When Chris and Jerilou were here we went to Cittadella, a city with a 13th century medieval wall still encircling it. Here's a couple pics from that day.
Kirby was gone for training for about a month and when he got back we took a trip to the country of San Marino. A tiny little country on a mountain in Italy. We had a good time but the entire town was hills, it was very disconcerting to never be on flat ground. Oliver was good at going up the hills but he was mad about being in his stroller a lot of the time. It was our first outing with an 18 month old which is a whole new ball game from a 1 year old. He is getting more of a "I want to do what I want to do attitude" but he is still a very good boy and did really well on a whole.
This past weekend we drove up to Germany on a gastronomical adventure. We spent a night in Munich and two nights in Vilseck where we used to live. Munich is such a great city. There is a pedestrian area with a ton of great shopping and breweries and interesting street performers. We saw everything from a string quartet to xylophone players to a group of about 20 singing accapello.
The first stop on our gastronomical adventure was the Hard Rock Cafe. This might seem dull but when you live in Italy and all you eat is pizza after pizza a cheeseburger with fries is heaven. Also the Hard Rock Cafe in Munich is one of the first place Kirby and I ever went on a date so it has sentimental value too.
The next day we did some serious shopping, I got an awesome pair of shoes for the ball that we are going to tomorrow night (pictures to follow) and Kirby finally got his birthday watch. He wanted to pick it out because he's particular. He got a VERY nice one and is very happy with his choice.
We drove up to Vilseck and went directly to the Doner Kebap place. They have sandwiches made of shaved meat that they shave off this hunk of meat on spit. Its really something you have to try to understand. It was Deelish!
Our third stop was to the rye potatoes restaurant. This place has the best bratfartoffeln (pan fried potatoes) you will ever eat. They are sprinkled with what tastes like rye, thus the name rye potatoes. It took me forever to discover that it was actually caraway seeds which are what gives rye bread that distinct taste. They were as delicious as always, and pretty easy to make.
The next day we went to a place falled Frank's Wunderland (or something sort of close to that, we always play it fast and loose with our German words) The park has been there since the 70's and has all kinds of fun things for kids and adults. All the baby rides were there long before safetly became a huge deal and everything kind of seemed on the dangerous side. We thought what the heck and let Oliver go crazy. He had a great time. We ate some bratwurst and saurkraut and called it a day.
Our last stop on the way out of town, was to the Getrankt Markt, the part of the grocery store that sells the beer. We got two cases of Winkler Brau, the beer that is brewed behind the apartment we lived in. We are biased, but it is a really good beer. I got 12 Radlars (half beer half lemonade) and am going to savour them come December. Kirby is already working on his portion of the two cases.
Overall we had a great time and even though we didn't eat all the food we had planned it was worth the beautiful drive.
A moon bounce for grown ups
For a baby who loves balls this was about the happiest moment of his life.
This carousel when WAY too fast
Rye Potatoes
1 Can of sliced new potatoes
Caraway seeds
Get a frying pan hot and add olive oil. Dump in the can of new potatoes (drained) and even them out. Sprinkle on caraway seeds. Once one side gets browned and crispy flip them over. The whole thing takes about ten minutes and they are awesome!
