Tag Archives: wine fest

Uncategorized

Volvo, Mark Knopfler, and East German adventures… part seven

A sight for sore eyes.

We left Rostock bright and early on Thursday, July 4th.  The drive to Leipzig took about four hours through the former East Germany.  We were marveling at how unspoiled it is, even thirty years after the Berlin Wall fell.  There are many open fields and the Autobahns, for the most part, are nice and clear.  We did encounter a couple of Staus, which were caused by road construction.

Nice rural East German countryside.

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw that the builders had used signs with “emojis” on them to express how long the construction would last.  The first emoji would be a red frowny face.  Midway through, one might see a yellow flat face– with a straight line for its lips.  Then, at the end, there would be a green happy face and the word, “Geschafft!”, which translates to “finished” or “done”, I guess.  I see by Google Translate, it literally means “made”.  I tried to get pictures, but wasn’t so successful.  You can see an example of what I’m writing about here.  I don’t know how I’ve missed these for the past few years.  I haven’t seen them used in the areas where we’ve lived.

The only picture I managed to capture in time.

We finally reached the city of Leipzig at just after one o’clock.  Once again, Bill got turned around and missed the street where the Steigenberg Grand Hotel was.  We had to drive around a bit to finally get to the right place.  Upon arrival, our bags were whisked away and the car was driven off by a valet.  I got an upgraded room, thanks to Expedia.com, which also awarded me gold status again (I had lost it in December 2017, when I used my points in Berlin).  Instead of the standard room I booked, I got a deluxe room.

Here are some photos of the room.

Bathtub… we didn’t use.

Nice rainfall shower.

His and hers sinks.

 

The shower and toilet next to each other.

This bed was mostly more comfortable than our bed at the Radisson Blu in Rostock… except for one issue, which I’ll get into in a future post.

 

The room had air conditioning and a mini bar, as well as free Internet and a nice big TV.  There was also a couch by the window, which appeared to be what made this a “deluxe” room.  The standard rooms had chairs instead.  I think the deluxe rooms were also slightly larger.

This hotel has a nice bar area, a restaurant, and a spa.  We used the bar, of course, but only visited the restaurant for breakfast, which I booked with the room.  I probably should have gone to the spa, but didn’t bother.

Since it was lunchtime, we decided to try Dhillon’s Irish Bar & Grill for lunch, since it was very close to the hotel and I was in the mood for fried food.  Lunch at Dhillon’s Irish Bar & Grill was fine.  I had fish & chips and Bill had Cottage Pie.  We also had beer.  Service was fast and friendly, and we weren’t left with a terrible impression.  Unfortunately, we made the mistake of going back on Saturday night and were completely ignored.  I wrote a very foul rant about this on my main blog.  I would not recommend reading it unless you want to read a lot of cussing.  I was extremely pissed off.  But here are a few photos from our successful Thursday lunch visit.  I will admit, lunch there was fine.

Obligatory shot of Bill.

Cottage pie.  Bill said it was good.

I liked my fish & chips.

This was a welcoming sign… however, on Saturday night, they didn’t roll out the welcome mat for us.

After we ate, we walked around Leipzig and found our way to St. Thomas Church, where Johann Sebastian Bach was music director for 27 years.  This Lutheran church is also affiliated with several other well known composers, including Richard Wagner and Felix Mendelsohnn.  Besides a lovely interior, the church has a small museum and a large statue of Bach out front.  A couple of classical musicians were outside playing beautifully.  They brought tears to my eyes with their heavenly music.  Leipzig is definitely a very musical city and a place to visit if music is your passion as much as it is mine.

This was painted on the wall near the church.

St. Thomas Lutheran Church.

One thing I didn’t know when I booked our travel was that this past weekend was also the time for the Leipziger Wein Fest.  We managed to try several wines over a few days and listened to some nice live music in the square.  It was a real bonus to get to taste wines and see Mark Knopfler!

At one point, I saw an adorable young family dancing to the music.  Mom was very pregnant and looked about ready to add to the family.  Dad was dancing with his toddler son, who was enchanted by the music by Benni & Ich.  It made me tear up watching them.

This guy seemed really into the music.

Later that day, we found out that Bill’s daughter, Catherine, gave birth to a healthy baby girl named Clara.  Catherine is Bill’s younger daughter.  Thanks to an acrimonious divorce, Bill hasn’t seen her or her older sister, who was also born on July 4th, since 2004.  For many years, they were completely estranged.  However, in recent years, Bill and Catherine have started Skyping and emailing.  Bill now has a grandson and a granddaughter and, with any luck, he’ll be able to get to know them despite his ex wife’s extreme efforts at ruining his relationship with his daughters.

I’d say our July 4th, despite being devoid of fireworks, was a success.

Standard
Uncategorized

Stuttgarter Weindorf 2016!

