Some women don’t like to share how old they are. They think it’s a shame to have grey hair, sagging boobs, and a butt like a barrel. Well, maybe having a barrel butt is kind of a shame. I probably could and should do something about that… but then again, I probably won’t. Because if there’s one thing I’ve learned over the past few years, it’s that you never know how long you have. And when it comes down to it, what other people think of me isn’t my business. If I ever decide to make my butt into a different shape, I’ll do it because I want to, not because I’m ashamed.
Belgium is a great place for letting it all hang out. I have enjoyed every trip we’ve ever taken there, starting with our first visit in September 2008. Bill and I were living in the Stuttgart area, and Bill was working day and night on a very annoying project that kept him perpetually busy and traveling. One day, as Labor Day approached, he sent me a really pissy email that read, “I think we need to go to Brussels and see Manneken Pis.” And by God, that’s what we did. We took a first class Thalys train from Stuttgart to Cologne to Brussels and spent the weekend drinking excellent beers, eating chocolate, and enjoying the city’s irreverent vibe. We also visited Bruges.
Then, after we came back to Germany in 2014, we decided to go to Belgium again. We visited the Netherlands in 2015 and traveled through Belgium via Luxembourg, then spent Labor Day weekend 2016 there, visiting the eastern towns of Liege, Barvaux, Durbuy, Rochfort, and Dinant. In 2017, we celebrated my 45th birthday in a little town called Alveringem, which is not far from the beach or the beautiful city of Gent. We also visited Bruges again. Then in 2019, when we spent MLK weekend in the Netherlands, we were very close to the borders with Germany and Belgium, so we visited then, too. Then came COVID-19, which messed up travel for a long while.
As my fiftieth birthday approached, Bill wanted to know what I wanted to do and/or where I wanted to go. I told him he should come up with a trip. I hoped it would be a surprise, but I ended up figuring out where he chose to take me some weeks before the trip happened. He knew I’d been thinking about going to the Netherlands again, but he also knew that I love Belgium. He also found an absolute GEM of a hotel. Antwerp is also known for diamonds and, it being my fiftieth birthday, Bill figured maybe I was due for a new rock. So he booked the hotel, and Friday, the 17th of June, we made our way there, mostly courtesy of Germany’s handy Autobahn system. Our route also took us through a short strip of the Netherlands before we dipped into Belgium and landed at its big port city.
Bill got excited by this truck, which he says is from Osh Kosh, Wisconsin and is probably American equipment on its way to port.
The first thing we noticed about Antwerp was, unfortunately, the rude drivers. I can see why they’re rude, though. Driving in Antwerp is very challenging, especially if you don’t know your way around. There are many bikers and walkers, and they don’t always stay in view, yet they expect drivers to give them space. Once we parked, though, Antwerp became very cute, friendly, and welcoming for all people! Especially the LGBTQ population!
Spanish on the German Autobahn!
Our drive to Antwerp took about four hours, but it took another hour of driving in the hellish maze of one way streets to make our way to our junior suite at the glorious hotel Bill booked, De Witte Lelie (The White Lily), which is a fabulous small, luxury hotel with a little parking garage. Not knowing much about the hotel, other than it has great reviews and quirky furnishings, I was almost tempted to tell Bill that we should cancel there and go somewhere that was accessible! But I’m glad we didn’t do that, because the hotel was superb, and one of the best things about the trip. Yes, it costs a lot to stay there, but if you’re looking to splurge and are into avant-garde style, it’s a great hotel for a special occasion.
De Witte Lily started out as three 17th century buildings, but they’ve now been joined to create a beautiful oasis in Antwerp, complete with a peaceful courtyard, two sitting rooms, a small bar, and a lovely breakfast area. We were pretty exasperated by the time we reached the hotel at about 5:00pm on Friday, but the receptionist quickly opened the garage for us, checked us in (and even carried our bags upstairs), and gave us champagne and chips. I should mention that this hotel has an elevator, but it only services one part of the property. Our room was only accessible by stairs, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, given how much beer we drank (maybe it helped my barrel butt and spare tire).
