Tag Archives: wine

German lifestyle, Hessen, Purchases

Our first visit to Fornara Feinkost in Wiesbaden…

A couple of weeks ago, Bill and I decided to visit Celpro, an Italian market in Mainz-Kastel. That store is like a traditional market, and it carries things one might find in a small Italian grocery store. While we were at Celpro, I couldn’t help but notice that it was kind of stressful to shop there. The aisles are jam packed with goods, and it tends to be crowded on Saturdays. However, they have some really nice products from Italy, so it’s great to have them nearby.

I got curious and wanted to see if there were other Italian markets near us. That’s when I discovered Fornara, a Feinkost with its flagship store in Taunusstein. I also noticed that Fornara has a satellite store behind the train station in Wiesbaden. Even after living here for going on eight years, I didn’t know we had such a store so close. Today, Bill and I decided to visit.

It turns out that two weeks ago, they moved into their brand new space, which is very close to the old one. Consequently, it looked to me like they are still setting things up somewhat. However, they had enough there that we ran up a 300 euro bill… 😈

I found high end pastas, lots of sauces, liquor, lots of wines from Italy, France, and Germany, and plenty of frozen seafood and meat. They also had frozen Italian desserts like tartufos, and frozen sorbet filled lemons and oranges. Pour a little vodka in those, and you have yourself a classic French dessert called a “Colonel”.

Never thought I’d find these in a store!

They sold Tomahawk steaks, Wagyu steaks, flat iron steaks… but they also had huge scallops, tiger shrimps, octopus, and salmon filets. I think they’re still working on expanding their stock. The helpful English speaking staff said they were expecting a shipment this week of more goods.

This Feinkost is very convenient to downtown Wiesbaden, as it’s very close to the train station and bus services, and even has free parking. You can pay with euros or credit cards. The guy who rang us up said that Fornara was founded by one Italian guy, and everybody else is German!

I really enjoyed the ambiance in Fornara. They played energetic music, and the lighting was not too harsh. The store is in what looks like it used to be a warehouse, so I think they will turn that space into something very cool, indeed… and I don’t mean literally, because of all the freezers. Below are some more photos from today’s visit.

Tartufos aplenty!
I found seven bottles of wine to take home!

I look forward to another visit to Fornara, especially after they get everything set up in their new space. I also hope Bill and I can take a “field trip” to their flagship store in Taununsstein, which is about 18 miles away and appears to be much larger and more expansive.

The flagship store has event space that can be rented for private affairs, as well as classes on different foods and wines. For instance, at this writing, they’re offering a class in different cuts of meats, a Primativo wine tasting, and a summer wine tasting, among other events.

There is also a store in Norderstedt (near Hamburg) and another one coming to Berlin. Bill said Fornara gave him “Eataly” vibes, although I wouldn’t go that far. Eataly is a lot bigger and more overwhelming… but I don’t mind a smaller version of Eataly in these parts.

Bill has to go to Spain next week, so a visit to the store in Taunusstein will have to wait until he gets back. The good news is, we got word that my driver’s license application was approved, so I will soon have my new license in hand. Maybe I can do the driving when we go to the big Fornara store. 😁

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A lovely wine stand last night…

Happy Saturday, y’all. Bill has to go to Greece on Monday, and he’ll be back Friday, I think. It will be a boring week for me, but maybe I can work on some music projects I’ve been wanting to do. Or maybe I’ll even make a travel video, or two…

For now, though, I want to write about last night’s wine stand. We had really nice weather, so there was an excellent turn out. I believe the stand was hosted by Breckenheim’s bike club. I don’t know for sure, but all of the folks in the kiosk were wearing black t-shirts with bikes on them.

We ran into our American neighbors last night, a same sex couple who live near us and have two kids. I had already run into one of them three times, as I walked the dogs yesterday. They ended up sitting near us, and we caught up on things. Prior to their arrival, we were just sitting quietly at a table, drinking wine. They didn’t have too many that were dry, last night.

