Voltron

Air Boss easily holds two weeks worth of clothes, which is what I used it for this trip. The Claw, indeed. Not sure what they were thinking with that strap design. I will be ordering three absolute straps upon return home. Bihn fanboys rejoice! I seriously have tons of stuff in the Sunchaser and it weighs down like lead, but the bag is rock solid and I have no fear of damage to zippers, etc. It just tears up my shoulder to use the strap so I carry it by the handles. And Shelly, I checked the Air Boss to Berlin including a plane change with no visible signs of damage whatsoever, and will be checking that and th Sunchaser on the way home. I should have done that going to Europe but I was not savvy. I don't think you should be afraid to check them.

During a long day getting from Prague to Munich by train during a rail strike in Germany (train to bus to train to another train with 2 adults and 2 teens and luggage) I had a tall boy of some german pilsner I cannot recall in a train station and then a bottle of this aptly named beer upon arriving at our hotel: Our suite is in a modern design hotel in Munich with two bedrooms and two bathrooms and a cot for Alden in the living room. Everyone us happy with the hotel, but when we decided to eat in the hotel restaurant it was clear I was meant to stay here. The menu had one page of food and at least 8 pages of cocktails! Perfect ratio. We started with a La Vie en Rose cocktail for Claire and a Vesper for me. After [mostly after] drinking half the Vesper I noticed the cocktail glass was cracked and got a full new one. Then Claire had a Lillet/cucumber/juice cocktail and I had a Mother in Law cocktail with rye instead of bourbon. All were great and I will like it here. Dinner was quite nice too, btw.

Bought the Prisoner! Thanks Ric.

Hope it was a great birthday Birgir! Cheers!

Happy birthday Mike!! Sorry I missed the fireworks in your honor! Cheers!

Well, Brian did say he was quite nearly drunk last night so he should get some slack. The funniest part is that Cointreau actually IS a triple sec. They don't advertise it that way to heighten its mystique but it is a triple sec. The awful, sweet dreck that is called triple sec in those plastic jugs is indeed worthless. But try a bottle of Combier triple sec -- allegedly the original, and a variation on Curaçao, another branch of the orange liqueur tree along with brandy-based orange liqueurs -- and you will see that you are wrong to damn the whole style altogether.

Those really are beautiful shots, Stretch, especially now that I am seeing them larger than my iPhone screen. The monastery looks great, Jim. Probably more uplifting than a trip to Dachau. Did you visit and quaff their Benedictine brew?

Haven't tried that one, so if I see it tonight I will do so. I was expecting something more from Czech beers in general, but they have been decent to good overall.

Glad to hear you broadening your beer horizons, Andrew! Apparently, much of the Pilsner Urquell I have been drinking may well have been brewed in South Africa because some SA conglomerate owns Urquell now. The locals aren't pleased. I couldn't distinguish them.

Simplest and purest recipe with good tequila is 1.5-2.0 oz tequila, .75 oz lime juice, and .50-.75 oz agave syrup or simple syrup 2:1 sugar water). Here are some other options varying sugars and using Cointreau as the main sweetener. All are good. Gary Regans' Margarita Recipe 1½ oz Tequila 1 oz Cointreau ½ oz Lime Juice Dale Degroff's Margarita Recipe 1½ oz Tequila 1 oz Cointreau ¾ oz Lime Juice ¼-½ Simple Syrup

Yeah, that seems very weak, Tyll. I don't like surreptitious changes, especially if they claimed otherwise.

Gambrinus Pilsner And wood fired oven pizza. Bella!

Started the day by trying to get reservations for our first class train to Munich tomorrow only to find it is only second class. Oh well, rubbing elbows with the plebes will have to do. Since breakfast we have gone to the Museum of Communism, the Alfons Mucha Museum, and now we are at the Municipal House of Prague. Thanks to Ric, I made my way downstairs to the awesome art nouveau Ameriky Bar and I had a quick Manhattan cocktail to stave off the teenager parent angst that was afflicting me. It was beautiful. Now, we are having cakes and coffee in the upstairs Kavarna Restaurant. Good stuff, and the best slice of cake Claire has ever had ("traditional Czech honey cake with nuts and almonds"). And now, Alden has a [Czech] crown on his head.

We went to see some live jazz tonight at U Maleho Glena and heard some decent young Czech and Slovak musicians playing standards. I had a Havana Club and Coke abd a Pilsner Urquell that looked much like the others, then I had a local Prague beer called Velvet that was kind of like a cream ale. It was tasty.

Another Beton cocktail because it's cool!

Nice hauls Todd, Colin, Doug, and Shelly! @Shelly: needs moar booze!

Nice thread idea, Ric. I think there are a couple good ones lying around to share.

Good to hear, Gene.

Well, that was only the return of a great favor. I have some wonderful pics od Sophie with the Nikon FG in action but the damned Internet here cannot manage an upload. Did you have Sanctification before? Craig at City Beer claimed this was a good batch and I bought a couple extra bottled for myself so I am curious.

I agree with my cocktailians and closet cocktailian, but I would probably pick Cazadores Reposado if I were making them. Plus, I recently learned that triple sec or cointreau are not needed at all with decent tequila and fresh lime and sugar. The tequila flavor comes through more and it is the true classic, I believe.

I was beat yesterday but today felt good and my son was in heaven on the Segway. Fun stuff. Ok, another Becherovka coming up! And I would have told you I was in Cinci, by the way.

Just got back from a 4.5 hour Segway tour of Prague that I did with Alden and it was a blast, even though it was supposed to be only 3 hours. Ric would have loved it because it was a movie tour of Prague and it featured movie clips on a portable DVD player of many movies filmed in Prague, although more often than not it was supposed to be other European cities: Amadeus, Van Helsing, XXX, Europtrip, Bourne Identity, Mission Impossible, Bad Company, and The Prince and Me. We also stopped in a micro brew pub inside the old monastery, where I had an IPA! and a nice hoppy dark beer. Pics tomorrow, especially if the Czech Internet cooperates. Colin, I will send you a link because you would enjoy it. The guide was a Brazilian guy named Renee and the woman from the office, Misha, joined us as well. They were great. I just drained the last of a mini bottle of Becherovka from the minibar and I may just have another. na zdraví!

Bell's Oberon is win. Arctic Panzer Wolf is Blitzkrieg Win!

I've been loving the Red Oxx bags on my trip, except for the strap. I had meant to buy Tom Bihn Absolutes but forgot. With the Sunchaser crammed with heavy stuff (museum books, camera stuff, etc.) the rubber strap leaves a lasting impression -- in my flesh! I should have done a shirtless pic during the manathon just to show what I mean. Anyway, the bags are great and the few times I have to transition from place to place are just a bit more of a little workout when you have no wheels. The Gator has been a fantastic day bag for camera, guide books, umbrella, water bottles, hat and sweater, and I like it way more than I expected. Red Oxx Rules!

Congrat on the successful class and Hawaii sounds great Shelly! I've only been once also (Kauai) but it was a blast. Glad you figured out something for a summer vacation.