I had visions of maybe taking day trips to other areas during our weekend, but we were so traumatized by driving in Antwerp and the rather rude drivers there (though, again, now I totally understand why they’re rude), that we decided to just spend the whole time exploring the old town’s cobbled streets, alcoves, and allies. We ate lots of good food, listened to live music, drank plenty of good beer, and did lots of shopping. In this series, which will be pretty brief, since we were only gone four nights, I’ll do my best to cover the highlights. Hope you’ll follow along. Antwerp really is a great place to turn 50… it’s a place where I felt just fine being myself!
Below are a few photos from our travel to Antwerp… they aren’t that exciting, but bear with me. They get better.
We stopped at a rest stop for lunch and a pee. This is a warning to would be cheats and thieves.Crossing a bridge…An oasis of calm after we checked in.A brief refreshment.The wallpaper…in the lobby bathroom…was something to behold.Cheers!
I’ll get more into the details of the hotel in part two. Stay tuned!
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!
Sunday night, we decided to eat at Hotel zur Post again. Although there are other restaurants in Meerfeld, they were mostly connected to hotels. I got the sense that a lot of the hotels offered half board plans, which meant they mainly catered to their guests. I suppose we could have easily tried one, but I enjoyed Friday night’s dinner at the hotel enough that I was okay with trying another evening meal there. After all, the chef has won awards, including accolades from the Michelin Guide. So once we got back to the hotel and got cleaned up, we went down to dinner.
I still wasn’t very hungry after our filling lunch, though I was hoping they would have that amazing wild garlic and smoked salmon soup Bill had on Friday night. I thought maybe I could combine it with the burrata tomato salad they offered as an appetizer and call that dinner. Unfortunately, the soups they were offering on Sunday night didn’t appeal to me. One was a curry soup and the other was a Pfefferlingen (mushroom) soup, which I absolutely would not have touched with a ten foot pole. Bill probably would have loved it.
We skipped the appetizers, since all of the entrees come with a salad from the salad bar. Since we’d already had the mushroom free fish dishes, and I wasn’t wanting pasta again at dinner time, I ended up ordering the rump steak. I don’t usually like to order rump steaks in German restaurants because they’re usually too thick and lean for my liking. I also don’t think most German beef tastes very good. Bill ordered a beef/vegetable roulade. I had been considering that myself, but was glad I didn’t order it when I saw that it came with mushrooms that weren’t noted on the menu. Sorry… I know a lot of people love mushrooms, but I literally have a phobia of them. There are a few foods I won’t eat because they gross me out or don’t taste good. Mushrooms are at the bottom of my list… in fact, that’s one reason I didn’t end up becoming a chef. Who ever heard of a chef who has a phobia of mushrooms?
Anyway… my steak came with fries, which were very good. They reminded me of Belgian frites. Bill’s dish came with croquettes that reminded me of the kind one can find in a grocery store. However, I didn’t try them, so I don’t know if there was anything special about them. They looked like tater tots, but instead of the usual “hashbrown” like filling, they had more of a mashed potato consistency. I do like croquettes, regardless of whether they came from the grocery store or were homemade. Bill ordered another bottle of wine, but we ended up with one twice as expensive as what he’d ordered. It was fine, but slightly effervescent, which I don’t like so much in a red.
As we were having dinner, I noticed a guy at a nearby table giving us the side-eye. I wasn’t sure if it was because we spoke American accented English, or because Bill fetched a very small salad for me. He wanted me to try the potato salad that was available at the salad bar. Maybe the guy wondered if my arms were broken or something. We noticed him giving us the side eye at breakfast, too… Of course, that could have been my imagination coupled with paranoia.
Here are a few photos…
Goofy Bill!
We got this wine by mistake. It was 98 euros. Bill had ordered one that was half that price, but he didn’t notice until we’d already finished it. It wasn’t bad, but I wouldn’t order it again, especially at that price.
The amuse. They were shrimp spring rolls.
Bill’s roulade, which he did enjoy very much. The beef was very tender and flavorful.
My rumpsteak, which came with sauteed onions and krauter butter. I don’t usually eat onions with beef, but I know that’s popular here. This was cooked to a perfect medium temperature. I couldn’t finish it, though.
We did have dessert. Bill had the sorbet– pina colada, raspberry, and passionfruit.
I had bourbon vanilla ice cream with fresh, marinated strawberries and whipped cream.
