Celebrating 15 Years of Mövenpick Weinkeller

Celebrating 15 Years of Mövenpick Weinkeller

On my last visit to Mövenpick Weinkeller on Rotenwaldstraße, the man ringing up my wine was kind enough to let me know about the store's 15 Year Anniversary Celebration on September 19th. The store would be having a small celebration with a tasting and some snacks, and might I be interested? Yes, please!

And so this past Friday, Matt and I headed out with a few friends to Mövenpick to taste some of the wines they had on offer for the special event. In addition to their usual selection, representatives from Domaine Perrin from the Rhône region, Staatskellerei Zürich from Switzerland, Azienda Vitivinicola Condé from the Emilia-Romagna region, and Rainer Schnaitmann from Fellbach were on hand to offer a number of wines from their respective vineyards...

Recap: An Unscheduled Trip to Heidelberg

Recap: An Unscheduled Trip to Heidelberg

A couple of weekends ago a friend of mine decided to try out a 13 kilometer hike that she'd heard of around Murrhardt, and asked if we wanted to join. And so early one Saturday morning we packed a day pack with water and snacks, suited up Leo in his harness, and headed to the Hauptbahnhof to take the train to Murrhardt.

We arrived at our scheduled platform about 10 minutes early, when we saw that another train which had been delayed was still waiting to leave. Not a big deal. I was content sipping on my Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks as we waited for the other train to leave. So we waited. And waited. And waited. 

Finally, we asked one of the platform conductors what we should do, but she had no other advice than to continue waiting. Apparently there had been a strike that morning by one of the freight companies, and it was causing a three hour delay for many of the commuter trains. It was already an hour after our train's scheduled department, and no trains in that direction had left the platform since that time. (I should note that despite the popularity of public transportation, strikes and general tardiness of the trains is in my experience extremely rare in Germany.)

Determined to go on some kind of hike (and make use of the Baden-Württemburg ticket that we'd purchased for the four of us -- Leo included), we decided to hop on the next train leaving for Heidelberg instead. From Stuttgart, it only takes about 45-50 minutes on a regional train, so it's very close, and the city is easily walkable, making for a great day trip...

Stepping Into Another World at the Ludwigsburg Venetian Festival

Stepping Into Another World at the Ludwigsburg Venetian Festival

I first heard about the Ludwigsburg Venetian Festival three years ago when we moved to Stuttgart. A friend of mine went with her young son and husband, and said it was a great event that I should try. So, the following year (2013), a group of us decided to go together. We picked the same weekend, took the train to Ludwigsburg, and strolled to the Marktplatz on that drizzly Saturday.

However, we knew something wasn't quite right as we approached the main square. Where were the tents and the costumed revelers? Had we missed something? A quick check of our smartphones revealed that the Venetian Festival is a bi-yearly event, and somehow five sets of eyes had missed that fact, because not one of us had ever heard of a bi-weekly festival until that day. 

No matter. Our disappointment was soon replaced by good pizza, cheap wine, and new friends as we retreated into the underground dining room of an Italian restaurant along the square. Next year we would be sure not to miss the festival. 

And so this past Sunday we once again planned our weekend, took the train to Ludwigsburg, and strolled to the Marktplatz...

Upcoming Festivals and Events in September/October 2014 (Updated)

Upcoming Festivals and Events in September/October 2014 (Updated)

I started my blog to talk about all of the great foods and restaurants that I've gotten to try since moving abroad. However, over the summer I found myself blogging more about festivals than restaurants. This is fine since I love a good festival, and especially "street-food", but the downside for my readers is that I often blog about the event after I've been (and thus after it's over). 

Not anymore. 

I'm going to make it a point every couple of months to post a quick "Upcoming Festivals" post so that you can know about events, too, and go to them before my review comes up. (A special thanks goes out to Meredith at Kaffee und Kuchen for the inspiration!) I also hope that if you know of an event that I haven't listed, that you'll be kind enough to share it with me...

Date Night Thai at Kanjana

Date Night Thai at Kanjana

It seems like we've had a million things going on the past two weeks, what with my school schedule, some big projects at Matt's work, and the many festivals that we've been trying to attend on the weekends. This past weekend wasn't any different between the Dinkelacker Festival and the Venetian Festival in Ludwigsburg. We managed to push the Venetian Festival visit back to Sunday in hopes that the weather would be nicer, and so we had out Satuday night free. The blogging side of me wanted to check out the Dinkelacker Festival. This is the third year that we've been here and that the brewery festival has taken place. However, the wife side of me just couldn't pass up a chance to enjoy a nice meal out with my husband, just the two of us. And so, date night won out. 

Our craving for that evening was somewhere in the realm of Asian, so we had a quick look at our "Restaurants to Try" list (yes, we really do keep one) and decided on Kanjana. We've had a couple of friends recommend this restaurant to us, and we've even passed by the restaurant a couple of times while out with friends...

