Breakfast Buffet
So I made it to Sunday, another day in Germany when nothing is open. I'm down to my last half of a book from the flight, I'm not in my apartment yet, CNN repeats itself, and no word from the relocation service on helping me with my car. I'm guessing they're closed on Sunday too. I know I would be. Internet service is a small consolation. At eighteen euros a day, it better be.
This is the point where I'm tired of the hotel but not yet tired of carbonated water, which is the water of choice here. I've got co-workers who've been driven half mad by the lack of plain old bottled water. No explanation on why they couldn't drink the tap water.
I broke down this morning and had the breakfast buffet at the hotel - German breakfast is like no other in the world that I've seen. About a half dozen or so types of cold cuts, as many cheeses, all kinds of smoked fish with the proper condiments, fruit salads, cereals, spreads from chocolate to butter, and about a hundred different types of bread, none of which seem to have refined white flour. The coffee is really good and, of course, there was carbonated mineral water.
The little differences are small but pervasive here. Everyone holds their fork in their left hand through the whole meal. The Continental Style, as it's called. Germans neatly fold even their paper napkins at the end of the meal which makes you feel a bit odd for balling yours up.
Driving back from Stuttgart yesterday, I spotted a group of people walking down the sidewalk. Natural enough in a large city except that they were carrying an entire roasted pig on a spit between them. I tried for a picture but I was moving too fast. Maybe next time.
Later on at a late lunch, I sat at a bar table for something light...and a beer. There were two little old ladies at the table across from me and a Yorkshire terrier occupying a third chair. Not unusual, I think, it's seen all the time in Europe. As I was waiting for the bill, I noticed the waiter clearing the ladies' table: Coffee cups, saucers, plates, silverware, and a stainless steel bowl of water for the dog.