After dinner, we retired to our room and watched a television program that was kind of like a Bavarian version of Hee Haw. There were men and women dressed in Bavarian Tracten– Lederhosen and Dirndls, playing German folk songs. I actually really enjoyed it. It made me wish we could get local TV. The television at the hotel, by the way, got a wide variety of channels, including some in English. They were mostly news channels, but interesting just the same.
On Monday morning, we had one last breakfast. Then, having already loaded up the car, since it was in the private lot on the fourth floor, we checked out, and were ready to head home. The final damage for the three nights in the hotel was 360 euros, but that included breakfast and parking, as well as access to the excellent spa area. We had a good stay at Hotel zur Post and would stay again. Next time, I might look into renting one of their vacation apartments instead. But Meerfeld has several attractive lodging choices, and there are also plenty of other nice hamlets in the Eifel that beg to be explored. You really can’t go wrong with most of them. It just depends on what you’re looking for.
We decided to go a different route, since I had missed the opportunity to get pictures of the Cochem Castle on Sunday afternoon. It was actually a good decision to go the back way home, since we drove through some areas that really reminded me of the Freudenstadt area near the Black Forest. A few times, I almost felt like we were driving near Nagold, and I had a sense of deja vu. Unfortunately, it was raining near Cochem when I got my photos. They turned out alright anyway.
If you have an electric car, you can plug it in at Hotel zur Post.
Beautiful views of Cochem…
It had just started raining when I took these pictures.
Another charming town on the Mosel we drove through…
You can get your grapes on.
By the time we were closer to Wiesbaden, the sun was out.
Another visit to a rest stop. It’s impossible to escape constant reminders of the coronavirus pandemic. Even the computerized messageboards above the sinks had instructions about proper hand washing.
We stopped at a rest area about an hour out from home. A Russian or Bulgarian couple ahead of us were struggling with the pay turnstiles before the restrooms. I probably looked really impatient, since I just wanted to get in and out of there. It was kind of funny, though, listening to the male half of the couple tell his wife to just use coins instead of a card.
Overall, we had a really nice weekend. Meerfeld was a pleasant surprise. It was fun learning a little bit about the volcanic part of Germany, which before our trip, I had never realized existed. The Eifel is very beautiful, and isn’t too far from Wiesbaden or the other military areas in Germany. It is a bit of a haul from Stuttgart, but if you like hiking, biking, swimming, and kid friendly activities, it’s not a bad choice at all. I learned what a maar is, saw lots of beautiful nature, petting and fed some animals, ate good food, and had a change of scenery. I can only recommend it to others!
Friday morning, Bill took Arran to the Tierpension Birkenhof in Darmstadt, which has become a great help to us in our quest to see more of Europe. When we lived near Stuttgart, we used two different pensions. One was a place we’d used during our first tour, from 2007-09. During that time period, the place was very well run and we never worried about our dogs. But during the five years we were absent from Germany, the lady who used to run the pension divorced her husband and left the area. I guess the pension was the husband’s property. He remarried, and although his current wife is very nice, she wasn’t as good at caring for animals as the ex wife was. We changed pensions when we heard some disturbing stories about the fate of some of the dogs who stayed there. Two different people we knew had dogs who died after staying there. Another had a dog with diabetes who got very sick after her stay. Although we never had trouble ourselves, I couldn’t put the dogs there again after hearing the stories.
The next pension we used was Dog On Holiday. It was not in as bucolic of an area as the first place was, but the people who own it are exceptional, and they took outstanding care of Zane and Arran. When we suddenly lost Zane to cancer last year, Bill let Max, the proprietor, know. He actually called Bill to find out what happened. He was genuinely saddened by our loss, as was Celene, the lady who runs the Birkenhof, who sent us a very kind letter of condolences. Max and his wife are excellent caregivers to dogs; consequently, they are often fully booked. Fortunately, up here in Wiesbaden, it’s easier to book the dogs when we travel, so Arran (and our soon to be new dog, who already lives with a bunch of dogs outside) don’t come with us as often anymore. It works out fine, since Arran actually loves going to the pension and hanging out with other dogs. He would have been welcome at the Hotel Zur Post in Meerfeld, too. There was an adorable beagle staying there while we were visiting. But it’s really easier for us to travel when we go without our four legged “son”, and that was certainly true this time.
