loungeburger

loungeburger.com

As my sister astutely pointed out, I owe you all a restaurant review and I didn’t do it.  Well here’s the thing, I think that says a lot about my experience there, it was forgettable.

loungeburger looks great when you first walk in and the bar really draws your attention with it’s great faux rock faces, unfortunately after about ten minutes you start to realize the serious need for a false ceiling in the place so that you don’t have to see the stacks of junk on the top floor.  Ok, admittedly it’s not likely that most people would notice this but I did and it drove me nuts.  The saving grace was the bathrooms which were pretty freaking awesome with a wicked patterned tile on the walls and some inventive sinks cut from marble.  [Full disclosure:  I LOVE bathrooms.  If I’m in a restaurant it’s what I check out first to know how classy (or not) the place is.]

True to it’s name loungeburger concentrates on burgers mostly and they are good.  But for a place that concentrates on burgers I expected more than good, I expected exceptional.  I had the Kobe Beef Burger with a salad and while it was better than Wendy’s it didn’t come anywhere close to my expectations.  For that matter I didn’t think it really lived up to the menu description which included horseradish aioli and a pretzel bun, neither of which I thought were in the burger that I received.  Couple that with the half dead lettuce mixed through my salad and I left feeling like a Happy Meal would have done more to brighten my day!

It would be unfair to end this review without pointing out that we did have good service and to a person, the four others with me absolutely loved their burgers and raved about them for quite a while.  I suppose my final assessment would be, try it and let me know what you think, but for heaven’s sake don’t look up because the ceiling is ugly.

Wurst Restaurant & Beer Hall

www.wurst.ca


Located on 4th Street in the old Forzani's Running Room building is a new restaurant named Wurst.  Thankfully it's not the worst I've been to.  See, I can make that play on words because they do it all the time.  It's a little bold and kind of lame if you ask me but I suppose it seems to be working for them.


When you walk in on the first floor you're greeted with a beautiful and elegant dinning room with large trees down the center and if you're looking for a nice place to take someone I'm guessing it's pretty grande. We on the other hand were wearing work clothes so we headed downstairs to the bar.  We chose Wurst tonight because Eric is building another bar by the same designer and we wanted to check out some of his other work and this new place.  Although Wurst is by the same designer as The Craft Brew House and the soon to be open Common Wealth it's owned by the same people who run the Mercato just down the street and is not actually related to the other two.  When you're down at the bar that's pretty hard to tell.  The designer used a lot of the same elements in all three places and given my unpleasant experience at The Craft Brew House I'm not sure you'd want to look like you're related.  All that being said we loved the interior which feels oddly like you're in a bunker in World War II, in a comforting way of course.  The large picnic style tables were the highlight for me and when you add that to their impressive selection of German beers and the personal beer stein lockers (great idea) it's hard not to feel like you're at a Bavarian Beer Festival.


Of course at any good beer festival you have to have beer and Wurst is packed with plenty of fine beers which you can get in sizes ranging from 200 ml testers to the whopping boot size which looks like it holds half a keg...ok maybe not quite that much.  We both tried the Erdinger Dunkle on the recommendation of a friend and it's absolutely become a new favourite.


Wurst's relationship to the Mercato shines through in the food which was German in influence and for the most part delicious.  We ordered the Apple Beet Salad which has a mustard-slaw-dressing and for me it was another highlight.  Eric and I gave it a 7.5/10 and I would recommend it to anyone.  Next up was the Pile of Bratwurst which comes with four Brats, braised beets and creamed potato.  Honestly I think Eric would have had another whole plate of this as the Brats had just the right amount of spice and the rest of the dish serves only to enhance the flavour.  We gave it an 8.5/10 and if you ever wish to bribe Eric I think this is the best way to his heart.  For our last dish we tried the Cast Iron Lamb Crepe, partially because it's lamb and partially because it sounded odd.  The dish certainly wasn't bad but we both found it greasy and a little bland.  Although they try to liven it up with a fresh salad on top it just isn't tangy enough to over-ride the grease in the rest of the dish.  It's too bad because I really feel this dish could hit the mark with a few small tweaks.  We gave the lamb a 4/10.


Last but certainly not least is the service.  Simply put it was very good.  Our waitress was quite attentive and when we had the unfortunate issue of finding a piece of plastic in our lamb she went immediately to Josh the Manager whom we then watched as he gathered the kitchen staff and found out exactly how this could have happened before coming to apologize and explain.   I felt it was exceptionally nice that he actually took the time to find out how it happened and explained it to us.  I haven't had that happen before.  In the end they took that dish off our bill and gave us a gift certificate for our next visit. 


