Tag Archives: wine stand

Hessen, markets

A wine stand… and shopping at Fornara in Taunusstein…

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might remember back in May, when Bill and I paid a visit to an Italian Feinkost called Fornara. I had discovered it a week prior, when Bill and I went to an Italian supermarket in Mainz-Kastel. I searched to see if there were other Italian markets near us. Fornara, which is a chain Feinkost, has a small satellite location near the train station in Wiesbaden.

After Bill and I shopped there, back in May, we decided we wanted to visit the flagship store in Taunusstein, located about 20 miles from us. The flagship store is much larger, and has space for events and classes.

I thought we’d get to Fornara’s flagship store before today, but then we got sick… and the fridge died… and we went to Switzerland. Thankfully, we now have a new refrigerator; we’re both over the sickness; and we had nothing else to do today. So Bill and I visited Fornara’s main location in Taunusstein, which is situated in a large industrial park with plenty of free parking.

I got some photos of the store, which looks like a larger version of the location in Wiesbaden. Once again, we enjoyed friendly service from an employee who speaks English. There’s also a restroom in the store, which they openly advertise. That’s a plus, although we didn’t avail ourselves of the WC today. Below are some photos. We came home with lots of wine, some olive oil, steaks, and Wagyu burgers.

This is actually pretty close to where we live. It reminded me of living in Texas!

As far as the shopping experience goes, I found the Fornara in Taunusstein to be very similar to the Wiesbaden location. It’s just a bigger space, and the parking lot is a little larger. They had many of the same products available. I probably wouldn’t go back to the Taunusstein location unless there was an event, or it happened to be handier than the Wiesbaden location.

On the other hand, the drive to Taunusstein is very pleasant. You go through forests and a cute little town with many buildings that still sport Fachwerk (timber framing). And you pass farms where you can pick up fresh items like eggs and wild meats, as well as an amusing graffiti project of a middle finger and the caption “Fuck the system”. To go to the location in Wiesbaden, you have to drive into the city, and it’s potentially more of a pain in the butt because of traffic.

Anyway, it’s nice to know that Fornara exists, especially for those who need special groceries or wines. I expect it’s going to expand in the future, which will be good for foodie snobs.

I also have some photos from last night’s wine stand. It was hosted by the local Volleyball Club, and was pretty well attended. It helped that we got a break in the temperature.

We saw our American friends, who told us they’d bought a house just across from where they are currently renting in our neighborhood. I think I also annoyed a crotchety old German lady, who gave me a dirty look as I spoke English to my friend. Sorry lady… I’d been mostly quiet during the two hours we were attending. If you were in the USA with one of your countrymen, you’d be speaking German, right?

Anyway… below are some photos. We had dinner there– We shared a pork sandwich and potatoes from Breck & Flame, which we couldn’t finish. I had ice cream in the afternoon, to celebrate the new fridge! The sandwich was really good, but it was a bit messy. The potatoes needed salt. But I would definitely get the pork sandwich again, only have them give me a plate, utensils, and the roll on the side. Also… plenty of napkins. One lady who witnessed my reaction to the messiness was laughing at me. Or… maybe it was because of my TRUMP SUCKS t-shirt. 😚

I’m not sure what we’ll do with the rest of the day. Maybe tomorrow we’ll have lunch somewhere. We’ll see.

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Annoyances, gadgets, Hessen, services

A week of upgrades at home…

Phew… Featured photo is of the interior of the new fridge!

This week has been somewhat momentous in our household. We’ve made a couple of significant upgrades to certain essential and expensive electronic devices in our home.

On Monday, I got a brand new iMac desktop computer. I hadn’t really been planning to buy one in July, but my old computer was simply too full of data to use efficiently. It was driving me crazy, and I was wasting a lot of time finding things to delete so I’d have room for more stuff.

I bought the old computer in February 2023, so it’s disappointing that I needed to replace it so soon. But, in fairness, I am a power user, especially since I started making song parody videos, and I didn’t spring for generous storage or RAM when I bought that computer. This time, I decided to upgrade both RAM and storage, so this machine should be good for awhile.

I made my decision to upgrade about ten days ago, when I spent a couple of hours trying to find raw video footage I could part with so I could run Apple’s updates. It took FOREVER to finally hit that sweet spot of 14 GB available. And yes, I do have an external drive, but a lot of the stuff taking up space is stuff I can’t really put on an external drive.

