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Chug-A-Lug
-Bryan & Jessica
Tuesday, August 16, 2011
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
A Saturday Bike Ride Through Berlin
It was a year after my good friend Preston and I had been to Ireland and we were getting the itch
to travel again. I'll never forget the day we went to the local Barnes and Noble
and stood in the travel book section and like it was planned both reached for a
book on Germany. I remember taking that book over to the table and reviewing
all the maps and the top tens. There was no other place in the world I would
have rather gone, there was just one thing. I had only been dating Jessica for
about two months and I had a dilemma… invite her even though we had been
together 2 months or let things play out and hope it all worked out in the end.
Well after one drink with her on our first date it was the easiest decision I
ever made. Later that night the three of us were booked for passage all the way
to Berlin, Germany.
Berlin
was such an education and vacation all rolled into one. There is no way I can
capture all of it in on blog, so this will be my first of many stories
regarding this true treasure of a vacation. Today I want to focus on the Fat
Tire Bike Tour that Preston and I took the first day we were there. We
navigated all the way from our rented home to Alexanderplatz where we were scheduled
to take a bike tour of Berlin. I had know idea what to expect but when you take
a Fat Tire Bike Tour just sit back and relax…you are in good hands! Everyone
should experience the city with one of the amazing guided tours that they offer. The tour takes you all over the city
from some of its most infamous sites during the war, to some of the most
beautiful architecture. Along the way you discover that this is more then just
a city where a war took place, this is a place of people who actually lived there
and rebuilt this city into something that can be cherished by all.
In Berlin
there is truly something for everyone. The tour stops in the middle at a
beautiful beer garden in the park where you have a chance to discuss everything
you have seen and wash those memories down with a liter of beer and a pork chop
sandwich!
Toward
the end of bike tour Preston and I spotted a little piece of home, it was Berlin’s
only Tex-Mex Cantina and of course two boys from Texas had to stop there. I will
admit that the restaurant needs a little help in what they call Mexican food
but you have to love the effort and after 6 beers who cares that your
quesadilla comes with toast and fries..not me!
The best part about sitting at
that restaurant is that you get to sit, and sometimes that is the best part of
vacation. Just getting to sit and talk with your friend over a beer! Not to
mention the weather was beautiful, cold grey October skies, which to me are the
only skies to travel in. Preston and I made it back to the bike shop and each
enjoyed a Berliner Pilsner, which the bike shop sold for only 1 euro. We sat in the park next to the shop for
a while finishing what seemed like the best beers of our lives when the
ultimate destination was spotted! Across the field on the other side of the park was a sign
that read “Live Karaoke” at the Irish Bar.
To be continued...
Prost!
Bryan
Monday, August 1, 2011
One Step at a Time...William Wallace Monument in Stirling, Scotland
You've just hoofed it 246 steps, you're panting heavy and cursing the fact there isn't an elevator. It crosses your mind that maybe that last pint of Belhaven was not such a good idea. Suddenly a gust of wind snaps you out of your haze and your equilibrium is put to the test.
You peer over the edge and realize just how high up you are. Gulp. The crisp cool air and the beauty of the emerald green hills surrounding you invigorate your senses. The city of Stirling looks like a perfect diorama. As you walk around the observation deck (clutching to the side for dear life) you feel a sense of pride. Maybe it's the fact that you made it to the top without passing out; or perhaps, it's the spirit of Sir William Wallace. That could explain why you felt compelled to yell "they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!"
Or, it could be because you watched Braveheart one too many times in preparation for your trip. Whatever the case, there's nothing quite as beautiful or rewarding as taking a minute to gaze upon the magic and the history that is Stirling, Scotland. As cliche as it may sound, it's so very true.
Now, climb down those stairs, purchase a mini William Wallace statuette, a souvenir can of haggis (if you're feeling crazy) and go have yourself some fish n' chips and a nice cold one at Westerton Arms.
Cheers!
