Public Restrooms

Public Restrooms may seem an odd topic to blog, but there are some interesting differences between the US and Europe.

In general, German restrooms tend to be cleaner. In most of the big department stores there will be attendants stationed near the restrooms. Also the Germans do not think anything of a woman entering the men’s room to clean while it is occupied and being used. Many restrooms also have self cleaning seats (you find this most at Rästhofs along the autobahn). When the toilet flushes, a squeegee is extended from behind the seat, and a small bit of water is sprayed as the seat is turned and cleaned with the squeegee….I find this very civilized.

In the US, at some time research was done to indicate the minimal size for partitions in restrooms. So, partitions tend to be about 18 inches off of the ground and end just over 6 feet off of the ground. For most Americans, 6 feet or so means that you cannot see over the top. It also means the amount of material used in the construction of the partitions is minimized and therefore is less costly. I am also fairly certain that installing these partitions is a fairly simple job. The larger the construction job in the US, the more cost containment is an issue. If for example you are building a large office building or a stadium where there are lots of stalls, the cost difference can be significant.

In Europe, this is not the case. Even a modern toilet stall tends to come almost to the floor or all the way to the floor. So, being from the US, I have been socialized to be comfortable with stalls that have a gap between the floor and the partition. At times, the stalls in Europe can be so small as to be a little claustrophobic.

Restrooms at Autobahn rest stops are also different. The rest stop itself is usually outsourced by the Gov’t to a company that runs the fuel, food and store and in that regard is very similar to the US. The restrooms though are outsourced to another company. I have identified two companies that do this. One company tends to do the autobahn and some just off of the autobahn and other company that you tend to see off the autobahn and in some of the busier shopping districts. On the autobahn, most of the restrooms are handled by one company. You pay to use the restroom, 50 cent euro, get a coupon good for 50 cents Euro at any of their rest stops. Just as a quick note, these restrooms tend to have very low partitions and not walls.

One of the most interesting things I have seen in a restroom is at a restaurant called Hemingways (in Heidelberg) where they have advertisements that are projected in the mirror. So as you are looking at the mirror, you see an advertisement in the corner and the advertisement changes. I have also recently seen advertisements on the top of urinals and a the ad lights up as you pee.

Construction in Germany

The Germans love construction and will start construction projects at the drop of a hat. Whether it is the autobahn, streets or buildings, there is always construction. Sometimes the construction is minor and at other times it is major and goes on for a long time. When the Berlin Wall came down the City tree became the construction Crane and to this day there is still a good deal of construction. Pam and I were in Berlin in 2006 and right in the center of town on Unter den Linden Str. there is a long term project that is still underway. An old communist era government building has been torn down and is in the process of being replaced. In this case the building was apparently filled with asbestos which needed to be carefully removed.

While the Autobahn has long stretches of unrestricted speeds, those areas are often interrupted by long stretches of construction. Sometimes it is a major planned project where they are adding lanes but there are times that it seems like they are just doing a simple repair. Of course for the Autobahn there is no such thing as a simple repair. In the U.S. a crew will go out and drop a patch in the road and a few hours later it is done. In Germany, a minor repair requires shutting lanes down and redirecting traffic.

Work was done on the A5 where it intersects the A6. One Friday there was no construction and then on Monday the 2 of three south bound lanes were closed and traffic was redirected around the closed lanes. As the construction progressed, they closed the northbound side and again redirected traffic. When the construction was done, they had replaced the road surface but had not changed the layout of the road or the interchange at all. Apparently, all the construction was for repairing cracks in the road….which if it was I-95 in Philly, we would have considered to be in good shape.

Twice I have had runs detoured (umleitung) because they have decided to start a construction project. Once was on a gravel road up in the hills near the Philosphensweg and another on the lanes between Schriesheim and Leutershausen.
Then there is the bridge in the middle of nowhere, between Heidelberg and Schwetzengen (1 town over). As you are driving along, there is a bridge that goes over…well….nothing and it connects…nothing. It is in the middle of a farm field and there is a village not far from the one end and then there is the road you are on that it appears headed towards and underneath there is nothing. They had to build a berm to raise the bridge, and then they had to build the bridge. They just forgot to connect it to other roads and to put a roadway or other natural feature underneath the bridge.

German housing construction is very different than in the U.S. also. Generally, in the U.S. a builder lays down a cement slab to start the foundation and then uses wood to frame out the rest of the house. I have lived in a house where you could have broken in using only a razor blade, there was nothing more substantial than vinyl siding and wall board. This is not the case in Germany where they use a lot of cement block and poured concrete. Generally, the German’s have tougher building codes and tend to build homes to last. The Germans also love to build with cranes.
In the US a builder will hire a mobile crane when they want to lift particularly high or heavy loads, but they will usually use some kind of construction forklift truck to raise things on the job. Not in Germany, they use stationary cranes for even small sites. Many times the first sign of construction is when a crane is delivered to the site. These cranes are probably 50 to 100 feet in height and have some kind of counterweight at the base.

Sidewalks in Germany and most of western Europe are also different than in the US. I have not seen any sidewalk made from concrete. Almost all of the sidewalks are made with pavers. The initial construction of the walks must be considerably more expensive than with concrete, but when they need to get underneath the sidewalk, they lift the pavers dig a hole and fix what needs fixing. Then they replace the pavers. When completed, you have a hard time telling where the pavers were removed and there is no need to patch anything.

Handschuhsheim Weihnacts Markt

The Handschuhsheim Weihnacts Markt was held from Friday Dec. 5 to Sunday Dec. 7 and was inside the Tiefberg. Many of the vendors are local vendors such as Sven and the Tiefburg Bookstore. There was only one stand serving Wursts and 3 places serving Gluwein, plus lots of toys and crafts and such, including the guy who sells honey at the farmers market on Saturdays.

The Markt is much smaller than the Heidelberg Markt and the venue is also different. The Tiefburg is a small fort made from stone and is several centuries old. There is an outer wall made from local stone and on the interior there is a ‘castle’ in the center with a yard all around it. The inside of the wall has a raised walkway and a roof. The ground floor is taken up mostly with food vendors and tables.

