Tues, Aug 26 - Germany - Walldorf

10.41am - peppered salami, at mom & dad's12.07pm - a summery stew made from home-grown bell peppers, tomatoes and yellow zucchini, plus some buttered whole grain bread rolls, at mom & dad's

12.29pm - wild arugula and cherry tomatoes from the parents' garden, at mom & dad's

2.05pm - strawberry soy milk, on the drive to Walldorf to visit my brother, with mom and dad

3.55pm - plum cake and mixed fruit cake, at my brother Kay's super-spacious new pad, with mom & dad and Anja, my brother's girlfriend

4.20pm - cherry cake, still at Kay's place, waiting for him to be done at work so we can pick him up

4.50pm - the bro works for the SAP world headquarters in Walldorf in an area called Baden, on the north eastern edge of the Black Forest. Walldorf is a small place, and the very modern architecture of the very huge SAP complex rises out of the somewhat non-descript countryside in a slightly surreal but fetching contrast.

4.55pm - as we learned on a walking tour of the SAP campus, SAP does not only provide tennis courts, a gym and a fully subsidized cafeteria, like Google, they also have apple trees for a supply of fresh fruit. Kay was nice enough to use his access card to go pick one for me.4.58pm - At SAP, they also have space and greenery to die for. Quite a contrast to the concrete jungle around my work...

This is still the same apple, btw, which turned out to be a bit on the sour side still. Anja, who's a hardier apple eater than I am, ended up eating it.
6.45pm - a hell-flavored chocolate chip cookie with chili, back at Kay's place

7.36pm - for dinner, we drove over to a picturesque wine-growing estate called Weingut Bös in the neighboring village of Malsch. This is the view from our table.
7.40pm and these are the grapes growing right outside the window:

7.47pm - and these are some of the estate's very flavorful wines: Kay's Spätburgunder (pinot noir), my Badisch-Rotgold (rose) and Anja's Mueller-Thurgau

8.08pm - great German rye bread, without that caraway flavoring that is the hallmark of rye bread in the States

8.11pm - a huge spread of Flammkuchen for the table, with onion, cheese and bacon. I guess you could call it a German pizza. Still with mom & dad, Kay and Anja at Weingut Bös.8.11pm - and a close up.

8.21pm - the hugest Schnitzel ever, with fried potatoes and gravy. Anja got one, too, and we're in Schnitzel heaven!

8.29pm - my side salad and Anja's side of sauerkraut

11.28pm - some OJ, back home at mom & dad's