Ich Bin Eine Hamburger who also ventured to Dublin

For the month of April I went to two countries-- Germany and Ireland.

First I was off to Dublin for the weekend of the 10th to the 12th of April. It was a group of fifteen of us, but that young Chicagoan (see my mention of him here) was amongst the group.
Dublin is known for two things in the world of imbibing: Guinness and whiskey-- both of which I partook in.

It's basically like VitaMalt sans sugar-- a blasphemous statement,
but they are indeed my tastebuds.

Nothing like whiskey at 3pm

We also ventured to the Kilmainham Gaol where I had high tea and learned about the years leading up to Irish Independence. I knew it was a bloody fight, but I head no idea the extent. Antigua just signed a treaty for pete's sake. We had it easy.

On the night of the 11th, Ryan the Chicagoan and I made it our duty to venture to a "local" pub... one that wasn't overpriced and touristy. We found one called "The Tap Bar" where a pint of good beer was a measly €3 and the crowd was nonexistent. We were, however accosted by a friendly Dublin man with an accent as thick as over-floured cake batter who asked if we were on a date. When we failed to answer, he took us on a world wind ride-- buying is both pints, asking us about America, the details of our relationship, proceeded to try to chat me up and get us to dance with him. Safe to say he wasn't the most sober person in the quite empty pub. Despite it being quite harrowing at first, once we established his harmless nature it became quite fun. He did get a selfie with me-- but I didn't have the heart to ask him to send it to me.

That's the place!

 The following weekend, I was off to Germany-- Hamburg to be exact.
 I met up with an old Family friend and one of my mother's business contacts, Johannes. My mother has worked with his company for years, so it was my diplomatic duty to get a group photo with the staff.

That's Johannes to my left there!

Soon after he, his significant other, and I ventured around Hamburg. They were great tour guides and introduced me to the wonder of currywurst. I now want ketchup and curry powder on EVERYTHING and mayonnaise on all my chips (as if heart disease doesn't exist, right?).

My nomadic life for the past two weekends have come to an end as I am now at the mercy of final exams and have to come to terms with the fact that my six months in Europe is soon over-- sad but true. Ah well-- my passport is valid so I can return sometime.

My view of Hamburg from the hotel

Ann
xx

Oh American Airlines....

When flying from Antigua, I normally used Delta. However, Delta decided not to fly from Antigua to JFK anymore so I'm stuck having to deal with my love-hate relationship with American Airlines. I love American Airlines so far because every time I've flown with them I haven't died or been critically injured.  However, their customer service and sense sometimes annoys me.
I'm suffer from Chron's disease which is a form of inflammatory bowel disease. Eating the wrong foods results in bad stomach aches, headaches and just overall pain. My wrong foods include mostly  meat and dairy but white flour can do me in also. After reaching to reserve my in-flight lunch, I realised that only a chicken salad and teriyaki been entrées were available. So, like any tech-savy millennial I sent a cheeky little tweet to American Airlines.

No word on how to reserve my special meal, I resorted to the website which contained a few menu options such as Gluten Intolerant, Vegetarian and Halal (good on them). I called the 1-800 number to reserve a meal but the helpful, though sarcastic customer service member informed me that "special meal choices are not available for my flight"... I thought I paid so I won't have to smuggle food from the in-airport pizza joint in or risk getting my mustard-laden homemade sandwich taken away in accordance to airport security rules.

Sigh *American Airlines* Everytime I fly a "lunch-time" flight with you guys from Antigua I've got to buy a vegetable pizza at the airport and smuggle it in. It'd be nice if I could get a nice little tray with a salad and sit down with a glass of wine.