Another American couple, their kids, and it looked like maybe the grandparents, also sat near us. We haven’t met that couple. In fact, I only know that the female half of it is from the US. She made it plain that she’s American, because she was wearing a t-shirt that featured a brewery chain that was founded in my home state of Virginia. They seemed to leave rather abruptly. I noticed it was just after I took a photo of Bill, laughed and said a touch too loudly that he looked constipated. 🤣

As they were leaving, I leaned over to Bill and said, “I guess they thought they were the only gays in the village.” (a reference to Little Britain, which is a hilarious British show we discovered the first time we lived in Germany) I don’t know if that’s actually why they left, but it wouldn’t be the first time I turned someone off by saying something “shitty”. 🤭

Or maybe it was just a coincidence that they left after I revealed where we are from… 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, we caught up with our neighbors, and just after we left, that American guy Alan, whom we met a few weeks ago, also showed up. But by the time he got there, we needed to pee, and didn’t want to use the toilet in the Dorfplatz. So we left… But I did get a few photos. Notice how packed it got! We also had some Spundekäs, which is a local delicacy up here in Hessen/Rheinland Pfalz. I’ve never seen it offered in the Stuttgart area.

Our neighbors said Alan had told them he’d met us, but he got our names wrong and called us “Brad and Janet”. We broke into the Rocky Horror Picture Show song, “Dammit, Janet”. 🤣 And we talked about how we managed to see that movie acted out. It’s not so easy, these days, to find showings of Rocky Horror, where people act out the scenes as the movie plays. I saw it presented that way just once, back in the early 90s, at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Norfolk, Virginia.

Constipated?

I do really enjoy living in Breckenheim. It’s a nice place to be, even if some of the people who build houses here are perverted. By the way, I’ve been working hard to avoid seeing that guy, and I’ve succeeded, as far as I can tell. Or maybe he got fired. I don’t know, but as long as he’s not exposing himself to me, it’s all good.

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Hessen, holidays

Easter lunch at Villa Im Tal 2026…

I’m a few days late writing this post about our Easter lunch. I’ve been preoccupied with writing about our trip to Belgium and France. I didn’t want to interrupt the flow of my series with a post about lunch in a restaurant we’ve enjoyed many times.

We decided to have lunch at Villa Im Tal, kind of on a whim. Bill was talking about what he wanted to cook for Easter and I suggested that maybe we should go out to eat, like we did last year. Looking back on my posts, I see that we had Easter lunch at Villa Im Tal in 2024, too. What can I say? We really like this lovely restaurant on the outskirts of Wiesbaden, in its lovely bucolic setting by the woods.

I put on a dress and we made our way to the restaurant for our 1:00 reservation. I noticed no one was hanging around at the natural spring. Usually, a group of swarthy looking men stay there, as if they own the spring. I guess they took Easter off. Villa Im Tal is a casual place, but I felt like putting on a dress… and squeezing into a pair of tights!

The Easter Bunny came all the way from Belgium…
Ooh… dramatic!

When we walked into the restaurant, one of the waiters immediately recognized us, but I think he forgot our surname. But then the lovely female waitress who always greets us by name came into the bar area with a big smile. When her colleague couldn’t find our name, she said “I got this!” and found us listed.

It was a bit cloudy on Easter this year.
Cute Easter bunnies…

We sat at a table on the edge of the dining room and had a look at the set menu, which is usually what they do for holidays. We’re heading into asparagus season, so I wasn’t surprised to see asparagus on the menu! They had a meat, fish, and vegetarian option for the main course. The rest of the courses were offered to everyone.

I usually go for the fish dishes when we go to Villa Im Tal, but this time, I decided to have the roast beef. First, I made sure the vegetable side was going to be mushroom free. Bill had the saibling (char) filet, which came with barley risotto, basil coulis, and garlic. Both dishes were appealing to me, but I was very happy with the beef, which was more like prime rib than what I think of as roast beef.

Bill ordered a nice bottle of red wine, which was decanted in the novel “snake” decanter. Of course, we also had the house aperitif, too– booze free for Bill. The salad was so pretty, I took two pictures of it! Looking at the vegetarian/vegan offering, I think I would have been pleased with that, too. Of course, we also had the usual bread, with butter and a festive pink spread that tasted of chickpeas.

The roast beef came with what I think of as scalloped potatoes.

After we finished our main courses, we spent a few minutes resting, then had dessert… Red fruits, white chocolate mousse, walnuts, and ice cream, with a white chocolate topping.