I ordered the new computer on Monday morning, July 6th, and it arrived at about 11:30 AM on July 13th. It took the rest of the day to set it up, but it now feels both like I’ve really upped my game, and never stopped using the old computer. I have a lot more room on this new computer, but thanks to the migration assistant on Apple, it’s pretty easy to move everything. So I have pretty much all of my stuff from the old computer, and lots more room to grow on the new computer.

The physical setting up, though, was a bit of a pain. I bought a VESA arm for the last computer, because somehow I ended up ordering a VESA configuration. I didn’t even know what a VESA arm was when I got my computer with no stand! Now, after three years of using a VESA set up, I realize that I prefer it to the stand. For one thing, it takes up less space and gives me more room to put my crap. For another, it makes the display easier to adjust.

However, I had forgotten how the arm works, and didn’t realize that all you have to do is push on it to manipulate it. So I probably spent about 90 minutes trying to figure that out… And then there was the actual physical strength needed to hang the screen on the arm. It was a bit awkward and taxing. But… I did it! I only spent a few minutes wishing I’d opted for the stand, instead of the VESA arm.

Below are a couple of pictures of the new computer, as well as the VESA back. I’d take a photo of the computer on the arm, but it looks the same as the old one did.

This thing is surprisingly heavy!

The next big upgrade this week was our refrigerator. If you read this blog regularly, or you follow me on social media, you might know that on June 5, 2026, our landlord’s fridge finally died on us. I wrote about it here.

That old fridge, which was stowed inconspicuously in a cabinet, needed to croak. It was sitting on a rotting platform that needed to be repaired, but it was also just old and obsolete. Nevertheless, when it died, things became very inconvenient for us.

Fortunately, we did have a refrigerator that we bought when we moved to Jettingen in 2014. It’s not a great fridge, nor is it very big, but it was able to handle full refrigeration duties while our landlord tracked down our new refrigerator. We had false hopes in late June, when a fridge was brought to us, but our landlord rejected it because of a cosmetic defect. Plus, the platform needed to be repaired.

Last week, a couple of handymen came over and made the new platform. You can see the progression in the photos…

Eeew!
All fixed up!

All week, we’ve had an empty space where the fridge usually goes. Then yesterday, a different appliance vendor brought us a brand new Liebherr refrigerator that would fit in that space. It cost about 2100 euros, and it’s a big improvement over the last fridge. However, I think the high cost comes from it being able to fit in a cupboard, rather than it having a lot of features. It doesn’t have an ice maker or a water line, for instance, for dispensing cold water. But then, the fridge is not actually based near a water source, anyway.

Below are a few photos of the new fridge. It has a touch screen that allows it to be turned on or off, special modes for different occasions, and it can be connected to the Internet. Also, if you leave the door open too long, the lights flash at you, and you get a little red nastygram that orders you to shut the door!

It was a pain to take all of the plastic off of everything.
This thing will also order you to shut the door!

I was wearing my TRUMP SUCKS t-shirt when the delivery guys came. I think they got a kick out of it. I heard them talking to the landlord about it… and the landlord also talked to me about “our president”… a man I don’t wish to claim as a leader.

They told me not to turn on the fridge for 24 hours, but I lasted about four hours before I turned it on. The 24 hour rule comes from the risk of the fridge lying on its side and not having the oils properly circulating in the compressor. Turning on the fridge too soon can lead to damage to the machine. But I don’t think this fridge was stored on its side or back. It definitely wasn’t delivered that way, and was already standing upright for some time before it got to us. So I turned it on, and later, the landlord saw Bill and asked if it was working okay. This morning, it was working fine, so I think I made the right call.

The delivery guys also warned me about the age of the cupboard, and that it wasn’t quite perfect anymore, due to “warping”. Because of the warping, the door might not close properly. I know… but it’s not my kitchen set up. It is an old set up that needs replacing, but I’m not sure the landlord is going to want to do that if the cupboards have now gone out of style. He just spent 2100 euros on this new fridge!

For those who don’t know… in many German rentals, people buy their own kitchen set ups and install them when they move into the house or apartment. This house came with a setup already installed, but it’s pretty old and needs to be updated.

We’re so grateful to have a fridge in the kitchen again. It’s a real pain to have to go up and down a flight of stairs to get food and drinks. However, Bill has admitted that doing that has helped him get his steps in this month… He’s also been sick, though, so the extra steps were especially vexing.