Despite the lamb dish and it's many flaws (including the plastic) I'm going to give Wurst a 7/10.  I feel like it's a great new concept in Calgary and the other dishes we tried were great.  Add to that the customer service we got and I think it's the place to go if you're feeling German for the night or just want a good beer.  The only thing I really wish they had was a patio but I know that with City of Calgary regulations there's a good possibility that isn't an option.  If you're on 4th sometime soon walk past your old favourites and try out Wurst I think you'll find it lovely.

About To Embark

On Wednesday we will leave again for Kenya. It's a short one this time, only 2.5 weeks but we're excited to see what has changed, what has stayed the same and what still feels like home. With so much personal crap going on lately it's been hard to get focused but finally in these last few days it's coming together...THANK GOD! Follow us at Safari ya Kikanisa and we'll do our best to keep you updated.

Sleep deprivation strikes again!

After our last blog post we were hurriedly rushed on to our plane for boarding. As the plane was loading Eric had pointed out a massive storm headed our way and as the last person got on and the doors were closed the storm had completely enveloped us. This meant that a great deal of ice started to form on the wings. Eric being as smart as he is had figured out that this would happen but apparently the crew at LHR wasn’t exactly on the ball. We spent the next two hours sitting on the ground waiting to be de-iced and sweltering because in order to de-ice a plane you have to turn off the AC. (You’d think someone would have figured out how to do it without frustrating a plane full of a couple hundred customers.)

Finally our plane took off and away we went to Beautiful British Columbia! To combat the expected Jet-Lag we both tried valiantly to stay up during the flight and Eric didn’t do all that well. By the end of the flight I was repeatedly pinching him trying to keep him awake and he was sleeping right through it.

We arrived at Heather and Glen’s around 2300hrs and by this time we were exhausted. I was so tired I was actually slurring my words and generally drunk on a lack of sleep. You don’t realize what sleep deprivation can do to you until you try and have a coherent conversation. The conversation didn’t last too long and we were all off to bed.

Today we went for a walk with Glen around his community and grabbed a Starbucks...mmmmm, good coffee is so hard to come by!

Dublin Whirlwind Tour

Friday

- Picked up Shray and headed for the Botanical Gardens which was MUCH bigger than any of us had anticipated. We walked around for a couple hours and saw most of what there was to see.
- Headed for Dublin Castle as it was the one thing Shray wanted to see this time. Got lost and got there too late.
- Headed to Christ Church Cathedral, got there too late to see the inside.
- Realized everything in Dublin closes early so that everyone who works can go drink.
- Decided we should go have a drink.
- Met up with Glenn to have dinner and walked until we found a place which took quite a while because we were all very indecisive. Dave and Bev had offered to buy us dinner and it was grand. Thank you!
- Went to bed

Saturday

- Picked Shray and then went back to Glenn’s house where we dropped the car.
- Took the train down town and didn’t get lost.
- Went to the Museum and looked at Irish History.
- Went to Dublin Castle and took the tour. Pretty interesting stuff even if it doesn’t totally look like a castle.
- Decided Royal People really like GOLD!
- Went to Christ Church Cathedral and tried to get inside. We were late again.
- Eric lied (kind of) to a Holy Guy and we got in anyways.
- Realized my husband may go to hell but the church and the crypt were pretty cool.
- Had a moment with God in front of some candles. Maybe that made up for the lying.
- Went to pick up Glenn from work.
- Went to some famous pubs and some not so famous ones. The Temple Bar sucks! Go to the not so famous ones.

Sunday

- Got home early, went to bed.
- Slept in.
- Picked up Shray and headed for Swords castle. It’s closed for renovation but was very funky and castle-ly. A pear tree on the grounds tried to attack Eric and he blamed it on Shray...not very nice of him or the tree.
- Shray spotted something cool looking from a distance and we drove in circles until we found it. Turns out it was a very cool, very old church and cemetery. Good thing we had her spotting skills and Eric’s driving skills!!!
- Said goodbye to Shray and dropped her at the airport. Sad to see her go but VERY thankful for the time we got to spend with her. She’s a great travel companion! Can’t wait for the next Red Deer Road Trip with the whole gang!
- Went to Glenn’s and hung out and then hit up a pub for dinner. Again it was supposedly famous and in all reality it was just ok.
- Went to bed.