Sven had a table set up where he was serving Gluwein and selling wines. He had told me earlier in the week that his Gluwein was going to be better than what you would usually get because he was going to use a nicer wine and his own mixture of spices. I believe that he did an excellent job. The wine was very good and the spices he used were much more subtle and tasty than that which you usually get. Sven has told me that most wine used for Gluwein you would not want to drink on its own, but it needs to be heated and to have sugar added before being palatable. While the wine that Sven uses is not a fine wine, it is good enough that you can drink it on its own. During the 3 day Weihnacts Markt, Sven made over 160 liters of Gluwein.

Pfitzenmeier

This year Pam and I both joined the Pfitzenmeier Fitness Club. In the U.S. I have belonged to a variety of gyms. The year before we left I belonged to the Weston Fitness Center which was on the same block in Philly as my office which made it convenient. From a facilities standpoint though, it was pretty minimalist, but nice. The Pfitzenmeier on the other hand is very well fitted out with some very nice facilities and equipment, but there are some interesting differences.

The Pfitzenmeier is on two floors. When you enter the front door you immediately walk up the stairs to the second floor. On the second floor is weight training equipment and rooms for fitness courses. Downstairs is mostly aerobic equipment, and they have a lot of everything and also a back fitness area that I have not ventured into.

Upstairs the machines are all made in America and are from the manufacturer, Cybex. The interesting thing is while the equipment is made in America, the instructions are in German, the warning labels are in English and the markings are in Pounds and Kilos (on a few pieces just pounds). The equipment is in good repair. There is also a lot of equipment and for some pieces there are up to three units.

There are three course rooms. In the back is the yoga and Pilates room, there is a Spin room and general purpose course room and they have a full schedule of courses. Pam has started taking a Butt, Thighs and Tummy class on Sunday mornings and I have started taking the 90 minute spin class on Tuesday mornings. Pam’s class involves lots of apparatus and moving in the correct direction at the right time. Pam’s class involves a lot of moving in the right direction and use of equipment, I am sure I would turn in the wrong direction and hit someone with something and that would not be good. Spin class is simple…you sit down, you peddle, you sweat and then when you’re done, you clean up the sweat. I am really good at sweating.

One thing I really hated about the Weston was that I needed to have a lock to close the locker. In a year, I lost at least three locks by leaving them on the locker when I left. With Pfitzenmeier, I do not have this problem. The membership card has an RFID tag inside. The card unlocks the gate to let you in and out of the gym and it locks and unlocks the lockers. The locker rooms are brightly lit and clean. The lockers are pretty nice but could be a little larger. In winter the locker gets filled quickly with your coat. In the men’s locker room there are two tanning machines.

Just past the showers (which are….shall I say it, showers), there is an opaque glass door. Through the door is the sauna area. I had not been there until this past Tuesday (12-2). These rooms are indeed coed and Pam and I are unfamiliar with the Rules there. I also had a bad experience when skiing in Switzerland back in 1989, a bunch of us from the ski club and a couple Canadians were wearing swimsuits and we got yelled at….we were not following the rules.

This time I had a sauna mentor….or so I thought. Tom Otter came for the spin class and was going to show me the ropes in the sauna room. In fact it is not that difficult. First you take a shower to rinse off. First was the really hot sauna, I did not see the thermometer, but it was hot and I sweated a lot! After a stay of about 10 or 15 minutes and I showered in cold water – this is supposed to be good for your circulation. Then we went into the steam room…not as hot as the hot sauna and there were already a couple people in there and it is not a big room. I sat across from Tom and looked at the person to my right and realized, yes this is Coed. We stayed in there a little while and then did the shower thing again before going into the not as hot sauna, about 60 Celsius (about 110F). I did not see a whirlpool there. I need to look around the area further because while the heat and steam is nice, I really enjoy the whirlpool.

Our First Thanksgiving in Germany

Thanksgiving preparations started several weeks in advance. We were having anywhere from 20 to 30 people over for an open house on the Friday after Thanksgiving. The Holiday is not a German holiday and nobody was going to have Thursday or Friday off and that just seemed to be appropriate.

We ordered a fresh whole turkey, 3.5 kilos and had purchased some of the ingredients a couple of weeks in advance so that things like cranberry sauce could be prepared. There is no such thing as canned pumpkin here and Pam made the decision to forgo making pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin. We still had a full menu; Turkey, sweet potato pie, stuffing – 2 types, roasted veggies, a roasted pumpkin mix, mashed potatoes and cranberry sauce.

For many of our guests, this would be their first experience with Thanksgiving, while others had spent some time in the US and had celebrated the holiday at least once. All of our guests speak English well except for our Landlords & neighbors, the Bayers.

Pam started cooking in earnest on Monday after we returned from Budapest, making a chocolate cake and sweet potato pie. Thursday morning we woke up and after a little work around the apartment we headed to the farmer’s market in the Weststadt. There we picked up the Turkey and Pam was able to buy fresh veggies and other materiel for cooking. We also picked up two nice turkey breasts to supplement the turkey. Thankfully, it has been cold, this meant that we are able to us the balcony as a refrigerator. Thursday afternoon saw Pam multi-tasking cooking while on conference calls. We also set up the tables with plates and flatware and serving dishes.
Friday morning, Pam continued her multi-tasking and I went out around noon to get last minute stuff including some bier (Dachsenfranz Weihnachts Bier). We were running a tight schedule with cooking and the Turkey was not cooking on the grill like I would have liked it too and I was a little worried, ok, more than a little worried about the turkey…..but we had two nice turkey breasts that I had yet to start.

I cooked the turkey breasts, one at a time and Pam had food on the floor of the oven at the same time. Pam had also made a last minute decision to make a second Sweet Potato pie, and as per the family tradition, it is served topped with marshmallows (baked and gooey!) as part of the main meal.

Our guests started to arrive around 6pm, the first being Kathrin Sobe who lives just a little ways down the road. Most of our guests were somehow connected with SAP except for the Bayers and our Neighbors, Ben and Katharina. Ben and Katherina had spent two years in NC working at Duke Medical Center on an exchange program and returned to Heidelberg just a couple weeks after we arrived. Ben is an anesthesiologist and Katharine is an Oncologist.

The Otter family were the largest group and included three generations, Tom and Charlotte, Charlotte’s Mother (Toni) and their children, Lily, Daisy and Ollie. It was actually a long day for the kids because it was a Friday and their day started with school. Lily also had a party after school and was pretty wiped out by the time she arrived. She took her book and went to lay down on our bed and 30 minutes later she was a slowly breathing lump under the covers. Ollie (he is 3 I think) played shy and also wound up as a sleeping lump in our bed. Daisy on the other hand is a true party girl. She was very well behaved and changed from her boots to her party shoes. She was never far from her Mother or Grandmother, but was not going to miss any of the action!