Jessica
You peer over the edge and realize just how high up you are. Gulp. The crisp cool air and the beauty of the emerald green hills surrounding you invigorate your senses. The city of Stirling looks like a perfect diorama. As you walk around the observation deck (clutching to the side for dear life) you feel a sense of pride. Maybe it's the fact that you made it to the top without passing out; or perhaps, it's the spirit of Sir William Wallace. That could explain why you felt compelled to yell "they may take our lives, but they'll never take our freedom!"
Or, it could be because you watched Braveheart one too many times in preparation for your trip. Whatever the case, there's nothing quite as beautiful or rewarding as taking a minute to gaze upon the magic and the history that is Stirling, Scotland. As cliche as it may sound, it's so very true.
Now, climb down those stairs, purchase a mini William Wallace statuette, a souvenir can of haggis (if you're feeling crazy) and go have yourself some fish n' chips and a nice cold one at Westerton Arms.
Cheers!
Jessica
View of Stirling from the top of the monument.
View of William Wallace Monument from Stirling Castle.
At Stirling Castle...on our way to get a Belhaven...then to on to channel our inner Braveheart.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Let the Countdown Begin!
Only a mere 8 weeks until we embark on our journey to Munich, Salzburg and Prague! We couldn't be more excited to discover beautiful landmarks, art, history, architecture, culinary delights, bicycle tours....and of course, beer! Let's face it all three of these cities are known for their brew and we can't wait to wet our whistles.
Bryan and I have a tradition we follow each year in preparation for our big trip abroad. About two months out from the trip, we like to pre-purchase all our train tickets, bicycle tours, museum tickets etc. Not because you necessarily have to, but because it's fun and begins the official countdown. Okay, so maybe we are over-planning travel nerds. But I have to tell you, there is something really gratifying about getting train tickets to Europe in the mail. It adds a little pizazz to an otherwise dull Tuesday. I mean really, how often do you actually get something exciting via snail mail anymore?
Next, we like to obsesses about the perfect travel duds. And no, I'm not referring to Magellan's in-flight collection available via Sky Mall (or a fanny pack). There are certain things a young urban couple must have to fashionably traipse about Europe in. For Bryan, one year it was blue cargo pants and a Hugo Boss v-neck black sweater. For me, I always imagine myself in some hip leather boots, designer skinny jeans, a cool fitted jacket and a fashionable scarf. We'd scour malls, cool indie shops and one year even the army navy store searching for the perfect pieces to trot the globe in. So what are the hot in-vogue outfits we end up with? T-shirts, sweaters from our closet, regular ol' jeans and a couple of pair of Pumas. After going on a few trips abroad, we've both come to realize that we basically end up wearing the same thing everyday. In fact, in a good majority of vacation photos from the last three years, I have the same thing on: a paperboy hat, grey sweater and one of two favorite scarves. If it weren't for my constantly changing hair color, you'd think it was one long continuous trip! So this year, instead of conceptualizing cool outfits, we are going with what's in our closet and setting our sights (and money) on a good travel backpack. If you have any suggestions, please tweet them our way (@a6packofstories). That's not to say I'm not still thinking about those perfect leather boots...
So after the train tickets are purchased and the outfits are planned, next we like to get the passports out for display. Not like placed on a pedestal inside a glass box or anything; just out in plain sight. We usually put our passports and all our tickets on the breakfast bar about two weeks out from the trip. Okay, I guess we are nerds. However it's a little something fun to remind us that a trip of lifetime is just around the corner. A little motivation to get through those last couple of work weeks and closer to vaycay bliss.
Alright, so now you are up to speed on our OCD and slightly narcissistic vacation rituals. If you don't have any of your own, I suggest you pick some up. If you already do, share them with us! Maybe we can add them to ours.
So in case you are wondering, if my feet could stand it and our budget was limitless; this little number would be my dream travel outfit: http://bit.ly/nhLdC0. However, let it be known that even if I was "blow my nose in money rich," I would never spend $750 on a scarf. Holla!
Bottoms up!