Our landlord apologized that it took so long to get the new fridge. I assured him it was okay, and of course he can’t control how long these things take. I’m just glad he didn’t yell at me when the fridge finally gave up the ghost. I fear that’s what would have happened in Jettingen. I know we pay a lot more to live in this house, but it’s worth every euro cent, simply because the landlord doesn’t act like a tyrranical asshole.

Tonight, we’ll have a wine stand, and I think Bill will want to go, if it’s not raining. We sure could use the rain! But it’s always fun to drink wine with the locals. And maybe this weekend, we’ll go out and have a proper celebration of Bill’s birthday, now that he’s not so sick.

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Hessen

Photo dump from last night’s wine stand…

We had absolutely gorgeous weather last night, so Bill and I decided to go to the wine stand. It was our first one in a long while. We were sick in mid June, and then we were in Switzerland. I think the one before our sickness we missed because Bill was in Spain, and I hadn’t wanted to attend the wine stand alone.

We sat in the corner, where we usually sit, waiting for people to show up for the event. Bill got me a Riesling, and himself a Graubürgunder. I think the stand was hosted by a local winery.

Below are some photos I took. We talked to our American neighbors, and I told one of them about my Peace Corps experience in Armenia. She said she’d always wanted to join the Peace Corps, but feared it might not be possible, because her partner is in the military. I explained that military members can join, as long as they aren’t involved in intel… and even if they are, I believe that after some time, they can join if they wish. I actually think the two of them would be great Volunteers, if they were ever inclined to join. But, of course, that all depends on if Trump ruins the Peace Corps with one of his horrific policies.

We also met a man who had a beautiful dog named Stella. Stella is an Australian Shepherd and Border Collie mix. She was very friendly to us. I think I won her over with many butt scratches.

The sausages they were selling actually looked really good last night. We probably should have had one.

Sweet Stella!
I love what they did with this bottle.

It was nice to go to the wine stand again, even if I did have to pee like a racehorse at the end. I think tomorrow, there’s going to be a flea market, and the wine stand will be open again.

Hopefully, this week, there won’t be any fires to put out. I think Bill has bought some ribs for our modest July 4th celebration, here at home. I don’t see it as celebrating America’s birthday so much as having a reason to cook some awesome ribs. 😋

It’s crazy that it was so hot last week, and today, it’s just 80 degrees. Last night, it was 76, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I’d love to see this weather stick around, if only because maybe my ankles will stop being so swollen.

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Hessen

The first wine stand of 2026…

Last night, our little town had its first wine stand of 2026. As I’ve mentioned in previous posts about wine stands in Breckenheim, these community gatherings are held every other Friday night in the warm(er) months. They are usually hosted by clubs or special interest groups. It’s election season right now, so last night’s stand was attended by local politicians… a couple of whom happen to be our neighbors.

I had been looking forward to the wine stand. I enjoy hanging out in the Dorfplatz, drinking local wines, and sometimes chatting with people who deign to speak to Auslanders. However, last night, I did give a passing thought to not attending, because the weather was damp and chilly. I also wondered how we’d be received, thanks to our insane POTUS who keeps doing things to piss off our allies and alienate everyone in the world.

When I saw that it wasn’t raining at 6:00 PM, I told Bill we should go and have a glass… maybe stay a short while. Naturally, that’s not how it turned out for us. 😄 In fact, last night’s wine stand was kind of fun! We just had to wait a while for it to really begin. Below are a few photos I took before the party started.

It took several tries to light the candles because it was windy!

We talked to our former neighbor, Daniel, who moved a few months ago after his divorce. Then, a group of friendly Breckenheimers showed up and asked if they could join us. One of them was a very talkative gentleman who spoke English and told us his daughter has lived in England for the past 30 or 40 years. He had with him his partner– not wife, as she explicitly told me, when I said that last night was the anniversary of the night Bill and I got engaged in 2002. She said she’d been married before, and was left in a good situation, so she wanted to stay independent. I don’t think that’s a bad thing. In some cases, not getting married is better. But, if I had done that, it’s likely that I would be living in the U.S., working for Door Dash, or something.

There were a couple of other women and another older man with them, and they were a lot of fun to chat with. My worries about being an American in Europe– at least at this particular place in Europe– were unfounded. 😏 🤭 Then, the English speaking gent stood up and said he was going to get a bottle of Sekt for us to share. When he came back, he had two other men with him. One was an American guy from Maine named Alan (or Allen), who told us he’d been living in Germany since the 1980s!

