as i mentioned before, we travelled to munich via the night train. it was a wonderful experience. i don't know which movie or book has placed in my head so firmly the image of someone lying on their stomach on a night train bunk, squinting out a porthole sized window at the sun rising over the european countryside. but i certainly did feel a strong sense of deja vu as that moment passed through my own life.

we lodged at the sheraton. the bill was extortionate, but it was fun to sleep in a big bed. i'm not sure i can remember the last time i stayed in a big chain hotel.

the city itself was beautiful. in a way i've noticed a slightly depressing trend in that the european cities i like the most are the ones that were most damaged by the war. Amsterdam seems too much like a museum most of the time, whereas Rotterdam, Strasbourg and Munich have an appealing mix of the ancient and the modern, with districts comfortingly reminiscient of north american cities built atop the ruins.

on saturday night we went out to the hofbrauhaus, which is apparently authentic, despite seeming to be a satire of bavaria. a band with two accordions played rowdy folk songs, drunk twenty somethings wearing liederhosen danced and sang folk songs, and we all drank hofbrau out of one litre steins (they also served pints, but i'm under the impression those are only for pregnant women and children under twelve). it was a blast.

sunday, being employed, i returned to holland. despite early reservations, working for the pornographers has turned out to be a pretty good gig. in many ways it is the same as any other web dev job, but there are little differences. on monday, for example, i was asked to come up with a title for our upcoming dvd release (lesbian lust in the bisexual boudoir, if you were wondering. i think it's a winner). and then today we had an employee morale meeting which consisted of watching the internet is for porn.

on monday i lost ten euro at my weekly poker game, dispelling any notion that i was getting better. though really, i know i play worse than my potential in live games, it being more fun to have a couple of beers and be loose and tilty. this is why i play low stakes games.

i've been doing a lot of other gaming on the side as well. i purchased a travel stratego set and taught e the game. i don't think she's sold on it yet, but i'm hoping it catches on. i also taught her cribbage which, on the other hand, she has taken quite a liking to. the game is pretty heavily dependent on luck, but there's just enough skill involved to keep it interesting. we've also been continuing to play hive and scrabble.

further, we purchased one of the expansions to chez geek, but have only played it twice. it's a good game, but plays much better with more players and we do most of our gaming head to head.

we have had one notable multi-player game night recently however. we got together with a few of e's classmates and broke out hero quest. i have to admit that i found my adventures as the barbarian to be savoury sour. it was like methadone; enjoyable in it's own right, but that pleasure being overshadowed by the nostalgic longing it awakened in me for some good old fashioned pen and paper rpgs. still, i suspect we'll play again.

finally, three exciting alcohol related discoveries.

1. delicious beer, similar to heineken oud bruin, but actually containing alcohol.
2. tasty  overproof rum... from austria? i've seen stroh on the liquor store shelves all my life. why did noone tell me it was delicious?
3. and finally, i discovered a liquor store in the very town we live in that sells jim beam at the same price i paid for it in canada. though every time i go in there the maker's mark tempts me from the shelf next to it with its 40 euro price tag.

cheers!

_{oh yeah: poll}