Weekend Update

Not a whole lot happened last weekend, but a few things did.  Saturday during the day was pretty relaxed, we just watched a few of the College Bowl games that had aired over the previous few days.  That evening, though, we met our friends Jenny & Chris for dinner & a movie.  India House is a place we visited when we first got here because it was close to our hotel, and while we liked it, we hadn't been back.  Jenny & Chris loved the placed too and it was right next to the theater, so we decided to meet there at 5pm when the place opened.  Or so we thought.  Turns out the place opens at 5:30, so we had 30 minutes to kill.  Across from the restaurant is a little hole in the wall dive bar, so we decided to head in there for a bit.  We ordered a round of beer (in German, of course) and took a seat.  This was obviously a "locals" bar with an older clientel, but when they heard us speaking German with our American accent, they were curious and started talking with us.  They were nice people, all from the area, and the bartender ended up bring us a round of Schnapps shots on the house.  The Schnapps in Germany are not like the ones in the US.  In the US they are typically low-alcohol and generic, but German Schnapps are different in every city, and are typically rather potent.  These were pretty good.

At 5:30 we headed over to India House for dinner and started talking about various trips we had wanted to take over the next few months.  Shanna & I mentioned that we weren't really up for anything more then day trips because we are flying home in March and it won't be cheap.  That's when they sprung their idea for this upcoming weekend on us.  They'd found a deal online for airfare from Stuttgart to Amsterdam, as well as two nights hotel, for $200/person.  We decided a weekend in Amsterdam sounded like fun, and that's not too expensive, so we agreed.  After dinner we went to see The Tourist with Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie.  It was ok...the scenery was pretty and definitely bumped Venice up on the list of "places to visit", but the story was predictable and far-fetched.  Not bad for a Friday night rental, but I wouldn't waste money to see it in the theaters.

Not much happened Sunday other then we booked our trip for this weekend, but on Monday Shanna wanted to visit Ramstein Air Base.  I've heard the Exchange there is practically a mall, so I was curious.  Ramstein is about a 2 hour drive from us, so we hit the road around 9am.  When we got there, it was lunch time and the food court had...ready for this?...a Johnny Rockets and a Taco Bell.  It's the only Johnny Rockets and Taco Bell in all of Germany.  We haven't had a good burger (aside from what we make at home) since we got here, so we couldn't wait.  After that we walked around the various shops, as well as the Exchange itself, then headed home.

So not much to report from last weekend, just a fun night out with friends and a trip to Ramstein.  Check back next week for my post on Amsterdam!