I only said one word to get this evil grin. 😈

He and Bill started talking, and Alan said he had come to Hessen with the Army and decided he didn’t want to leave. So he worked as a contractor at Clay Kaserne, where Bill works. Then he later got out of contracting, and worked for Lufthansa. He did other things and made a life here with his wife. The other guy was German, and he actually told us he thought Trump was going to be better than Kamala Harris… But then I got the impression that he’s since changed his mind.

We learned that Alan was here when Bill was, back in the 80s, when the Berlin Wall fell. And he’s maybe a year or two older than Bill is. I think they really hit it off– turns out he also knows our neighbors, also from the United States. But then, our neighbors seem to know everybody! I, on the other hand, have become pretty obscure.

The ladies at our table were surprised when we said we’ve been here for seven years. They said they hadn’t seen me around. I guess they never saw me walking the dogs through the neighborhood. Noyzi and Charlie are not as loud as Zane and Arran were, so we attract less attention, even though they are an unusual sight– Noyzi is a really big dog, and Charlie is a little dude.

We finally left the wine stand at about 8:30 or so, because I really needed to pee, and it didn’t look like they’d bothered to open the public toilet. I think the toilet is still a big topic of controversy in Breckenheim. I love that that’s the biggest issue around here. 😆

I’m glad we went to the wine stand last night. It seemed like a good omen to meet a fellow American who has been in Germany for so long and totally assimilated. He seemed delighted to meet us, too. And though we will be in Paris the next time they have a wine stand, I look forward to running into Alan and the other folks, again. They were nice to talk to, and made me feel better about the past couple of weeks.

I felt the same way last night as I did in the summer of 2014, when Bill and I went to Bacharach, on the Rhine, on the last day of our last hurrah military “hop”. We sat in our now favorite Biergarten, and I said, “I feel like we’re going to move back to Germany.” And sure enough, six weeks later, that’s exactly what we did. I can be pretty intuitive sometimes… Of course, I couldn’t know in 2014 that we’d end up moving to a town less than an hour’s drive from Bacharach, which was the first German town I ever visited. Maybe things are coming full circle.

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Hessen, holidays

Bird baths, bug eaters, and lots of beer…

It’s Labor Day weekend. In previous years, that meant going away for a short break. This year, we stayed home, because tomorrow, Bill has to fly to Lausanne, Switzerland for an overnight. He’s going to meet with one of the analysts at the C.G. Jung Institute as he progresses through the admissions process. Then, next Sunday, we will both be flying to Budapest, Hungary for several nights. Bill will be working, and I’ll be tagging along, looking for interesting photo ops.

We did a few things this weekend, though. On Friday night, we went to the wine stand. We talked to our American neighbors, a married lesbian couple with two children. One of the wives is a reservist in the military, though not posted here. The other is applying for German citizenship for herself and their children. The reservist is pursuing a doctorate in social work, so she was interested in hearing about Bill’s journey at the Jung Institute. She’s setting up a private practice for Americans and other English speakers here.

It stormed, so we sat under the tents and waited for it to pass. I couldn’t help but remember that in 2017, the awning from hell collapsed, and our former landlady accused me of negligence, because later that day, there was a storm. She claimed I was negligent for using the awning in a storm, which I hadn’t done… but obviously, it’s not uncommon for Germans to use awnings and tents when it storms. Yesterday was the anniversary of that sad event, which led to a lawsuit.

Saturday morning, I got up and went into the backyard to clean up dog poop and check the water bowls. I noticed one of the bowls was dirty. It wasn’t the first time. Then I saw a feather floating in the bowl and assumed that a bird has been using it as a bird bath. It occurred to me that maybe we should have a bird bath for the backyard. That would be a good excuse to get out of the house, anyway.

So we went to the hardware store– the one with the cool slide for kids. We searched the whole store, but they didn’t have any bird baths for sale. We also tried the Globus, which is a HUGE hypermarket. No luck there, either, although we did leave with a booze haul, Belgian beers, some groceries, and some really tasty snacks called Fonzies, which are like Parmesan flavored Cheetos. I’d say they’re superior.