My biggest fear was that the Bayers would be left on their own, but they frequently engaged in conversation. They have also been to Budapest and spoke at length with Bettina and Kathe.

Everyone seemed to enjoy themselves and they truly enjoyed the holiday. The Holiday fits in well with German Holiday season just as it does in the US as the Weihnacts Markts (Christmas Markets) opened that Saturday and several people will be keeping this tradition in the future. By far the most popular food was the Sweet Potato pies that Pam made, someone even made a point of cleaning out the pan when it was gone!

Budapest - Nov 22-24

German Wings recently started something called Blind Booking. You pick the airport from which you are leaving and the type of city you want to visit, Cultural, Party, or Major metroplis. We, Kathe, Bettina, Pam and I, booked the flight from Stuttgart and away we went to…..Budapest. We left Saturday morning (Nov 25), Pam and I drove to Schwetzingen to Bettina’s and she drove to Stuttgart. There was a little snow on the ground we left and a little more near Bettina’s. This is the first real snow that we have seen in Heidelberg since we arrived in January.

The flight to Budapest was not full and was completely uneventful. The Airport in Budapest is interesting and looks like a remnant from the communist era and in fact the only airlines flying out of this terminal were discount airlines, German Wings, Wizz and Jetair. Across the runways we could see much more activity at the main terminal with mainline carriers. The airport is not far from town and we took a taxi to our hotel.

The hotel was very nice and located right in town. The rooms were modern, clean and fairly large. We had gotten street maps at the front desk and were looking for someplace to have lunch. From the tour book we picked Leroy’s which a small chain of restaurants in Budapest. We left the hotel and started walking. It was getting colder and windier as we walked and after about 15 minutes we realized we were walking in the wrong direction. We walked down to the Danube (the river) and walked back along the river and then headed the few blocks back up to the street that Leroy’s is on.

Along the way we saw the main cathedral in Pest, the cathedral across the river at the top of the hill in Buda, the castle in Buda, the chain bridge connecting Buda and Pest and we walked through the food market in the old train station. We also stopped periodically for shopping purposes as Budapest has excellent shopping. Also, the weather was not getting any better as the nasty wind and cold was punctuated by periods of snow, which the wind would inevitably drive into your face.
Budapest also has a very nice coffee culture. So along the way to Leroy’s we stopped for coffee togo. When we finally made it to Radacy where the restaurant was, we realized that it was no longer here. Later when we saw an ad for Leroy’s in a periodical, we realized that the location there was indeed closed. We picked another local place and had a very nice meal.

We headed back into the center of town again and towards the Christmas Market. Christmas Markets in Germany are a big thing (more later) and almost every small town has some kind of market. We only knew of the one market here in Budapest and we were looking for it.

One thing to know about the people of Budapest, they are exceptionally nice and many if not most speak English fairly well. While looking for the market and studying the map, we were approached by at least two people asking us if we needed help….Yes, we did. We arrived at the Christmas Market to high winds and snow. The first thing we got were glasses of Gluwein, mulled and spiked wine and very seasonal, to warm us.
Most of the stands were fairly typical, but there were two stands serving Hungarian specialty and I am sure seasonal sweet treat. Out front there was a grill with charcoal burning and off to the side was a woman behind a window (protected from the wind and snow) who was rolling out dough. She would roll it into a circle and then cut a loose spiral. Then besides her was a rack where there were spools that were slightly wider at the base than at the tip. She would unwrap the spiral of dough and wind it around the spool so that it was spread over it evenly. Next she would roll the spool back and forth until the dough was spread evenly.

She would then place the spool on a different row of the rack and a guy outside would pick up the spool and pour some combination of sugary stuff on it, vanilla sugar, cinnamon sugar and lemon or some other combination. Then the guy by the fire would place it on the fire where the tip would plug into a rotating fitting that would then turn the spool with dough and sugary substance over the fire. He would move the spools to his left as they would cook and then when a spool was completely cooked and nicely brown, he would hand it to another person who would cool it and then wrap it in clear plastic. In the cold, the finished product looked like a steaming chimney and smelled divine. Pam, Kathe and Bettina shared one Sunday afternoon. I refrained, not being sure whether it was butter or lard they used to make the dough. Either way, this was not included in Weight Watchers, Core or regular program.

After the walking through the market and then listening to some singers singing American songs with Hungarian accents, we walked over to Gebaud, an old café right alongside the Market, to warm up and have some coffee. While sitting there with coffee and looking out the window at all of the cold people, we decided on where we would eat dinner and planned our route. It was going to be a fairly long walk and a cold one. We found the restaurant with little difficulty. It was 8pm on a Saturday and we were the only customers. The cold must have been keeping the regulars inside.
After dinner we walked back to the hotel and exhausted from the travel, the walking and the cold, we all slept well.

Sunday morning dawned, Cold, windy and snowy. Bettina, Kathe and I were going for a run and Pam went to a flea market in another part of town. We ran up along the Danube to an island in the river and then ran around the island. The island is fairly large and we were partially protected from the wind on the way out and were blasted on the way back. The plan was then to run back on the Buda side of the river. I kept watching the horizontally blowing snow thinking, “Do I really want to run across the bridge to the other side with that wind blowing that snow into my face?” We decided to not run on the Buda side of the river and instead ran through the streets of Pest.

We had all enjoyed the run and after showering, I called Pam, who was sitting about a kilometer away enjoying a cup of hot Cocoa. Kathe, Bettina and I walked to the coffee shop to meet Pam. We easily found The Ultimate Coffee and Wine Bar. It was a very nice place and we stayed there to have breakfast which we all enjoyed.

When we finally left the coffee shop we wanted to find the largest Jewish Synagogue in Budapest, The Great Synagogue in Dohány Street. The inside of the Synagogue was amazing and was well worth the visit (see pics). It was already getting late by this time and we wanted to make it across the river to see the castle and walk around the top of the hill in Buda. We found ourselves distracted by both weather and shopping and warming up in a café enjoying hot cocoa or coffee. The weather kept alternating between miserable and not so miserable. None of us was really looking forward to walking across the bridge as we expected it to be a pretty windy nasty walk.