The drive to Meerfeld was to take less than two hours, although we did hit a “Stau” near Koblenz– a great city on the Rhein I would like to visit soon. As we journeyed west, I noticed how beautiful the landscape is. Soon we were in a forested area that gave me flashbacks to the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). We lived right on the border of the Black Forest when we lived near Stuttgart and I’ve missed the beautiful scenery and trees. It was so nice to be out in nature again. Rheinland-Palatinate (Pfalz) is not that far from Wiesbaden, but it looked and felt a world away from the suburban views we have in my neighborhood. Yes, there are trees here too, but not so close to where we live. Near Stuttgart, we lived on the edge of a nature park, where there were many acres of forests. Being in Rheinland-Palatinate reminded me of that, minus the high stress living arrangement we had down there.
On the way to Meerfeld, I needed to stop for a pee break. This was the first time I’d been in one of Germany’s many rest stops since the pandemic began. Grumpily, I grabbed my face mask and stalked off to the convenience store/pay toilets/restaurant. The place was almost empty, except for a couple of women in the ladies room. One of them had a small boy with her. They were blocking the sink. When I was done peeing, they were both still blocking the sink when it was time to wash my hands. I probably looked bitchy because– no joke– I hate wearing the mask with a fiery passion. I just wanted to wash up and get out of there. I noticed the proprietors had put a piece of plywood between the in and out doors, funneling people in and out in a single direction. In retrospect, that seems like a good idea. Once that chore was done, we got back on our way, but not before I noticed the funny ad for “safe” eating…
Safe eating! The views beyond this rest stop were a lot more appealing.
Not far beyond the rest stop, I noticed the cell phone signal became very spotty. That is an issue throughout the area, which may or may not be a good thing. If you want to unplug and get away from social media or the news, it’s a good thing. If you need to call for help, as it happened once when we were near Oppenau in the Black Forest, it may not be such a great feature of the area. But then, people have been traipsing around this volcanic wonderland for many thousands of years… I am sure help is available even when there’s no cell signal.
A spare shot of the castle ruins.
Very close to Meerfeld are several cute little hamlets, as well as a magnificent castle ruin called Manderscheid Castle. We did not visit this historic site because we didn’t have the time or the stamina to climb the large hill it sits upon, but if we ever do come back to Meerfeld, I would love to see it up close. As it is, I got some nice photos from a lookout on the road above. The above photo is of Manderscheid Castle, and just seeing it as we passed was kind of a thrill. Meerfeld is just a short drive from the castle, and as you drive in, you can see the famous volcanic lake in the distance. It’s close enough to walk there from any hotel in the town; I counted at least four, as well as several vacation homes.
Aside from lodging and restaurants, there doesn’t seem to be much to Meerfeld. There’s a church, with bells that ring promptly at 7:00am every morning. I also noticed an office for a naturopath. There aren’t any shops, although you can get what you need a short drive away.
We pulled into the front parking lot at Hotel Zur Post, which also has a gate controlled back parking lot that you get access to once you check in. Donning our masks, we entered the reception area and spoke to the very friendly proprietor, who welcomed us warmly and assigned us to room 401. I don’t think she spoke English at all, but I found her German easy to understand. The elevator was very slow, but once we got to the fourth floor, we easily found our generously sized room. Hotel Zur Post also has apartments for rent in the building next to it. They looked really nice. I might have booked one of those if I had found the option to. In any case, the room was pleasant and airy, with a small balcony and a view that overlooked the back of the hotel and offered a peek at the pool and spa area, which are on the fourth floor. The fourth floor is also where you can access the back parking lot, since it’s on a hill. That was very convenient for us. Below are pictures of the hotel room and the views.
The bed, which was old school and could have been more comfortable, but was basically suitable.
Bathroom sink. The bathroom was a good size, but had a really tiny shower with low water pressure.
Your classic toilet.
Views from the balcony.
On the other side of the hotel, you can see the maar.
Another view.
A sample dinner menu at the restaurant. The chef has won awards, and I can attest to the quality of the food.
The apartments. The hotel is next door, and has a similar facade, only in white.
After we checked in, we took a short walk around the town. I took the opportunity to take some photos. The walk through the field isn’t how to access the maar itself. There’s a road to a parking area just as you come into the town. You can either walk or bike down that road, or drive your car… driving might get you a few dirty looks, since it’s a narrow passage. Get yourself a Parkscheine at the machine, then walk to the entrance of the maar. Right now, they’re taking people’s contact information in case anyone comes down with COVID-19. We didn’t opt to get a close look at the maar on Friday. I did get some pictures from our walk, though. Lots of plants and animals make their home on the boggy shores and in the maar itself.
