the almost trip to mexico
the class assignments were posted at 4pm this past wednesday. it's a bit of a ritual to be there when the list is released. it's always a mob sceen.
we had big plans for this summer. there was talk about a trip to the yucatan, I used to go at least every other year. it's now been 8 years since my last trip. we also had plans to drag our airstream over to the grand canyon, stop by and see family in orange county, then up to napa to sample the eats at my brother's restaurant then down through colorado on the way home.
I don't think we left austin. school starts tomorrow so we made a last ditch effort to reward the kids (the older two). we made a 36 hr trip to san antonio, nana stayed home and caught up on her videos w/ the baby.
she really didn't want to get on that ride with us. the line was short and as we were ready to get on she started complaining of stomach ache. she was approaching full panic and we could see tears start to form. over the past few years we've noticed that she is giving in to fear more often so we had her tough it out. she was in full tears before the big drop and we felt bad.
she scolded us as we got off, "I told you I didn't want to go on that! I felt like I was going to fly off!" so we made a quick dash to the souvenier shop where she found a necklace that featured a dolphin with that mood ring material in it. we were forgiven. not sure what sort of lesson was learned here. but there was something wrong about making it all OK with jewelry. are we hardwired to make up with girls by offering shiny trinkets? or are girls working us to get the bling? either way, it was a happy ending and next time we go to schlitterbahn I expect she will at least go down the tube chutes with us.
the hotel staff directed us to some fantastic mexican eats. we got there late and the wait was extensive. I knew we needed some sugar intervention. we asked the waiter to bring us the chocolate flan asap! it did not disappoint.
I loved the food at rosarios. kat had a trio of meats. she was diasppointed in the chicharrons, she likes her pig skin pan fried and chewy but they serve the crispy pork rind variety. she also likes her bacon chewy and I prefer crispy, I like the chicharrons. she had a similar complaint with the tripas. but we both agreed the mexican sweetbreads were fantastic! the enchiladas were also a big hit.
the dude and his cerveza.
he passed out. I had to carry him eight long blocks back to the hotel. that portion of sweetbreads didn't go to waste.
the next morning issued unusually mild temps. we strolled along the riverwalk while most people were still sleeping off the night before. it had been quite crowded the previous evening.
we love breakfast at mi tierra. their panaderia is also some of the best we've had.
kat was happy to have the lengua (tongue) plate for breakfast. I guess it was chewy enough for her liking.
panaderia counter under a blanket of pinatas
I like to use yelp when considering where to dine. it's handy to have more than one app on the iphone that uses yelp. one is called WHERE and it uses the iphone gps to find your location and issue a list of options nearby.
the fun thing about yelp is that the reviews are by common anybody sort of folks, not professional restaurant critics. some of the reviews have to be dismisssed as error on the writer's part. for example, the joint is open 24 hrs and it seems that many of the bad reivews are issued by folks who have gone in to eat after spending most of their evening at the bars... so, maybe they don't like to serve surly drunks at 4 in the morning. other odd complaints were "this place is too much like mexico", yes, it is a mexican restaurant... another person complained about the pinatas!
anyhow, we've always had extremely attentive and friendly service and the food was always good, and it is very much like breakfasts we've enjoyed in mexico. we saw that as a plus.
no trip to mexico would be complete without the purchasing of cheap craps. we refused to buy any cheap mexican goods that had the made in china label. come on norte americanos, can't we manufacture our own cheap craps!
sorry for the quality of pics being less than usual. i've stopped carrying the dslr everywhere and use the iphone for most out and about pics.
and thanks to modernmama for nominating austinmodhouse for an E award
we love to read about "the guy" renovation mishaps and communication failures etc.
and for anybody who might find themselves in copenhagen might enjoy a stop at a gallery exhibit by our friend louise dyhring nielsen
here is a link to a newspaper article on her gallery exhibit. I can't read danish but I'm sure it says things like, "louise is very cool and has some very powerful images displayed" and all sorts of positive stuffs like that. I had a last minute urge to make an effort to get over to attend the opening, but things like the cost of a ticket and the fact that my passport is long expired became obstacles to kill the idea.