Thankfully, the weather had begun to moderate by this time. We walked across the bridge and then took the funicular (the third funicular I have ridden) to the top of the hill. We walked around the castle grounds (the castle was closed by this time) and then around town. We had been commenting how Pest was so like Paris. Buda on the other hand reminded Kathe of London. Again, we were cold, I was hungry and we found a coffee shop. It was a very nice coffee shop. I ordered a coffee…..and Pomme Frites (French Fries). We learned that while the lights were on, they were having some electrical problems in the shop and the kitchen was closed and the heat was not working, which explained why it was comfortable but not toasty warm inside. Kathe got Hot Cocoa which she described as being like chocolate pudding it was so thick.
I was getting really hungry at this point and started agitating about dinner.

Bettina had a place she wanted to try and we started back to Pest. We took the funicular back down and walked back across the bridge. We did not actually make it to the place Bettina had in mind, instead we found another place called Dio. It is a very upscale restaurant, well decorated and again, empty. We had gotten there fairly early and it did fill up while we were there. We really enjoyed this restaurant.

Monday morning was sunny, cold and much less windy. We checked out, left our luggage with the hotel and found a place for breakfast before heading to the airport for the flight home. Despite the weather we had a very successful weekend and we all enjoyed ourselves!

Buying contact lenses

So buying contact lenses would seem to be fairly straight forward. I started wearing contacts in 1989 and every time I needed to replenish my contacts I would need to go to the Optometrist, get my eyes checked and get a contact lens fitting. Then I would get a prescription and get it filled. When Pam and I were home in October, I did not make it to the Dr.'s office to get new contacts. This meant that I needed to get my contacts in Germany.

When I got a new pair of glasses here in Germany I ran into a small roadblock because I had worn my contacts in and they needed me to have my contacts out for 12 hours before getting them checked. So, when I headed to the eye glass store (Optiker) I went without putting my lenses in.

When I got there I explained that I needed new contacts and they took my glasses, determined my diopter (-3.25) in both eyes as expected. He went into the back and brought out a box of contacts. Just like that I had new contacts. Instead of spending $170 for a years worth of contacts and an eye exam, $36 euro and I had 6 months worth of contacts.

The Seasons

As I have said previously, Pam and I are about to complete our first year in Germany. I have learned an important thing about Germany, it is a country of seasons. Sure, there are Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter, but there is also, Strawberry Season, Spargel Season, Feld Salat Season, Wildkirschbraton season and many others.

Let me first start off talking about the 4 seasons. We are currently in autumn. This is autumn and not Fall. Use the term Fall to a Euro and they may not understand what you are saying. It is autumn. By far Summer is the season that is the most different than the others. Autumn, Winter and Spring are characterized by changeable weather. If it is clear in the morning, then it will be cloudy and rainy in the afternoon. If it is Rainy in the morning then it will clear by the afternoon and be sunny for a while. The rain here tends to be very different here than in Philly. In Philly, rain tends to be accompanied by wind, sometimes a little wind and sometimes a lot of wind. In Heidelberg, the rain mostly falls straight down with no wind. So, in Germany, taking an umbrella with you when it rains is quite helpful. Not only are you not fighting the wind with an umbrella, but because the rain comes straight down, you can stay mostly dry and not just your head.
As I mentioned, Summer is considerably different. It does not rain quite as much and can go for a week or more without rain. Also, Summer is considerably warmer than the other seasons. Actually, Spring this year was considerably cooler than Winter and it was the only time we saw frost or snow since we were here.

Then there are the other seasons and are mostly dictated by what food is in season. Strawberry season is something that is even special in the US. Freshly picked strawberries are so much better than berries picked in South America and shipped. At the same time is Sprargel season. Spargel is Asparagus, white Asparagus and the Germans though are very passionate about their Spargel. It is grown on immense fields and is grown so that the stalks never see the light of day until they are picked, preventing them from turning green. Driving down the road you will see fields with long mounds running down them in rows. These are Spargel fields. The picking season lasts from Mid-April until mid-June and during this time you will see workers manually going down the rows harvesting. Fresh picked white Asparagus is quite different than green asparagus. It tends to be sweeter and needs to be peeled before eating or otherwise it will be chewy. Spargel will appear in the Market and also Restaurants will have special Spargel Menus and then one day all that is left is Spargel soup, the season has ended and as you drive by the same fields, you will see the bushy tops of the plants growing wildly letting the plants re-energize for next year.

During the summer months as anywhere different types of produce come in and out of season. The next big season, is Oktober Fest which actually takes place at the end of September. At this point you will have special Bock beers and such.
Currently, we are in one of my favorite seasons, Feld Salat or Field Salad. It is a type of lettuce. This is a late fall winter crop and it used to run only from November to January, but now lasts until March. When we first arrived, I noticed people crawling in a field but I could not tell what they were doing. I described what I saw, people kneeling down and doing something with their hands and I described the plant that I saw, a low growing plant. I was told that this is feld salat. I had never seen it in the US before. It is a salat green and is quite tasty and only grows an inch or so from the ground. It is harvested by hand and the pickers have to get down to the level of the plant slice it off at the ground level and put it away, very laborious. Being here in November, I do notice that the leaves of the greens are larger than they were last January/February. I have to think that this is partly because Jan/Feb are part of the extended season and are probably a second or third round of planting.

We are also currently in Wildkirschebraton season. This is a season that I had not heard about until just last week when it started to show up. Kirschbraton is venison (deer meat) and wild (pronounced Veeld) is wild. We have had it served to us at a dinner, we have seen it as Maultaschen and as steaks. A word on Maultaschen. Taschen is the German word for bag. A Maultaschen is like a ravioli only it does not have cheese. Our favorite is Steinpilz Maultaschen (mushroom), there is also Puten (turkey) and Gemuse (vegetable) which are the most common. They also tend to be prepared differently, kind of pan fried and spiced. We tend to eat them like raviolis, in a red sauce….the Steinpilz are really good.

We are also entering Weihnacht season (Christmas). This is a big deal here in Germany and there are Weihnachtamarkts all over the country. These are temporary markets that open on the 3rd or 4th weekend of November and run until the day after Christmas and take place in a town’s major square. Heidelberg’s market is spread over the Kornmarkt, Marktplatz, Universitätsplatz, Anatomiegarten and Bismarckplatz. At a market you will find lots of crafts and seasonal specialty booths. Gluwein is the season specialty, which is a redwine that has been heated,mulled and spiked. It is served in mugs that are about half the normal size and have a yearly design for that Market. Pam and I have started planning a weekend around see several of the Markets in our area (besides Heidelberg). More on this later.

