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Ristorante Campioni– tennis anyone?

Apologies in advance.  I forgot to bring my camera or my phone last night when we went out to dinner.  That’s too bad, because we enjoyed a very nice meal at Ristorante Campioni, an Italian restaurant maybe a couple of miles from our temporary apartment.  We went there because the two restaurants closest to us are closed for vacation and we wanted to try something new.  The lady who owns the apartment we’re in recommended Ristorante Campioni, which is a fine establishment right next to a tennis club.

Bill and I really should have made reservations.  When we walked into the place at around 7:00, it was humming with business.  I noticed many of the tables were reserved.  By the time we left at about 8:45 or so, the place was pretty much packed.  Most everyone was dressed casually and I saw several kids there apparently enjoying a nice dinner after playing tennis.

The menu is in Italian and German (an English menu is on their Web site) and offers everything from pizza and pasta to impressive fish, duck, and veal dishes.  There’s a wine list and a full bar.  And if you’re lucky, you can sit by a window that overlooks indoor tennis courts.

Although Bill and I like to splurge when the mood strikes, we ended up going simple last night.  I had a salami pizza and Bill had penne pasta with a spicy tomato and basil sauce.  We washed it down with a bottle of Primitivo, otherwise known as Zinfandel and San Pellegrino.  Both of our meals were under ten euros and neither of us could finish them.

My salami pizza was made with a perfect crust, a thin layer of sauce, a layer of cheese, and large slices of sliced salami.  I had heard from Samantha Brown on Passport to Europe that you shouldn’t take a knife and fork to Italian pizza, though I noticed that’s what the Germans around me were doing.  I gave up on eating pizza the American way when some lady gave me a dirty look.

Bill really enjoyed his pasta.  He said the sauce had a zing to it and tasted very fresh.  I didn’t try his pasta because I had pasta for lunch.  Still, it looked delicious and I probably would have liked it myself.

I noticed other people getting some impressive looking dishes.  One couple ordered a very impressive grilled fish.  My eyes got big when they brought it out on a sizzling platter.  I know I would not have been able to eat the whole thing.  I love fresh fish, especially the way the Italians prepare it.

We decided to have dessert.  Bill went with his usual tiramisu, which was a very good choice at Ristorante Campioni.  It was light, creamy, and really hit the spot after his spicy pasta dish.  I decided to be brave and ordered the Cassata Siciliana, which turned out to be an ice cream treat.  My dessert consisted of very rich chocolate and vanilla ice cream with what tasted like cherries and lemon rind impregnated within it.  It was garnished with strawberries, a persimmon, and chocolate syrup.

The bill came to 44 euros and, I think, was well worth the cost.  Service was friendly, competent, and attentive and the food was great.  If we go back, I will definitely try something more adventurous than pizza!  And we will definitely make reservations!  Ristorante Campioni is definitely a popular place with the locals!

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Review of Hotel Flora in Stuttgart-Mohringen…

Bill and I spent a week at Hotel Flora, which is on Filderbahnstrasse in Mohringen.  I chose this hotel when we were in Texas because we needed a place that was pet friendly and not too far from Kelley Barracks, which is where Bill is working.  I typed “pet friendly hotels Mohringen” and Hotel Flora was the first place that came up.  It got good reviews on Trip Advisor and had availability, so we went with it.

We arrived at the hotel exhausted on August 3, 2014.  The night before, we were on an overnight flight from Houston, Texas to Frankfurt.  After two hours in the airport collecting our bags, our dogs, and our rental car, we spent another couple of hours on the autobahn and were pretty wiped out by the time we checked into the hotel.

The lady at the front desk didn’t speak any English; fortunately, Bill speaks some German and understands it pretty well.  She gave me a look when our dogs pulled me outside and peed on the immaculate lawn.  I was sorry about that, but the poor things had been stuck in carriers for hours and though we gave them a pit stop on the way to Mohringen, they were still adjusting.  I had grabbed a couple of plastic bottles and absent-mindedly placed them on the counter as Bill was checking us in.  I almost forgot to take them until she called my attention to them.

