Wes, Wien, Wasting Time, and Wine...

Wes, one of Mrs. TBF's colleagues, came over for dinner last night. I grilled up some steaks (which is a good thing because "Helmut" the Weber has not been getting enough use lately), we drank a little wine, and had a good visit until the wee hours...
We went to bed around 2 a.m., on a "school-night" no less, and I have to say that since I've been feeling a bit tired this morning I haven't really felt like doing too much. However, I wasn't totally unproductive.

Wien (Vienna): We're going to Vienna for Christmas. I decided that it would be a wise thing to try to make restaurant reservations for Christmas dinner (still working on it), etc. in advance so that we're not scrambling at the last minute. I've sent an e-mail to somebody at the hotel we'll be staying at to see if they'll be serving a traditional Christmas dinner with roasted goose and all the trimmings. Another thing I did was book a couple of tickets to see Falstaff at the Vienna Opera on December 23rd. Now, we're not opera buffs by any means. I mean, I've never been to any opera, and I'm pretty sure Mrs. TBF hasn't been to one either. But, Mrs. TBF suggested that we should either go see the Vienna Opera or the Vienna Boys Choir while we're in town, and I think it's a good suggestion. The opera was definitely my first choice, but I did check into the Boys Choir. As it turns out, you have to request in writing at least eight months in advance for tickets to their Christmas concert. AND, that doesn't guarantee that you'll be able to see them - just hear them. No thanks! I'll just watch them on T.V. in our hotel room for two minutes, lose interest, and then go take a snooze or something. Then, it was time for...

Wasting Time: After doing a little travel planning, I wrote a couple of hotel reviews of hotels we've stayed at recently at Tripadvisor. If you haven't used this website yet, I'd suggest you do so. It's pretty valuable for getting the latest hotel reviews that are written by people who have stayed at the hotels. You kind of have to read between the lines sometimes, but it's still a valuable travel planning tool nonetheless.
After Tripadvisor, I read some of the blogs I read everyday. Then, I went back in my blog to see what I was doing one year ago. I like doing this from time to time. As a matter of fact, I wish Blogger would offer a service where they would print your blog in book form (for a fee of course). I'd order one for myself in a second. They'd make a ton of money doing it. I can't believe they don't do this - or maybe they do. I should check into it. So anyway, one year ago today, I was in Chicago driving around in a black Cadillac. Ahhh, memories. Incidentally, I'll be back in Chicago in less than three weeks to celebrate my dad's 70th birthday. I'm looking forward to it!

Wine: While I was checking out the blogs, the doorbell rang. There was a voice on the intercom claiming to be the mailman with a package. I wasn't expecting anything, but I went downstairs anyway to find that the mailman was delivering a case of wine that I ordered at the Weinmesse a couple of weeks ago. Let me tell you, Switzerland is an amazingly trusting country.
I ordered about three cases of wine from two different vendors at the Weinmesse. I paid for the one that was delivered today at the show. This particular case of wine came by normal mail. I didn't even have to sign for it. I'm not really sure what the mailman would have done if I hadn't been home. My guess is that he probably would have left it in the lobby, and then one of my neighbors would have put it inside the locked door for me to grab when I came home...not sure. But, that's not as trusting as the other cases of wine that were delivered last week.
A couple of friends and I pooled our wine purchases together to reduce the shipping costs. Last Thursday, a man delivered six cases of wine to our house. No big deal? Well, it kind of is considering we haven't even paid for them yet and I haven't even received a bill. That's right! The lady at the Weinmesse told me that the wine would be delivered, and then the bill would be sent at a future date. Even after living here for five years, I still find this Swiss way of doing business an amazing thing.

So now it's time for yet another "W". It's time to workout!
Auf Wiedersehen!