Slow start today, as last night was all about dancing and partying. Even the weather, with its big puffy clouds, supports lingering in bed until 9AM. Running late, I head to Zelda’s apartment to make a protein shake.
Things are a bit tense as the rest of the Nuest’as need to use the washing machine, in preparation for our trip to Prague tomorrow, and are unable. One of the benefits of overpacking and washing lingerie nightly is not needing to depend upon a washing machine or sending things out to the laundry and have them come back shrunken or worse! Anyway … as a bystander, its pretty entertaining!
The other aspect of today is commotion . . . due to the reason we returned to Dresden, rather than going from Berlin directly to Prague . . . is that Konstantin’s mother is arriving by train to visit.
Things are a bit tense as the rest of the Nuest’as need to use the washing machine, in preparation for our trip to Prague tomorrow, and are unable. One of the benefits of overpacking and washing lingerie nightly is not needing to depend upon a washing machine or sending things out to the laundry and have them come back shrunken or worse! Anyway … as a bystander, its pretty entertaining!
The other aspect of today is commotion . . . due to the reason we returned to Dresden, rather than going from Berlin directly to Prague . . . is that Konstantin’s mother is arriving by train to visit.
In the continuing quest for epic “hair” . . . we walked Tejomaya back to the salon for her second hair appointment — this time for a cut and style — past a newly married young couple. Afterwards, Juli and Konstantin ran errands buying cheese, crackers and fruit for this evening, while Zelda waited on the maintenance man to fix the washing machine. I headed back to the Hotel Suisse to pack for tomorrow’s trip to Prague and find out from the concierge about a bottle shop to purchase "sweet Portuguese red wine" for tonight.
Running out of time, Juli and I run over to the Weinkontor in the Altmarkt, which has an excellent wine selection. The sommelier recommends Condado de Haza Crianza, which is 100% Tempranillo grapes and produced by the Fernández family, one of Spain’s first chateau-style wineries that has been making wine for more than forty years, with a focus on sustainable farming practices and preserving the regional biodiversity, in the Ribera del Duero region. Additionally, I spotted a New Zealand Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc, one of Rick’s and my favorite North Island New Zealand wineries, which we visited several times along with their excellent Cellar Door restaurant. |
Back at Hotel Suisse, there are only a few moments to quickly shower and change before heading up to Zelda’s apartment to meet Konstantin’s mother Margaret over wine and cheese. She is delightful, an accomplished doctor specializing in treating children with autism, and has a fun sense of humor. And, an endearing conviction that once her boys went off to college, they were on their own financially . . . so now it is her time to enjoy life. She shared stories about a very recent girls trip to Siberia!
By the way, the wines were wonderful . . . The Condado de Haze Crianza was a rich garnet red color, with notes of ripe berries accented with touches of spice and violet. The Craggy Range Sauvignon Blanc was sourced from grapes from their Te Muna Road Vineyard, the wine was influenced by the vineyard’s limestone soil, along with hints of fresh herbs and lime citrus on the nose, and nectarine and tropical melon fruit flavor on the palate — makes me want to return to New Zealand! |
Afterwards, we walked towards the Altmarkt to Steak Royal for dinner. To be absolutely honest . . . even though I ordered a grass-fed petite filet, it was not nearly as tender as the organic beef raised in Montana. That said, it was good to have red meat, the conversation was lively, and the table of men celebrating a bachelor’s party was entertaining!
On the way back to Hotel Suisse, we passed once more through the festival now in full swing in the Neumarkt. Back up in Zelda’s apartment, we had dessert that Margaret picked up on the way back to the hotel. I left early to finish sorting and packing for our train ride to Prague in the morning, but within an hour or so was pulled outside to the live rock music playing in the Neumarkt and stayed until nearly 1am — this Neust’a loves to dance!