In the distance, you can see the maar.
Helpful signs offer tips…
and the history of this place with an ancient history.
The walk we were on was pretty, but not close enough to the maar.
If you’re hiking, here’s some help.
I got a kick out of this sign. Just one biker is welcome?
Meerfeld…
A kick ass town.
These cows greet you as you enter the town.
Another distant shot of the maar. You have to access it from the parking lot.
Pretty thistles.
Volcanic rocks.
More hiking help.
A little milk history.
We stopped by the church, whose bells awakened us every morning…
I was impressed by the graveyard.
It’s been awhile since I last visited one in America… but these graves are impeccably groomed.
Some people were there gardening as we visited. I noticed these rather militaristic graves from 1945… I wondered if the occupants had been soldiers in World War II.
Bill was telling me about his very first German landlord in Ansbach, back in the late 1980s, who had fought in World War II. The guy was a member of the Nazi party, not because he necessarily believed in its principles, but because he wanted to advance in the military, and at the time, being in the party was a requirement. The landlord showed Bill his souvenirs from those days. Bill said his first landlady, wife of the former military landlord, was a very fastidious Bavarian lady whom he ended up hiring to clean his apartment. Unfortunately, she was adversely affected by the nuclear fallout from Chernobyl, which blew up in April 1986. She got cancer and died just six weeks after her diagnosis.
I remember when the Chernobyl accident in Ukraine happened. I was in eighth grade, without any idea that someday I’d end up living in Europe and the former Soviet Union. Incidentally, in 1997, I took a train tour around Europe for a month. One stop was in Regensburg, and I spent a night in a cheap hotel by the train station. As I was checking out, the proprietor told me that he had been taken prisoner of war by the Americans during World War II and was held in Tennessee. I didn’t know what to say to that information… at the time, I had no idea there were POW camps in Tennessee. But he didn’t seem too upset about it and I learned something new. Graveyards are interesting places with a lot of history. I thought the one in Meerfeld was beautifully kept.
Bill and I made dinner reservations at the hotel for 6:30pm. I was looking forward to it because not only had I heard the food was excellent, but I was also really hungry. We didn’t eat much lunch before we set off for Rheinland-Palatinate (Pfalz- my German friend says Pfalz is the German word for Palatinate). Below are some photos.
Our assigned table was marked clearly. We sat here for breakfast and two dinners.
The menu was presented on a single sheet of paper for hygiene reasons.
Bill had to wear rubber gloves to look at the laminated wine list. Masks were required when people weren’t sitting down. It got pretty tiresome, to be honest. Wait staff also wore masks. Before anyone tries to school me about this subject, yes, I get that they’re necessary. But I don’t have to like it. 😉
Dry Riesling from Mosel. Quite satisfactory.
I had a Caesar salad with sea scallops as a starter… all of the entrees include a trip to the salad bar, too. I didn’t partake of the salad bar the first night for obvious reasons.
Bill ordered a delicious soup made with smoked salmon and wild garlic. I liked his soup better than my salad. I was hoping they’d have it last night, but they didn’t.
My entree was dorade filets with tarragon sauce, asparagus, and a side of gnocchi, which is pictured next…
Yeah… no need for a side salad!
Bill had trout almondine with a side of salted, boiled potatoes.
For dessert, I had delicious creme brulee and a scoop of strawberry sorbet that was off the chain!
Bill had warm apple cake with a scoop of salted caramel ice cream. It was a nice way to end the meal. Service was pretty good, although Bill had to hunt someone down to pay the bill, which came to 123 euros.
We retired to our room to watch some German TV and relax. We had some big plans for Saturday! Stay tuned for the next post, which will probably be written tomorrow, because my computer is being super annoying tonight.
Hi folks. Sorry it’s been awhile since my last post, but Bill was away for most of last week and this week, we are in Wroclaw, Poland (otherwise known as Breslau to Germans). Bill and I visited Wroclaw for a few hours back in 2008. We were impressed by it then, but it’s come a long way in eleven years. In fact, Poland as a whole seems to be in better straits than back in 2008.
