Bacharach

Friday, 7/8

Today we awoke early and Lettie made us waffles and eggs. An exciting change to our usual German breakfast! We took the car to nearby St. Goar to explore. We peeked into many shops, looking at steins and koo-koo-clocks. We felt sleepy and the overcast weather tempted us to go home for a nap before lunch. I guess we needed the rest, we awoke about two hours later and grabbed some lunch at a cafe in Bacharach and were easily talked into trying the local apple strudel, which boasted more of a pie crust than a pastry, the best I've had so far. A lazy afternoon eventually gave way to dinner time. We wanted simple fair. With all the rich and unusual foods we've been eating, I wanted comfort food. Greg was able to explain to our waitress who had some English that I wanted a side of mashed potatoes. They had a dish of local wild boar with sauerkraut and mashed potatoes. Perfect, so don't bring the main dish or kraut, just the kartoffelpuree, bitte. Our server looked a little confused at first, but after a few confirmations she said no problem and then turned to me, "You like this?" It turns out she thought it was strange that I liked mashed potatoes because most Americans she had encountered did not like them. I was brought an entire dinner plate covered in mashed potatoes. The waitress got a real kick out of this and continued to walk by during the meal smiling at me and looking at the plate of potatoes in wonder, like, "So it is true, the crazy American did order only a plate of potatoes, what do you know about that?" It was fun to be famous for the night, not that my notoriety will last, tomorrow its on to the next town.