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Not quite the same old, same old.
Sunday, May 16, 2004 @ 6:54 pm

We've received some news that is, at least at this point in time, less than welcome. I can't really talk about it here, at least not yet, which is probably just as well for now. (And lest anyone is tempted to put one and one together to make three, let me just say that I am not pregnant.) Since it's pointless to brood about things over which one has no control whatsoever, we're doing our best not to worry about it. So far, we've been fairly successful, considering the circumstances.

Otherwise, it's been a nice weekend. On Monday night, down at the sports club, Molly, Tigger and I were discussing our social lives. They aren't bad, as far as social lives go, but there does seem to be a certain sameness to life as of late. We go to the same places, on the same nights, in the same order. Quite frankly, it's getting dull.

Not only that, there's Euro 2004 consider. It's being held in Portugal this year, and our little corner of it, at least, is bracing itself for the invasion. The shops are brimming with souvenirs, plus scarves, strips and t-shirts for every country that's participating. Even the post office is in on the act, carrying every "official" Euro 2004 product imaginable. Which-- aside from the ugly and somehow creepy mascot-- is all fine and good, but the bars and restaurants have already started putting their prices up, which is an issue nearer and dearer to our hearts. The places we frequent most often have not, for the most part, actually been charging us their new, exorbitant rates, but we suspect that it's only a matter of time.

And then there's the issue of the hordes of football fans themselves. They will be numerous, they will be loud, they will be drunk, assuming they don't faint at the prices first. Which is doubtful-- the UK, for example, is hardly cheap, and the pubs here stay open well past 11 pm, which is a bonus I'm sure they'll be willing to pay for. In any case, those of us who live here are planning to flee-- or at least stay well clear of the downtown pedestrianized zone.

Given our recent disenchantment with doing the usual all the time, and the need for alternative venues come June, we decided to do something different this weekend, and steer clear of the bars around the Square as much as possible.

Friday was a girls' night out, a proper one. We went to the German beer garden, which I haven't been to since last summer, and which the others had never been to at all. We wanted to sit outside in the actual garden, especially since it was such a nice night, but when we got there at around 10:00 it was unexplicably closed. Still, it was nice inside, and we had something to eat, washed down by many beers. I had a leberk�se sandwich, which was great. I love leberk�se. Diana had a bratwurst, and managed to splatter ketchup all over both herself and Molly. If you're going to do something, do it right I suppose. After that, the waiter (mockingly) refused to give us more beer, until we pointed out that she was the only one of us not drinking.

We left at around half past twelve, and immediately noticed that the garden was now magically open. We considered staying, but it was populated by a couple groups of sullen teenage boys, and crappy, ear-splitting, parental-discretion-advised rap music was pouring from the loudspeakers, so we decided to go down to the marina...

Where we encountered numerous hordes of sullen teenagers, and crappy, ear-splitting, parental-discretion-advised rap music was pounding out from what seemed like every single bar. I wasn't too sure about the whole thing, but Mary knew the owners of a bar at the far end. It turned out to be right next to the Belgian place we like to go to for lunch sometimes and relatively teen-free. They played recorded jazzy music at a not quite ear-splitting decibel level, and a live saxophonist played along with it. He was great, especially when he was playing his soprano sax, so that was all right. Surprisingly, the beer was really cheap. I suspect that the marina will be completely overrun come June, but it did make a nice change. After that, we met up with the boys at the pub, but this was well after their usual closing time and it seemed more like we were at a private house party than the pub, so that was all right, too.

Yesterday afternoon, I went down to the marina to visit a friend of mine on his yacht.

God, I love the sound of that so much, I'll say it again: yesterday afternoon, I went down to the marina to visit a friend of mine on his yacht. It's not a big yacht, mind you, but a yacht's a yacht. We split half a bottle of red wine, and talked about nothing in particular, and generally enjoyed the beautiful summer day. From there, I went to the sports club, where we sat on the esplanade and watched a couple of soccer games and enjoyed the sunshine and the warm evening and just generally chilled out.

Yesterday, I also played Euchre, which always makes me happy. We did end up at the Late Night Bar of Evil, but we arrived late and left long before we were chucked out, so that was good, too.

So, as far as breaking out of our social rut goes, it was a fairly sucessful weekend. Even so, tonight I'm going to do my usual thing, and go to the Irish Pub to listen to the music session. Somehow, Sunday nights never get boring or dull or samey at all. Sundays just demand the comfort of routine, I suppose.

And with that, I'm off to get ready.


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