Not just any weekend.

This makes me think of that old riddle, “Brothers and sisters I have none,  but that man’s father is my father’s son.  Who am I?” 

If you figure it out, fine.  If not, it’s no big deal.

Here’s my version.  I’ve been married twice,  both times on August 11th,  but to how many women?

 

Just one.

Long story.  Not really blog fodder.

Couldn’t have really planned on getting married twice on the same date, it just worked out that way.  We count the Anniversaries from the first one,  which makes it 22 years. Travelling Companion and I actually met in 1978,  and there were a few extra years in there,  but Anniversaries are only counted from the date of a wedding.   We probably would have got hitched sooner,  but we had to scrape together enough dough for the whole thing first.  Times ‘was a wee bit lean’, if you know what I mean?   We’ve all had them.

 

So Saturday night was going to be a “night out”.  Only dinner,  no movie.   Why is “dinner and a movie”  considered a “night out”?   Where did that come from?

The original plan was to go to Zur Alten Kaisermühle,  which was the place where T.C. went on Thursday night with the big group,  but I was having some issues.  I figured Friday would be early enough for reservations,  if we needed them,  but nobody was answering their phone,  and then all the reviews I read weren’t really all that glowing.  Most of them were in German too,  so it wasn’t like they were only treating the tourists shabbily.  My thoughts were that,  the “big group” had received decent service and food since it was a big company after all.   Not only that, but someone “signed for”  the bill on Thursday night,  since it turns out they don’t take credit cards.  

This is 2012 right?  What restaurant doesn’t take credit cards?  I mean,  we tend to pay cash anyway,  since credit card charges in any foreign currency are pretty much highway robbery,  so we’d sooner get nicked a bit on the bank charges when we withdraw from the ATM.   But who is going to want to pony up that much cash for a group of 20-25?   No wonder there had been an account set up.  Funny business.

We might stop by there one day for a coffee,  since the place is situated right on the Danube,  but as it was bit cool and raining off and on Saturday evening as it was,  I had no huge desire to sit outside for a couple hours.

As it turned out,  I ended up make a reservation at Frank's.

Seems to me the full name is “Frank’s American Bar and Restaurant” although,  there’s not much in Vienna that’s truly “American”,  with the possible exception of TGI Fridays.   Well,  there’s McDonalds and their ilk,  but really?

We’ve been to Franks a couple times before,  and I knew I wanted a burger.  They do make a decent burger.  And the beer is cold.  Curiously enough too,  they served “Löwenbräu”,  which is brewed by Anheuser-Busch InBev.    Different pronunciation,  and hugely different taste from the stuff that got stepped on a little by the Miller Brewing Company back in the 1970s

 

If you’d like a brief (like,  12 seconds long) tutorial on the pronunciation of Löwenbräu,  I’ve included a handy little YouTube video.   Get practising.

 

 

It’s very accurate.  Trust me.

 

 

I took this picture on the way back,  since it was the way we should have gone to get there.   One section of the subway that I needed for our journey is closed for the summer,  as Wiener Linien is doing some revamping,  so we had to make our way through the rabbit warren that is the centre of Vienna on foot.   I took ONE WRONG TURN.    It’s a rabbit warren I tell you!   I hadn’t been there in a while,  and I got confused.   It meant T.C. and I had to walk an extra couple hundred metres,  and we made it to the restaurant at the prescribed reservation time,  but with T.C.’s knees as they are,  an extra couple hundred metres after not very much walking at all is just a little too much to bear. 

I think a couple glasses of wine helped deaden the pain,  but still…

Talk about ‘leading someone astray’.

 

This was the way we were supposed to go.  Even Google Maps had it right.

I probably should have taken a minute or two on Saturday afternoon and prepared this little helpful map to get us from the Subway stop to the restaurant.  *sigh*

Bonehead.

Lucky for me Travelling Companion doesn’t hold a grudge when it comes to these minor “brain farts” that I have once in a while.  I think she’d have quite a list.  

Hm,  maybe there is a list?  Gah! Let’s hope not.

 

Sunday?  Meh,  Sunday was more or less the “Movie” part of the “Dinner and a Movie” scenario.   Didn’t do too much else but gaze at the tube.  No ambition whatsoever.   My idea of having a “Celebration”.    Maybe when we hit 25 years,  we’ll have some big splashy thing, but it’ll be catered methinks.

 

Keep those sticks on the ice.

 

Thanks for stopping by.

 

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