The Grapes of Wine - no Wein...

I have had a full season of watching grapes grow in the vineyards north of Heidelberg. One of my primary running routes takes me north through Dossenheim to Schriesheim or further to Leutershausen or Großsachsen. Along the way I pass through vineyards. It is a very nice place to run, but it is not like running trails amongst nature. It is a paved path that takes me by many other gardens also.

Before I start a little background. According to Sven, the wine guy down the street, in the 18th century, someone decided it would be great to import grape vines from the new world. They did not produce good wine there, but you never know, perhaps the soil of Europe would be beneficial for the new world vines. The result was some really bad wine and a stowaway…a grub. The grub loved Europe and proceeded to eat its way through the roots the grapevines of Europe, destroying almost all of the vineyards. They attempted to cross the Euro vines with the New World vines, which did not help. Eventually, Euro stems were grafted on the trunks of New World vines. As you walk through vineyards here, you can see that the bases of the vines are distinctly different than the upper parts. I am sure if you walked through American vineyards you would see the same. The only place the grubs did not take root were in places of sandy soil.

Winter in Heidelberg was fairly mild until March. In January and February there mornings where I wore shorts and a t-shirt to run, but in March the temperature actually dropped and it started to rain more regularly. At the same time, the days were getting significantly longer and the trees and bushes had started shooting out leaves, but the grape vines remained dormant through most of March. Within a week at the beginning of April, the vines started to sprout leaves and stems, changing from skeletal trimmed stumps sticking out of the ground to live growing plants. Several weeks after the vines sprouted, I noticed that previously empty rows and beds had been planted with new vines.

During the first few weeks after the vines sprouted, I looked for flowering but the flowering of grape vines is not exciting. On the stem from which the grapes will eventually hang, there are little green buds, that is all. These buds are somehow pollinated (I did not see an abundance of bees) and turn into grapes. The distinction between Red and White grapes happens quickly. Within a week of being pollinated the grapes turn from bright green to either a dark red/purple or greenish white color.

During the summer while the vines work their magic on the grapes, delivering sugars and other goodies to them and there is ongoing human maintenance to the vines. The vines themselves are sprayed to protect from pests. I am not sure what kind of spray, but I was not picking off any grapes to taste them (which I saw people do). Also, the ground was sprayed to prevent the ground cover from growing. I am sure this is done so that the vines are not overgrown and valuable sunlight is cut-off. They also have a machine that trims the vines. The rows are comfortably wide enough to allow a tractor to travel up and down. The machine is drawn along behind a tractor (John Deere) up and down the rows and trims top both sides of the vines. Left unattended the vines would just continue to grow and I am sure this would divert precious resources from the grapes themselves. Later in the summer as the grape bunches got larger, I noticed that some varieties of grapes had a poly mesh strung along to help support the weight of the grapes (I assume).

Having spent the whole year watching the vineyards, we went on vacation and then home to Philadelphia in late September through the end of October. During this time period, most of the grapes were harvested. When we returned in November, the leaves had started to turn yellow and the bunches of grapes were gone, except for one bed of about 10 rows. These vines do not have mesh strung along the grape bunches now, but have a plastic sheet stretched along the length of the rows covering the bunches. These grapes are north of Schriesheim and I did not see them until I went on a longer run.

Grapes are planted in like beds of varieties. You can tell beds of grapes by the age of the vines or the shape and/or color of the leaves. The leaves of red grapes turn purple in the fall and not yellow. This fall, maintenance takes two forms, some beds are removed and the rest are trimmed so that all that is left is a trunk about 2.5’ (1.5 meters?) tall. Why are some beds removed? I have no idea. It could be that that variety only produces productively for a limited number of years? Or, the Weingut (winery) is not going to produce that variety of wine any longer? Based on the very informal survey I have taken, while running, about 5% or less of the beds are removed this year and a similar amount of new beds were planted in the spring.
Telling the age of a bed of vines is fairly easy, but what is a bed, how am I defining a bed. Remember, this is terminology that I have defined. A bed of vines is a grouped of a variety and is usually a minimum of 4 rows and each row is about 200-300 meters long. I have to assume, that planting beds smaller than that becomes unproductive, as there is a need for each variety to be harvested together. The stumps of new vines are the width of a pencil when planted and now at the end of the season are still not much larger. Vines in the second year are definitely thicker, but still very small. Older vines are much thicker, the bark is more course and they have may have moss and lichen growing on them.

This evening (Nov. 14) we will get to taste the outcome of all this work as Sven, our wine guy, is hosting a wine tasting at a local Art Gallery here in Handschuhsheim. Should be pretty nice!

10 Year Jubilee

Pam has been with SAP for 10 years. As a US employee she would have been sent a nice email with a link to a website where she could choose a gift. Germany though has a different plan and Pam is a German employee. Each November, a tent is erected in the city center of Mannheim and the Radio Regenbogen (Rainbow) Palazzo starts. The shows are daily except Monday and it runs until February. SAP buys tickets to 5 Saturday shows for its Jubilee (10 Year) celebrations and you pick one of the Saturday shows. This past Saturday (11/8) was our week. Pam’s colleague, Kathrin and her husband (from the Dresden office) were also in town for the event.

http://www.palazzovariete.de/

The tent is a one ring circus type tent with a lobby tent attached. The floor is a raised from the ground and there is a hardwood floor and the ceilings and walls are lined with drapes to hide the tent and seat around 300/350 people. The tent is heated and was in fact quite warm when we got there. There is a fixed menu and drinks are included in the price. Essentially, the Palazzo is a dinner theater with a round stage in the center (which elevates) and a second stage along the back wall.
We arrived and presented our ticket and Pam had indicated my dairy allergies. I was given a little ticket like thing that showed I had food allergies. A serving person came by also to identify people with specials needs and became my very own serving person.

The show was MC’d by a comedian, Kay Scheffel, who can sing, do ventrilliquy and do a little standup. He introduced the acts and also preformed. He started the night off dressed like John Belushi in the Blues Brothers and did a nice job, although he was missing a Dan Akroyd. There was also a female singer, Marissa Burgess and 4 dancers, den jungen Schönheiten, all tending to be dressed minimally. Also, there is a second comedian, John Fealy. Fealy is a British Standup Comedian who poses as the Chef for the Palazzo.