Then last night, as I was sitting in the backyard, listening to music and drinking beer, I saw what appeared to be a female blackbird eating bugs. I assume she’s the one who keeps dirtying the dog’s water bowl. I put two out there, and they really only use the one on the right. The bird uses the one on the left. I am still looking for a bird bath, but maybe I shouldn’t bother. It’s going to be winter soon enough. I got some pictures of her. Looks like she was eating the bugs on Bill’s tomato and pepper plants. They say blackbirds don’t eat aphids, though… Maybe that’s not a female blackbird, after all.

As I was taking photos, the song “Maneater” by Hall & Oates came on. I changed the lyrics to “Bug eater.”

And then this morning, after being repeatedly pawed by Charlie, Bill got up and made breakfast. The biscuits turned out perfectly. So did the grits. I’m so blessed to be married to a man who knows his way around comfort food. He has really perfected making perfect biscuits. It’s not as easy as it seems!

I’m not sure what we’ll do today. Bill just asked if I want to go out. There is a wine fest going on in Mainz that we could attend. Do I want to go? I don’t know… The Mais Labyrinth is also going on, and we passed it on the way home from the store, but after we went to Globus, we were too tired to consider visiting. I always feel drained after going to Globus. It’s a HUGE store. But it was cool to watch the ladies making the melon displays as we passed. They take melons and turn them into people or animals or other decorations. Quite an impressive skill!

Anyway, that’s about all I have to write about for now. If we end up going out, I’ll update.

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Hessen, Purchases

Home furnishings upgrade…

Today is a long awaited day in our house. We’re FINALLY getting a new mattress. The one we’ve been sleeping on, I bought at a Haverty’s in Fayetteville, Georgia, back in September 2009. Mattresses are supposed to be replaced after about ten years, but we’ve had this one for almost 16 years. It now sags on both sides, where we’ve been sleeping.

I put off getting a new mattress because we live in Germany, and beds are differently sized in Europe. And if I was going to buy a new mattress, I wanted it to be a really nice one. AAFES doesn’t have the greatest selection, especially in Europe. But the sagging finally got so bad that I told Bill to go to AAFES and see what he could get there. He bought their most expensive Serta mattress, alas, without new box springs. They didn’t have any of those.

The new mattress is supposed to be delivered today, so I just stripped the bed, which was quite an ordeal. To cope with the sagging, I put a foam topper on our old mattress, which helped a bit. It’s also heavy and bulky, and takes up a lot of room on the floor.

I also bought us a new air conditioner. The one we bought in August 2018 in Nagold went on the fritz this week. It’s been hot as hell, and although we don’t know what the future holds in terms of where we’ll be living next year, I don’t think I can bear weeks of being hot at night. I put the older AC in the bedroom, as it’s still working fine. Then I ordered a Dreo air conditioner from Amazon, which is supposed to get here today. I’d rather not buy from Amazon, but logistically speaking, it was the most practical choice. So, hopefully, it will work well, because as I write this, I’m pouring sweat. My office gets super hot this time of year!

Last night, we went to the wine stand. I got a few photos… We talked to Hannah, our American neighbor, who said she’s applied for German citizenship for herself and her kids. Her partner is a veteran, so it’s a bit more complicated for her to switch nationalities. I really can’t blame them, given how the United States is going right now. Hannah speaks fluent German and has many local friends. I think it’s a good decision for her to just stay here. Wish we could do that.

Below are a few obligatory photos. It was nice last night. Not too crowded, and there was a lovely breeze. I got a few photos of Bill in his new Guinness t-shirt. The Germans running the wine stand joked with him about it– “We have no Guinness here!”

In two weeks, the mattress in the featured photo will be headed to a German dump somewhere, along with other stuff we want to get rid of. Amazingly, Bill forgot to add a few items, including the aforementioned air conditioner. I would have had Amazon take it, but the specific model of air conditioner I bought didn’t offer that service, for some reason. Maybe we can get the other air conditioner to work somewhat and use it in Noyzi’s room…

Weirdly enough, even as saggy as it is, I sleep better on that old mattress than I do on most hotel mattresses. Hopefully, the new one will be an improvement. I’m tired of sleeping in the valley.

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Hessen, languages

Photos from last night’s wine stand– August 1, 2025…

For the past three weeks, Breckenheim has been having wine stands every Friday night. Usually, they only do it every other night. I didn’t go to the one two weeks ago, because Bill was in Romania. Last week, we decided not to go because of the weather. We decided to go last night, because we hadn’t attended a wine stand in so long– not since we went to Switzerland in late June!

