Hello weekend! Hungry for a little city adventure. Saturday morning. +2C degrees. We are pretty good in coloring up the grey November day.

We are ready to discover & indulge in the next 3 kilometers: a culinary walking tour in Stuttgart West.

Start at the Stuttgart Notre Dame (ehm, Johanniskirche). When Stuttgart is closer than Paris… where the Notre Dame was the original architecture to copy.

Great walk through the beautiful Westend of Stuttgart.

Many delicious culinary stops along the way (surprise and best warm up included too: a shot of Mezcal produced in Germany).

The tour ended in little Portugal with fresh oranges & clementines and tomato chutney and honey… mmmmhhhhhh! Shopping followed, obviously.

Next stop: facial.

Could a Saturday afternoon end any better? No! So much fun. So much laughter (not only due to the early morning shots. Lol).

A perfect day is ending. We are energized and got so many new ideas of where to go next in Stuttgart: bars, Cafés, shops… cannot wait to be back en tour.

Enjoying dinner back home with hubby: deliciousness from little Portugal included. A glass of red wine in front of the fire.

Happy weekend y’all!

It’s November. It’s Friday night. It’s goose menu night.

Delicious.

More delicious.

Deliciousness.

Best idea on a foggy Friday November night: eating out in great company. Sofa is awaiting us now. Good night!

Spontaneous ideas are the best: a weekend surrounded by the the best wine in the world. In great company. A very bubbly weekend.

Arriving at the beautiful Champagne in France. 50 Champagnes on the menu, each offering up to 5 different champagnes – and now decide which one!

Perfect start: 3 tastings combined with beautiful food, chosen by the charming waiter. We arrived in Champagne & food heaven. That was only the first night. Mooooore bubbles to follow.

All you hear in restaurants: plop! Plop! Plop! Of course, a French monk invented the magical elixir in 1729. It took him 47 (!) years to develop the best wine of the world. Lucky us the bosses of the champagnes thought big and the gorgeous elixir was sold internationally.

Wine can only be labeled as “champagne” if made in the Champagne appellation (region) of France, the crush must consist of only the Pinot Noir, Pinot Meunier, or Chardonnay grapes grown within the region & champagne must be fermented twice: once in barrels, and again in bottles. And that’s how the bubbles get in there. After the second fermentation, caused by adding a little more yeast and sugar when the wine is bottled. Then the wine is left to age for at least 1.5 years in half-lit, dark underground cellars.

After aging, it’s someone’s job to turn each bottle slightly every day for about two months until the sediment settles in the neck of the bottle. After a shock freeze (-25C degrees) when the bottle is opened, the pressure forces the sediment in form of an ice-cube to come blasting out. Then the bottle is quickly corked to keep the bubbles inside, preserving the magic that is champagne. Producing this happy drink is serious business.

There’s up to 150 different wines in one bottle, prepared by specialists tasting the wine. Last step: „dressing“ the Champagne (label & neck band) – didn’t expect anything else in the country of fashion.

And finally it’s time to uncork the bubbly.

This beverage of celebration is truly delightful.

We did more than just drinking champagne… we enjoyed winding through rolling hills, along vineyard covered valleys and past quaint little villages. So beautiful, especially in fall with changing colors.

Walking along the ‚Avenue de Champagne‘, popping in at tasting rooms along the way. Breakfast, lunch or dinner – champagne is always a brilliant idea in any occasion.

„I only drink champagne on two occasions. When I am in love and when I am not.“ – Coco Chanel

There’s bliss in the bubbles. A ta sante!

Best idea to come by bus. Bringing the deliciousness back home to enjoy more of it…

Autumn is beginning to show its amazing colours.

Autumn, like spring, signals a new start. It’s the very definite end of something – warm days, long nights, the languid nature of summer – but it also brings new intention, a renewed fervor for life.

Heartiness, a feeling of security and naturalness – 3 ingredients for feeling cosy.

Happy fall y‘all.

Loved being spoiled by mother-in-law with a super delicious Irish breakfast (based on German ingredients).

Time to spoil her for taking care of hubby in the past view days: an afternoon in Ludwigsburg. We loved walking in the park of the castle with stunning pumpkin creatures & following the cinnamon smell of roasted pumpkin seeds. Delicious! It has become fall!

On the way there I experienced a loss of skills for driving cars younger than 25 years. Lol. I had no idea I was driving an electrical car. No noise. Is the car even on? Shifting gears – a nightmare. Slightly overwhelmed of having 6 (!) gears again. But how to put the reverse gear in? We enjoyed the (seat) heat! Sitting in the parking lot to get bumps & backs warmed up. Happy fall!

Afternoon tea. Everything tastes amazing when served on dishes of Irish granny T.

Thanks Sandy, for visiting us & taking care of hubby. Xxx. Safe travels back home. Hope to see you soon again. And let us know if we need to post crips… (#Brexit).

Enjoying the last couple of days in September. Sunny days compared to the average summer 2021: short. cool. rainy. Well, most flowers loved it.

Getting slowly ready for fall.