Despite Bill’s and my love for wine, before yesterday, we had never made it to the annual Stuttgart Weindorf.  This is an event that has been going on for the past forty years, celebrating Stuttgart’s long history of winemaking.  I was determined to get there this year, especially since I knew Bill had a business trip coming up and my Sunday is bound to be dull.  Though it was pretty hot and very sunny yesterday, we managed to haul ourselves up off the futon and drive to the Herrenberg train station.  We parked the car there and took an uneventful 45 minute ride to the Stadtmitte stop.

Over the past year, Bill and I have gotten very well acquainted with downtown Stuttgart, thanks to my dental implant drama.  Despite that, Bill wasn’t completely sure of the event’s location.  He needn’t have worried.  It was very easy to find the fest, which was in the Schillerplatz, right next to the Markthalle.  Unlike last week’s wine fest in Ulm, the one in Stuttgart didn’t consist of a big area full of tables from different wineries.  Instead, it was more like a bunch of restaurants brought their own temporary buildings!  We left Zane and Arran at home this time, too.

You can walk up and get your wine… 

There were plenty of places to sit yesterday.  The fest was well attended, but not super crowded.  Many booths were offering hearty Swabian fare.  There was plenty of maltaschen, lentils, wurst, potato salad and cabbage.  To be honest, it was so warm yesterday that I was kind of more in the mood for something light.  But I was most in the mood for wine!  We finally settled at a place close to one of the entrances.

Bearded Bill checks out the menu…

I got an obligatory shot of him.

Then I took another because he claims he doesn’t photograph well.  I’m sure his mother will appreciate this.

 

Before too long, a handsome young man in tight leather shorts and a red checked shirt came over to see what our selections were.  Since it was so hot, we both ordered white wines.  I started with a crisp local sauvignon blanc.  Bill had a local riesling.  I was smart enough to order water, too… hoping to keep any lingering effects of the wine to a minimum today.

I had Cannstatter sausages with potato salad.  This was pretty good, though the sausages reminded me a little of Slim Jims.  They might have been a little overcooked.  It was a bit heavy, though, and I only managed about half.

Bill had a pulled pork salad.  He raved about the pulled pork, which tasted like it was prepared with vinegar.  It had a bit of a sweet essence to it.  Bill was able to eat the whole thing and pronounced it delicious!

Pretty soon, it was time for round two.  I decided to go “on the Offensive”…  Have a look at the wine list below to see what I mean.  😉

Bill tried the “Defensive”… it was a very nice red.  Actually, I liked his red more than my white.  The Offensive was not offensive enough for me.

I take a lot of pictures of Bill when I drink wine.  He’s kind of photo bombing this one, though.  I wanted to get a shot of his Defensive wine, which was really nice.  I might have to look for this one and take it home sometime.

The not so offensive Offensive.

 

Our location offered the perfect opportunity to people watch.  We saw one newly married couple drive past in a convertible with flowers on the hood.  We saw many hen and stag parties, including one stag party that had the groom to be dressed in a blonde wig and sporting a dirndl.  We heard a lot of drunken singing, too.  I was tempted to join in.

I tried a rose, which I almost never do.  This was light, fruity, and dry…  Very refreshing on such a hot day.  My favorite wine yesterday was the sauvignon blanc.  

At about this point, I noticed an awesome yellow labrador retriever sitting across the way…

 

I pointed out the chilled out dog to Bill, who then said “Hey!  I know that dog!”  Bill took a closer look and noticed that the table where the dog was sitting was full of his co-workers.  So Bill went over to say hello, while I finished wine #3…

All of the glasses were inscribed…

A duo showed up and started playing music.  One played accordion and the other played guitar.  I was really into it, especially when they launched into an odd version of “Major Tom”.  If you were around in the 80s, you might remember it.  Here’s the German version.  Imagine it being played on guitar and accordion.

Props to those musicians for their creativity.

 

We finally called for the check and the handsome waiter in the leather shorts came back over to take our money.  We ran up quite a nice sized bill.  I think it was about 85 euros.  My friends will be glad to know that I was the one who said it was time to pay.

I was very tempted to go into this wine bar, but Bill managed to pry me away.

The clock was chiming as I took this photo.

We took the train home, where Bill found a message from his co-workers.  They were still partying and hoped we’d join them!  Maybe next year!  I might even be tempted to don a dirndl next year.

Standard
Uncategorized

Last minute getaway to Ulm: Part three

As most regular readers know, I am a sucker when it comes to beer and wine.  I enjoy a good fest.  It was just turning 11:00am as we were deciding what we wanted to do next.  As we were at the right place at the right time, I told Bill we needed to stop and have some wine.  Fortunately, Bill loves wine as much as I do.

