Heat Wave

Ok, recap of the weekend - I know it probably seems like I'm holding out on you - not blogging more often but seriously, I didn't leave the house last week except to go walking/jogging. How sad am I? It was actually sort of nice but I was definitely ready to go out to dinner by the time Friday rolled around. We went to a little place in Heppenheim called Scotland Yard. I think it was supposed to be sort of a London pub type place but the only thing on the menu for dinner was a few variations of schnitzel. It was good schnitzel though so who's complaining. We tried something we've been seeing and hearing alot about - apfelwein. We thought it was going to be sort of like apple juice flavored wine - very refreshing - not so. It was sort of bland and overly carbonated (although we ordered it sparkling, so maybe that was our mistake). Our waitress was very friendly with we think an Irish accent. She seemed more comfortable w/ English than German so I liked her instantly.

Oh I almost forgot - Friday was Couch Day! It arrived none too early at 3:00pm. I was just about to call the place to make sure we were still on their schedule when the doorbell rang. It looks great, fits perfectly and most of all is so comfy. Lovin the couch.

Saturday, Steve wanted to go look for a TV. We drove to Kaiserslautern - about an hour away - because the BX there is supposed to have a large electronics selection. I have to say it's been intresting learning to navigate the various posts and bases here. One has the best commissary, another the best furniture store, another the best electronics selection. I've been to so many already I can't remember where we've seen what. But I'm loving the fact that we have a safe-haven when we don't want to deal with finding things locally. Since the TV is about 98% Steve's decision, he did most of the looking while I tried to stay out of the way - it was very crowded and oh, HOT. I'm not sure what the actual temperature was here but it was definitely in the 90s. I know I won't get much sympathy here, and I'm normally not one to complain about the heat (I save it for the cold), but when there is NO a/c ANYWHERE, 90 degree temps are a whole different ball game. Steve didn't find what he wanted - apparently the selection was not as great as we've been told - but we did buy a rug for the living room so the trip was not a total bust. We stopped in Heidelburg on our way home for the castle illumination. By the way, we didn't do the dinner cruise - guess we waited a little late to get tickets so they were all booked up. But we had a lovely dinner in the square and waited for it to get dark. Then we walked to the other side of the river for a good view of the castle and the bridge where they do the fireworks. It was very reminiscent of Independence Day gatherings. Basically, people everywhere.

Sunday, we went to Limburg with our friends Henry and Lorrie who are here vacationing. There is a cathedral there which we toured and there is also an ice cream shop which is VERY generous with their servings. We had ice cream that was made to look like spaghetti. Why I'm not sure, novelty I suppose. In the heat, finishing it was no problem. Limberg is a quaint little town with a beautiful altstadt (old town) - very quiet on Sunday. Promise to post photos asap - of the cathedral, not the ice cream.

Dealing with the heat with no a/c has been interesting. We have these metal blinds that go outside the window - again photos to come - so basically, you're just supposed to open you're windows in the morning while it's still cool and let as much cool air in as possible. Then you close the windows and lower the blinds to trap the cooler air. I don't know how well it really works, but luckily our house is built into the side of a hill and, the bedrooms which are on the bottom of four floors actually stayed quite cool. The kitchen and dining area which are on the top floor pretty much stayed like a sauna. Today it seems that the heat wave is over and we can get back to normal.