It’s been raining a lot lately, and about two hours before the wine stand started, there was heavy rainfall and even some hail! So most of the wooden tables were a bit warped, because they got dumped on. We had to be careful putting our glasses down!

Attendance last night was pretty decent, after the first hour. The temperature was decent; I wore pants instead of shorts. Bill ran into our neighbor, Pete, and spoke to him in German. He used the formal form of “you” with Pete, who corrected him and told him to use “Du”. I was explaining to Bill that “du” is also “you” in Armenian, and there is a “formal” usage there, as well. Only instead of “Sie”, one would say “Duk”. That may be the only thing Armenian and German have in common… Oh, and the word, “potato”, is pronounced “Kartoffel” in German and “kartofeel” in Armenian. And it’s “kartopchka” in Russian… Wonder why we English speakers call them “potatoes”…

Anyway, I got a few photos, so here they are. I’m not sure what we’ll do today. I spent this morning making a song parody that got blocked on YouTube, so I ended up putting it on my blog using VideoPress. Then, I fixed my beloved dark green purse, which I bought in Italy. Bill took it to a shoe repair guy, and he couldn’t fix it. Bill found the part that fell off the bag and I figured out to to repair the strap myself. It was as simple as screwing… (heh heh heh). Then I tuned three of our six guitars. I just replaced the strings on one of them.

We had a good time drinking wine and supporting the local clubs, then came home, listened to music, ate burgers, and made a video for Bill’s daughter, who is preparing for her latest baby’s arrival in a few months. She really has her hands full, but somehow manages to take care of everything with a smile and a good attitude. I wish I could be as cheerful about life as she is. Ah well. At least I can make snarky song parodies. If you want to see it, just click on the link to the main blog… or click here. Until I write a new post, it will be the latest one.

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German lifestyle, Hessen

A few photos from last night’s chilly wine stand…

Last night, we decided to go to the wine stand, which happens every other Friday, here in Breckenheim. There wasn’t a big crowd, probably because the weather was a bit iffy. We had rain and storms yesterday, but the sun also came out for awhile. The temperature was slightly brisk, especially for June. I brought a light wrap with me to ward off the chill.

I’m glad we decided to go, even if I did drink too much wine and woke up with a hangover. We ran into a really lovely elderly German couple who are always kind to us when they see us. They joined us at our table, and we practiced our German, while the wife practiced her English. They ate pizza, and offered us some, but we had chili on the stove.

Even though sometimes we feel a little party crashers when we go to the wine stands, we’ve really come to enjoy these community events. The people in Breckenheim are mostly friendly and inclusive… moreso than what we experienced when we lived in Jettingen and Pfäffingen. Sometimes I do miss living down near the Black Forest, though, if only because there was a lot to do, especially on the weekends. There’s a lot to do up here, too, but it has a different vibe. I especially miss taking hikes in the Schwarzwald. I could do that here, too, I guess… but the scenery is not as beautiful to me.

Anyway… here are a few photos.

My favorite photo of the night!

We don’t always go to the wine stands anymore. Sometimes, we just don’t feel like it, or the weather isn’t good. I tend to drink too much wine when we do go… But I have to admit, with a few exceptions, we usually have a good time hanging out with our neighbors. We’ve been told that Breckenheim actually started the wine stand trend in this area, which is used to raise funds for different clubs. The clubs host the stands at the weekly markets, too.

We left the wine stand at just the right time. Bill was getting hungry, and he was very tired from an early flight back to Germany from Poland. Not long after we left, the sky opened up with rain!

Tonight, we have reservations at Landhaus Diedert. It will be the first time we’ve gone there for dinner. Tomorrow, we have lunch reservations at Villa im Tal. So stay tuned for lots of food pictures over the weekend! It’s also a religious holiday on Sunday and Monday (Whit Sunday– the final day of the Easter season– and Whit Monday). I think there are community events going on for that, too, including a raffle that Bill bought tickets for.

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Hessen, services

A quick shoutout to Weisshaus Shop in Pinswang, Austria…

A few months ago, I decided to order some whisky. I think it was at Christmas… we needed some spirits to boost our spirits. 🙂 I specifically wanted to buy a bottle of Harris Whisky. Bill and I visited the distillery on the Isle of Harris in August 2019, on our most recent Hebridean Princess whisky cruise. At the time, their whisky wasn’t ready to sell, as it wasn’t aged enough. We did become big fans of their gin, which comes in beautiful, distinctive bottles.