Jessica
Bryan and I have a tradition we follow each year in preparation for our big trip abroad. About two months out from the trip, we like to pre-purchase all our train tickets, bicycle tours, museum tickets etc. Not because you necessarily have to, but because it's fun and begins the official countdown. Okay, so maybe we are over-planning travel nerds. But I have to tell you, there is something really gratifying about getting train tickets to Europe in the mail. It adds a little pizazz to an otherwise dull Tuesday. I mean really, how often do you actually get something exciting via snail mail anymore?
Next, we like to obsesses about the perfect travel duds. And no, I'm not referring to Magellan's in-flight collection available via Sky Mall (or a fanny pack). There are certain things a young urban couple must have to fashionably traipse about Europe in. For Bryan, one year it was blue cargo pants and a Hugo Boss v-neck black sweater. For me, I always imagine myself in some hip leather boots, designer skinny jeans, a cool fitted jacket and a fashionable scarf. We'd scour malls, cool indie shops and one year even the army navy store searching for the perfect pieces to trot the globe in. So what are the hot in-vogue outfits we end up with? T-shirts, sweaters from our closet, regular ol' jeans and a couple of pair of Pumas. After going on a few trips abroad, we've both come to realize that we basically end up wearing the same thing everyday. In fact, in a good majority of vacation photos from the last three years, I have the same thing on: a paperboy hat, grey sweater and one of two favorite scarves. If it weren't for my constantly changing hair color, you'd think it was one long continuous trip! So this year, instead of conceptualizing cool outfits, we are going with what's in our closet and setting our sights (and money) on a good travel backpack. If you have any suggestions, please tweet them our way (@a6packofstories). That's not to say I'm not still thinking about those perfect leather boots...
So after the train tickets are purchased and the outfits are planned, next we like to get the passports out for display. Not like placed on a pedestal inside a glass box or anything; just out in plain sight. We usually put our passports and all our tickets on the breakfast bar about two weeks out from the trip. Okay, I guess we are nerds. However it's a little something fun to remind us that a trip of lifetime is just around the corner. A little motivation to get through those last couple of work weeks and closer to vaycay bliss.
Alright, so now you are up to speed on our OCD and slightly narcissistic vacation rituals. If you don't have any of your own, I suggest you pick some up. If you already do, share them with us! Maybe we can add them to ours.
So in case you are wondering, if my feet could stand it and our budget was limitless; this little number would be my dream travel outfit: http://bit.ly/nhLdC0. However, let it be known that even if I was "blow my nose in money rich," I would never spend $750 on a scarf. Holla!
Bottoms up!
Jessica
Monday, May 23, 2011
A Different Kind of "Craft" Beer
I come from a family of artists. My mom is all around crafty; she can literally make something from nothing. Growing up our garage was always filled with buckets of bottle caps and empty bottles. I would often stare into the heaps of junk and think to myself: my god my mother is a hoarder what the hell is she ever going to do with that stuff?! Two months later I would look in the garage to find a funky coffee table, made from you guessed it, bottle caps and beer bottles. My father, brother and sister-in-law have been lucky enough to make careers purely from their artistic talents (check out their sites: Tad Dowdy Custom Models and Dowdy Studio). My older brother (another artist) can literally scratch weld/build/create anything from hand. Yes, I am totally jealous. I have always played it safe and kept on the corporate career route. However, every now and then I like to try and get a little crafty and put what little "art skills" I inherited to use.
Each time Bryan and I go on a trip, I collect just about every piece of literature you can imagine from the city we are visiting. Brochures, receipts, postcards, ticket stubs, maps, bus schedules, newspapers; if its paper it goes into my purse. Like my mother, I collect these things with the intent of making some kind of cool art piece or scrapbook. I rarely ever get around to doing it. A couple of weeks ago while enjoying my favorite Friday five o'clock beer, Bitburger, I decided to dig into the box that holds all these random pieces of paper and do something with them. I knew it would have to be something easy and something that didn't take longer than an hour to do (I have a short attention span for art projects). Looking around our apartment I noticed we were in need of some new coasters. Bingo!
A quick trip to the local Michael's Craft Store for a decoupage set and a bag of circle and oval wooden cutouts and craft night was on!
