Weekend Update

Not a whole lot going on this past weekend.  The weather was nice Saturday, but dreary on Sunday.  Friday afternoon when I was driving to pick Shanna up I heard something on AFN radio (Armed Forces Network) about a big yard sale going on Saturday at Patch Barracks (name of one of the bases nearby).  I didn't hear a time, and only caught a little bit at the tail end of the announcement, so we decided to just head over there Saturday morning & see if we could find it.  We drove all around, but no luck...plus the thrift shop on base is only open the 1st and 3rd Saturday of each month, and this was the second, so no luck there either.  We eventually decided to head back to the hotel. 

On the way back we stopped at a beer store I'd seen while we were driving around.  It's become a pet project of mine to try and find a beer store that sells more then just German beer (ideally Belgian beers).  Most places have a few imports, but they are almost always Guinness and/or Corona.  Unfortunately this store was no different BUT it did have a few beers that looked really interesting that I hadn't seen before, pictured below.

Yes, the numbers represent the alcohol percentage.  I was intrigued, so I bought a bottle of each.  They were cheap by American Craft Beer standards, but expensive by German beer standards.  These were 33cl bottles for €4.75, where as a typical German beer is 50cl for around 75 cents.  The wheat beer, which came in at 13 percent ABV, was REALLY good.  The most flavor I'd tasted in a beer since we got here.  It had some floral hints to it with a smokey finish.  VERY good, and definitely one I'd like more of.  I'm not sure about the other one.  The taste was good (mostly smokey) but either I got a bad bottle, or it was made to be mostly flat.  I know some beers (most notably cask ales) are designed to be like that, but they typically aren't my favorite.  I'll give it one more shot to see if maybe I just got a bad batch. 

That night was a pretty relaxing one...we tried this great Indian food place near our hotel called Indian House.  I've had mixed experiences with Indian food before, so I was willing to give it a shot.  We ended up really liking the food, and definitely want to head back again.  When we got back to the hotel we opened a bottle of wine and watched the Disney movie, Up.  We both really liked it...Pixar movies rarely disappoint, and this was no exception.  We both highly recommend it.

Sunday was Mother's Day, but since we're six hours ahead, we couldn't call our Mom's that morning.  So instead we had a late breakfast at the buffet downstairs in the hotel restaurant, then later that afternoon we walked to the theater up the road to catch a double feature, Iron Man and Iron Man 2.  Neither of us had seen the first one, so we figured what better way then to watch them back to back.  The theater was different from what you'd see in the U.S.  The seats were more like love seats you'd find in a house, and running along the back of the seats (so facing you as you sat down in the row behind) was a ledge meant to act as a table.  You could put your snacks, drinks or...BEER.  That's right, they sold beer at the theater.  And it was pretty cheap too, not like the prices you'd normally expect in the U.S.  If a typical theater chain ever sold beer back home, I have no doubt it'd be over priced like all the other food/drinks.  But depending on the beer you wanted, they were €2 or €3.  As for the movies, they were pretty good as long as you realized you were in it for an action movie.  We both enjoyed them, and they were a great way to spend a lazy cloudy Sunday afternoon.

When we got back to the hotel we both called our Mom's to wish them Happy Mother's Day.  Shanna's family was going out to lunch, and my Dad was putting the finishing touches on some rib's he'd been marinating for the past 24 hours before throwing them on the grill.  Later that day my brother, Aunt, & Uncle were coming over.

That's it for the weekend..next weekend is the big one, when we move in to our new place.  We've already started coming up with a list of all the things we'll need to last us a month until our stuff comes, and we haven't even gotten to what food we need to get at the Commissary.  Just 5 more days and counting...