Hi And Bye Again!

Yes, that is a brewery. Attached to a windmill.

Well I made it back from Las Vegas in one piece, and I even came home with some money. I guess when you haven't been there in 10 years, they let you win a little. Must be some sort of face scanner at the airport that recognizes who you are and checks your visitation status. Watch, if I go back next year I will get wiped out in like 20 minutes. Luckily I went against everything I wanted to happen in the Super Bowl, and it worked out for me. I don't like the Giants at all, but my wallet sure does! The roulette table was pretty friendly too. That game is WAY more fun when you are winning.

Tomorrow I am leaving for Amsterdam, followed by a jaunt into Belgium and northern Germany. My group will be visiting breweries and notable beer bars along the way, ultimately departing from Dusseldorf, bound for the ATL, on Sunday the 19th. That's a 10-day beer drinking trip. So you will not hear from me for a while, but I will take lots of pictures while I am away. I really need to shake this cold that I have had for like five weeks. Ugh.

Some of the breweries that we are going to visit I have never heard of, like the one pictured. It's a freaking windmill. How cool is that? Here are some that you may have heard of though: Rodenbach, Cantillion, Gruut and Uerige. While we are in Koln and Dusseldorf, the birthplace of Kolsch and Alt beers respectively, we will be learning all about those styles. Last year was Bavaria in southern Germany, whose beers are totally different than what I am in for in the north. Want a good Alt Bier in Bavaria? Good luck. They don't drink that beer there, they drink Bavarian beer, mainly Weiss beers. And if you want a slice of fruit on your wheat beers in Bavaria? Well, you might as well just piss on their flag. But that was last year, so this will be a totally new experience for me. It will also be interesting to see how the food is different in the north. The food in Bavaria was awesome, and so much lighter than the stereotypical "German" food we think of around here. Sure, there were sausages, but man was their so much more. Fish and soups and dumplings and lightly dressed salads. Those people can cook, I am telling you. Go to Germany if you have not been there already.

Anyway, that is all I have time for now. I promise that I will drink as much beer as possible on this trip. I won't let you down. Later.