The first step in creating the custom coaster required sanding the perimeter of the wooden cutouts. Seeing as I don't craft that often I had to use what I had...so I sanded with a nail file. It got the job done.
You can take an even easier route and simply glue a pre-existing coaster to the wooden cutouts. That's what I did with a few coasters I picked up at bars in Amsterdam and Scotland. The other coaster in the photo includes a section of a street map from San Francisco. A fun happy hour project complete!
Cheers!
--Jessica
Each time Bryan and I go on a trip, I collect just about every piece of literature you can imagine from the city we are visiting. Brochures, receipts, postcards, ticket stubs, maps, bus schedules, newspapers; if its paper it goes into my purse. Like my mother, I collect these things with the intent of making some kind of cool art piece or scrapbook. I rarely ever get around to doing it. A couple of weeks ago while enjoying my favorite Friday five o'clock beer, Bitburger, I decided to dig into the box that holds all these random pieces of paper and do something with them. I knew it would have to be something easy and something that didn't take longer than an hour to do (I have a short attention span for art projects). Looking around our apartment I noticed we were in need of some new coasters. Bingo!
A quick trip to the local Michael's Craft Store for a decoupage set and a bag of circle and oval wooden cutouts and craft night was on!
The first step in creating the custom coaster required sanding the perimeter of the wooden cutouts. Seeing as I don't craft that often I had to use what I had...so I sanded with a nail file. It got the job done.
Next, I dug through my box of trip paraphernalia and chose a bus schedule brochure that I collected in Vancouver, Canada last year.
I selected the scene I wanted to use for the main focal point of the coaster and began to clip away.
Once I had the scene cut out that I wanted to use it was time for the fun part: Modge Podging! Just lather up a sponge brush and paint under and over the selection.
Keep slathering on the modge podge until the paper is smooth and shiney! The result a fun custom coaster that is also a good conversation piece.
You can take an even easier route and simply glue a pre-existing coaster to the wooden cutouts. That's what I did with a few coasters I picked up at bars in Amsterdam and Scotland. The other coaster in the photo includes a section of a street map from San Francisco. A fun happy hour project complete!
Cheers!
--Jessica
Tuesday, May 17, 2011
Cold Weather, Mac & Cheese and Kronenbourg 1664
Most Pre-Thanksgiving nights are filled with family and preparing for the coming feast that will be on the last Thursday of November. It’s a time to give thanks and enjoy family! Back in the year of 2007 Jessica and I shared what I call my most memorable pre-Thanksgiving night ever. On that very cold and windy night, we braved the weather, headed out of our Dallas apartment and went on a last second foil run that lead to one of my most cherished discoveries. That night I found a beer called Kronenbourg 1664 that I now give thanks to every year. On that night Jessica and I decided to make a 7-Cheese Macaroni dish, that I have to say was out of this world, and enjoyed for several days after Thanksgiving.
As we were preparing our dish we ran into a problem that I’m sure occurs in just about every household that is preparing for Thanksgiving. Inevitably something is forgotten at the store and for us that was foil. We walked over to our local CVS to pick up some up. Anyone living in Dallas knows that Thanksgiving weather is a total crapshoot. That particular evening the weather became so cold and windy we nearly froze to death on our foil run.
We decided naturally that what we needed to do was get some beer to warm up with and enjoy while we cooked. Thankfully we decided on Kronenbourg 1664. The taste is so unique; its light and crisp flavor never lets you down. The flavor rich taste becomes almost sweet in your mouth but still allows you to be a man when you’re drinking it! While letting our dish cook in the oven we opened the windows and allowed the heat from the oven to warm the apartment. Yes it was a very small place!
We popped in a movie called “After the Wedding”, which is a foreign independent film that I highly recommend (it's about reconnecting with a past love). I suggest that you watch it while your Thanksgiving meal is cooking, sitting next to the one you love, and enjoying a Kronenbourg 1664. Hopefully it will make for just as special a night as it did for me!
À la votre!
-Bryan
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