A little German brandy…

We were very pleased with this lovely lunch. The food was excellent, as always, and the service was friendly, professional, and familiar. We left there feeling very satisfied and blessed, and of course we were also done eating for the day! I’m glad we went to Villa Im Tal for Easter this year. This weekend, we have plans to visit an Armenian/Georgian restaurant in Wiesbaden called La Boheme. It will be our first time there, so the review should be interesting.

Villa Im Tal is always a pleasure to visit, no matter what season it is.

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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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Rhein, Rheinland-Pfalz, Sundays

Our first visit to Restaurant Bootshaus Mainz…

In my last post, I complained about the neverending winter weather and advised that winter was free to scram as soon as possible. Well… ask and you shall receive! This weekend, we’ve had beautiful sunny days with mild temperatures in the 50s. Since it had been awhile since my last outing, Bill invited me out to lunch at the Restaurant Bootshaus Mainz today. He made a 1:00 reservation, which was a good idea. Although the restaurant wasn’t completely full during our visit, it did get busy!

We found a parking spot somewhat close to the Bootshaus. The place has free spots for guests and employees. It’s near a couple of tennis courts, as well as the majestic Rhine/Rhein River. When we arrived, we were told to sit at any two top table that was open. I chose one near the door, which faced the big windows that offered a view of the river.

Near the entrance of the restaurant…

The table where we sat had one chair facing away from the river, and a bench full of pillows facing toward it. I chose the bench, but had to do some maneuvering to sit comfortably, thanks to all the pillows! Seriously the bench was full of them, and some were pretty big.

An English speaking waiter brought us menus in English. We don’t require English menus, but it’s nice that they had them. A couple of items were not available, including the duck croquettes, which Bill had specifically mentioned when he told me we were going to dine at the Bootshaus. Oh well… now we have a reason to go back! But I would have wanted to go back, anyway, because the food was very good!

I started with sea scallops that came with a luscious carrot puree. Bill had the burrata with fresh tomatoes and crispy bread. The scallops were perfectly grilled and not at all bitter. Bill raved about the burrata, which I also tried. I only wished they’d brought me a spoon, so I could have gotten all of the carrot puree in my dish.

Next, Bill had Saltimbocca made of chicken breast and wrapped with prosciutto, with polenta, broccoli, and jus. I went with the rainbow trout, which was (mostly) deboned and served with beurre blanc, roasted potatoes and spinach with lots of garlic. I loved that the spinach was perfectly cooked and not mushy. That’s not always a feat that kitchens get right. We also had a bottle of locally produced Sylvaner and some sparkling water.

They did not give us bread, but that could be ordered a la carte. Personally, I’m glad they didn’t bring it out, because it would have put me over the edge of being uncomfortably full. They also didn’t serve an amuse bouche, which is also fine with me. The place has a very casual feel, although the food is certainly not what you’d expect to find in a casual restaurant.

My fish also came with beurre blanc– a lovely butter and white wine sauce for the trout.
Love the water glasses!

We had a long pause after we finished our main courses. At that point, the couple sitting at the table next to ours abruptly got up and moved to another table. It looked like they had finished eating, too. I wondered if they moved because we’re English speakers, but then I noticed the woman got up a few times and seemed to move stiffly. Bill said she’d been giving us a side eye, but for all we know, they wanted to free up that table for someone else. The table where they sat wasn’t set up for food. Anyway… I will assume they moved for benevolent reasons, and not because they resent us Yanks. 🤭 (of course, under the circumstances, I don’t know that I would blame them…)

For dessert, I had warm cheesecake with ice cream and candy apple cream. Bill had coconut semolina flummery with a pineapple sorbet and a mango ragout. Both desserts were delicious and not too much. However, the cheesecake was definitely served warm, rather than lukewarm. They did have a chocolate lava cake, but if you’ve been reading this blog, you already know how I feel about lava cakes. 🙄 Especially chocolate ones…

Two hours after lunch began, we were finished. The bill came to about 174 euros, before the tip. Bill paid with a credit card, and we made our way home. I might have taken a walk in the very pleasant weather, but I needed to pee, and this restaurant, unfortunately, requires a stout walk and climbing up two flights of stairs to get to the loo. After two trips, I decided I’d rather go at home. There is an elevator for those who can’t do the stairs.

