Whining, Dining and Opining

We got to our hotel at 11:30 this morning and everyone was pretty wiped out. None of us slept a whole lot on the plane, and I was personally pretty uncomfortable most of the time, but not as uncomfortable as I was in the car on the way to Alabama! I slept on the train on the way to Stuttgart, which was pretty neat, by the way. The ICE train was as quiet as the LQ’s golf cart, and very smooth and fast. We were going at approximately 170 mph, and you couldn’t tell, or at least I couldn’t. It felt like 60 mph.
Anyway, we got here and Michelle and I crashed on our couch bed, while Daddy and Mark went out to lunch with some of the guys from Daddy’s work. In the downtown here in Sindelfingen there are only Italian restaurants in business, which I thought kind of interesting. It is really pretty here. The buildings are old and kept up like nothing old is kept up at home.
Michelle and I slept until about 5:00 PM, and then Daddy called Mom and we all talked to her on the phone. They have really different ideas of bedding and hotel accommodations over here; our beds each have separate feather mattress things that are their idea of comforters. I like them because I always drag the blankets off of Michelle and leave her freezing in the middle of the night, and this way and can roll up in my own blanket and not worry about her being cold! Excellent.
There were chocolates on the pillows.
Everyone smokes, too. Our room smelled like an ash tray when we walked in, so we opened all the windows and left them that way for a long time, but it still smells like smoke. We’ll have to do it again tomorrow, because we’re all having sore throats. I’m having kind of a hard time breathing, too. But it is so cold out there! At least 35.
We went out to dinner with another guy from Daddy’s work. To an Italian place. I felt like we’d walked into that little café Peter Mayle talks about, even though it was in Germany and an Italian restaurant. The building was really old, (built in Medieval times, we found out) with a high, dark, wood-beamed ceiling and wood floors, but not all slanty and funny like most old places are. Very well built. We walked in and it was really quiet and peaceful inside. There were people eating: not a whole lot, but enough to make a bit of noise, but it wasn’t busy. The lady seating people came over to us and asked us something (in German, surprise) and Daddy told her we had ‘filv’ or something that sounded like that. It sounds a lot like ‘five’ if you say it. It was funny how different the ambience was. In America when you go out to eat everyone bustles. The waitress walks fast to see if a table is ready for you and you hurry to your seat, and then she asks for your drink order in a brisk voice while you are taking your coat off and hanging it on the back of your chair.
In this restaurant, the lady asked us how many we were, looked over the restaurant in an unhurried manner, asked us if a table would do, let us sit down, and came over a few minutes later to see what we wished to drink. The restaurant was very small, and we could see the little arched stone window that the cook set the dishes down on so the waiter could bring them to us. The waiters didn’t rush around, they stood in alert, but unworried positions around the restaurant watching, and if you looked like you needed something, they came over and helped you. We could also see the cook making bread, which they served in little triangles, warm and a little dusty. Very good. I’m telling you, it was just like something out of Peter Mayle’s ‘a year in Provence’. Which tells you either a.) Peter Mayle is good at putting pictures into words or b.) Germany is a lot like France in that respect.
I had Salmone mit Pfeffersauce which was basically baked salmon covered in cream and butter and white peppercorns. They weren’t spicy either! They tasted a lot like nutmeg, and the salmon was done beautifully. Daddy’s coworker Mike got a salad that was humongous, so he gave some to Daddy and me. It had salad dressing that tasted like Italian, but had no visible spices in it, and tasted like it was made with white wine vinegar.
We think our waitress spoke Italian. She spoke a little bit of English. People stared at us a little bit. And when we left they said ‘Ciao,’ which was interesting, considering this is GERMANY.
We had coke to drink, because we didn’t find the beverage part of the menu until after we ordered, and we didn’t know how to order hot tea. :P
Can you guess what an ‘apfel’ is?
After we ate, we went back to the hotel and Daddy went to a meeting with the other guys and we (Michelle, Mark and myself) went back to our room and planned as much as we could what we are doing tomorrow.
Goodnight. My eyelids close upon me.

-Anne