The Palazzo process is as follows; Kay, then an act, then Marissa and den jungen Schönheiten, then another act, then Kay, then John Fealy, then a course would be served. Then the process would start again. Kay would usually have a musical number and a comedy routine before each course. Pam and I had a difficult time following the comedy act as it was mostly in German. John Fealy on the other hand presented his act in English, which seemed to leave out very few people.

Kay did a ventrilliquy act twice. Once with a dummy he called, Donut and once with two dummies pulled from the audience. This was probably his funniest bit of the night. He had a man and a woman on the stage and he held each of their wrists and whenever he would squeeze there wrist they would open their mouth and he would speak for them. As the act progressed, the guy held up well and was very funny, the woman on the other hand had difficulty not laughing. It worked amazingly well and the guy was great and very expressive facially as well. At one point Kay was let go of their wrists and they would respond to his words and even mouth the correct words. Even though Pam and I only understood about 25% of what was said, we still found this to be hysterical.

The circus type acts were very impressive, one couple performed twice and all of the others performed only once.

The first act was Denise Randol and her husband. In this act Denise worked with Hula-hoops. At first working with just a few, but at the end she had about five going around her torso and one each on her arms. Her husband’s job for this act was to throw her hoops. The Huescas were the second act before the first course was served. The Huescas are brothers. One brother (always the same brother) would lay on his back on a padded piece of equipment that elevated his hips above his head, so that the other brother could jump up and land on his feet(in a seated position). From this position, they would perform various feats. The Laying down brother spinning the other brother or throwing him into the air. This was all very impressive and required amazing leg strength.

The Jaster’s act included knife throwing and a crossbow. From about 20 feet Giacomo would shoot the crossbow at balloons that Elena was holding and also shot an apple on her head. The act included spinning Elena while he threw knives at the board she was spinning on, very cliche. This was my least favorite act, but still an impressive demonstration of skill. In the same section Aurelia Cats performed. She was on a single trapeze and essentially performed a dance routine on the trapeze. Some of the strength moves and flexibility she exhibited were astounding.
The Randols came back for another act. This act involved roller skating on the elevated stage, which was about 6’ in diameter. Massimo’s job was essentially to skate in a circle very quickly and to throw Denise around while remaining in the small circle. I am sure if you asked Massimo, he would demur and tell you that what they do is not that difficult, I would tell you that it was the only act I really felt that disaster was just a fraction of a second away. One tiny misstep and the momentum of both of them could have gone flying into the audience. This act was followed by the Pellegini Brothers, four brothers who performed acts of acrobatic strength. One brother would lay on the stage and another brother who grasp his hands, and then be benched press to full extension by the brother on the ground and then the brother in the air would let go with one hand. A third brother would then grasp the brother on the grounds free hand and push himself into a hand stand on that hand. These guys were amazing!

Additionally, there was Rosa. During the meals she acted as something of a clown, going from table to table performing quick routines.

The show started at 8pm and ended at 11:30ish. We left after 1am after spending time chatting with Kathrin and Rene. When we left the performers were at the Bar talking. I am sure the idea is that you can socialize with them after the show. I was actually amazed at the number of performers who were smoking.

I am sure that on a yearly basis the show changes slightly as acts change and I very much enjoyed our evening there, but I do not desire to head right back and do it again. It would be great fun to do it again with another couple or persons who have not seen the show again.

German Blue Laws

It was not long ago that stores across Germany all closed between 4 and 6 PM daily and were closed on Sundays. Today things are much more liberal. Many stores are open until 10pm and closed on Sunday. This of course has a large impact on how you organize your weeks and specifically your weekend.

Most of your food shopping for the week needs to be done on Saturdays. For Pam and I a typical Saturday starts with a trip to the Farmer's Market in the Square in front of the Tiefburg in Handschusheim. There we will buy our produce, some chicken, eggs, as well as flowers and some other things. We will later go to the Rewe, the local grocery store and get other canned goods and such that we need.

On Sunday there are no stores open, only restaurants, coffee shops, souvenir stores and tanning salons. Traditionally, Germans will use Sunday to go walking. I am sure that this traditions varies with where you live. Here in Heidelberg, there are miles of trails and the idea is to walk to a specific location and to then stop and have a some cake and coffee. You do this with family or with friends or both. It is a very nice tradition and stores not being open is OK, most of the time....except on holidays when they are closed Saturday also!

Nov. 1st is a holiday in Germany. It is the day to remember your descendants and to visit the cemetary. This seems like a fine holiday, but why did it have to be this particular Saturday. Pam and I had just returned from the US the previous Monday and had absolutely nothing in the house to eat. All week we had looked forward to shopping on Saturday....only to walk out the door and around the corner....to see cars parked in the lot where the farmer's market is supposed to be!

The Longing of a Phila Fan

Pam and I were home for most of October and I sat on the Sofa in Seps (Pam's dad) den with a varying array of characters (Sep, Sam, Evan, Pam, Phoebe) and watched the games. Being a true Phila sports fan there is always the feeling that something bad is going to happen; Howard, Rollins, Utley and Burrell all go into hitting slumps, Hammels, Myers and Moyer losing their touch, Lidge and Madsen giving up leads and the game.

Well, some of it did happen. Moyer was not terrific, Rollins and Howard did have huge hitting slumps, Madsen gave up a late game lead. As the playoffs rolled along other incredible things happened, Victorino played superbly, Myers pictched well and hit even better having more hits and RBIs in the playoffs than during the 162 game season.

Game 5 was agony. Watching as the weather worsened and you could see its effect on the players and the 2-0 lead slipped away into a 2-2 tie before the game is called. Then when the game resumed, the Phillies quickly regained the lead only to have Madsen come out weakly and give up the lead. But this was to be the Phillies year, they were not to be denied.

During the first game in Phila. Tim McGraw, Tug McGraw's son, sang the Anthem and secretly spread his dad's ashes on the mound. Moyer pitched his best game of the playoffs.....and Lidge, shut down the Rays and ended the game on a strikeout just like Tugger in 1980...he just did not have to watch 3rd base for Schmidt charging the mound!

Game 4 found Pam and I on the plane headed back to Germany. We landed and the pilot announced the 10-2 score. WOW....Rollins and Howard had gotten their bats back.

Monday, I dozed on the sofa watching Game 4 on NASN (National Sports Network - part of ESPN I think). Game 5 started and I watched until the game was suspended and did not thing they would restart so I went to bed and waited and worried....this is how it goes in Phila.