Overall, we had a very nice time at the Bootshaus in Mainz. I think we’ll go back, provided we don’t get deported… 🤭 (I know… I shouldn’t laugh about that, but if I don’t laugh, I might cry…)

A few more photos… the restaurant is also close to the train tracks and the city park, where we attended the wine fest a few months ago. Keep in mind, although we live about twenty minutes away from Mainz, it’s in another state– Rhineland-Pfalz (or Palatinate, if you prefer).

Train tracks!
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Baden-Württemberg, German lifestyle, short breaks

A winter break in Waiblingen… Dinner at Untere Apotheke (part seven)

As I’ve mentioned a few times so far, Waiblingen has several good restaurants. We didn’t get to try them all, but if we ever manage to go back there, we’ll have to make a point of visiting a couple of the others. One place I wish we’d had a chance to visit is Brunnenstuben. It gets high marks, and looks like it offers great Swabian cuisine.

As it was, though, we did manage a visit to Michelin Guide mentioned Untere Apotheke (Lower Pharmacy), which is located just behind Bachofer. Because Bill didn’t take any classes on Saturday, we made a reservation for 7:00 PM. It’s a good thing we did that, because the restaurant is rather small, and it filled up completely while we were there.

From their Web site:

From Monday to Thursday, we serve our full à la carte selection and all set menus in the evenings as usual – flexibly and entirely according to your taste.

On Friday and Saturday evenings, we kindly ask our guests to choose a set menu of three or more courses. You can customize your menu from our selection – even spontaneously on-site.

We were warmly welcomed when we arrived for our reservation. A couple of young guys offered to take our coats, although there was a little bit of bumbling as they determined what to do with them. I got the sense that they were a bit inexperienced and new to the job, which is fine. We all have to start somewhere.

Bill and I sat at a two top in a corner, on a long banquette that ran along the back wall. As we were looking at the menu, the proprietor came over to say hello and get a drink order. He said he’d seen us at Mamma Roma, the Italian place next door. He was the guy who was sitting at the table behind Bill, talking on the phone, while were having lunch there. I don’t know for certain, but I wonder if the restaurants are owned by the same people. Both offered really good food.

I was surprised that the proprietor had noticed us at Mamma Roma’s, let alone remembered us! Maybe it’s my hair… and the fact that we’re obviously Americans in a town that probably doesn’t get many American visitors. He apologized that they didn’t have a menu in English, but we said it was fine, since we live in Germany and understand “restaurant German” pretty well.

The proprietor suggested a Negroni, which delighted Bill, because it’s one of his favorite cocktails. I thought I might have a conventional aperitif, like sparkling wine, but ended up having a Negroni, too. That was mainly because I’d never had one before. The proprietor did say he could make a cocktail that was like a Negroni, but “lighter”, but I decided to go for the real thing. Now that I’ve had a Negroni, I think I’d opt for the lighter cocktail at a future visit.

The kitchen sent out a lovely “amuse bouche”, which turned out to be a very comforting cauliflower based soup. I don’t usually like cauliflower much, because it tastes like farts to me. I would make an exception for this soup, which didn’t have that flavor at all. It had a slight essence of vanilla.

There were several options available for dinner. We decided to go for the five course tasting menu with wine pairing. It was mostly a good choice, although the wait staff did not seem to know much about serving or drinking wines.

At one point, a waiter brought a wine to us that he couldn’t even identify. He said he was new on the job. I can understand that. I used to wait tables myself, and wasn’t a wine drinker at that time. But, for a Michelin mentioned restaurant, it did seem odd that the waiter couldn’t even tell me what kind of wine I was drinking that was chosen to pair with my food. Like, he had to go ask what type of wine it was– not the specific label, but the actual grape. I think it was a Pinot Grigio.

Anyway… below are some photos from our dinner at Untere Apotheke. I enjoyed every course.

We started with a smoked trout with a horseradish sauce. I took the second photo because it looked like the sauce had turned into a work of art after I had enjoyed the fish!