Monday

- Headed out of town toward Kilkenny. Doug had told Eric there are castles everywhere there.
- Found a broken castle and took some pics.
- Continued to Kilkenny and found Kilkenny Castle. Bought tickets for the tour but it wasn’t until 1600hrs and so we headed out for another drive.
- Found a church and some great country side.
- Went back for the tour and thankfully Glenn had been before and apparently his tour guide was better so we got a secondary tour from him. Still one question unanswered...Why were the two girls in the paintings in the library topless?
- Headed out into the park around the castle to find some other old things we had seen but never found them and almost got locked out of the park.
- IMAGINARY (Then we had to make our way across a field being covered by snipers without getting shot in order to get to our car.) IMAGINARY
- Started home and stopped at a pub on the way home for dinner. It wasn’t great but at least the pub atmosphere was better than the Temple Bar.
- Went to bed.

Tuesday

- Got up early and finished packing and loading the car for the drive back to Belfast.
- Said goodbye to Glenn. Very Sad!
- Felt very proud of our friend and cousin for living halfway across the world by themselves. It’s not easy to be here when you have a travel companion let alone by yourself.
- Drove to Belfast without taking a wrong turn...a first for everything in Ireland!!!! It was very close though since Belfast has two airports and we almost headed to the wrong one.
- Experienced our first snow of the season on the way to Belfast. Nasty, blowing, wet stuff...gross. THAILAND WE MISS YOU!!!!!!!!!!!
- Made our flight with plenty of time but were reminded again of how unbelievably pricey everything is here.
- Arrived in LHR and we’re on our way to Vancouver!!!!

It seems really weird to be leaving a country already. We’re not used to this. On the other hand, home is very quietly calling and we hear that at least it’s warmer there for the time being.

“You better come back home because I’m not coming here again!”

We did as promised in Bangkok and remained safe. What we didn’t do was catch our flight out of town. I misread our itinerary and as we were sitting in our hotel room at 0113hrs on Tuesday morning chatting with Glenn about when we would arrive in Ireland (Oh yeah, ps, on the way home we’re taking a one week detour to see Glenn Calderwood.) we both had a sudden realization that I had seriously screwed up and our flight had left Bangkok about 30 minutes ago. It’s really quite amazing what fear and panic can do to you, especially in a situation you’ve never experienced before.

We ran around the room simultaneously packing and calling the Calgary travel agent trying to figure out what to do next. After finding out that any customer service for BA is closed until 0800hrs the next morning the travel agent suggested we head for the airport and try and find someone there. In about 20 minutes we had packed and were seated in a cab for a very fast trip to the airport.

Upon arriving we spent about an hour wandering the airport looking for a BA desk and slowly coming to the realization there wasn’t one. We asked Customer Service and they referred us to the same Thailand phone number that we already knew wasn’t open until 0800hrs. So we found a quiet place, topped up our minutes on the phone and started calling. We had booked our flights with AMA in Calgary and they tell you straight off the bat that once you leave the city on your trip there usually isn’t much they can do for you until you get back home. Thinking back this now makes me wonder why the hell you would go through a travel agent (or at least that one), what did they do that I couldn’t have? Regardless of all this I called them for the second time on this Calgary afternoon and talked to the wonderful Kimberly. I told her what had happened and where we were now and asked for a number for BA in Calgary since it was obvious I wasn’t getting anywhere here. She put me on hold, actually, she put me on hold for a long time. I sat in the Bangkok airport wondering what the hell I should do while she put me on hold from Calgary for about seven minutes. Seven minutes seems like forever in this circumstance! As I finally started to convince myself that this was useless, I should hang up and go wonder the airport in search of WI-FI she came back on the line. She hadn’t gotten the number for me, but she had rebooked our flights for the same time the next night and she was working on rebooking our connector to Belfast.

With a moderate sigh of relief we headed back to the hotel where they graciously let us check back in for free. After an email to Glenn explaining that I’m an idiot and why we had suddenly disappeared off the chat we settled in for a VERY fitful sleep that was anything but restful. Stress is hard on your body!