Wednesday Pam and I went to bed before 11pm and I woke up at 1:30 and went downstairs to watch the finish of the game. With two outs in the 9th and an 0-1 count, I called Mom. I was feeling the 5000 miles distance I was and yearning to be in Philly for the finish. With the 3rd strike I let out a hoot and a holler. There were no cheers coming from outside....no blaring horns such as we heard during the Euro 2008 Fusboll Championship, just silence.

This morning there was nobody wearing championship caps, shirts or sweatshirts...just me in my NLCS Cap. I hard no news about riots in the city....I was not part of any mass of people cheering and slapping each other on the back for a job well done. yes, I am feeling a little forlorn. I remember the energy of 1980. Sitting on the sofa with my grandfather a lifelong Phillies sufferer as they finally won one for my Grandfather. I remember walking outside and seeing Fairdale Rd. filled with happy, cheering people...a seen repeated all over the city that night.

Oh, well....it is a fairly young team and one they can hopefully retain in large measure...perhaps next year or the year after I will be there for another Series win...then again this is Philadelphia and we have watched team after team win one and then disperse.

Home to Germany

The alarm went off at 4:45 Greece time and that would be 3:45 Germany time. We dressed and finished the last minute packing we needed to do. Then I carried the luggage up 42 steps to the top of the caldera and then we walked to the parking lot to meet the taxi and he was already waiting. He took the luggage and started loading the taxi and it turns out we were sharing the taxi again. I had thought that at 5:30 in the morning we would not be sharing a taxi on the way to the airport. The couple was from Winnipeg and were headed to Rome for a couple of days, before headed back home.

The airport was crowded as there were two planes going to Athens. We were able to check our luggage through to Frankfurt (YAY!) as both our flights were being operated by Aegean Airlines even though the flight to FRA was a Lufthansa flight. Thankfully, the flights were completely unremarkable and we were at home in Heidelberg by 3pm. At 3:05 I started the laundry process so that we could start to pack for our flight to Philly.

Santorini - Sept 26

Our plan today was for a boat ride around the Santorini. We got up pretty early and then headed down to the bus station where we were met by the tour company van. The van took us to port in Amoudi at the end of the island. The boat docked at the port just after we arrived and then a second van arrived and a couple that is staying at the Alte Marre which is next to Armeni Village, showed up. We had seen them having breakfast on the terrace before we left. It turns out he is from Madrid and she is going to school there and is from Lausanne, France.

The boat headed to the Old port of Oia which is just below our hotel (we could have easily walked down on the switchback walkway there) to pick up more passengers. We sailed for the larger and newer of the volcanic islands in the center. Staying with our group from the boat, we walked up the island to the very top. There are 6 different volcanic craters on the island and two of them have active vents spewing steam and noxious gases. The geology is amazing but entirely different than the volcanoes of Hawaii or Oregon. Much more rocky and with no lava flows.

We walked back down to the boat (we actually switched boats) and then headed to the second volcanic island. The attraction here are vents that heat the water in a little bay. We dropped anchor about 150 meters off shore and then those who wanted swam into the bay. I enjoyed the swim in, but the warm water was a little bit over blown. It was not so warm, it was warmer….but.

After that we headed to the island of Thirisia which is the other 2nd largest island there to be inhabited, about 300 residents. At the port there were about 8 restaurants and you could walk up the caldera there to the town. Pam and I decided to stay in the port and have lunch (gyros). The only reason any of the restaurants exist is to service the people on the boat.

We headed back to the boat and back to the port where we started. We decided to walk up to town instead of taking the shuttle. After the walk up we headed to our hotel where we showered and hung out at the hotel a little and then went to our last dinner in Greece. I had also called the taxi drive that we had taken from the port to meet us the next morning.

When we returned to the hotel, it turns out that the power in our room was out. It took about an hour to get the power fixed. The light fixture in the bathroom was shorting out the electrical system, so while we had power elsewhere, we did not have light in the bathroom. We were about done with this hotel, I would never recommend this hotel.

Santorini - Sept 25

Our plan for today was to take the bus down to the ancient ruins and then to head back into town and to go to the old port below Fira. After breakfast we made our way to the bus station and took the bus to the bus station in Fira where we changed to the bus for Akrotiri, location of the Minoan period ruins. Apparently, the Minoans had enough time to evacuate the town before the volcano erupted in 1640 BC. When we arrived in Akrotiri we asked the bus driver where to find the ruins and he told us that the ruins were closed for the season. This was disappointing and we stayed on the bus to head back to Fira.

After returning to Fira, we walked to the edge of the caldera and then started the walk down to the port. There are three ways to reach the port; 1) walk down the switchbacked walkway, 2) ride a donkey down the same walkway or 3) take the tram down. At the top of the walkway, the donkeys where wait for trips down and the walkway was littered with their waste. It was a little dangerous as groups of people were being assembled and started heading down, while at the same time the walkway was congested with waiting donkeys. Once we got past the top, it became easier as there was less congestion. At the bottom, we encountered similar congestion as at the top.

The old port was very active with Tavernas as well as people coming and going from the many cruise ships docked just off-shore.

We decided that we would walk back up also. It was pretty warm out and it is a pretty long walk (582 steps) and we were both pretty sweaty when we go to the top and we each got a Gyro and walked to the bus station and took the bus back to Oia (ee-ah) where our hotel was.

That evening the sunset was not that nice as it was pretty cloudy and we went to a restaurant where the food was not so good, probably the worst we had during our stay in Greece.

Santorini - Sept 24

Today was to be a beach day. We dressed in our bathing suits and went outside where Deny, the house boy here at Armeni Village, brought our breakfast to the deck. After breakfast we climbed back to the top of the caldera and to the bus station. We took the bus into Fira (Thira) where we switched buses and headed to the beach at Perivolos.

The bus ride was interesting as we saw a lot of the Island. The beach at Perivolos is a volcanic black sand beach. The black sand beach is interesting. The water is very clear, but the dark sand makes it look dark also. It was pretty windy, so getting in the water was not a problem, but getting out was a bit brisk!

At around 4:30 we packed up and headed to the bus stop. There was another couple there who had been near us on the beach (there were not many people on the beach). We waiting about 45 minutes for the bus to come and we learned that this couple is from Philly and live in Northern Liberties.