Next was a “hirsch” (venison) carpaccio, which was absolutely divine. I haven’t eaten much venison in my lifetime, but this was really good. I did give a couple of extra bites to Bill, though.

The third course was sturgeon with cabbage and potatoes espuma. I’d never had sturgeon before, and only had heard was a very expensive fish. It was pretty dense and mild. The sturgeon tasted good, although I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to have it again.

The sturgeon was followed by a ragout of “Ochsenschwanz” (oxtail) with pears and red cabbage. I don’t think I had ever had oxtail before. I know Bill has had it. I enjoyed it, but again, maybe I wouldn’t go out of my way to order it.

We had a palate cleanser of sorbet, followed by dessert, which was Swabian apple cake with caramelized vanilla ice cream. Naturally, I enjoyed the dessert, especially since it didn’t look like a mushroom! It came with a very nice dessert wine that went well.

I did really enjoy the food and wine at Untere Apotheke. The service was very friendly, although the wait staff was a bit “green”. They mostly appeared to be young guys who are just learning about how to wait tables. Again, I totally sympathize. I have been there, myself. And their friendliness definitely made up for slightly bumbling service. I have no doubt they’ll get the hang of things soon, especially given how many people were dining on Saturday night.

The tables in Untere Apotheke are a bit close together. We sat next to a male couple who kept sneaking glances at us, probably wondering why we were in Waiblingen, intruding with our “Americanness”. I may be a bit sensitive, given what’s been going on in our government, lately. But I think they soon figured out that I’m definitely not a follower of the regime. 😉

I would certainly be happy to dine at Untere Apotheke again. It was a fine place to enjoy our last evening in Waiblingen.

One more post to go before this series is finished!

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New friends and fantastic food at Pizarro Fine Dining!

A few weeks ago, Bill and I were still staring down the prospect of him spending three solid weeks in Bavaria on business. I was depressed about the idea of being alone for that long, since I tend to be kind of a recluse. I don’t enjoy cooking for myself anymore, especially in Germany, where we have small kitchens and everything is in Celsius (🤭).

It had been about seven months since our last visit to Pizarro Fine Dining in Groß-Gerau, so I asked Bill if he’d like to go there for dinner. If you’ve been reading this blog, you might remember that we discovered Pizarro Fine Dining in the spring of 2024. I was so blown away by our first experience there that we went back again in late May of last year. Then in February, we decided we’d better go again, because we weren’t sure what was going to happen with Donald Trump re-entering the White House. Pizarro Fine Dining is the kind of place where you don’t forget the food, and if we were going to have to move back to the USA or suffered a loss of income, I didn’t want to miss having another opportunity to dine there. Plus, I wanted to drown my sorrows. 

Since we discovered Pizarro Fine Dining last year, we’ve noticed that it seems to have gotten more popular. The Web site has been revamped, and prices are slightly higher. Last night, it looked like there were fewer tables. Bill counted fourteen people, and every seat was taken. And it books up fast now– you have to secure your spot with a credit card!

Well… after last night’s glorious repast, I can see why things have changed. Once again, I left that restaurant shaking my head at some of the incredible flavors I encountered in Chef Julio Pizarro’s cuisine. Bill and I have been fortunate enough to dine in some really wonderful restaurants. The food we’ve had at Pizarro Fine Dining ranks as some of the best of the best.

I love the unique concept of this restaurant. You basically buy a ticket. At this writing, it’s 150 euros for the menu without any extras. The door is locked, so there aren’t any walk ins. It’s relaxed and casual, and feels like a house party, with good music, subdued lighting, and excellent wine pairings to go with extremely fresh Japanese-Peruvian fusion dishes, mostly featuring fish.

Last night, we sat at the “chef’s table”, which is a four top. Another couple joined us. We didn’t know them when we sat down, but by the end of our five hour meal, we felt like we’d made new friends. The couple we had dinner with live in Darmstadt and work for a company that tracks the weather. He’s Italian; she’s German, but she lived in Spain, The Netherlands, and France until she was 12. He speaks five languages. She speaks six! They met Julio at a party, and their friends told them they should book at table at his restaurant. It was their first time dining there, but I doubt it will be their last!

