Unlike
, I feel a little more safe in Germany. In fact, kids walk to school here, and I even walked to the Paradox for lunch today by myself. It's located about half a mile from our hotel, right next to the railroad tracks. Stefan, the owner of the hotel [Ramsteiner Hof], gave me walking directions since JD had the car.
our hotel
I, of course, went the wrong way and ended up at the high school on the other side of town instead of the restaurant.
Fortunately, the tiny town of Ramstein-Meisenbacher is fairly navigable.
I arrived at The Paradox and sat at a table beside the fireplace. I dipped my spoon into a bowl of goulash soup - a spicy, delicious mixture of beef and veggies - which then carried into a course of spinach ravioli in a spinach cream sauce paired with a small Coke. As many of you probably know, few restaurants (if any) in Europe give free refills and never put ice in the drinks. It's probably healthier that way. It's a way of encouraging partakers to savor their drinks, plus the beverages are never watered-down. Not a bad idea.
The word for thank you in German is pronounced "dankha." In attempt to speak their language, I eagerly told the German waiter "donkey" when he brought out my food.
He laughed at me with a nice sincerity as if to say, "Nice try, American."
He tried to speak English too. His attempt went more along the lines of, "Do you have any more wishes?" instead of "Can I get you anything else?" It reminded me of this scene from The Princess Bride - one of mine and JD's all-time favorite movies...
This weekend, my girlfriends and I are getting together for a Christmas Progressive Dinner. I'm hosting the soup course... anyone have a great recipe they'd like to share??
I've been searching for the perfect French Onion Soup recipe for a couple of years now...
