Weekend Update

It was so wonderful...we did nothing, well almost nothing. Friday we went to the Mannheim Zentrum and had dinner with some German friends and some of their friends. We ate at this great Italian place called Vapiano. Then we headed out to an old water tower in Ludwigshafen to listen to a band. It was very cool and interesting since it was in a water tower. We met up with some more Deere people when we got there. TJ and I laughed at how we hang out with people from so many different countries and all at the same time. We were the only two Americans, then there were five Germans, two Spaniards, and of course an Irish guy who literally spoke like a leprechaun! I kid him because I love the Irish! Anyway, the rest of the weekend was very relaxing. Except for managing the dog, we didn't leave the house on Saturday and even ordered in from a local take out place. It was actually pretty good, and we were happy just to find something as Saturday was a Freiertag (public holiday) and most everything was closed. Today was a little more productive as I got up early to hit a morning yoga class and completed my homework, Tj cleaned the house and went for a jog, and Tut and I took a super long walk. But the best part about today was dinner. TJ needed a steak so we went to Die Kartoffel (translated it means the potato) in Ladenburg. You might ask why I didn't make one...well I could have but it would have tasted not so good, and the grocery stores have been closed for two days because of the Freiertag and Sunday. The Germans do not raise cattle for beef, rather they have dairy cows for milk and also butcher them for beef. The meat...dry and tough without flavor. This is true unless you go to Die Kartoffel! This restaurant only serves Argentinian beef and it comes out raw on a hot stone and you cook it to your liking. As an infrequent beef eater, I can tell you it was excellent! And it comes with a serious potato cooked to perfection. The best part is this restaurant is five minutes from us in the next town. We will definitely go back! Other than that we were lazy! The laziness only can last a few more weeks as we are in a slow season. The slow season is after the festival season (April-October), and before the Christmas Markets that begin the last week in November and go through Christmas Eve. Lazy or not this weekend was great.
Since our weekend was about food, I thought it would be appropriate to teach you how to order in German.
Ich habe gern eine Kartoffel und ein bier, bitte. This means, I will gladly have a potato and a beer please. Ich mochte die rechnung, bitte. And this means, I would like the check please. Those are the basics so if you come to Germany, Austria, Switzerland, or sometimes Luxembourg you can get by in a restaurant.
Thats all from us, Auf Wiedersehen!