Bill and I pretty much went all out last night. We had the meat course, which wasn’t Wagyu beef last night, but another type of beef from Spain. The name of it escapes me now. It was leaner than Wagyu, but very delicious, and I opted to have a glass of wonderful Barolo wine to go with it. Edited to add: my German friend thinks it might have been Txogitxu, and now that I’ve looked it up, I think she’s right. It came from the north of Spain, and is described as the “world’s best steak.”

We also had the caviar, which we usually skip. It was definitely worth having it last night. I had the alcoholic wine pairing, while Bill had the “drink” pairing, which was non-alcoholic. Some of his drinks were fruit juices, but others were non-alcoholic wines. All were excellent.

The menu last night…

And then there was the menu itself, which was titled “The Fire In Me”. Every course was beautifully prepared and delicious, but a couple of the courses were mindblowingly exceptional. I had to actually sit there dumbstruck for a few minutes to register how marvelous the flavors were, even when I wondered if I was going to be offended by something. There are certain foods I don’t care for, but some chefs can work magic and they have a completely different taste. Now– I still won’t eat mushrooms or truffles, so I had to skip those in the meat course– but I did enjoy beet root, daikon, radishes, and a few other items that normally I might not have wanted to try. Everything was exquisite!

I went for the Rose!
I liked this “sandwich” with salmon and avocado between tempura “bread”.
This was absolutely phenomenal. I wondered if I’d like it because of how it looked. But it was incredible!
The kingfish! The chef says he always puts this on the menu, but presents it differently each time.
They did the bread differently. Usually, they present it in crocks. Last night, it was in slices.
Salmon with vanilla…
Beef with ‘shrooms…
Without…
Palate cleanser…
Dessert!

After dinner, we had a round of espresso to perk Bill up for the drive home. The couple sitting with us, who had been talking up the train all night, looked crestfallen when they discovered that the train was canceled last night. They had to take a bus. Or maybe they called a taxi. I do think maybe we should take a cab to the restaurant so Bill can enjoy the wines more, but I like that he has the non-alcoholic beverages so we can try everything.

As usual, service was excellent, yet relaxed. The food was astonishing, and the company was a lot of fun. It was a really lucky thing that we hit it off with Susanne and G.G. as well as we did! Sometimes, people don’t mesh.

Anyway… the bill came close to 700 euros, which is a whole lot of money to spend on dinner. But we have a lot of things to celebrate this month. Next week is our 23rd wedding anniversary. Tomorrow, it’s likely that Bill will have a new granddaughter. And his next business trip, slated to begin November 17th, was supposed to be in Bavaria, but has now been changed to…

ISTANBUL!!!!!

And, with any luck, I will get to go with him. I can’t buy a plane ticket until he gets approved and booked on a flight. But, once that happens, I’ll hopefully be shopping for a seat on the same flight, and we’ll spend next week in a truly fascinating city in the Republic of Türkiye! I have been there, but it was in 1996. I am older and more established now, and since Bill will be with me, I probably won’t get hit on by the local men. 😉

So stay tuned… Hopefully, I will be setting this up tomorrow!

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Sundays

A lovely Sunday afternoon enjoying Wein am Stadtpark in Mainz!

As I was writing yesterday’s post, Bill came into my office and asked if I wanted to go out and do something. We quickly decided to visit the Wein am Stadtpark festival in Mainz. We have been to that fest before, but I think it was a few years ago. I know we went in 2019, but then the pandemic came, and we usually travel for Labor Day weekend, which is when the event usually happens. Last year, for instance, we were in Iceland.

Wein am Stadtpark usually occurs during the last weekend of August and the first weekend of September. They don’t run it during the week. I’m not sure if they take all of the food trucks and such out during the week. Seems like that would be impractical, since there are people from all sorts of wineries there.

Anyway, we had nice weather yesterday. It was partly cloudy and not super hot, so we decided to go. We parked at the shitty garage near the Römische Theater, then walked through a tunnel, which had train tracks running over it, and up a hill, which put us on the road to the city park. That’s my one complaint about this fest/market. It’s not very close to a parking garage, and to get to it, you have to walk uphill. Because we didn’t eat before we went, I was unusually winded when we climbed the steps up to the street. But I recovered soon enough, and we walked on a lovely forested path to the celebration.