Our room was #29.  It was in a building separate from the main one and we were no doubt assigned it because our of our hounds.  It was a fairly comfortable room; somewhat large with a little patio to its back, a minibar, free WiFi, a couch, and plenty of storage.  The bathroom was pretty tiny– the shower especially so.  But it was very clean, basically pleasant, and very traditionally German.  We had a TV in the room, but Bill never did get it to work.  It looked like it lacked a power cord, though it was hooked up to cable.  No matter… we aren’t into German TV anyway.

I promptly got into bed and fell asleep, only to be awakened a few hours later by the people living in the house next door.  They were enjoying a Sunday game of football.  Ordinarily, that wouldn’t bother me, but since I was tired, I was a bit cranky.  There’s also a lot of traffic noise because the hotel is situated between two major roads and near churches that ring bells a lot, especially on Sundays.

There are plenty of restaurants near this hotel and we had the chance to try several of them.  You can read my reviews on this blog.  Hotel Flora also offers a very generous breakfast, which is included in the room rate.  The breakfast is basically a large buffet with breads, cold cuts, cheeses, cereals, yogurts, scrambled eggs, boiled eggs, juices, tea, and coffee.  One other note– the mini bar was well stocked and reasonably priced.  They even had appropriate glassware for the beers in the fridge.  You may not be able to find an extra pillow in the cabinets, but by God, you’ll have the right glass for your hefeweizen.

Housekeeping is pretty good, though they weren’t consistent as to when they’d show up.  Since we had dogs, that was kind of inconvenient.  Some days they’d come at 10:00am; sometimes, they’d show up at 3:00pm.  I never knew when they needed to clean the room, so I’d end up waiting for them so I could take the dogs out.  I will say, though, that the staff is very nice and helpful.

Parking is available in an underground garage connected to the hotel.  It costs six euros a day.  Reception closes at 2:30 on Sundays, but if you need to check in, you can go to the hotel’s sister property.  I don’t know where that is, but a number is posted on the front door.  Smoking is allowed in some rooms; if you are sensitive to smoke, you should request a non smoking room.  If you want to smoke, you can request a room that allows it.

Hotel Flora is very close to an S-bahn stop, which was nice for Bill.  There’s also a bus stop close to the hotel.

We spent about $1000 for our week at Hotel Flora.  We are now in an apartment, which is a lot cheaper than the hotel was.  We have found a house, but won’t be moving in until September 1.  All in all, this move is going more smoothly than our first one here went.  Someday when I’m bored, I will write about our six weeks at the Vaihinger Hof, which was a crazy but fun place to be.  ðŸ˜‰

Overall, I would recommend Hotel Flora, though it may not be the most conducive place for military folks to be long-term.  It worked out fine for us, though, and they were very nice about our dogs… but then, we paid an extra 20 euros (10 per dog) per day to allow them to stay there.  Had we not had dogs or a car, our rate would have been 83 euros a night.

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My review of our flight on Lufthansa…

So now that we’ve been in Germany for nine days, I’m ready to write about the long-ass flight we took from Houston, Texas to Frankfurt, Germany.  Although my husband Bill and I lived in San Antonio, we flew out of Houston because we had our two dogs with us and we wanted a direct flight to Germany.  A direct flight means fewer opportunities to lose baggage and live animals.  If we had flown out of San Antonio, we would have had to change planes at least once.

We also chose to fly out of Houston because Houston has more international carriers than San Antonio does.  Since we had our dogs, we couldn’t use Delta Airlines, which is usually our carrier of choice.  Delta won’t fly pets from May until September or when the temperature anywhere along the route is higher than 85 degrees.  In fact, all of the American carriers had restrictions.  We could have flown on United, which is the airline we used last time we moved to Germany, but we would have had to use their Pet Safe program to move our dogs.  It’s a cargo service and costs a whole lot…  and frankly, I’m not sure it’s any safer or more convenient.