Harris whisky isn’t necessarily easy to find… or, at least it wasn’t a few months ago. I ended up finding it for sale on Weisshaus Shop’s Web site. I bought two different Harris whiskys, and a bottle of whisky from the Isle of Raasay distillery, another place we visited on our most recent Hebridean cruise. I placed the order on one day, and the shipment was at my doorstep the very next day. It came with a small bottle of mirabelle (plum) Schnapps!

We finally finished off the last of the Harris whisky a few nights ago. I asked Bill if he’d like for me to order some more. He said yes, and I went back to Weisshaus.de to see if I could find something interesting. A couple of days ago, I found a half liter of Bivrost Yggdrasil Single Malt Whiskey from Norway. I also bought a bottle of 12 year old Edradour Highland Whisky from Scotland. Edradour is Scotland’s smallest distillery, and one with products we’ve never tried before. I ended up buying some Edradour Whisky Cream and a bottle of Aha Toro Blanco Tequila, a new tequila for us.

My order totaled just over 200 euros (about $250), so I got free shipping (150 euros or more). They also give “rewards” for orders over 200 euros. I don’t think I remembered to hit the select reward button, but they sent us a little bottle of blueberry Schnapps, anyway. I placed the order on Thursday afternoon, and it was at my door less than 24 hours later, packed in a very sturdy box.

I don’t often order liquor online. Lately, I’ve been mostly sticking to my trusty hefeweizens and the odd bottle of wine. But it really is nice to be able to get such good service from an online shop, and I just wanted to share our experiences for those who can use the information. Weisshaus Shop has a good selection and you can’t beat the service!

I’m sure I’ll order from them again… if we don’t get kicked out of the country! 😉

In other news… we went to the wine stand last night. I got a few photos, and we talked to a woman we met a few months ago who needs help dealing with the US military and German taxation office. We’re of little help, of course… but she talked to us, anyway. Below are a few photos. We saw a guy who looked a lot like Ted Cruz… as well as my cousin’s German double.

I also saw a cute little blonde girl carrying a sausage in a bun. She went to take a bite, and realized that the sausage had slipped out and hit the ground. She nonchalantly picked up the sausage, slipped it back into the bun, and went looking for her mom. She was adorable! I’m sure she went to tell her mom what had happened, but I wouldn’t blame her if she exercised the five second rule.

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Hessen

We chose the wine stand over wine week…

Bill got home from Stuttgart yesterday afternoon. He was pretty tired from the traffic he faced on the drive home. We were supposed to go to Wiesbaden and join people from his company at Wiesbaden’s wine week festival, which will go on through next weekend. But, because Bill was so exhausted from driving, we decided to go to the much quieter wine stand that was hosted by the SPD last night.

Our village square has a communal chess set. Sometimes, people even use it!

We could have brought Noyzi and Charlie to the event, since it wasn’t very busy. I think they would have been fine. We decided not to, though, because I think we just wanted to hang out for a bit. The weather was pleasant– kind of cool with a breeze– and we just wanted to enjoy the ambiance. Other people brought dogs. One guy even had his little white dog in a baby carriage!

After we sat for a short while, and older local couple joined us, and then we saw our American friend and neighbor whose house was being “sat” by the American couple we met last week while she was on vacation with her family. She said they’d gone to Paris and she caught a glimpse of the opening ceremonies for the Olympics!

It turns out our neighbor also had a colonoscopy at the same hospital where I had mine done… but hers was not done by the chief. She described her experience as much better than mine was. I think maybe the secret to decent German healthcare is to have someone more junior do the procedures. Our neighbor also highly recommended the local Hausarzt (family doctor) in our town, although it’s hard to get an appointment with her. Maybe it might be worth seeing her.

We chatted more with our neighbor, who is also fluent in German. She translated a little for us with the older German couple. As it turned out, they did speak a little English, and Bill and I used our budding German skills. Then friends of theirs showed up, and we had a little party going on. As usual, I drank too much wine. 😉

This dog was so cute and well behaved!

After we went to the wine stand, we came home and Bill cooked burgers on the grill. Then we talked for a bit, mostly about how busy the summer has been, and how fast it’s flown by this year!

It’s hard to believe that pretty soon, we’ll be in Iceland, enjoying Arctic breezes and hoping for sunny skies. After that, fall will be upon us once again. I’m sure we’ll get to the wine festival, too. I’m kind of glad we skipped it last night, though. I’m sure it was very busy!

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