My favorite place

Is drinking beer considered a place? Or is a state of being in a place?

I haven’t always been a beer drinker. And I had the good fortune to live in a nation that beer drinking is like no more thought about that breathing air since it could be considered the national drink of all ages. I know all about Berlin clear-colored white beer that you pour flavored syrup into, stir and drink but didn’t actually drink one while living in Berlin, Germany. Nope, I had to wait until I moved to the land of microbrews’; Oregon before I embarked on my beer adventure.

Oregon has more microbrews’ that even Germany or the nation with the highest percentage of beer drinkers which is the Czech Republic (where Budweiser hails from.)

Once Oregon seduced me with the freshness of the hops, the variety of flavors & types along with bitterness factors (IBU’s in case you are wondering) is when I was hooked, and begging for more. Forget these so-called wine tasting tours, give me a beer festival, and outdoor table mugs clanging while people prost (toast) each other.

It wasn’t the clear sunny skies, the happy people or the location of the waterfront in Portland Oregon that made me love beer; it was the people and what I consider beer diplomacy. I witnessed that day people laughing, sharing and buying each other beer. I actually saw young people giving up seats to women and elderly people. I watched a very drunk women stumbling about while yelling at her boyfriend all the while he held her up and carried her bright pink purse. I witness kindness in all forms and I knew then, I wanted to be a part of that world; a world in which all people are happy and beer brings all types together.

To my sip, gulp and another dunkle (German dark beer with a smooth malty character) beer I say PROST.

Indeed, it is my most favorite place.

Socks



my German Nuts



I really don't think at 5 am. I'm maybe awake, but alert & enthusiastic I'm not. But as I pulled on a pair of purple socks in anticipation of workout class with a girlfriend (don't gasp, I do have at least one friend) I am reminded of those socks journey to my feet that morning.

"What, they don't have purple socks in American?" Wolfgang asks me. (The name should give away the country I'm in.)
"No. They don't sell purple socks in America," I tell Wolfgang (do you know where I am yet) jokingly.

Strange, odd purchase to remind me of my vacation in Germany. I assume I am the first person to buy new socks on vacation and not wear them; solely for the purpose to take home and wear and not just because I simply don't want to do laundry in the hotel sink. 

And now as I pull them on my feet at 5 am, my mind wonders back to the Metro Store where I purchased them, the lighting, the scent and the nuts. Oh yes, I bought nuts as well. I bought the orange bag of nuts as the impulse item (along with the socks you might say.) I put several bags of nuts that have have been breaded and rolled in spices and cheese and baked into the shopping basket. The only thing that would make those nuts taste any better if they had been wrapped in bacon! Impulsively I buy those nuts because I just had them a week before in Turkey (or something very similar.)

It was early in the morning. My husband and I had just walked among the ruins of the ancient city Aphrodite. We made our way to the little shop for coffee. It was early morning. I order a cup of Turkish coffee which the vendor did not agree with me on. Turkish coffee is an afternoon drink, it's tea time and he pours me a cup of tea.  This does not make me very happy since I am not a tea drink. To me, drinking tea is like drinking Coors Light in a can; it's just wrong.  But I comply and drink my tea. As my husband and I sit there listening the vendor and his friends talk and play backgammon, I pull out a bag of nuts that I purchased from a street vendor the night before. The nuts where  big and thick; it was a breaded nut bake in spices and all sorts of wonderful things. I am not a big fan of nuts, but this nut I could eat almost every day for the rest of my life and be quite content. As I joyfully eat my bag of orange nuts, the tea/coffee vendor and his two friends stop playing and looks at me and gasp. I look around. Are they looking at me?? The vendor tells me I can not eat those nuts. "Okay" I tell him and start to get up to walk outside. "No, no, you cannot eat those nuts here."
"I understand. I am going outside to eat them," I tell the man with a fake smile on my face.
"No, you don't understand" he tells me. "Those nuts are beer nuts, you can only eat them with beer."
Call me a crazy American. First I want to actually drink coffee in the morning and not tea, and now I want to eat beer nuts without the beer.
"Pour me a beer" I tell the man.
"No," I cannot he says to me. "It is not after 5 pm."

So as I buy my purple ankle socks at Metro with Wolfgang, I chuckle at the memory of the orange nuts. I must have them.

And It's precisely that memory that will carry me forward as I end my last few days of work.  Er, maybe I should say regular paid employment, union memberships & benefits. And what little sock seed memories I can plant in others?  In the meanwhile, I'll complete by 5 am workout and head off work and dream of destinations unknown.

In the meanwhile, what would Jimmy Buffet do; "Is it 5' o'clock somewhere?"

Pour me a beer. Prost.

Travel Job Wanted!

Motivation is lacking. My goal was to blog about my unemployment and job search. No wonder I don’t have any readers. Who wants to read about my tragic issue? And if you are living it, and since unemployment is still looming at 10 percent and not getting any better, you defiantly not reading about what you are currently going through. I know, I get that.


You’ve heard it a hundred times, do what you love and the rest will follow. Not always so practical if you love yourself and just want to showcase that however thanks to reality TV you can. In fact, you can even graduate from a Utah College with a Bachelors degree in reality TV. I can’t make this stuff up folks. Well…. I can but why when the truth is always stranger than fiction (thanks Mark Twain for that quote.)

Embarking on my job hunt, I’ve listed my skills…they are:

• Drinking coffee. Hanging out in Coffee shops.

• Drinking Beer. And the good stuff. Not the cheap stuff that comes in a can.

• Eating chocolate. Darker the better.

• Bacon! Need I say more?

Oh Wait; those are the things I like to eat. I didn’t even add donuts to the list. Okay, let me try this again. My skills:

• Adventurous. Like to Travel and explore the world.

• Physically fit. Can ride a bike for 7 days in a row across countries, like Hungary.

• Stamina. Lots of it. Walked up a mountainside in Dubrovnik Croatia that had 27 switch backs.

Oh, not marketable skills you say. Hummm. Now I’m at an impasse.

Ideally, I’d like to combine those two skill sets. Eat, drink and travel. I don’t see myself as Anthony Bourdain. After all, he’s a chef with a witty sarcastic attitude who smokes and drinks. (I don’t smoke.) And I’ve watched Samantha Brown. I think she is a bit, dry. My sense of humor and adventure is greater than hers. And I don’t want to be Rick Steves and education people on traveling across Europe. Although Rick is my hero and I take his travel advice to heart.

Maybe, just maybe there is a niche for me. Maybe somebody needs a (gasp) a middle-aged woman who is sassy, witty and a bit zany with wild red hair and the personality to match.