Today, Bill and I took advantage of the holiday and went to Stuttgart to get my dental impressions done for my implant.  The lady who helped Dr. Blair pull my baby tooth was there to do the job.  I think she recognized me from three weeks ago, when I had my crying jag, because she asked me if I was nervous.  I said I wasn’t nervous, but I was pretty hungry.  I was grateful she took us early, since I was about to starve.  I neglected to eat lunch before we set out on our journey.  After four minutes with my teeth stuck in dental putty, we were all finished.  Seems to me when I had full mouth impressions in the 80s, the dentist used nasty Plaster of Paris.  Now they use this gummy stuff, today colored hot pink, which is only marginally less nasty.  At least it doesn’t take long to have impressions done.

After my very quick appointment, during which my dental implant surgery was scheduled and Valium ordered, we had a late lunch and did some shopping.  First, we stopped by Ridmueller, a beer store recommended by the Stuttgart Beer Club.  It’s not a big store yet, but there are some interesting selections available there, including Icelandic beers.  We picked up a selection of stuff we haven’t seen elsewhere, then rounded the corner and looked for lunch.

One of the four beer fridges.  It’s not a big store yet, but the selection is interesting.  With a little love and support, Ridmueller could turn into something special.

I was famished and my blood sugar was dropping fast, so we ended up at Weber, a nice sit down restaurant that seems to offer a little something for everyone, yet seems to specialize in Thai food.

Bill enjoys a brief break…  Plenty of comfortable seating at Weber and a great menu.  We sipped some wine and tasted the bread, which had an essence of honey.

I started with this delicious bowl of green peanut curry soup garnished with lemongrass.  It was a bit rich, but I was so hungry I found it instantly restorative.  This soup is creamy with a hearty peanut flavor and plenty of spicy zing.  I was sorry we didn’t order mineral water, but my red wine soothed the burn until I got used to it.  I would definitely get this soup again; it was really good.  I bet it would be especially good for someone who needs their sinuses cleared.

I followed the soup with coconut shrimp.  This was cooked in a wok with rice noodles and a tasty assortment of vegetables including carrots, eggplant, spinach, peppercorns, peppers, zucchini, sprouts and what I think may have been plantains.  The whole thing was drenched with lime coconut sauce.  I liked this, but…

I liked Bill’s choice better.  He had the Monkey-Nut-Chili-Chicken Pasta.  It was basically rice noodles with tender strips of chicken, the same array of vegetables that was in my dish, plus a delicious, hearty peanut sauce.  Bill’s dish needed no seasoning, while mine needed a dash of salt because it was a little bland.

I wasn’t able to finish my lunch, owing to the yummy soup I ate first.  I brought about half of my shrimp and rice noodles home with me.  Lunch tomorrow should be delightful!

Weber is located in Stuttgart Mitte, again very close to Dr. Blair’s dentist office.  For those who don’t like Thai style food, there were also a few local selections, as well as several daily specials.  I almost went for the dorade special, but I can get dorade most anywhere.  Ditto for the tempting salmon filet served with lime coconut sauce, basmati rice, and sugar snap peas…  Maybe next time.  They also had Argentinian roast beef that looked good. 

 

After lunch, we went on a brief shopping spree at the Markthalle.  Though we were there last week, this time, we were prepared to shop.  And shop we did…

I got a kick out of this six euro bag of Old El Paso tortillas in the Asian market.

Bill checks out Spanish cheeses.  He bought some, as well as slivers of Serrano and Iberian hams and Spanish Sauvignon Blanc…

The Spanish market got lots of our euros today.  In the background, you can see the Balkan market, where we picked up some Croatian and Montenegrin wines, as well as a little bottle of Unicum.

I got some truffles… I love that most of them are full of alcohol.

We also picked up some Parmesan and Gruyere cheeses.  I wish I liked cheese more than I do, since Bill ends up eating most of what we buy.  Still, it was a lot of fun to shop at the Markthalle in Stuttgart.  I think a person could seriously lose control in that place and go a little hog wild.  Next time, I want to bring some lined bags and get some really good beef and fish.

The musician who was playing rapid fire Beethoven on an electric keyboard last week was back today.  This time, I didn’t catch the title of the music he was playing on his keyboard.  I think he had a handler, though.  Bet he sells CDs.

Our next trip to Stuttgart will probably be December 1.  That is when I will have dental surgery.  I doubt I’ll be in the mood to shop afterwards.  I may want to drink, though.