I hadn’t actually wanted to come with Bill on this trip, mainly because when I tag along on his business trips, I usually spend a lot of time bored. I don’t enjoy dining alone in restaurants and I’m kind of hesitant sometimes to visit local attractions by myself. I’m not sure why I’m like this, since I was single for a long time. Wroclaw is a pretty great city… It’s much underrated and you get a lot of bang for your buck here, since it’s Eastern Europe. I should probably be more adventurous, too, since so many people here speak English. Seriously, eleven years ago, Poland was NOT like this… One thing that has not changed, however, is the wonderful, whimsical artistic spirit here… so many great musicians, artists, dancers, and performance artists. We really need to spend more time in Poland if we can manage it.
Anyway… our trip began on November 16th, which was our 17th wedding anniversary. Since we had to put Arran in the “hunde pension” on Saturday anyway, we decided to spend a night in Frankfurt and have a nice dinner. I chose the Jumeirah Frankfurt Hotel, located in the big shopping district downtown. And because we’re old and don’t feel like wandering around the city, we opted to have dinner at Max On One Grillroom, which offers excellent beef, lobster, and other dishes. I was curious about this hotel chain, since it’s based in the United Arab Emirates and only has three hotels in Europe– Frankfurt, London, and Mallorca.
Before I get too cranked up with a review, I’ll just say that Jumeirah is a lovely place in Frankfurt. I booked us in a gorgeous skyline king room that offered views of the city that didn’t disappoint. Service was mostly impeccable; the food was outstanding; and we had a very nice evening at the hotel, though definitely not without a price. After we left the oasis of Jumeirah, we had to deal with the hellish Frankfurt Airport. Wroclaw is a great city and we like this week’s business hotel, the Sofitel, but it kind of pales in comparison to Jumeirah. If we can swing it again in another city, we definitely will.
I will start writing up this trip very soon… perhaps starting tomorrow or the day after. For now, I need to sleep off the beery lunch I just had at the Doctor’s Bar across the street. Like I said, Wroclaw has come a long way in the beer department since 2008. I also never knew about the 600 gnomes in this city… and I have managed to spot a bunch of them so far. Stay tuned for more in the coming days, after I’ve had a nice nap.
Some years ago, I remember an ad that aired on TV that had a jingle that went “I need a vacation like nobody’s business!” That’s how I was feeling a couple of weeks ago. Although Bill and I currently have the privilege of being able to take lots of trips fairly frequently, it had been a couple of months since our last one. We’ve had a pretty stressful spring, too, and the recently crappy weather did little to enhance my joy for living in Germany. I told Bill I wanted to get out of town for a few days. He agreed we needed to go somewhere.
Off I went to Booking.com to find pet friendly accommodations somewhere… anywhere within a reasonable driving distance. Bill arranged to take last Thursday, Friday, and today off of work. I considered places in The Netherlands, France, Belgium, Switzerland, and Italy. After a few coin tosses, we wound up booking our trip to the little town of Domaso, Italy, which sits right next to Lake Como.
Bill and I had visited Lake Como before. In fact, it has the distinction of being the very first place we visited during our first Germany experience together. In May 2008, we booked a hotel in a little mountain town called Pellio Intelvi, which is above Lake Como. Although it was a nice hotel, it was in a rather remote area and was a pain to get to. Of course, the last time we were in the vicinity of Lake Como was June 2009, when we unexpectedly got trapped there while day tripping. I am happy to report that this time, we did not get stuck anywhere. In fact, we had a marvelous time over our pre-holiday long weekend.
I booked Casa Oliva di Domaso for four nights. I chose it because it was pet friendly, with no extra pet fees, and near the lake. It had free WiFi and parking. Those are pretty much my main criteria when I book self-catered accommodations. I usually book them because I’m bringing my dogs, who are sweet, but occasionally loud. The price for this apartment was right, too. We paid under $500 for four nights. For that, we got a three bedroom, two bathroom house that included linens and towels and didn’t require us to clean extensively before we left.
After packing up the car on Thursday morning, we set off for Italy. I remember being pretty tense during the drive down, probably due to some stupid argument I had on Facebook. Bill was fretting over a job interview he had last week. The dogs were also nervous– especially Zane, who always frets when he’s in the car, yet delights in getting to go with us. Although traffic wasn’t too terrible, it still took us about seven hours to get to our destination. I entertained myself by taking some photos.
