My Half Birthday!

Big celebration of the half birthday yesterday. Actually, I had to be reminded by Kristi but nevertheless, I like to think that I made the most of such a great day in history. Being that it rained pretty much all day yesterday, my planned rest day came about at a good time. After a leisurely morning of blueberry pancake making(needed to test my recipe before producing for Sandra and Marc this morning) I ventured on down to the big city, Stuttgart. Despite the rain, the crowds were in full swing. I think kids were out of school all this week b/c of the Easter holiday. Or maybe Germany's education system has shut its doors. Kids of all ages were out and about...the punks, the emos, the gangstas, and the hipsters. In case you were wondering if the emo/hipster scene was only a US phenomena, think again. Its alive and thriving here in Deutschland. It always brings a laugh when I see these kids. I wonder how long they will play this game and what they will think when the look back in 10 years. But I digress...

So in Stuttgart I planned on finding Indian Palace to treat myself to a little Indische mittagessen. I've been craving it for a while now, and finally I found a place which I thought could satisfy my hunger. I went for the buffet which seemed to be the common theme. It was tasty but felt dissappointed. I was hoping for some saag and maybe a little bit more variety as they only had 5 items and seemed to draw blanks on how to properly keep the food supply in check. Ohh well, I did manage to lose myself in translation and pay €2,30 for a small glass of water. Here is another installment on my Guide to Making it in Europe, always preview a menu before answering any questions. Think of the menu as your attorney. I will not speak to you until I have spoken with my attorney present or seen a menu in this case. Before I actually found the Indian Palace, I went through quite an exploration of the Stadtmitte. I did find the Indian grocery market that I will certainly have to visit again. I recognized the name from the restaurants website. Perhaps they use the store as a front for funneling expensive waters to unassuming customers. Nevertheless, the store was vastly supplied with delicious spices and fresh produce of the Asian varietals. Previous to my arrival, I came upon a Sushi restaurant with mittagessen buffet. This was the first moment that my quest for Indian food soothing came into question. It could be labeled as one of the great dilemmas of the 21st century, Indian or Sushi. The sushi place scored "cool" points b/c it had a sushi conveyor belt. I knew both places would be dangerous b/c I was pretty hungry after my quest for Asian food. But I stuck to my guns and went to Indian but promised myself Sushi next time! Now you probably think that I am crazy, but these are delicate moments in one's life. Decisions can't be taken lightly.

Now its Saturday noonish and still raining. Accuweather is suspiciously saying that tomorrow we will have "Brilliant Sunshine." Hope thats the case. Our race begins at 1500 in Waldrems. Started feeling a little congested yesterday so hopefully its nothing too serious. On the VitaminC/Zinc and tea diet.

The new rankings for the Gonso Ba-Wü-Liga were just published. This is the league that we are in for the LBS Cup, numero uno goal for the team. We are atop the standings with 40points! Team Rothaus(beer maker) is in 2nd at 37points. The first race was at Schönaich and they take points from your finishing spot and score the team's top 3 finishers. So my third on the team has helped put the team in first, which I am pretty psyched about. One of my 3 main goals coming over here was to help the team so I'm well on my way. Currently, I'm 16th overall in the standings. I think a top10 is doable. Lots of unfinished business on the race course for me.

You can check it out here...


chow,
Bearclaw