready for a celebration, because on Monday morning, he has to visit a local dentist to have a tooth extracted and start the process for his very first dental implant.

Wednesday, he was at work, eating a gummi bear, and suddenly noticed that there was some rattling in his mouth. He spit out a hunk of gold, which turned out to be a root canaled and crowned molar that he’d had done in 2011 or so. It just sheared right off! He called our usual dentist in Stuttgart, but as usual in August, he had shut down his practice for his annual vacation. Since this was not a situation in which Bill could wait until next week, when Dr. Blair returns, he asked a colleague for a local suggestion. Her dentist turned out to be pretty excellent, too.

He called that dentist’s office and they got him in at 10:30. The oral surgeon– a young German guy who went to school in nearby Mainz– said he couldn’t save the tooth, which had a huge cavity in it under the gold crown. But since the tooth had already been root canaled, the dentist said Bill could wait until Monday to have it extracted without risking infection. Then, perhaps, he might even be able to get the implant put in without having to wait for the tissues to heal first (like I did when I got my implant in 2016). Truthfully, though, I have a feeling he’s going to have to come back later for the implant. They’re probably going to have to do a sinus lift, which will take more time. I had to get one of those, too.

So… not only did we just buy a bunch of new appliances for our house, but now Bill is going to have a big dentist bill. We do have dental insurance, but it’s still going to be pricey work. And when we go back to see Dr. Blair in October for our cleanings, he’s going to be like “WTF”? 😀

Honestly, though, given the number of appointments it takes to get a dental implant, it’s probably a good idea for Bill to have it done locally. If and when my other baby tooth finally gives up the ghost, Dr. Blair can do another implant for me. I know he does excellent work. The one I had done in 2016 is still perfect.

I figure the wine fest will offer Bill some pain relief, after he has his extraction on Monday… I don’t know if we’ll go back today. Bill just brewed a new batch of beer last weekend, so he needs to bottle his brew. My car also needs a spin to keep the new battery functioning. It looks a bit cloudy, too. On the other hand, the wine fest is a lot of fun– there’s also beer and non alcoholic beverages for those who aren’t into wine, as well as plenty of food. We capped off yesterday by having a rare east Sicilian treat called arancini. I noticed them early in the day and was intrigued. They’re deep fried rice balls, covered with bread crumbs and stuffed with mince meat and/or vegetables, mozzarella cheese, peas, and ragu. The ones we had yesterday were delicious and filling!

Here are some photos from our excursion…

I do love this about living in Germany… There’s always some kind of fun or interesting activity going on, and the vast majority of people are well-behaved. Yes, the police were there, and there was security, but I saw little need for them to intervene. The same isn’t necessarily true at events in the United States. So, I’m grateful to live here… and raise yet another toast to the annual wine festival week in Wiesbaden!

Hessen, markets

A visit to Maruhn Welt Der Getränke, and our very own “chili dog” at the wine stand…

Yesterday, Bill and I decided to venture out to Darmstadt. We wanted to visit a drink market Bill had heard rave reviews about from his colleagues. He was told the place was on several levels and offered many different beers, wines, liquors, and mixers from around the world. It turned out Maruhn Welt Der Getränke isn’t quite that amazing, but it’s still a very nice drink market.

When we lived in the Stuttgart area, we used to somewhat regularly visit Heinrich’s Super Getränke-Markt 3000 in Kornwestheim (near Ludwigsburg). I was always impressed by the excellent beer selection offered at that store, and hoped Maruhn’s drink market would be similarly excellent. Having visited Maruhn’s drink market yesterday, I can now say that in some ways, I liked it better than Heinrich’s. In other ways, I think Heinrich’s is better.

Heinrich’s has a superior beer selection. It has more beers from more places from around the world. It has better parking, offers somewhat more snacks for sale, and is next to a regular supermarket. The parking garage has a public restroom, which would have come in handy yesterday, after I finished off a bottle of water.