After Work Dinner and Drinks at Holzkrug

After Work Dinner and Drinks at Holzkrug

When I first started working at my current school, our group of new people really made an effort to go out together to get to know one another. Maybe for that reason or simply by chance, we all clicked. Our restaurant of choice on such occasions was a tiny German pub called the Holzkrug (meaning wood jar) hidden on a side street in the town close to work. In fact, the nondescript exterior wouldn't have turned our heads if it hadn't been a favorite of some of the more seasoned staff.

Even today, after a late night at work or after a particularly hard week, I like to go out for a drink with my coworkers at the Holzkrug to catch up, release some steam, and enjoy the traditional delicious German food at Holzkrug. I had just such a week that was both busy and late, and so one day after work my coworkers and I walked down to the pub for a long overdo beer after the holidays...

German Wine Tasting at the Stuttgarter Weindorf

German Wine Tasting at the Stuttgarter Weindorf

I find it rather fortuitous that the Stuttgarter Weindorf started this year on my first day back to work. I've had a particularly busy past couple of weeks, and the Weindorf provided a nice distraction (especially on the nights when neither I nor my husband felt like cooking). And so after three visits and multiple glasses of wine later, I finally feel able to write this post and accurately present the wealth of wine and food available to you. 

About the Weindorf

The Stuttgarter Weindorf is a 1-1/2 week festival in late August/early September that celebrates the wine, food, and culture of the Swabian region. I've been to the event for the past two years in a row, and enjoy myself every time. The event features a good many stands selling Swabian food and wines to go, along with several sit-down locations from which you can enjoy a more formal meal. As such, there are many ways to experience the Weindorf...

Pizza Delivery (in Germany?)

Pizza Delivery (in Germany?)

One difference that continues to fascinate me between eating in Germany and the United States are the delivery places here. In the US, we usually ordered delivery from our favorite Chinese restaurant or pizza parlor, where they specialized in one kind of food or at least one food from one region. In Germany, however, (or at least in Stuttgart) this is not the case. Delivery places seem to specialize in "delivery food", meaning anything from Asian noodles to Mexican tacos (or so they claim). 

I remember the first time we tried to order pizza in Stuttgart. We had just moved into our apartment, and our kitchen was yet to be delivered from IKEA. (Yes, you have to supply your own kitchen -- sink, fridge, oven, etc. -- when you move into a German apartment.) We decided to try a pizza place that we saw advertised on our street called Sky Pizza. To our surprise, Sky Pizza served not only pizza, but also American burgers, German maultaschen and schnitzel, "International" fish and chips and chicken wings, Mexican tacos and quesadillas, Indian curries, Chinese noodle and rice dishes, and even beer and wine. We were obviously very excited. Who wouldn't want quesadillas and chicken masala all in one meal?...

Back to School with German Candy

Back to School with German Candy

There is a very special tradition in Germany dating back to the 1800s that on the first day of school for children entering the first grade, they get what's known as a Schultüte (meaning school cone or bag). Much like a Christmas stocking, a Schultüte is a paper cone that should be decorated and filled with toys, sweets, and school supplies to start the year off right.

I had never heard of this tradition before I moved to Germany, and so I was really surprised when on the first day of my teaching year at my current international school, my "buddy" (another teacher who volunteered to help me adjust to life at the school) presented me with a tiny Schultüte of my own. I think at that moment I felt a little bit of the joy that German first graders must feel when they get their own Schultüte. It was an acknowledgement that something new was beginning for me, and even though I know thousands of German school children (and some international school teachers) across the country were also getting Schultütes on their first day, I still felt incredibly special...

A Decadent Sunday Brunch at Pier 51

A Decadent Sunday Brunch at Pier 51

Today I had the pleasure of eating brunch with a good many of my dear friends and coworkers. We decided to convene before the official start of the school year at our second annual Sunday brunch at Pier 51. Why Pier 51? Their brunch is one of the few "American-style" buffet brunches that I've found in Stuttgart, and while it is a bit pricey at 32€ per person (half price for children), I think we generally eat our money's worth given what's offered. 

When you pay for the Sunday brunch, you get a good many choices including breads and toasts with butter and jam; yogurt and milk with many different kinds of cereal and müsli; fresh-squeezed juices, teas, and coffee; a hot buffet with bacon, sausages, eggs, waffles, and pancakes; and, my favorite section, a cold buffet with sliced meats and cheeses, smoked fish, grilled vegetables, salads, and other antipastos. The price of the buffet also includes one glass of Sekt (sparkling wine). And if you go early (around 11 am) and stay long enough (around 1 pm), they switch the hot buffet from breakfast to lunch, so you can help yourself to an additional array of pasta, vegetables, rice, fish, and meat along with a dessert table with fruit and mini-cups of various sweets...