more stateside

 At the theater Saturday to see one of the final performances of Tale of Two Cities presented by Shattered Globe Theater company at the Theater WIT space. The staging was hokey and only a quarter of the actors had any emotional impact on me as an audience member but the adaptation was well done. I told Phil that the play would have read very well. It was slanted for today's fight for democracy and had a number of impassioned speeches.  Overall I would give it a B.

After I returned from the theater we went to Falcon's for a quick bite of sandwiches/wraps and soup and chili. 

Then Sunday I returned to the theater to see the brilliant ART.  So sorry to say that this was the final day of this fabulously funny emotional rollercoaster of a play! Otherwise I'd be telling everyone to get your tickets immediately. I was not alone in my raucous laughter and sometimes groans, because every audience member was "involved" with the quick pace and snappy dialogue. Sometimes vulnerable but mostly cutting to the quick with each other, three friends have a complete and utter meltdown ostensibly about a piece of art that one of them has spent 200 grand purchasing. Of course, the work of art (which is argued about and over) is simply the trigger point for issues in the platonic relationships of the three men. The three actors playing the characters of Marc, Ivan, and Serge were all outstanding in their performances. This is well worth seeing if you ever see a restaging of the play. #highlyrecomemded

After that we went to Brownstone for burgers and when we got home I worked on trip planning with TB... centerpiece of this year's trip  will be Crater Lake the deepest lake in the United states at 1949 feet deep and the water is replaced every 150 years by rainfall and snow melt as it has no rivers flwong into or out of the lake in the caldera. 

above photo and diagram from wikipedia.  This week we are busy with a visit from Steve & Suzanne and get togethers with friends Lee & Nick and another dinner with Frank (Aroy Thai) so stay tuned... 

in the flow...

 so on Friday night we planned to try a new place with Frank Patterson (my FB pen pal) at Lao Der. 

Turned out be a big hit... we ate our way through pretty much of the menu and loved it ...

So we had wide ranging discussions and made plans to see each other a few more times in the next months.

Then we had dinner at our place with John & Stephanie I made the crostada and J&S brought a terrific cheese board- 

The following night we met up with Mike & Leslie and Frank at Loyalist- For Memorial Day most had burgers at one of the best places in town to get the OG Dirty Burger.... Lots of other tasty dishes. Two good salads and a number of "bites" to start as well as shared desserts. Introduced Mike & Leslie to Frank and of course the group had a lot to talk about surrounding wine. And restaurants and favorite places to visit for food, wine, etc... #dinnerwithfriends

Phil follows a FB group for tavern style pizza. One of the places near us that keeps getting recommended is Bungalow so we went there to try it tonight. We had a wedge salad and a sausage pizza and pepperoni pizza. He liked it a lot I didn't care for it. I liked the thin crust and the crispy texture but I didn't love the flavor. I found it overcooked and I also didn't care for the dearth of cheese. It only tasted of Parmesan and that (to me) that really threw the flavors off balance. But I am sure he'll return.  I'd rather eat Pat's on Lincoln or even better, Buddy's on Conant near Hamtramck.

cooked at home a few nights and then one night we had dinner with Leslie after we were done with our training sessions, to catch up socially. We went to Bayan Ko DINER for an early dinner.  Everything on the menu looked good so we ordered enough that we ended up with leftovers for all! Brought an Argyle Sparkling Rose which was a good choice to accompany the food. All menu choices are marked on the menu.

So we are almost to the end of May and we have been Stateside for three and a half weeks- feels longer. the situation here in the news is more horrible every day. The weather has been crappy cold cold cold and rainy and I miss Sevilla and blue skies - I know I don't want to be there now as it is over 100* -  but still - other than catching up with doctors for annual check ups and seeing friends - really want to be out of the country. 

I have two plays scheduled for the weekend and we have a number of inners scheduled and in less than a week S&S are coming for a few days - June is already busy- so that will fly by... stay tuned for more.