However, Maruhn’s has a free wine tasting section, a bar, and has much nicer displays. Maruhn’s offers many more liquors, some of which are very precious and expensive. I don’t remember seeing a lot of liquor at Heinrich’s. They also have drinkware, barware, and Bembels (pottery wine pitchers). I really liked the music they were playing in the store, too, which may seem like a minor thing, but to a musical person like me, it’s quite important. I don’t think I ever heard music at Heinrich’s, which seems a lot more “no frills”, to me.

We picked up a couple of bottles of wine and some exotic beers– mostly from Scotland and Iceland– as well as some German beers. It’s been a long time since I last had beer that didn’t originate somewhere in Bavaria and taste like every other beer of that type in Germany. Don’t get me wrong. I LOVE German beers. But as an American, I have gotten a taste for more exotic suds and styles that aren’t typically offered by German breweries. I used to order beer from a store in France called Saveur-Biere, but that gets kind of pricey in a hurry. Maybe I should order more, though.

Here are some photos from Maruhn’s… I think we’ll be back.

Ask an associate and you can try some wines for free.

Our visit to the “world of drinks” was brief. As we were checking out, the cashier rattled off something to me in German and I was caught unawares. Bill asked her to repeat herself and she asked in German if we spoke German. Bill said in German that we only speak a little. So, she easily switched to English and asked if we needed another box for our brews. *Sigh*… Americans need to get on the bilingual train.

Noyzi was very happy to see us when we got home. I was pretty tired, though, because I hadn’t slept well the night before and woke up early. I took a nap, enjoying the perfect “sleeping weather” temperatures and sunshine we have this week. Then, afterwards, we decided to go to the wine stand, where Noyzi was on his best behavior. We made another video for Bill’s daughter, showing her the local snack delicacy that was offered last night– Spundekäs– which I’ve written about before in this blog. It’s typically served with pretzels– either hard or soft. Bill’s daughter likes learning about food, so this is one way to bond.

Below are some photos from the wine stand, and a quick video I sent to Bill’s daughter about the local snack… which we enjoyed “ohne Musik” (no raw onions on top, which make people fart– hence, the “music”). Noyzi, by the way, was better behaved than ever before! He saw his friend, the truffle hunting dog named Billy, who is much smaller than he is, and he charmed some of the locals. I wish I had a sweet, gentle, friendly disposition like Noyzi’s. It might get me further in life.

An explanation of Spundekäs

Just before we called it a night and went home to watch the excellent 2008 movie, In Bruges, again, I looked up and noticed a man admiring Noyzi. It was local veterinarian Dr. Blendinger, the man who, with his veterinarian wife, owns the vet practice where we’ve taken Arran, Zane, and Noyzi. I had never spoken to him before, although I have seen him at his clinic, which is very close to Breckenheim. Dr. and Dr. Blendinger are actually our neighbors. Their property is adjacent to our landlord’s, and our landlord lives next door to us.

When I saw him noticing Noyzi, I blurted out, “Dr. Blendinger?”

He smiled in recognition, and I said with a laugh, “We go to your vet clinic! And I know you’re a musician, too, because I’ve seen your videos!”

We had a brief chat and he invited us to the pop choir concert in July. It’s going to be held at the church.

I love this about our village of Breckenheim. People are so friendly and social! If we’re home when the concert happens, we’ll definitely make a point of attending.

Well… I have been summoned to breakfast, so I guess I’ll end this post. Enjoy your Saturday!

customs

The first night of Breckenheim’s very first wine fest!

This year, we seem to be attending so many wine fests! It’s probably on account of COVID-19 restrictions finally going away. October is coming, and there may be new restrictions, based on what the virus does. For now, Germans are having their beloved festivals, and where we live, they’re all about the wine. Remember that we moved to Wiesbaden in late 2018, so we missed the 2018 season. In 2019, it was “normal”, but we were dealing with stress associated with our departure from Stuttgart that put a damper on our spirits. Then came 2020 and 2021, and fests were significantly reduced. In 2022, things have rebounded a lot.