In Germany, very close to the Swiss border… Hohentwiel!
As we headed south, we passed through some absolutely stunning areas…
And lots of tunnels!
The road around Lake Como can get very tight. At one point, we were stuck for a couple of minutes as we took turns passing through a narrow part. That gave me the chance to see a funny exchange between a couple of twin boys and an older girl. The girl was giving the boys what for, and the boys responded by yelling back and wagging their fingers. It was so stereotypically Italian that I laughed out loud.
Italians like their asparagus, too.
One thing I noticed as I took photos was that the air smelled heavily of flowers. When I took pictures in Switzerland, I smelled a lot of manure.
Ferries are everywhere!
We passed through one part of Switzerland that was absolutely stunning! But on the way down, we had a lot of clouds. Today’s weather on the way back was much nicer, but I was on the wrong side of the car to take good pictures. I almost wanted to book a trip to Switzerland based on the pretty scenery we saw, but then realized that when we stopped at Burger King for two combo meals, we paid the Swiss Franc equivalent of about $28! Switzerland is bloody expensive!
We were tired when we arrived in Domaso. It was about 5:30pm and we really just wanted a little dinner, a lot of wine, and a good night’s sleep. I sent Bill out for pizza and vino and enjoyed the views of our little apartment on the hillside.
Our host left us some homemade wine.
My first view from our terrace. When the weather improved, so did the view!
Real Italian pizza! This was delicious, even though the restaurant that made it got rather mediocre reviews!
That’s what I’m calling our next planned trip. And no, it’s not because we’re planning to do a lot of boots knocking during our travels.
Since we’ve been back in Germany, Bill and I have been determined to try to see more. The last time we lived here, we didn’t travel very much during the first year of our stay. We thought we were going to get the standard three years. We ended up with just barely two years. Since Bill is now a contractor, we have decided not to take living in Germany for granted. It’s entirely possible that we’ll have to move again a year from now.
Bill has been wanting to visit Gruyeres, Switzerland since we lived here last time. We meant to go in 2008, but circumstances did not line up for us to make it to the land of chocolate, cheese, and weird museums. On Sunday afternoon, I was trying to come up with a plan for a weekend in Switzerland next month. Once again, the cards of fate seemed stacked against me. I had a hard time figuring out exactly where we should go. Then my attention shifted to Austria.
There is a hotel in a small town about twenty miles from Salzburg that offers a beer spa. I have been wanting to go to that hotel since our last long term stay in Europe. During our five years living in the States after our first Germany tour, I thought about how we could get there so I could take another beer bath. I wondered how I’d justify visiting Franking, Austria when we’d have to travel thousands of miles to get to Europe and there were so many other, bigger, more exciting cities we hadn’t yet seen. Salzburg itself is a great town and Bill and I were only there for a day back in 2012.
Anyway, I was looking at the hotel in Franking and noticed on the map that close to Franking, there is another town called Fucking (pronounced Fooking). Naturally, that tickled me, since I have a filthy sense of humor. I looked it up and discovered that this tiny little town has become the subject of much mockery from English speakers. Town officials have had to put up theft proof signs and closed circuit television in order to discourage tourists from stealing the signs and/or having intercourse in front of them. The town has been so rattled by tourists disturbing them that they even tried to get the name changed. It was not allowed.
Well, that piqued my interest. I told Bill about it and he agreed, Fucking is a town we need to visit, if only so I can get a photo of the theft proof signs. Maybe we’ll just drive through. Maybe we’ll stop for lunch. And it’s not far from Franking, where we can take beer baths and relax in a country atmosphere.
Then I started thinking about Austria’s famed Starkenberger beer pools. They are located at the Starkenberger brewery in Tarrenz, Austria. Looking around the Web site, I see that Tarrenz is a very picturesque area. Though a dip in the beer pool will be very costly, it’s the kind of thing that is often on a beer lover’s bucket list. Having already enjoyed a weekend at Chodovar’s beer wellness land in the Czech Republic, this is just the kind of activity for people like Bill and me. And it definitely fits in with the beer baths we hope to enjoy in Franking.
I started looking for lodging in Tarrenz and found there were slim pickings there. However, the area is well saturated with lodging in other towns. I chose a hotel in Lermoos that looks pretty damn awesome. Lermoos is about ten miles from Tarrenz. Better yet, because it’s not ski season time, the hotels are reasonably priced.
