Night of Firsts

Well, my husband has been on 4 trips this year already (America, Germany, Spain, & Hungary), and me, I haven't had a night on the town in ages.  That was until this past weekend!  My husband was in Budapest, my daughter at her aunt's, and I was home with the dog.  I had no intentions of sitting home alone so my mother-in-law (we're kindred spirits) and I decided to hit the town!

The 1st "first" :
I finally had the nerve and the event to wear my new skull shirt!  (Well, new, um, it was actually a Christmas present.)

 

The 2nd "first" :
Tried out a new Italian restaurant I've been eyeing down, Mi Dica.  Great atmosphere, good service, boring food, oh well!

The 3rd "first" :
Restaurants besides McDonald's are stepping into the 21st century... instead of a printed menu, the entire menu was on a mini iPad (possibly tablet, not sure, it was dark)!

The 4th "first" :
Finally dared play Black Jack at the casino.  It's much faster than roulette which I tend to play, but I think I can get into it!  (BTW, I love the casino!)

The 5th "first" :
After a night on the town, thought I'd kick back with a glass of merlot... that was until I launched the bottle off the counter while trying to open it... never had to clean up a mess like that before!

All in all, it was a good night, but I am definitely glad to have the family back home!

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica 

Sneakerz

Some friends of ours were visiting from Australia so this called for a night on the town.  And being that there is always something to do in Eindhoven, to our benefit there was a huge stage and dj's set up not far from where we live.  We enjoyed a few drinks at the bar many internationals seem to migrate to, the Irish pub.  Then we hit up our favorite steakhouse.  And after that we were off to find out just what the music echoing through the city center was all about.  Turned out it's called Sneakerz in de Stad.  It's a platform for international dj's to present their house music and even better, the event was free!  In my daily life you're not going to catch me playing techno around the house, but when you just want to jump around and have some fun on a night out, techno is perfect to get the crowd excited (at least here in The Netherlands).  At some point when I looked around the event I definitely thought... I'm getting old, all of these kids are in their early 20's...  why am I the only one wearing a fluorescent shirt standing in front by the stage...  don't loose your slip-on shoes because the ground is disgustingly sticky.  But overall, it was fun and worth popping by to join in the mayhem.

Van De Streek Bier

Beer is pretty common in our house, sure we have our favorites but we are also willing to branch out and try a variety of brands (generally those on sale, ha-ha!)  When one of my husbands employees decided to take a personal hobby to the next level and start brewing beer for the public, we jumped on board and ordered a 12 pack.  It took a while but a week or so ago the beer arrived!  I was pleasantly surprised to find two types of beer in the box, a pale ale and a dark roast.  Since it was Friday we popped the beers in the fridge and patiently waited for them to cool.  Now I'm not sure if the dark roast was supposed to be served cold or warm, but I'm not a fan of warm beer so we drank it cold.  (Probably should have asked the brewer.)  Both types of beer were nice but I took to the dark roast, maybe because it's a coffee stout.  One thing my husband had to warn me about was the alcohol content, apparently these beers are much stronger than the grocery store beer.  That was quite evident after even just one.  As far as I know, the beer is only available here in The Netherlands, and since it's a fairly new company they are now trying to get their product into bars.. who knows maybe one day it'll be on the shelf at the store also.  I wish the Van De Streek brothers a lot of success in their endeavors, proost (cheers)!

Worthy Wine

I'm a big fan of dry red wines, you'll almost never see me with a glass of blush or white wine.  This Christmas season my husband decided to surprise me with two bottles of lovely red wine.  Not the usual reasonably priced merlot I pick up at the grocery store, but bottles that cost more than I would ever fork out for wine.  I am happy to say I enjoyed each one to the last drop!  I am far from a wine connoisseur but I could definitely taste the difference between the two bottles, and if I had to choose again, I would go with the Amarone over the Château Preuillac any day.  I can not justly describe the wines to you, so I looked up the descriptions.  And since I couldn't find the right photos (Google let me down), I took my own!  Anyone else enjoy a worthy bottle of wine this holiday season?   
 

 

Amarone Villa Arvedi 2009 Valpolicella Bertani
Borrowed description :
Deep dark ruby with a violet rim. Notes of black and sour cherries, berries, spices and dried fruit. The palate is creamy with soft tannins and integrated oak. A lighter, fruitier and younger version of Bertani’s icon Amarone Classico.



Château Preuillac Cru Bourgeois 2006 Medoc
Borrowed description :
Classic, balanced wine with a twist of richness. The black currant flavors are almost jelly-like in their sweetness, although these flavors are well balanced with acidity and a firm layer of dry tannins.