Our little town of Breckenheim is up and coming. We just got a weekly market, which started last week, probably to justify the installation of the new public toilet (which I got to use last night). This week, had a market AND a wine fest. I anticipate that there will be a lot more socializing in our village, and it’s a great thing. I’ve stated more than once how much we have enjoyed how convivial Breckenheim is. It’s a very different, friendly, mostly inclusive vibe here that helps to make up for losing the awesome beauty of the Schwarzwald in our backyard.

Bill came home from his latest business trip yesterday afternoon. He took Arran to the vet, because he’s been a little “off” lately, plus his run ins with the hedgehog in our backyard resulted in his getting fleas. Hedgehog fleas apparently don’t infest dogs and cats like regular fleas do, but they do bite. I noticed Arran had swollen popliteal lymph nodes, too. So he got a fine needle aspirate, antibiotics, and flea meds. One of the fleas was kind enough to jump off of Arran when he was being examined. Bill said the vet, two techs, and he all worked together to corral the nasty beast so it can be studied under a microscope. I’m hoping that whatever has Arran acting odd will turn out to be related to the fleas and isn’t due to cancer. He’s about 14 years old now, and our last three dogs succumbed to cancer. Arran was a little slow this morning, but after he had some breakfast and a walk, he perked up a bit.

The wine fest is going to go on all weekend. We’ll probably go again, because we had so much fun last night. At first, there were a couple of ladies giving us the side eye when they heard us speaking English to another American. Later, our next door neighbor’s mom came over to talk to us. She went over and sat with the ladies, and probably told them we weren’t tourists. Then our landlord bought us a round of wine. And then the young family who is moving to our neighbor’s vacant apartment came over with their kids, and we had a great time chatting with them. I have a feeling they are going to be good friends. They even asked us to carve a jack o’ lantern for Halloween, because they want to celebrate it. I’m happy to do that. I’m not very good at carving pumpkins, though.

Halloween is kind of hit or miss in Germany. One year, during our first stint in Germany, we had people come to our door and we weren’t prepared. Then we weren’t home other years. Bill now picks up candy in case anyone rings the bell, but no one ever does. Looks like this year will be different. This is the same family who brought me a piece of the pretzel the other day. I found out that the mom is half Italian, which explains why she found the Stuttgart area to be less friendly. It’s my experience that Italians are stereotypically a lot warmer– sympatisch— as my Italian friend who lives in Germany would say– than people from Swabia are. At least at first. I’ve found that most Swabians will eventually warm up, once you get to know them. It just usually takes more time than it does up here in Hesse.

We were only going to stay a little while last night, then go home and have dinner, which is why we didn’t try the food vendor’s wares. Instead, we ate a pretzel with Spundekäs, which wasn’t enough… especially considering how much wine we enjoyed. There were maybe four or five wine stands going, plus live music, plenty of seating, and the new toilet, which we learned last night cost taxpayers 120,000 euros or so… No wonder so many people were upset about it and a news guy from the local radio station was asking for opinions last year! But it is a nice facility, at least for now. And it’s Kostenfrei (free of charge), which really makes it special. 😉 I tried the new toilet, but failed to lock it properly. Luckily, I was finished when someone opened the door on me and said, “Entschuldigung!” (excuse me) I suppose I’ll learn the right way to lock the door, now that the village is about to be bustling with events.

Below are some photos from last night’s fun, plus a couple of videos from Bill’s return home.

Arran and Noyzi were delighted to see Bill after his trip. So was I!

Arran had to give his favorite person a hug. I was working on my latest puzzle.

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Rheingauer Weinwoche in Wiesbaden, Part Zwei…

Bill and I had a productive morning. After I ranted in my regular blog, I decided to practice guitar and then change the strings. Changing the strings on my guitar is a major pain, mostly because of the types of gears I have on my headstock. It takes me awhile and sometimes involves some pain. However, as I just recently made a video in which I played guitar, I realized that a string change was probably long overdue… so I did that, and Bill bottled his latest homebrew.