We have been to the Tyrol area of Austria, but in the past, we’ve always stayed in Garmisch-Partenkirchen at the Edelweiss Lodge. Garmisch-Partenkirchen, as we all know, is in Germany, and the Edelweiss Lodge is not exactly authentically European style accommodation. The only reason we went down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen was because Bill had conferences at the Edelweiss Lodge. I’d go with him and take day tours with other bored housewives. Now that Bill doesn’t go down there for work, it’s time we visited the area as tourists and checked it out more thoroughly. It will be nice to stay in Austria instead of Germany, too.
I have to admit, my first impressions of Austria back in 1997 were not all that positive. I thought it was a very pretty country with little soul. I was wrong about Austria. Every time I’ve been back, I’ve found more to like about it.
As for Switzerland, we are still planning a trip. I think maybe we’ll try to go to Gruyeres in October. Or maybe we’ll finally get to Ireland, which is another place we’ve been wanting to visit. These plans are, of course, not in line with our usual champagne bucket method of choosing places to go. The champagne bucket method should really be used in times when you can’t decide where to travel. This time, we know we want beer and Fucking, so there’s no need to involve fate.
Hopefully, this beer and Fucking tour will turn out beautifully. I look forward to blogging about it. Incidentally, I have also written about this on my main blog, but that post was composed before we made up our mind to actually visit this fabled part of Austria.
I had been itching to do some karaoke in front of a live audience for some time. I do a lot of karaoke on SingSnap.com, which is an online karaoke site. But there’s nothing like performing live. Babuder’s is a nice place located on a side street called Tiefer Graben. When we arrived at about 7:00pm on Thursday night, the place was just opening up. Bill and I selected a table and ordered a couple of local beers. Herbert was already there, but we had never met in person before. I only knew him from comments and private messages on my recordings. Sometimes Herbert joins me in duets and I’ve come to enjoy his witty observations.
Anyway, I was feeling a little shy. Karaoke at Babuder’s is a little different than what I’m used to. Instead of looking through books of available songs and handing the KJ slips of paper with requests, you just go up to him and ask him for songs. They have a database with over 30,000 songs, so chances are good they’ll have what you want. But not being able to browse through a book means you have to think of something to sing rather than have something suggested. You also have no idea what version of karaoke song you’ll get. They are not all created equally.
I started with “Blue Bayou”, which I’ve done hundreds of times. I got up on the little stage, feeling oddly nervous in front of all the Viennese locals. There weren’t actually that many people there, but I was jittery anyway. I eventually relaxed and enjoyed the rush. I spotted the resident Queen Bee in the corner. She was very cute and probably at least twenty years younger than me. She had a couple of girlfriends with her and one of the guys who worked there, a young guy with muscles, appeared to be hitting on her. I have to admit, the Queen Bee had a good voice. Fortunately, our styles were different.
As the night wore on, Herbert and Bill started bonding. Herbert is a very interesting guy. He’s in his early 60s. His parents were Czech, but he was born and raised in Ludwigsburg, which is a town very close to Stuttgart. He speaks English, German, Polish, Russian, and, based on one of his karaoke performances, French. He has three master’s degrees and a voice that reminds me a bit of Bob Dylan’s. He and Bill really seemed to hit it off and they talked a lot while I got up and sang stuff by Alison Krauss, Kate Bush, The Carpenters, and more Linda Ronstadt. To my knowledge, no one filmed me… I’m glad of that! One thing I did notice was that most of the people at Babuder’s could sing quite competently. It also appeared to be a very gay friendly place, though most everyone was subdued. One guy started speaking rapid fire German to me and I answered that I speak no German in German. He switched to English. It turned out he was a Brit.
Bill is unimpressed…
Decent beer. They had peanuts and pretzels, but I didn’t notice any other food.
The party was winding down.
Not the best photo of the sign outside.
Herbert wanted to get together on Friday night so we could meet his girlfriend and they could show us around Vienna. We left Babuder’s at about 11:00 and caught a cab back to our hotel, where we both promptly crashed. I would have liked to have gone back to Babuder’s, but there was a lot of other stuff we wanted to see and do. Herbert says Thursday nights at Babuder’s are good because it’s not too crowded. If we get back to Vienna, we will have to visit again.
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