Temptation!

Wanna lure me out of the house on a weeknight...away from my two favorite men?  Tempt me with people, places and plays in English!  I can't resist.

Surreality: Listening to someone karaoke Lynyrd Skynyrd in an Irish Pub celebrating St. Patrick's Day in Kassel, Germany (a city with only 2% percent fluency in English). Yes, I made up the percentage. ha


I'm having trouble finding the words to explain my night last week so I had to invent a new word. Sweet Home Alabama being sung by a guy from Tennessee..cool! Not nearly as cool as when the entire bar belted out 99Luft Balloons by Nina like it was a national anthem.  No kidding, Nina. All in German.  With dozens of young people yelling each individual word. Surreality.  I know I was there.  I know it was real, but it was a Dali moment where time was melting right before my eyes.

The Nicole part of this night (because you all know there was one) was that it was supposed to be a museum and theater night! Cultured. Civilized. Artistic. The night was nothing like I expected. The evening began with an art exhibit of Jordeans and Rubens.  We are about to visit Belgium, thus I was excited about this Flemish show.  They brilliantly paired with 3 modern artists who share Ruben-esque qualities with these painters. I loved it.  Really. I loved the way the eyes followed you as you move...intriguing and creepy all at the same time. I loved the mythology. The tapestries. I loved the moderns!  And then....way too much sagging penis, rolls and rolls of it, people! It pains me to say that I really could have lived without wondering about one particular painting that included a donkey.  Thank you, Oh Modernist....I will spare calling you by name. Thirty minutes before our play started my phone rang...play cancelled. The American troupe performing in Kassel one night were too sick to perform.  Ah Shade!

Cool, we both decided a girl's night was needed and Italian food and wine would be delish. And my best stories come from the unexpected. Nice dinner, great conversation with a new friend.  She's intelligent, interesting and then she tells me about this Irish Bar where everyone speaks English....

two hours laters

99LuftBalloons go byyyyyyyyyyyyyy.... a memory that will last a lifetime!