This is pretty cool, isn’t it?  I saw a couple of these at the small wine fest near the cathedral.

Look at all those empty tables!  It looked like several restaurants/wineries were catering this event.  There were several different areas and the menus were different.  I saw Spanish tapas, pizzas, bruschettas, and flammkuchen being offered.

Bill takes a look at one of the menus and all of the available wines.

We finally sat down at a place that had Spanish and Italian wines and foods.

We were among their first customers of the day.  Bill ordered us two different whites.  The one I had was called Larrua.  

 

The pretty waitress who looked after us was utterly charmed by Zane and Arran.  She came over and loved all over them.  They ate up the attention and only indulged in a couple of outbursts during our time at the fest.  I told Bill that even though we weren’t really hungry after our lumberjack truck stop breakfast, it might be a good time to eat.  The fest was not very busy while we were there, so I figured we’d have an easier time eating then.

At one point, Zane jumped up on the bench with me.  Poor guy never learned his manners!

Bill and I split this Hawaiian pizza.  It was pretty good and the ham was useful for bribing the dogs.

The wine made our dogs’ occasional barking sessions more tolerable.  At one point, some folks were laughing at us!  It was pretty funny.

 

In all, Bill and I shared five glasses of wine.  I had a Riesling and a Montepulciano and Bill enjoyed a Temperanillo from a cask with the pizza.  When we settled up with the waitress, Bill apologized for the dogs’ occasional outbursts.  She laughed and asked us in German what kinds of dogs they are.  We explained that they are hunting dogs who chase small game.  I tried to say “squirrel” in German, but failed.  I have heard it said that Germans have a hard time saying squirrel.  The waitress figured out what I meant when I mimicked one.  We left the fest feeling decidedly mellow.

Funny video about Germans and the word “squirrel”…  Frankly, I think Americans would have a much harder time with EICHHÖRNCHEN…

Russian Orthodox church near the cathedral…

Handy facilities after time spent at a wine fest.

This fountain in front of the church was also useful for watering the dogs.

I sent Bill into the Ochsen Shop for some beer.  I thought he’d get some of the other gourmet goodies in there, but he disappointed me.  Maybe next time, I’ll do the shopping.

Ah… Vom Fass!  Another cool German chain for all those who love their spirits.  Bill went in there and got a bottle of Bordeaux and some rum from Belize.

 

The weather started to turn right around the time Bill was coming out of the Ochsen shop.  We thought about hitting the trails with the dogs, but decided we’d rather not get caught in the rain.  So we headed back to the garage where our car was parked.

As we passed this bakery, I had to get a couple of photos of wedding cakes.

We got back to the hotel at about 2:30 or 3:00 after stopping at Kaufland for some snacks and wine.  I think we only meant to stop at the hotel for a brief time, but I suddenly felt really tired.  I didn’t sleep well at all the first night.  I laid down on the bed.  The dogs jumped up and joined me.  Then, I fell fast asleep for the next three hours… awakened again only by the damn church bells going off at 6:00!

We decided to stay in and watch TV.  Recognize this man on the TV?  It’s Bob Ross, the PBS painting guy.  He’s been dead since 1995, but they still show his painting series.  This was in English and kind of fun to watch.

 

We spent last night drinking wine, eating snacks, and eventually watching Al Pacino and Chris O’Donnell in the 1992 film Scent of a Woman dubbed in German.  Watching that movie, which was released when I was in college, made me feel all kinds of ancient.  Still, it was kind of nice to watch TV for a change.  I found that I understood a lot of the movie.  I had seen it before, but it had been years.

I slept somewhat better this morning, but it still wasn’t the greatest sleep I’ve ever had.  Bill and I decided to skip the hotel breakfast and head home, where we knew we had great coffee waiting for us.  The bonus to getting on the road at about 7:00am was that the autobahn was fairly empty and we had a stress free drive.  Bill cooked breakfast and we enjoyed some delicious, fresh Kenyan coffee.

If we do ever go back to the Ulm area, I will choose a different hotel, although the Lobinger Weisses Ross was a pretty good value.  We spent 232 euros.  Thirty-two euros went for the bottle of wine Bill bought.  The rest was for the room and the very reasonable pet fee.  I think if it had just been Bill and me, we would have liked the hotel fine.  With our dogs, it just wasn’t all that suitable.  The room and the bed were just a little too small.  Also, the WiFi situation was a bummer.  On the other hand, I would recommend that hotel for people who have young kids or folks on a budget.

I do hope we can go back to Ulm and the surrounding area for another look.  There’s a lot there we didn’t get to see and Ulm alone is a very charming city.  It’s definitely a good bet for those who are looking for great shopping and restaurants.

Hopefully our next short break will be in France, now that Bill has his passport.  It figures that they had it ready on Friday and we could have gone to France after all.  Oh well!

Standard