By 1300hrs on Tuesday we were back at the airport and trying to check in and get the tickets we were told should be booked for us on the 0045hrs Wednesday flight (QF0001). We found the desk which was less hidden than the night before and started talking to a Lovely Thai Girl (LTG). It’s important to know that at this point we were certain we were going to have to pay for new tickets to London and Belfast but we weren’t going to offer unless asked. We explained our situation and she took our passports and looked up the information and somehow we walked away with new tickets to London for free! I don’t know how LTG did it or why but I’ve decided she must be close to a Saint. We now had just under 12 hours to waste in the Bangkok airport. It’s a big airport, but not that big. We couldn’t even check in until 1900hrs. We wondered, we ate, we slept on the floor, Eric fished, we got foot massages and pedicures, and waited! Finally 1900hrs came and we checked in with the same LTG we had talked to earlier. Unfortunately the flight had been delayed from 0045hrs to 0430hrs. We now had just under 9 hours to wait, but at least we knew for sure we had a seat on the plane.

After searching high and low for free wireless we decided the best option was to see if we could talk ourselves into the BA business lounge and send some emails from there. I had never tried this before and wasn’t convinced it would work but really what did we have to lose? We walked in and told the lady that we had been delayed four hours and needed to send some emails and she promptly gave us full access to the lounge during our wait. Pleasantly surprised we settled into the comfiest couches we’d seen in weeks and proceeded to enjoy ourselves.

The BA lounge at Bangkok is similar to most I would guess and along with internet and comfy couches you have a full buffet, bar, tv’s and fully stocked ensuite bathrooms to indulge in. Basically it’s like waiting for your flight at home, with butlers. I liked it. Should I ever have a flight delayed again I will certainly try this option first. It saved us lots of money on food and drinks alone during the wait and was waaaaay more comfortable than the metal airport waiting chairs! While in the lounge we learned that Kimberly had not been able to rebook our connector to Belfast and we would have to see what we could get done in London when we arrived.
Finally our flight boarded and we were VERY pleasantly surprised to find that the plane was no more than 25% full. As an airline I’m sure this isn’t a good thing but for those of us desiring a full row of seats to stretch out on it was great news. Within ten minutes of takeoff we were laid out and fast asleep. I think this was the most enjoyable flight I have ever been on, we both slept for about eight hours and this put us right in line with the time in Ireland which was a huge bonus. When we woke up there were bags of snacks and water waiting for us and of course some Two and a Half Men to watch. This show seems to be on every flight and has quickly become a huge favourite for us in the comic relief category and it was good to laugh.

In London we took the train to Terminal 1 and headed to the customer service desk to see about a flight to Belfast. Despite having some of the grumpiest Service Staff I’ve ever met we managed to talk our way into new flights for just the price of a change. This meant we had been rebooked on new flights from Bangkok to Belfast for a grand total of 50 Euros despite the fact it was all our fault. And to top it off BA had paid for us to spend more than 8 hours wining and dining in their lounge. How the heck we did that I will never know. I am certain God must have been in a really good mood that day.

30-odd hours late we arrived in Belfast, picked up our rental and started towards Dublin. After getting completely turned around we did find Dublin fairly easily, but the task of finding Glenn’s flat was still ahead of us.

Dublin is a really old city. I don’t think city planning is a skill that anyone here practices. We spent more than an hour searching for Glenn’s house and drove at least two streets that had three different names in the space of three blocks. And numbering doesn’t exactly work the same as Canada either. I haven’t figured out how it works, but it’s not the same. We did manage to get a map book but I haven’t decided if the book is just really bad or if the streets are just messed up because all too often you get to a round-about-type-intersection and think you can turn left only to find out you can’t turn at all.

When we did find Glenn’s house we forgot to bring the camera which was a total shame because the look on Glenn’s face after he realized who was standing outside his door was as priceless as anything I had ever seen. To say the least he was super excited and we got great, long hugs and hellos. After a quick dinner we were all off to bed so that Eric and I could get up early and go with Glenn to work in the morning.

We dropped Glenn at work and wandered around City Center for most of the day Thursday. It was a blustery day and after coming from Thailand I was positively frozen. I could feel my tan fading with every windblown rain drop that smacked me in the face. We had taken the train down to City Center and by the time we made it back to the flat we were soaked and shivery but had found a shop where we picked up fixings for lunch.

The plan was to meet up with Glenn after work and make our way to a going away party for a friend of his. This time we drove the car down and didn’t have too much trouble finding a spot to meet Glenn but decided quickly to park the car and walk to the party. It was great to meet Glenn’s friends here and it turns out a huge portion of the people who work at his shop are not from Ireland. Unfortunatly/Fortunatly Eric and I had to leave Glenn and head to Dublin Airport to pick up Sharaya who had taken the opportunity to come see us while here.

