lucid in deutschland

New Axe-deo ads were introduced at the movie
theater Friday night. This should have happened Thursday night without the stinky deo.It's been a busy time these past days. This is a ramble, recap post, detailing earlier moments during our long weekend, consisting of a trip to Regensburg and the blight of our favorite Indisches restaurant. We took our minds off of the crazy curry service brush, with a late-showing of the new Pirates of the Caribbean film. Johnny Depp was just what I needed although I could have done with a mute Elizabeth Swann. She's pretty to look at but that's about it.

This past Saturday, we welcomed Martin and Lydia for the first time to our home and had a grill party for their arrival. It also happened to be Lydia's bday. They brought us a beautiful tree with purple flowers for our balcony. How sweet. Saturday also welcomed a rain spell that still wants to trump my immune system. I've been tired for three days straight. But I refuse to be sick so close to our trip to Rome. So here's the rest of the beginning of the story. It's a touch of rant..

Follow up:

Thursday, I made a surprise visit to Regensburg for the 4. Jubil?um des ersten Kuss. Though, the romantic surprise was slightly thwarted by work and simply turned to an extra treat for us to see each other a day early. No boom chicka wahwah.

I had perfectly planned my trip to Regensburg, left on time, remember all my belongings etc. But I did tax me a bit. I woke up Friday morning beat, eyes itchy and reluctant to stay open and a headache. Dust? I noticed that there was pollen floating all around Regensburg. It could be I am not used to the plants in this part of Bavaria. Or some bug going around. I headed out to the city center after the Hausmeister stopped by, took one long, puzzled look at me and tried his best to utter his request in the clearest and slowest Hochdeutsch he could muster. Sweet, but really I need to practice my understanding of Bayerisch.

I made my way to the Burger King near the cathedral to set up my study area and try the new "Long and Strong" chicken club sandwich. Like I said in the previous post, I'm a weakling to xxl photos of tasty looking sandwiches. You may ask yourself, why not study in a library? Most libraries (if not all) in Germany require that you put your bags in a locker and carry your material in your hands. Considering my writing utensils, calculator, dictionaries, study material -I just don't have that many hands. And forget sneaking in some water or a candy bar for quick, by-your-desk, brain fuel. It's just more convenient to sit in a restaurant and absorb the grease and thermo. It's a mystery to me why this Burger King am Dom rarely has any visitors. I think I got a clue with the improper use of the English language, phallically named chicken club. So disappointingly Ew. Oh well, I got a lot accomplished in BK's deserted lard-mill.

Alex and I left Regensburg with Sebastien relatively early for Munich. Since we were having company over the next day, I didn't feel like cooking Friday night. Soon as we arrived at home, I suggested we go for Indian food in Baldeplatz. There were little signs in the beginning that this evening would not end without a hitch: waiting for 10 minutes for a waiter to see us, the appetizers tasting not-so homemade, the impossibility of getting the three server's attention and our meals though tasty, just not as spectacular as before. Maybe they lost their cook, the head guy was on vacation, who knows. Everything was slightly off kilter. When it came time to pay, they took our credit card but said that it may take some time because they had problems with Telecom. After a few minutes the servers gave up and demanded cash from us. Between the both of us we didn't have enough to pay for the meal. Alex then suggested that they should be able to use a manual card swiper in the event of a electronic failure. Our server said that the didn't have one. This is when things got prickly.

The server apologized said that they had been having problems with telecom all day, that they didn't have a manual swiper, blah blah. Alex asked if they'd write out a bill and we'd come back to pay after we both picked up cash from our bank. The waiter said we had to leave something behind. Yeah right. Alex then reminded them that we were not obligated to pay then. They have signs on their front door stating they accept credit cards, EC cards. We didn't receive a warning before we ordered. This is was just plain bad business.

I stayed while Alex made the 600 m trek to the bank. At this point I was okay, a little annoyed but still enjoying my pleasantly full belly. The server came back apologized again and said he'd bring out some schnapps. I shouldn't have refused. But I didn't want anything else to eat or drink. Nothing else would fit. But the poor, embarrassed server took that as a challenge that I was doubly dissatisfied and kept pestering me, what did I want!! He finally offered a Mango Lassi and I gave in and said fine. Anything to relieve his suffering. He came back with a double serving in a beautiful copper cup. I had two sips of the good necker, but I had already eaten too much, discomfort was setting in so I let it sit there. When Alex returned, he rightfully asked for all the change back. The server blew his top, 'we tried everything we could, we offered you (me) Mango Lassi..' which he then looked at the copper cup and with an accusatory tone, 'you didn't even try it!!'

Then it felt like I was sent back in time. The days when I had to sit at the dinner table when I was mentally and digestively done with the plates before me and mother and father fighting with me to finish my food. I detest being put in this position so I reacted with a child-like response, 'Yes, I did!' That was it. I was done with this place, this crap from an over excited, disorganized idiot. More words come to mind but what's the point. The evening was damned. It was just time to take a breath and start over.