European hot

It's European hot this week: temperatures around 30°C (86°F), humid, still air, and no AC or ceiling fans on the entire continent! That's an exaggeration. The grocery stores have AC and so do many of the department stores, so I guess you should just go shopping if you are too hot. We have high ceilings with windows that open top and bottom, but no screens. So when Gianna is home, i have to keep the lower ones closed to keep her from climbing out onto the third story ledge and plummeting onto the street below :-O If you think Europeans wear pants no matter how hot it is, think again. Although I still see some superstitious Germans wearing neck scarves in this weather (they think neck draft causes illness), women wear dresses/skirts/capris/shorts and men wear shorts or manpris. At any rate, my small shoebox freezer can't make ice fast enough to keep up with my iced coffee cravings. Gianna is going swimming at summer camp today and I'm jealous!

July 1 and no talk of weekend BBQ's or fireworks around here. If you want fireworks, members of the US military can catch a BBQ and firework display out at the base in Weisbaden. Or, if you are a civilian with money to burn, you can book passage on a boat that takes you up the Rhine for "Rhine on Fire", a fireworks display set off especially for this fleet of boats (tickets start at 50€). Our best bet is to ignore the calendar, and pretend July 13th is July 4th while watching fireworks along the Main River here in Frankfurt at the Höchster Schloßfest 2009.

And yeah, my 32nd birthday is coming up this weekend. Dan already has the presents bought, but I guess there is little chance he was able to rustle up a Carvel ice cream cake. Without fireworks, BBQ and ice cream cake, it hardly feels like birthday season. Maybe I will put it off turning 32 until next year!!