Saturday - The Wedding Day

We woke up early as the bells in the hotel village ding-donged at 6am! We managed to get to sleep for an hour or so, until the excitement of the day got us up and out to breakfast - we both loved it! Buffet style with loads of choice with a favorite being the muesli with a selection of toppings. By this time my diet had gone out of the window so it was nice to get some fruit and nut goodness in me.

Selection of muesli toppings

A filled bowl

THE DAY BIT

Joe and the London bus driver. The bus was hired to take friends and family to the wedding and take them to the reception at the hotel after - a great touch.

Joe in his kilt that he was very excited about wearing!

A great looking Jo in a fab 70's style hat. The wedding had awesome views like this one into the valley

Joe and Braveheart (aka Cousin Allan - more pictures of him to come)

The happily married couple - congratulations!

Canape One - mini quiche

Canape two - smoked salmon baskets (Jo's fave)

Canape three - a basket of lentils, quail's egg and caviar

Canape four - spinach and smoked salmon roll

Joe and Number Seven aka Rudi in his brilliant Bavarian dress

Brother and sister Barcroft

The Scottish clan (with two English interlopers)

Jo and Joe's new best friend Bruno - "come here baby!"

The beautiful bride - Kerstin

THE DAY RECEPTION BIT

The Swabian waiting staff in their dirndls

One of approximately 20 cakes for afternoon tea - we were treated well!

Allan and his first stein - a litre of beer! The first of quite a few!

A quick change for the evening

AND TO DINNER.....

Mustard soup - which I now need a recipe for!

Zita and Werner - relaxing after the hard bit was over!

Main course 1 - seabass in a white wine sauce (there was an intervening salad course)

Main course 2 - pork in a cream sauce

The dessert spread, including panne cotta, white chocolate mousse and apple fritters

The piece de resistance - the cheese cake!  This is one of the best things I have seen at a wedding, with about 10 varieties of cheese and brilliant homemade chutneys made by Alan and Lucy.  I particularly recommend the peach!

Cousin Rosie - our biggest fan - scoffing the cheese.

Following food was ceilidh dancing until 1am.  Jo did quite the sterling effort, keeping her heels on and dancing all night until the finish!  Joe boy wimped out - needs to get his dancing feet going - his brain can't process all the "complicated" steps!...

Thursday - Dinner

After some relaxation time on Thursday, we headed out for dinner at the local restaurant which was at the end of the Maier's road where we were reliably informed served local Swabian delights.

Where we ate

Jo with Dad and Tom

Jo with mum

Salad bars seem to be a big thing in this area.  They feature lots of lightly pickled foods, like potato salad, which is some sort of potato in vinegar thing, rather than the UK version.  Also a variety of grated cabbages in a light pickle dressing, grated carrots and so on. 

This is Jo's main course, which was a plate of Swabian dishes.
Spaetzle with cheese on the left and pork in a mushroom sauce on the right.  The Spaetzle was a bit like macaroni cheese, but a bit lighter - I think Jo was more of a fan than her dad though who thinks macaroni cheese is the food of the devil! The thing in the middle is Maultaschen. They are said to have been invented by bored cooks during Lent, to hide ground pork in spinach and a doughy shell when they weren't meant to be eating meat. The dish is so common around Stuttgart it has spawned the insult Maultaschenfresser (fressen means to eat like an animal), hurled at Swabians, for example during sporting events.

Schwein in mushroom sauce and potato croquettes

This was mine (Joe's) - Spaetzle and pork. It was good but I did have food envy over Jo's food!

The mothers-in-law to be on the way home after eating

Friday in Deutschland!

So Friday was quite a whirlwind day.  As well as various bits of wedding prep, with almost all the guests arriving and needing to be shown around, there was lots of food and drink to indulge in (unsurprisingly!)

The Maier family were our lovely hosts for the weekend.  We send a thousand thank yous to Kerstin's parents, Werner and Zita for such a fabulous time!

Joe and my brother Michael started the Friday with a healthy run.  Poor Michael struggled a little with the heat and being out of practice - so horrible Joe took a picture and put it on the internet!  But Michael is doing the Edinburgh marathon too so better get training!

Breakfastin the Maier household is a real treat.  Somehow, people in Europe triumph at breakfasts.  I think we need to expand our repetoire a bit, because here we had an amazing seeded muesli, pretzels (the bread, not the snack), croissants, yummy breads, honey, cheeses, meats...awesome.

The breakfast table - spot the multiple milks - 1 especially for coffee, 1 long life, and 1 for us fussy brits!

bakery treats from the bakery 30 seconds away - and my first ever proper pretzel!

One of three honeys on the table - and very nice too!

Milk for the fussy brits!

After a small break, which somehow for me involved ironing a lot of shirts for the wedding and a lovely tour of the Maier business, we were treated to a Greek lunch.  The Maiers have a brilliant housekeeper who makes the most amazing food.  In Germany, they have the main meal for the day at lunchtime.  Everything is done a little earlier - people start work at 7/7.30, break for lunch at 12 and then a small cold meal in the evening.  It takes some getting used to but I'm assured it's much better for you - so roll on the big lunches!

Moussaka

Joe's plate with moussaka, salad, rice and spatzle, a German speciality

The Maiers, the Barcrofts and the Prasads for lunch (addition: I have had to add me in as a Rees as I was missed off by my fiancee!!!)

Weiss Beer for lunch - ok then, if you insist!

Kataifi, a dessert made with speciality dough, honey and nuts.  There are a multitude of varieties, from Turkey, Greece and Egypt (amongst other places).  This was a gift and very welcome!

Our lovely host Werner with the kataifi - look how little we got through! Pathetic!

Werner and Zita's amazing coffee machine.  Joe is now desperate to get one - some day maybe!

The resulting espressos - brilliant

Kerstin put up a Scotish flag to welcome us - this is my fave picture of the holiday!

Kerstin's aunt and uncle, Ingeborg and Bruno - Joe's new best friend

In the evening, after getting everyone checked in to the hotel, we all went to a brewery beer garden on the bank of the Danube in Ulm.  A brilliant place to spend the evening with lots of beers and some great wine (not so typical of the region either!)

Me and Kerstin's dad, Werner, sharing some drinks

Chicken and chips - not very traditional for the region but really good!

Werner's much more typical dinner - I think it is a meat jelly with vegetables and pork.  It sounds really weird, but think of it like the contents of a pork pie.  Joe and I also both tasted it and it was really nice! Don't think my tastes are advanced enough for a whole plate though...

Our venue for the evening