Shray’s flight was delayed and by the time we were back on the road it was almost midnight. Shray had taken instructions from Google about how to get to her B&B and they seemed to line-up with what the map we had said so we set out to follow them. Twenty minutes later we were lost and pulled over trying to find a taxi driver to tell us where the heck we were. Turns out we had actually taken a wrong turn near the airport and had headed north instead of south. Forty minutes and a few more wrong turns later we were actually dropping Shray off for some much needed rest and on our way back to Glenn’s party to pick him up.

If you’re doing the math you now know it’s about 0100hrs and we’ve been driving for the better part of two hours in the dark and rain with maps that don’t work and city streets that leave a lot to desire. (Oh, and since we have Belfast plates on the rental we got egged on the way to the airport.) We needed to go back through City Center in order to get to the party and what should have taken fifteen minutes took around thirtyish and included a great deal of muttering, cursing, wrong turns, turns we couldn’t take, and house numbering that was more than suspect. By the time we walked through the door we were tired, cranky, down-right pissed and frustrated by our conquests for the evening. We found Glenn who looked at me and asked how I was doing and the first thing that came out of my mouth was “You better come back home because I’m not coming here again!”

I had a glass of wine shortly after this outburst and have reconsidered my position. I may well come back here again but when I do I will have GPS in my rental (turns out even the taxi drivers need it to get around here). And more than that, there’s a big chance I’ll just walk. Ireland is not that big, how long could it possibly take to walk across it really?

We're alive but...

Hey all,

We're alive and in Ireland with Glenn Calderwood but we have limited access to internet so we'll have to wait to update you all.

Bangkok again

Upon arriving in Bangkok again we realized that the air smells most definitely nasty when you’re coming from a place that has a fresh ocean breeze constantly. This is not really a surprise as it’s a big city with a not so great sanitation system (at least they have one!). However we were somewhat disgusted when we realized that when we first got to Bangkok from Dar we actually thought the air here was great and so fresh smelling. Again we were reminded of how very lucky we are to live in a place with fresh air, forests and mountains.

We slept in this morning and basically spent the day hiding in the hotel room. In the evening we went for some eats and found a place for a massage before settling back in to watch some English television. It’s a luxury we haven’t seen since leaving Bangkok and it was rather nice to be able to sit for an hour or two and watch something we could understand.

It turns out that while we were sleeping in late this morning all in Bangkok was NOT quiet. Just half a block from our hotel on the Sukhumvit Road 100,000 people were protesting the government here in Thailand. We had no idea and wouldn’t have known except that while flipping through the channels before our massage Eric happened to catch a BBC report on the protests. This evening while walking about on Sukhumvit and all the neighbouring Soi’s there was no evidence that anything out of the ordinary had occurred. It’s somewhat of a surreal feeling to know that all this protesting and politicking occurs and yet as a tourist you see and know nothing of it really. I guess it pays to be a night owl every once in a while.

We are safe and promise to stay up late and sleep in again tomorrow!

Last day in paradise

Well my burn did fade to a tan by the next morning which was a pleasant surprise. It was a good thing because we went for some really wonderful massages. These also helped the sunburns as the oil helped rehydrate the skin. Next we had appointments to get some new tattoos and after finding out we could still swim the next day if we got an old fashion Bamboo tattoo we both chose to go that way. In general the Bamboo process is a little more pain during the tattoo because of how deep the Bamboo goes into your skin but by an hour after we could hardly feel them and they have healed fast and well. We are both fairly convinced it’s the only way to go in the future.

For those who care our new tattoos are in Thai and say ‘Adjust Your Expectations’. This has become our mantra over the last couple of months as you may have noticed from our blogs. In general it’s just a good thing to remember when you’re going through life. Our expectations are rarely accurate and being able to adjust them regularly means you’re almost guaranteed to be a happier person and less stressed.

We went on a picture drive with Terry and Nan (I asked how to spell it) yesterday and got caught in a down pour. We ended up having to pull over to a small store and wait it out before carrying on to a Buddhist Temple. Again despite my dislike for gold I found it absolutely stunning. My favourite part was the crematorium. I know that sounds weird but it was very elaborate and beautiful and I found it refreshing that they don’t hide death. It’s weird to me that our culture does everything in its power to hide death. Even when we have to put down an animal we call it being put to sleep and rarely will you find a family who involves the kids in this process despite the fact it’s a natural part of life. What happens when those kids grow up and have never really experienced death and then their parents or other loved ones die? It’s just not healthy in my opinion.

