Thursday - Sunday, August 26 - 29 2010 (diary)

Thursday I do my last nature walk in Altenahr. I love their Wanderweg 4 which brings me to a bench at a high point on the mountain slope overlooking the valley. I usually sit there for half an hour or so, contemplating life, or just sinking in the landscape.
In the evening my last dinner at the Hotel. Upon leaving the dining room Herr Mannsteadt holds me back to share a farewell drink with him. I must have made a special impression on him, for he did not offer this to any of the other guests before they left. I think we appreciate and like each other.

On Friday I leave after an early breakfast. First the Ahr valley train to Bonn, then onto the EC7 to Baden Baden, a most comfortable train ride, part of it right along the so-called Romantic Rhine segments (which includes Boppard).
Baden Baden, when I arrive, is in the middle of a Festival week with orchestras and bands playing in the bandstand in the Kurhaus park and also in front of the Wallstreet am Hamilton Bistro. There are stalls for drinks and meals in tents all along the front of the Kurhaus Casino. Friday there is some rain in the evening, but Saturday is dry and there are thousands of people there enjoying themselves.

At dinner time the band is doing noisy and annoying sound checks at Wallstreet im Hamilton, so I decide to have my evening meal elsewhere. There are lots of good places to eat, Baden Baden is really a marvelous city.
I finally decide on Bistro Amadeus (under the umbrellas on the right on the picture below) right in the very center of town on Leopoldsplatz. I have a generous Tapas platter with their recommended German red wine, while catching the last rays of the setting sun. If I ever would have to live in a city in Europe, Baden Baden would be very high on my list!!

Sunday morning is rather cool and after a walk through the Kurhaus park I check out the hugely popular delicatessen bakery Peter's am Leo, located right next to Bistro Amadeus on Leopoldsplatz. It is very full, but I manage to get a seat and enjoy a chocolate croissant (delicious!) with a piccolo of Sekt (bubbly) for just €4,50.
Then it is off for my last visit to the Spas.

Monday & Tuesday, August 30 & 31 2010 (diary)

It was rather chilly last night (Sunday) and not much fun to sit outside for a drink, so I went for the first time inside Wallstreet im Hamilton, loved the decor and straight away felt at home there. The place was quite full with couples and people of all ages, notably many young ones too.

It is freezing cold on Monday morning when I head to the Baden Baden train station and the weather is not any better when I arrive in Freiburg : cold winds plus rain. But in the evening things improve as Wivica and I have a lovely dinner in St.Peter's lovely Italian restaurant. I have my usual escargots entree (snails), then perfectly "al dente" cooked spaghetti. They don't have cheese on the desert menu, but when we ask they prepare a lovely cheese platter for us, and assure us we can have this again any time we ask for it.

Tuesday the weather improved markedly, although still chilly, lots of blue sky, no rain and even some sun. We went for a drive, Wivica showing me some of the spa baths in the region, but their spa temperatures are too cool for my liking so I won't visit any of them. On our way back we stopped of at the Schwarzwald City shopping centre where there is a really good Thai eatery, Mai-Wok, so we had lunch there.
Tomorrow I move into my Holiday apartment, and am very curious how it will be.