…colorful leaves… watching series again… pumpkin soup… finding 5€ in the winter coat from last year… looking forward to Christmas…

For now enjoying the last summer vibes.

First home grown hop harvest🍻
Flavor: Bavaria Mandarin 🍊

~20g hops per 10 liters. We harvested about 2kg. That’s enough for a lot of beer. Yeah!

Looking forward to the next winter brew.

Let’s get the kitchen party started.

Learning from a gourmet chef and his team who deserved the Michelin reward 2021. The kitchen team is cooking while our job is watching, eating & enjoying.

9 walks inside the kitchen to pick up our food and drinks watching the chefs preparing it (Christmas wish: that kitchen!!!).

Tasting wine, home made gin & honey pearls from local vendors. It was a gourmet party indeed. What a great idea to have a party in the kitchen.

How many courses can you eat in 5hours and 46minutes (thanks, Luca App, never thought about how much time I spend in a restaurant before…)? All 9 of them!!! We rolled back home after the midnight snack: Currywurst.

We loved everything: the cool concept and of course the food & drinks. A very awesome idea to spend time with friends. Especially after lockdown earlier this year – it was a fantastic kitchen party! We won’t eat anything tomorrow though.

We are in the city with the oldest university in Germany. Mark Twain lived here before and the view from the castle down to the river Neckar is stunning. We are showing our French visitor beautiful Heidelberg.

Did you know that Mark Twain was once lucky enough to call this charming city home and Heidelberg city inspired his book “A tramp abroad”. I love to write but I am not Mark Twain so I’m going to leave it to him to set the scene.

“The town lay stretched along the river, it’s intricate cobweb of streets jeweled with twinkling lights. Behind the castle swells a dome shaped hill, forest-clad, and beyond that a nobler and loftier one. The castle looks down upon the compact brown-roofed town; and from the town two picturesque old bridges span the river. I have never enjoyed a view which had such a satisfying charm about it as this one gives”

Heidelberg is one of the prettiest, most fairytale cities. It is a hidden gem.

And where else would be a better place for a special dinner where the chef is not only cooking amazingly but also playing the Congo’s. Dinner in the Heidelberg castle.

Open air changed weather permitted to indoors (13C degrees at 8pm – summer where are you?). It was super delicious. Wine pairing included. Santana Carlos vibes also. We had a blast.

Next morning view… no, not our hangover heads…

Everything is open. It feels so good!

Heidelberg – the hidden gem. Always a good idea to visit!

Zur Abwechslung mal etwas spannendes zum Thema Covid. Deutschlandfunk Kultur hat gefragt, wie der erste Satz eines Romans über die Pandemie lauten könnte…

Bereit zum Schmunzeln? Bereit für etwas Humor? Sarkasmus? Realismus?

“Der gehetzte Paketdienst brachte eine Jogginghose; sie sollte nie ein Fitnessstudio von innen sehen…”

“Wo ist nur der Chardonnay, dachte sie verzweifelt….”

„Ilsebill zog die Maske an und salzte nach…“

“Der Satz „Klopapier ist alle“ erreichte mich normalerweise von zuhause aus im Supermarkt, aber heute war es umgekehrt und mein Blick so leer wie der Rollenhalter neben mir…”

“Diese wohltuende Stille in der großen Stadt ließ mich aufatmen…”

“In der Schlange hinter ihr hustete jemand…”

“Wir schreiben das Jahr, in dem aus 8 Millionen Fußball-Trainern von heute auf morgen Virologen wurden…”

“Kurt betrachtete seine Hände, die er nur immer flüchtig gewaschen hatte, während er begann „Happy Birthday“ zu singen, zweimal, um einen Zeitrahmen zu haben, wie lange er sie einseifen sollte, bemerkte dabei kaum, dass ihn die anderen Männer auf der Herrentoilette verstört ansahen…”

“Es war ein magischer Tag im März 2020, an dem sich die einen mit voller Wucht ihrer Sterblichkeit bewusst wurden und die anderen aufs Geld zählen vorbereiteten….”

“Langsam und voller Angst schaute sie auf ihre Waage…”

“Das überraschendste war, wie überrascht alle waren…”

“”Alles wird gut” lautete ein Zettel in meinem Briefkasten in München und ich fragte mich, ob diese verkürzte Zukunftsform zulässig ist…”

“Sie sind stumm geschaltet…”

I love all of them. Keep the spirits up. Be creative!

Mein Roman könnte folgendermaßen starten “Eine Stunde länger schlafen, virtuelle after work Treffen, gackernde Hühner im Nachbargarten, chinesische Schwiegermütter und indischer Straßenlärm im Hintergrund – all inclusive aus dem Home Office seit März 2020…”

Oder…

“Und ich lachte als meine Freunde noch Klopapier in Island kauften, bevor wir in den Flieger stiegen und zurück nach Deutschland flogen…nur wenig später war ich neidisch. Sie hatten welches. Ich nicht.”

Oder…

“Und alle starrten mich an als sei ich eine Außerirdische, die bereits im März 2020 eine Maske auf der Zugfahrt trug…”

…may the toilet paper factory never stop working…