Our new obsession

The German winters can be long and depressingly cold. If you want to make it through with your sanity intact, you've got to get creative with entertainment. For my birthday I requested the German version of the board game known as "Ticket to Ride" in the States. Marisa and I were first exposed to this little gem from the Arrowood family in Tyrone, GA. Needless to say, we've nearly made it through the winter and we've never been better.

"Zug um Zug: Europa" - ready to brighten those dark, winter days. Look for the expansion packs for Switzerland and USA!

The basic objective is to build an elaborate train track that stretches across the continent, connecting major cities and completing specified routes in order to earn the most points. Unlike some strategy games, this one is completed in around an hour so you won't have to use up an entire weekend to finish one game.

In the middle of the transportation conquest of Europe! I think Deutsche Bahn uses this game for all of their trainees.

While the Jackson's have never been known to be competitive, Marisa and I do keep a tally of the winner of each game - just for house bragging rights. At press time the current tally is: Marisa - 4, Justin - 3, Bond - 1. We'll keep you posted!

--justin

Bonding Time

Last weekend my college volleyball coach, Bond, was in town and we had a great time running around.  It started with the traditional trip to our neighborhood joint, Zur Sonnenuhr. Bond had the pleasure of meeting Tanya. It was a night full of belly laughing, great food, and reminiscing. My former teammate Alex came down from Cologne for the weekend and joined us for dinner. I felt bad for Justin having to listen to us talk about the glory days haha.

Bond was a trooper and stayed up until midnight the same day he flew in and then slept for 11 hours! On Saturday we had lunch at Alex's parents' house before heading to Saarbrucken (south of Frankfurt).

At the train station close to Alex's house. Bond striking a pose.

Reunited! Alex, Bond, me and Justin

The wintery town of Saarbrucken

This town had a ton of French influence, you almost forgot you were in Germany

More French influence with a white/pink church.

Saarbrucken's Rathaus

Just a really cool door we saw

Bond was in town for the weekend and we wanted to make sure he had a good time. So to end the trip we took him to an FSV soccer game. This is the local division two team and it is literally a 10 minute walk from our place. As you can see Bond really got into the game.

FSV!!!!

This is not the last you will see of Bond because he joined us for one day in Garmisch at the end of his trip. It was great showing him our little life in Frankfurt and seeing someone from home it always a treat. 

--Marisa

Happy Friday everyone!

My sister sent me this picture earlier this week and it just made my day. My nephew Nolan on his way to daycare in his business attire. We gave him that onesie for Christmas and it looks so cute on him. If you want one my friend Keight made it.

I would take him to work any day!!

Hope you have a great Friday and it is a good start to an awesome weekend!

-- Marisa

If you were on Top Chef

One show that I still watch living in Germany is Top Chef, yes American version in English on our computers. This season is Top Chef Allstars and can I say AMAZING. They brought back contestants from past seasons that either got 2nd, 3rd or 4th. So these are the best of the best competing against each other and it gets intense in the kitchen. I am team Richard Blais, but a close runner up would be Carla Hall just because she is so crazy! On this past week's episode they cooked for comedian Jimmy Fallon's birthday lunch. Each contestant had to cook one of Jimmy's favorite meals. This inspired Justin and I and we decided to come up with our own list of meals we would have Top Chefs cook for our birthday party. The funny part is 4 of the 8 on our list were the same, what does that say about us? The bold ones were the ones that were the same.

Justin's List

1.) Filet mignon 

2.) Cheeseburger

3.) Philly steak and cheese sandwich

4.) Tuna steak

5.) Pork loin

6.) Fried Chicken (Justin is from the South)

7.) Chicken Alfredo

8.) BBQ pulled pork sandwich

Marisa's List

1.) Filet Mignon and mashed potatoes (whipped style with lots of butter and no I am not from the South)

2.) Tacos or any Mexican for that matter (here is where my true colors shine)

3.) Philly steak and cheese sandwich

4.) Chicken pot pie

5.) Pad Thai

6.) BBQ pulled pork sandwich

7.) Chicken Alfredo

8.) Red beans and rice with cajun sausage

What would be on your list? 

It was fun activity and you should give it a go! Justin had the idea that we had to cook one of these this week, we will see how that pans out.

Here are some of our Top Chef moments

Chicken Parmesan-seems easy, but shake and bake doesn't exist here. I found this great recipe for the chicken if you are looking for one. And yes, we only have two electric burners and yes they need a serious scrub, but doesn't the food look great!

One of our favorite German dishes is called Kase Spaetzle. Justin made this rendition tonight and it rocked! No German meal would be complete without a dirty Pils.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone and I hope someone is cooking up something nice for you!

Our weekend away-Dublin round two

Back in November or so our coworker saw a deal on AerLingus for cheap flights to Dublin in January and we said why not. My good friend Shaun moved to Dublin about nine months ago and we hadn't seen him. In that time he had also gotten married and we needed to celebrate that big step. So last Friday we hopped a flight to Dublin for a fun packed weekend. Since we have been to Dublin before we were excited to get out into the countryside.

