Core Rhythms and German Food

Thursday and Friday I had off, so Thursday I crocheted a wire and pearl cuff bracelet. It looks really cool, I'll have to get some pictures of it up sometime soon (yeah right). I did some dishes, watched some reality shows online (Janice Dickinson Modeling Agency, Project Runway, etc).

Friday I finished the bracelet and started another that I don't like nearly as much. When Matt got home we drove up to Chambersburg to do a little shopping, and I ended up buying the Core Rhythms latin dance DVD set. It is a combination of aerobic exercise tape and dance instruction. They have a warm up, 2 exercise routines, a cool-down, AND a couples dance instruction for 2 different dances on each of the 4 DVDs in the set. I'm loving it.

We had dinner at a Fuddruckers, a place neither of us had been before. Not thrilled. It's a burger joint, and it was just OK. I don't think I'd go back.

Saturday Matt went to renew his CDL drivers license. He was there for over 2 hours. It was hell. Then we went home, ate, and I freaked out because my mom left a message on our machine saying to call her back JUST AS SOON AS I CAN. And when I call, no answer. And they were supposed to drop some stuff off at the house while we were out and they didn't, so of course I assume the worst and someone is in the hospital. When she finally calls back in 4 hours I give her hell. Nothing was wrong, of course, she just wanted to let me know that they wouldn't be up. SO LEAVE A MESSAGE THAT YOU WON'T BE UP, DAMMIT!

I had been talking about an authentic German restaurant in Hagerstown for a while, and Matt decided that that's where he'd like to go for a birthday dinner, so we got gussied up and went. Nice place, physically. Schmankerl Stube is in town, across the street from a hookah place, believe it or not. The owner of the restaurant is from the Bayern region of Germany.

The owner seated us, and we ordered drinks. I got a Weinlaternchen, which is Liebfraumilch (a very sweet, very good white wine) with a shot of raspberry schnapps in it. I mean the shot is in the glass, physically, and you need to tip it when you drink so you get a little wine and a little schnapps at the same time. Tricky. Matt originally ordered a brandy, the waiter tried to get him to order the Louis XIII (115 year aged brandy), then he came back and told us the price ($150 a shot) so Matt stuck with the cheaper brandy.

Matt got some cheese soup, which I tasted and it was very good. They bring german rye to the table with butter and a cream cheese/caper/anchovie spread, also very good. I love heavy german breads. I ordered the chicken breast stuffed with spinach and cheese, a cream sauce with mushrooms and ham, and served with the veggie of the day and spaetzle. Matt had one of the specials, which consisted of a veal sausage, a slice of pork and a slice of beef with two sauces on the side, some potato salad and the veggie of the day. We finished up with coffee and Schwarzwalder Kirsch Torte for him and Apfel Strudel for me.

All in all, we weren't overly impressed. The food was good - not fantastic - although I have no doubt it was authentic. Our waiter said they have staff from both the German embassy and the Austrian embassy in DC visit regularly. I think it was just not what we were expecting in relation to the price (expensive). I decided after that dinner that if I am going to pay that much I want something a little more exotic, such as Passage to India. I think I would go back for lunch, though.

Sunday I tried the first DVD in the Core Rhythms set...and discovered again that I have no coordination, no rhythm, my hips don't move that way, and I can't move my feet as quickly as they do. But other than that it went well! Thank god it's on DVD, I can just skip back again and again to look at what I'm doing wrong. It will take time, and as I write this I can feel my side abdominal muscles awakening from a loooong slumber, painfully. Great.