After our drive we met with Terry, Nan, Anna, Christoph, Yvonne and a whole bunch of people they met for dinner at the Korean BBQ. I just can’t get enough of that stuff, it is sooooooo yummy. It was also great to spend our last night in Koh Phangan with so many great people.
This morning was VERY laid back as we listened to the Flames lose (again) to Edmonton and packed. It was pouring rain for much of the morning and this made it nice and cool for the most part. After some long and sad goodbyes to the Austrians and the dogs we were off to Terry’s to drop our stuff and head for some breakfast. We were all tired and after breakfast (at 1300hrs) we headed back to the bungalow for a nap before catching our ferry to Koh Sumui. Before the ferry Eric and I decided to take one last walk on the beach and dip our toes in the Gulf of Thailand one last time before we left. Unfortunately this meant we had to book it to the ferry and I think they were within seconds of leaving without us. With quick goodbye hugs and hopes of returning soon for longer we were off. We have both become attached to this place and with the low cost of living it makes me wonder why anyone wouldn’t come back! Even if you had kids it would be a great, safe, low cost vacation. (No Grandma I’m not pregnant! It was just a thought I had.)

We’re now in Koh Sumui waiting for our flight to Bangkok where we’ll spend two days before heading to Ireland to see Glenn and meet up with Eric’s cousin Sharaya for a couple days. We are both feeling moderately excited about the fact we’ll be able to go outside for more than ten minutes without sweating. Although, it should be said that sweating this much does wonders for your complexion!

Been a while...

I actually don’t remember what day I posted last...that’s a good sign I’ve officially gotten into the travelling mind frame.

Here’s a quick run down of what we’ve done since then:

- Celebrated Thanksgiving by calling our families and eating fried chicken, spring rolls and rice noodle soup. Not exactly a Canadian Thanksgiving but ....

- Hung around the bungalow for a day and went and got massages. Eric ended up with a guy giving him the massage which might have been not horrible except, he had bigger calluses than Eric usually has. NASTY!

- Eric went snorkelling with Terry and Nhan. Nhan doesn’t like fish or sea cucumbers, apparently it was pretty funny.

- I got a pedicure and a facial, I think I had a better day but Eric would argue otherwise.

- Had dinner at Noot’s again with a French couple and surprisingly I understood more French than I thought. I let Nhan order for us and I didn’t die, I even had Som Tom (Papaya Salad) again!

- Eric told me it’s hard to listen to me talk because I talk in broken English when we’re around other people so they can understand what I’m saying. I think this means Eric can’t understand what I’m saying...but this really isn’t any different than normal!

- Went to a restaurant run by an Italian and had the very best Fettuccini Carbonara I’ve ever had and some Argentinean steaks that rival anything you can get at home. Spectacular!!!!

- Survived the Full Moon party. It’s basically 25,000 people on a beach with pounding music and a great deal of debauchery. Thankfully for my Grandma and Mom, I’m an old lady apparently and we were home relatively early.

- Listened to the Flames FINALLLLLLLY win a game against Colorado. It was really good to hear Peter Mahr say “and you can put it in the Win column!” We listened to the game inside for the most part so that we didn’t have to compete with the rustling leaf noise from the Coconut trees.

- Realized that we will no longer have ANY friends when we get home because they are all reading this and thinking ‘Coconut trees rustling, are you kidding me? What spoiled rotten dorks they are!’

- Went to the beach today and got a little sun burned, not bad, just toasty! Oh well, with base tan I’m sure it will be golden in days!

- Again with the no friends thing.

- Hung out with our Austrian friends (Christophe and Yvonne) and played with the puppies and other dogs. I’m still not allowed to take one home. Still Lame! Eric is starting to fall in love though.

- Talked about going fishing tomorrow, not really counting on it though.

- We’ve been watching the weather at home and chuckling about the fact that it’s currently 930am in Calgary and still 0 C. In the back of our minds we’re silently dreading coming home and freezing our butts off. Someone suggested we go to South America next instead of coming home, kind of seems like a good idea. Don’t worry, we miss our dog too much to do that...oh and all of our non-friends too!