The bus quickly filled up to the point where it seemed as if they were going to use a ram to get the people in. The roads in Santorini are crowded and narrow. I was glad that we were not renting a car here as it would have been a frustrating place to drive.

That evening we chose a restaurant with a roof top restaurant and watched the sunset.

The Last day on Ios and the Ferry to Santorini

Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear and then I put my contacts in and saw how truly beautiful it was. We enjoyed a light breakfast at the port (Norwegian Sailors were there, but not drunk) and then got the bus to Mylopotas Beach. The ride took us up and through the village and then down the other side. This is a long sandy beach framed by the mountains on three sides. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful beach day.

We got back to the hotel to change and finish packing and then were driven back to the port for our ferry to Santorini. This ferry was the smallest and fastest ferry we were going to take (Flying Cat 4). Santorini is off the south end of Ios and it was about a 30 minute trip to Santorini.

Santorini used to be a fairly large island until about 1640 BC when the volcano exploded and the center got spread over Mediterranean leaving only a scattered out ring. The outer ring is broken up into one large island, one smaller island and a few other islets. In the center are two basalt islands formed by lava flows since the main eruption in 1640 BC. The caldera rim is lined with hotels and homes all the way around and is an impressive sight. On the backside of the main island (opposite of the caldera) you would hardly know there was a volcano, except for the thick layers of ash. In fact, along the caldera rim, you can see the level of ash, 10 or 20 meters thick with basalt rocks mixed in. You can see successive layers of eruptions on the layers exposed by the volcano, some are ash and some are basalt.
The port is near the center of the island and our hotel is at the north end. Again, we shared the taxi, this time with a Mother and Daughter from NYC. The road up from the port to the top of the caldera has many switch backs, once at the top, the view is impressive, both into the caldera on one side and the planes down below on the other.

We were dropped off first and our hotel is in the caldera rim. The taxi driver had contacted our hotel so that someone would be there to help us with our luggage. We had to walk from a parking lot up to the top of the rim, over to the hotel and then down the steps to our room. The woman who runs the desk of Armeni Village is a small, darkly tanned, older woman who speaks very little English. She took great pride in showing us our room, which is a nice suite with a real shower, not just a small square with a curtain around it. I think the shower here is about the size of the bathroom at the hotel in Ios.

The whole thing is just amazing and we are looking forward to exploring the island.

Last Day on Ios annd the Ferry to Santorini

Tuesday morning dawned bright and clear and then I put my contacts in and saw how truly beautiful it was. We enjoyed a light breakfast at the port (Norwegian Sailors were there, but not drunk) and then got the bus to Mylopotas Beach. The ride took us up and through the village and then down the other side. This is a long sandy beach framed by the mountains on three sides. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful beach day.

We got back to the hotel to change and finish packing and then were driven back to the port for our ferry to Santorini. This ferry was the smallest and fastest ferry we were going to take (Flying Cat 4). Santorini is off the south end of Ios and it was about a 30 minute trip to Santorini.

Santorini used to be a fairly large island until about 640 BC when the volcano exploded and the center got spread over Mediterranean leaving only a scattered out ring. The outer ring is broken up into one large island, one smaller island and a few other islets. In the center are two basalt islands formed by lava flows since the main eruption in 640 BC. The caldera rim is lined with hotels and homes all the way around and is an impressive sight. On the backside of the main island (opposite of the caldera) you would hardly know there was a volcano, except for the thick layers of ash. In fact, along the caldera rim, you can see the level of ash, 10 or 20 meters thick with basalt rocks mixed in. You can see successive layers of eruptions on the layers exposed by the volcano, some are ash and some are basalt.

The port is near the center of the island and our hotel is at the north end. Again, we shared the taxi, this time with a Mother and Daughter from NYC. The road up from the port to the top of the caldera has many switch backs, once at the top, the view is impressive, both into the caldera on one side and the planes down below on the other.

We were dropped off first and our hotel is in the caldera rim. The taxi driver had contacted our hotel so that someone would be there to help us with our luggage. We had to walk from a parking lot up to the top of the rim, over to the hotel and then down the steps to our room. The woman who runs the desk of Armeni Village is a small, darkly tanned, older woman who speaks very little English. She took great pride in showing us our room, which is a nice suite with a real shower, not just a small square with a curtain around it. I think the shower here is about the size of the bathroom at the hotel in Ios.

Santorini amazing and we are looking forward to exploring the island.

Ios - 9/22

Monday morning started overcast and nasty and turned rainy and cold. Another beach day shot to hell. So we got a late start and then headed to the port area for a light breakfast and coffee. There was a sailing team from Norway in port and they were also not going out because of the weather. They were behaving like drunken stupid people. We sat there for a while had some coffee/tea and then we left, we could hear them all the way back to the hotel, which is probably a mile away.

In the afternoon Pam had a nail appointment (which she was very happy about). The woman who did her nails is from Australia and came to Ios about 10 years ago on vacation, met a Greek guy and never went home. They now have several kids and love their life on Ios.

The rest of the day remained kind of rainy and cold. We kicked around town and relaxed, but Ios is pretty small with not a lot to offer.

Going to Ios

Today said good-bye to Naxos and took the ferry to Ios. We both really like Naxos. It is a beautiful island and we stayed in a really nice part of the island.

We started the day going to the coffee shop on the beach and getting breakfast. We really liked this place. The family who runs it is nice and it was a great location.
After breakfast we checked out and got a taxi to the port. While waiting for the ferry to show up, two couples behind us started chatting with each other and it turned out they were both from Boston and lived in Brookline just a few blocks apart.

The ferry to Ios is about 35 minutes (high speed ferry). Ios has a completely different feel than Naxos. The port area is very small and is built on a sheltered bay. The main town is up above the port in the hills.

A drive from our hotel, Homers Inn, met us in the port. We checked into our hotel, which is very nice, and then changed and walked back down to the port for lunch and the beach (on the bay). The beach was very nice and the water was a little bit warmer than in Naxos.

After the beach we changed and walked up the hill to Chora, the main town on Ios. The town is built on the hills. If has the quaint little streets (no cars, just feet) and there are lots of shops. We found a nice restaurant at the top of one of the hills, called the Mills. It is called that because there are 4 windmills. We asked about the mills and learned that they used them until the late 80’s.

The food was excellent. Pam ordered an Aubergine appetizer that was amazing. We got pita and an olive tapenade that was really good. The service was good and the food was good….we were very happy with our selection!