I got lots of photos…

We kind of took it easy at the fest. Bill had a wine schorle (white wine with sparkling water) and grape juice. I had two glasses of white wine. We also had salmon wraps for lunch. They were really good! I don’t know why the salmon truck never comes to the Wiesbaden fests! Of course, they also had a truck devoted to mushrooms (eew).

The festival was very well attended with people of all ages. They had kid friendly activities and plenty of food, wine stands, and even a Biergarten. Bill and I were noticing how beautiful the park is and saying we need to go there sometime when there isn’t a fest. I’d like to go just to try the Biergarten, which is connected to a hotel there. The park also offers views of the Rhein/Rhine River, and it’s not far from St. Stephan’s church, which is where Marc Chagall’s beautiful blue windows are.

After we visited the park, we went home and enjoyed our backyard for a couple of hours. Bill is getting ready to fly to Lausanne for the night. He’ll be back tomorrow, and then we can plan our visit to Budapest.

I do appreciate the festivals here in Germany. They’re always celebrating something. And if I had to compare the Wein am Stadtpark to the Rheingauer Weinwoche, I think I’d prefer the Wein am Stadtpark market. I just wish the parking was a bit closer. The parking garage is usually pretty full; it’s not a nice garage; and getting to the park requires a steep walk uphill, which makes it harder for fatass housewives and people with mobility issues. 😉

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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

Rheingau Weinwoche 2025

Bill and I were supposed to go to the first night of the annual Rheingau Wine Festival on Friday evening. His company had reserved a tent for employees and their families. We usually go to that gathering and have a good time. But this year, Bill decided he’d rather hang out at home with me instead of being crowded, hot, and breathing second hand smoke. We usually go to this particular festival on our own, on our preferred Sunday afternoons, when it’s usually a lot less crowded.

So, that’s what we did today… We had beautiful, sunny, relatively cool and breezy weather. The lovely weather made it even nicer to visit this yearly event, which always seems to herald the onset of the fall season for me. I know we have about a month to go before summer is officially over, but years of living in Germany has taught me that in about a month, it’s possible jackets will be necessary once again. On the other hand, I have noticed that things are warmer now than they were in 2007, when Bill and I moved to Germany together with the Army.

Anyway, I don’t have much of anything to report on things that happened today, but I did get some photos and a few recordings…

The first thing we did was go to the WC, where a very cheery Klofrau (toilet lady) was taking one euro per person. She was kind of funny, so I didn’t mind giving her the money. At least the toilets were clean and stocked, right?

We started looking for a place with plenty of shady tables, so we could have something to eat. I finally spotted a good table near some live entertaininers– a guy from Ocean City, Maryland who sang and played keyboards and his German sax player. They were really good, and played music I loved. Bill went to get some bratwursts and pommes (fries), while I drank Riesling. I wish the food had been as good as the live entertainment was. But, the wines were all decent, so there was that.

I really enjoy Wiesbaden, if only because of the fests!

Just before the musicians were about to take their pause, a family sat at the table right behind us. I kept getting bumped by one of them, whose back was against mine. Then, someone from that table kicked rocks, and some wound up in my shoe. Next, a woman sat on the bench in front of me. She was nice enough not to block our view, but her husband then sat down and lit up a cigarette. It was allowed, of course, but pretty annoying. We decided to get up and move to the next booth, run by Barth Weingut, which is a local favorite of mine. When they saw that we were moving, the table muggers quickly moved to take our vacated spots.

Below are some more photos from the other booths we visited. I hope we’ll get to go back again, before the festival ends a week from today.

As for yesterday, we mostly spent it hanging out in the backyard, listening to music, drinking wine and beer, and tearing down the ivy on one of the fences. We didn’t quite finish the job, but now the yard looks both a little naked, and like a tornado hit it.

Bill loves the t-shirt. I ordered it for him a month ago, but it just got to us, along with a couple of others. This coming Saturday, we’ll finally be getting a new mattress, which means somehow hauling the 16 years old one out to be picked up. That will be fun.

I wish I had more fun things to report on… but it does look like I might be able to go somewhere with Bill soon. When the plans are in place, I’ll announce where.

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