I recently joined a couple of swell Facebook groups devoted to day trips, mostly because I have really missed seeing and writing about interesting places on the weekends, like we did in Stuttgart. It’s time we got back into the swing of doing that, so we can get more out of being in Germany, and maybe I’ll start making ad revenue again. I saw some places that interested me, but as we didn’t get to see the whole Wiesbaden wine fest on Friday, plus it was already the afternoon when we were ready to venture out, we decided to go back downtown.

We walked a bit around the much calmer fest, slowed down a bit by the bright sun and intense heat. This current heatwave probably isn’t the worst I’ve experienced, even in Germany, but it has been going on for awhile… I’m pretty tired of it. It makes me cranky. The weather channel says we will probably have some rain– finally– this week. I sure hope so. The heat is a real bummer.

I got some more photos and we decided to visit the Barth Weingut stall, because last year, we went to a wine stand in Hofheim and bought some of Barth’s wines to take home. They were, and still are, very good. I have to say, I liked them better than the wines we had on Friday night at Weingut Hamm. But then, I wasn’t the one choosing those wines. We had a pretzel and spundekäs (cheese dip), a local specialty out of Mainz.

We also had a late lunch– a hot smoked salmon sandwich for me, and pulled pork for Bill. While we were enjoying our wines from Barth, a couple sat at the table behind us and proceeded to chain smoke. I was a bit annoyed, since there were quite a few empty tables nearby where they could have sat and not fouled the air with their cigarette smoke. Then, I was dumbfounded when the female half of the couple donned a heavy duty FFP2 face mask! They were sitting there smoking for a good half hour, but then she decides she wants to be a COVID-19 warrior? Amazing! But that’s one of the mysterious things about living in Germany. Some folks are the crunchiest, most health conscious people you’ll ever meet. But they love to light up, especially while they enjoy local wines and beers.

Anyway, we stayed for about three hours, hearing the vague strains of live music as we enjoyed Rieslings by Barth. I don’t know if we’ll go back again, even though the fest is running until next weekend. I am a little tired of wine fests, and would really like to do something different, in a different town. But we can’t always go to the Wiesbaden Wine Festival, while those other activities are usually available.

Below are today’s photos… they aren’t as exciting, because today was a lot more laid back and low key. I kind of like it that way, to be perfectly honest. I am not a big fan of crowds and super busy events.

It was kind of a low key time to be visiting the fest, but that’s kind of the way I like it. Hopefully, next week, we’ll find a nice Tierpark or something. We’ll see.

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Our Heidelberger Birthday Holiday! Part six

Yesterday morning, we enjoyed another “lie in”, then packed up everything for the relatively brief trip home to Wiesbaden. I’m glad we went to Heidelberg. It’s not far from where we live, but it has a different feel. It was nice to leave Hesse, even if we were just over the line. I could have used another day, to be honest.

I didn’t take pictures of yesterday’s breakfast, which was much like the one before it, although we had it inside instead of out in the courtyard. I mentioned that it was my birthday and was hugely surprised by a special gift from the kitchen…

*This was a delight! I truly wasn’t expecting it.*

After breakfast, we brought our own bags down to the reception desk. They greeted me with a “Happy Birthday!”, having noticed it on the paperwork. All told, our extravagant weekend ran us about $2000 or so– including two nights in the junior suite, a couple of trips to the bar, breakfast, parking, one dinner, and a couple of bottles of wine. Yes, it was very expensive, but we felt it was well worth it after such a difficult and strange year. For us, personally, it wasn’t as difficult as it’s been for a lot of people… but it was definitely weird. I’m hoping for better and less odd days in the near future, as more people get vaccinated against COVID-19. We choose to enjoy life while we still can… and splurge when we can. Bill’s latest TDY per diem will be paying for this trip.