Saturday after a proper Irish breakfast cooked by Shaun, baked beans included, we all headed out to a place called Glendalough. Not too far outside Dublin sits this beautiful sight. It is home to a 6th century monastery and two lakes. It was great to get outside and see the amazing landscape that Ireland is known for.

Along the trail at the Lower Lake.

Lower lake with the monastic site in the background

Frost covered trees

Our navigator, Colt.  He is an Australian shepherd and a good looking dog! 

The Upper Lake. It was beautiful in the middle of winter,  I can only imagine what it looks like in Spring and Summer.

Had to take a picture in front of it.

With all the frost on the graves this place had a real serene feel to it.

I am in love with the Celtic crosses and this place was full of them and they were amazing.

Out in Temple Bar listening to an all girl band playing some jams like Johnny Cash, Florence and the Machine, U2 and good ol' Irish music. Nothing beats the music in Dublin. Sitting in a Irish Pub with awesome music playing is definitely one of my favorite things to do. It is right up there with riding my bike along the coast. (photo courtesy of Tran C.)

Doesn't Justin look very Irish here? It's the hat and the beard (photo courtesy of Tran C.) We did go with five of our coworkers, but managed to not get any good pictures with them. We had a great time in Temple Bar with them and Sunday at brunch.

The whole gang in Temple Bar for brunch on Sunday.

This is Oscar Wilde and this might be the best statue I have ever seen. The expression on his face in priceless.

All over Dublin are these Georgian doors and it gives the city a very regal present. And yes of course I took the picture of the door with 33!

I remember saying that we didn't want to double up on many places that we visited, but I could go to Dublin/Ireland ten more times. Each time we go we love it even more. Ireland has such a oppressed history and each time I learn a little bit more and learn to appreciate their culture. We had a very informative taxi ride to the airport and the taxi driver inspired us to watch the movie Michael Collins. If you have not seen this movie it is a great historical commentary of Ireland and their fight for independence. I can't wait to go back this summer with my Mom and visit the town of Tralee where my great-great-grandfather was from. I totally embrace my Irish heritage and just wish I had the sweet accent.

--Marisa

Justin celebrates 29 years!

Time flies wherever you are and I can't believe that I'm already celebrating my second birthday in Germany. The only thing significant about 29 seems to be that it makes you feel dreadfully close to 30, which seems like the time when you're supposed to be doing big-boy things in life...............buying a house, starting a family, listening to talk radio, having your prostate checked..........those kind of things. It's weird to think back to when I first turned 20 as a second-year college student and how quickly I've arrived at the "end of my 20's".

Unofficially, my birthday celebration began last weekend when we visited Dublin for the second time. It was an amazing trip that will be posted separately so we will move on to Monday, January 24th, on my actual birthday. Normal wo rk day with the exception that one of my Korean students brought in a Korean version of "moon pies" and surprised me with my class singing happy birthday.

The other unusual event of the day took place after school when I should have went straight home to relax, but instead stayed to participate in a meeting for the GEW which is a teacher's union that wanted to start up a "work council" to rep resent the employees of the school to the administration. This proposal, that turned out to not be an option, wasn't very popular with most of the existing staff and tensions were high. It's a long story for another time, but it lasted over two hours after school and I learned a lot about German law in regards to labor and all in a setting that wasn't too far from a Jerry Springer show.

We met up with a few folks at a local German restaurant (not our neighborhood joint, but a fine establishment nonetheless) for some schnitzel and beer to cap off a long Monday. We ended the night splitting a bottle of prosecco in our local wine cellar that made it feel like an official celebration.

Gift-wise..........Marisa hooked me up with an Eintracht Frankfurt jersey and a Rick Steve's travel guide to eastern Europe. Altogether it was a sweet birthday.........I'm just waiting to bake my yellow box cake from the States this weekend to make it official.

Exhibiting a few of the gifts: Eintracht Frankfurt home jersey and Rick Steve's Eastern Europe travel guide from Marisa, beanie from the Rennies, and scotch whiskey from my co-worker.

--Justin

Outsourcing: Why Do It Yourself......

After a year and a half of lugging full crates of beer nearly a kilometer from our beer store to our apartment and carrying the empty crate back to refill I finally came across the discovery of a lifetime..........beer delivery service!  I was making the monthly exchange this week when I noticed the store's van outside that advertised "Lieferservice" (delivery service).  I found out that these guys will deliver a full crate of 20 beers to your flat for 1 Euro!  Needless to say I ordered a couple of crates and had them delivered to my door after I got home from work the next day.  

There are many techniques for hefting these crates to and fro one's apartment - none of which I will share because I'll never carry another one again!  Here are my two crates delivered right to my balcony.

Perhaps your local beer store will also deliver, but I've never heard of it happening in the States unless you were ordering multiple kegs for whatever reason.  I bet your beer store hasn't let you "just come back tomorrow" to pay for the case that you're taking home because their debit card machine is down.  Yeah, that happened to me too.  Be jealous.  The only flaw is their lack of microbrew, but who can complain?

Cheers!

--Justin