Having done my research, I determined that flying to Germany on Lufthansa was our best bet.  Lufthansa has special areas for pets that are kept temperate and well lit and they take care not to put animals on the plane until the last minute.  The Frankfurt airport also has a pet facility that was built in 2011 that is supposedly pretty awesome.  I didn’t expect we’d need to use the pet facility, since we were going to be on the same flight with our dogs.

Aside from taking care of our dogs, I was kind of excited about flying on a European carrier on a transatlantic flight.  It’s been my experience that European airlines are better than American airlines are in terms of comfort.  Since we had to pay for our tickets (which means we have to reimburse Bill’s employer), we were able to book directly with Lufthansa.  Had we been flying on military or government orders, it’s very likely we would have been forced to fly on an American carrier.  I don’t know if this is still the rule– it was when I was a Peace Corps Volunteer and last time we moved to Germany– but if you fly on the government’s dime, they make you take an American carrier for as far as possible.

Anyway, we had a really decent flight on Lufthansa.  The only thing I didn’t like about it was having to pay $35 each for two seats together.  We could have let fate determine where we’d be sitting, but Bill and I wanted to make sure we were together.  So we spent $70 so I could sit by a window and Bill could sit in a middle seat.

The guy who checked us in at Lufthansa had never dealt with pets before, so a co-worker came over and trained him as he got our dogs set up.  Then he walked us to the oversized baggage counter so the dogs could be checked by TSA.  Let me just say right here that the two TSA guys at the Houston airport were great with Zane and Arran.  I wish all TSA encounters were as pleasant.  Zane and Arran each weigh about 25 pounds and in their carriers, they weren’t too much heavier.  So though we were originally quoted $800 when we asked about how much it would be to fly with them, we ended up paying only $400.

The boys wait patiently in the airport…

Loaded up and ready to fly.

The Lufthansa flight itself was very pleasant.  Our flight attendant was terminally sweet and chipper and was happy to check for us that the dogs were checked in safely.  She brought us a before dinner drink and the wine flowed freely throughout dinner.  The dinner was some kind of chicken with vegetables and mashed potatoes.  It wasn’t great food, but it was edible.  The wine helped.

The seat was reasonably comfortable and there was a monitor on the seat in front of us which allowed us to watch movies or listen to music.  I used my iPod and watched the progress of the flight; Lufthansa had kind of a cool Google Earth feature that showed a simulation of what was under the plane.  I liked seeing the names of places as we flew, too… especially as we got closer to Germany.

The carry on baggage bin above us was full of crew equipment, so we ended up having to stick our bags under the seats in front of us.  My bag was sort of full, so I ended up with less leg room.  Good thing I have short legs.

I didn’t try the breakfast.  I think it was some kind of omelet.  The thought of eating a pre-made omelet was too weird for me, so I passed.  Bill tasted his and said it was okay.  I ate the bread and fruit instead.

The guy who sat on the aisle with us was upset because his monitor quit working.  He summoned a flight attendant who did all she could, short of moving him to business class, to make him happy.  He ended up staying in his seat and the monitor eventually worked again.  I was impressed by how kind and efficient the flight staff was.  It really was a nice flight– especially since the guy in front of me didn’t recline.

The dude in the aisle seat wasn’t as lucky and got stuck with some American jerk’s head in his lap for most of the flight (he actually had to be told to sit upright for the meal service).  As we were sitting in the last row before the exit, we didn’t have anyone sitting right behind us, so for once I felt alright about reclining and also didn’t have anyone’s knees in my back.

The dogs were in great shape when we picked them up.  They weren’t real happy to be in the carriers and they were thirsty, but otherwise they came through the flight just fine.  It sure beat paying thousands for them to fly cargo or using a pet shipping service.

We need to go back to the United States in November, so I look forward to using the other half of that  round trip ticket.  I don’t like long haul flights, but on a European carrier, they are somewhat more bearable.

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