Since we couldn’t pick up the dogs until 6:00pm, we decided to go home a different way and spend a couple of hours in Speyer, a town in Rheinland-Pfalz I had heard a lot about but never had a chance to visit. On the way there, my German friend shared this adorable happy birthday video with me.

Bwahaahahahaaha!

After we parked the car, we started walking toward the picturesque city, when I spotted this…

I’ll pass on the one with the face mask. I’d like to forget those as soon as possible.

We decided to just stroll through the town and take some photos, since we were really full from breakfast. Founded by the Romans, Speyer is one of Germany’s oldest cities. It’s the kind of place where it’s just cool to be there. It has a unique look and a different vibe. After our brief look, we’ll definitely have to go back for another visit and perhaps an overnight or two. Parking was cheap and easy in a huge lot near the downtown area.

After an emotional visit to the Dom, we strolled through the park, where there was a small fest going on. I kind of wanted to hang out for awhile, but Bill only paid for two hours of parking. Bummer… we will have to go back. This cute little festival was a nice reminder of what was, and what hopefully be again. Gotta keep the faith.

The dog was enjoying watching the kids on the ride!

We got home in the afternoon, just enough time for me to start the laundry and this travel series. We picked up Arran and Noyzi at the Tierpension Birkenhof 6:00pm. I could hear Arran all the way out to the car. He has a very distinctive bay! I’m happy to report that the boys did fine… When the caregiver opened the gate, Arran came right out to us.

*Noyzi needed to be redirected. I’m glad to see he enjoyed his accommodations at the Tierpension Birkenhof!*

Noyzi got confused and went back to his “room”. It actually took some convincing to get him to come out to us. Both dogs said goodbye and were relaxed and happy as we loaded them into the Volvo. I felt good about that. I didn’t expect Noyzi would have any trouble and he didn’t disappoint. I think the lady who watched them fell in love with Noyzi, which doesn’t surprise me, either. He’s a very sweet, gentle, easy to handle dog.

Arran says hello before he had his accident in our backyard.

My birthday would have ended up on a great high note, if not for Arran’s exuberance when we got home. Once we let him off the leash, he took off running outside. At some point, he must have careened under the bushes at a high rate of speed. He and Bill were having a reunification bonding session when I noticed blood on Arran’s shoulder. I took a closer look at the fresh wound and realized that he’d torn a big gash open, with a flap hanging down. It wasn’t bleeding a lot, but it was kind of deep.

So poor Bill had to take Arran to the Tierklinik Hofheim for debridement and stitches. Sadly, a lot of people were having pet emergencies last night, so although Bill got there at 9:30pm, he didn’t get home until 4:30am, about 825 euros poorer. The vet clucked sympathetically over the cost, which was pretty high… but in the United States, it would have cost a hell of a lot more than 825 euros to get emergency stitches for our dog in the wee hours of the morning. So while we wish the accident hadn’t happened, we’re grateful the clinic was available and Arran’s situation wasn’t worse. Bill said he counted three people who lost their pets last night. 🙁

Arran seems no worse for wear today, except for the stitches. They loaded him up with antibiotics and painkillers, and I suspect the forced rest will cramp all of our styles a bit. He jumped up on the bed at 4:30am, gave me a kiss, and went right to sleep. He’s been napping all day today. We’ll be taking the hedge trimmers to that bush in the backyard. This is the second time Arran has cut himself on it.

Well, that about does it for my birthday celebration for 2021. If you’ve been following along, thanks so much for reading. We really had a great time. I guess if there’s one thing we’ve learned from the pandemic, it’s that travel is a wonderful privilege that shouldn’t be wasted or taken for granted. And every once in awhile, it’s a good thing to splurge. I suspect our next splurge will be when we book our long awaited dentist appointments in Stuttgart. That will probably be next on the agenda… and after that, maybe a real vacation! Dare to dream!

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: pretzels