Sonntag

[cosmolinguist]

I learned how to use the pourover and made coffee this morning! (I had a rough idea of how they worked but was still experimenting a bit, and this one makes the coffee in a little carafe where what a friend has made me before is just a filter that you put over a single mug.) And I made croissants; I couldn't resist them after I spotted that here you can get the kind in a tube that you pop open. I was so excited to see them in Lidl last night, it was practically a religious experience.

Sonntagsbrötchen, the package called them: little breads for Sundays.

It happened to be Sunday, which is nice, but I'd have made them even if it weren't. We're on vacation!

After my terribly civilized breakfast, we had a very vacation-y day; going to the Rheinturm (Rhine Tower), which reminded me a little of the Space Needle. After tea (for me, who'd had museli and fruit as well as my croissants, before D woke up) and lunch (for him), we found ourselves with some time to kill before the next boat tour that we got a discount on with our Rheinturm tickets, so we went up to the Gehry Bauten (Gehry Buildings), which are a) made by a famous architect that I hadn't heard of even though I've seen one of his buildings a bunch of times, b) has a name that sounds like "Gary" (the way we say it anyway) and c) one of which is actually home to the clinic I'll be in! There's a white one, a brick one, and a shiny steel one, and I'm going to the shiny steel one which is also my favorite of them!

The river tour was fun (if chilly for someone whose nice warm hoodie doesn't zip up! I wore my medium-weight one today and it was mostly okay but let me down here!). It's nice to see how a city that clearly grew up around water makes so much more sense from the water.

We left the boat near the Altstadt (old city) which is also home to one of the things we were enthusiastically told to visit: a brewery that serves altbier (old beer) in small glasses and just tots up the total on your beer mat. The beer was nice but we couldn't quite see our friend's devotion to it, but the "bar snacks" we eventually hung around long enough to order definitely made a difference: I had bread with a cheese like Edam or something, and I added lots of the mustard we were offered along with the salt and pepper. D had raw pork mince and raw onions, and really enjoyed it.

We staggered home for a rest, no need for dinner now as such, and did some laundry. D had a nap and I read a book. It's been a nice chill evening after another busy but great day.

Comments

[otter]

I know that architect guy! E and I are planning to go to the Weisman this coming week.

That's a great vacation-y day!!!

[suzannareads]

I love that word for little Sunday breads! Thanks for sharing your journey.

[jesse_the_k]

<3

(Also your oktoberchest tag makes me giggle so hard!)

[angelofthenorth]

You sound like you are having such a good time ;)

[silveradept]

The little comforts and the fun tours and the good food make it all fell much more like it's a vacation instead of a surgery preparation. Which sounds like an excellent way of going about it.