Weeks of Wine . . . and Beer!

The past few weeks have been hectic at work but I have not been using that as an excuse to neglect opportunities to socialize and enjoy myself. Two weeks ago I was honored to be asked to speak at the Petroleum Club of Houston's annual French-American wine dinner.

The PCH's wine dinners are always extraordinary affairs, very elegant and well coordinated. During my three years on the Wine Committee, I helped select the wines to pair with the themed menus for the dinners and usually presented at least one wine at each dinner. Presentations ranged from serious and informative to fun and entertaining--naturally I usually tried to combine the two.

Of the nine wine dinners each year, my favorite was always the Classic, a glorious black-tie affair at which every wine poured was rated "Classic" (95 points or greater). A very close second, though, was the French-American. At this dinner two wines are served with each course, one French and one American. They are of the same varietal/blend and are served blind. The presenters for each course then withhold the revelation of which is which until the very end, often only after teasing the attendees with evidence that could point in either direction. Needless to say, I was looking forward to my first PCH French-American wine dinner in three years.

As always the food was exquisite, many of the wines were superb, and the company was incomparable. I presented the dessert course wines with my co-conspirator and favorite wingman, Cox. Three years ago we co-presented the main course wines at this dinner. I dressed as Napoleon while he dressed as George Washington and we held a French-American debate that transcended the boundaries of just wine. We knew we needed to follow that up with another rousing debate but we wanted to do something a little different.

And so it was that we conducted this wine talk with . . . puppets. Cox played the role of Wine Monster (Cookie Monster's twin brother), representing the US, while I presented as Kermitage Le Frog, obviously representing France. Our talk was mostly on the silly side since, by the dessert course, most attendees have already had eight glasses (or more) of wine and attention spans for wine geek facts are low. This turned out to bite us in the butt as well, though; by the time we took the podium, Cox was so inebriated that he could barely read the words of our talk. No worries, though; I think that actually enhanced our presentation value. The talk was well received and we had a grand time.

Later that same weekend I co-hosted a wine event for the seniors of Lovett College at Rice University. This was a great event that brought students, faculty, staff, and alumni together, added five very nice wines for lubrication, and produced great conversations and new connections among all. I wish we had had such an event when I was a senior but I at least hope to participate in many more as an alum.

Last week Katie and I met up with some of her work colleagues for dinner at Rudi Lechner's for German cuisine. We departed from wine in favor dark German beer (Spaten Optimator) and feasted on spatzle, zucchini bread, and fresh baked pretzels with rich mustard. A two-man band with accordion, brass, and alphorns kept us entertained and even got us out on the make-shift dance floor for the chicken dance. Awesome!

Just last night we received an urgent call from friend and former Lovett president, Rizzo, who needed to fill out his trivia team for Seinfeld night at Little Woodrow's. As Katie and I are in the middle of watching every episode of Seinfeld, we couldn't resist. Actually, we tried to resist, but when I learned that they had Guinness on tap, I was sold! It was a great night even though we only took third place. If only Katie and I had finished all of the Seinfeld seasons, I'm sure we would have won it all!

Prague, Musical City

This weekend I took advantage of a last-minute fare to head to Prague, where I had never been before. A friend of mine from the Rice volleyball team, Klara, lives there and she kindly opened her doors on very short notice to host me. It was a wonderful--if short--weekend that has left me hungry to explore the rest of the beautiful Czech Republic.

The trip began well; while I was waiting to board in Geneva, someone kept whistling The Final Countdown. When I arrived at Prague airport Friday afternoon, I was disappointed that my passport wasn't stamped (Switzerland is now part of the Schengen area.) but my disappointment didn't last long. I was thrilled to discover that the baggage claim conveyor belts notify passengers of incoming bags with a sound similar to 80s-era video game lasers instead of the harsh buzzers I'm accustomed to. Good start.

When I exited customs, Klara was already there waiting for me and she whisked me off to her family's apartment in the 6th district. It was a nice house with a big garden, an apricot tree laden with fruit, two dogs (blood hounds), and three cats. Fun! We dropped off my stuff and headed immediately to Prague Castle, the largest castle in Europe or the world, depending on whom you ask.

Prague Castle is very cool and has a great view over the city. Its main gate features two very gruesome statues of men savagely beating other men with clubs and knives--what a warm welcome! Inside the castle walls is a very impressive St. Vitus Cathedral. Its exterior is mostly Gothic but includes Renaissance and Baroque architectural styles as well. Inside the cathedral stained glass windows create a dynamic light show on the stone and the pipe organ spans multiple stories. I could have spent an entire day there just learning about the myriad monuments, sculptures, and artwork--again, very impressive.

From there we wound our way down and walked around a bit, stopping at a cafe along the Vltava River. Everywhere we went there were numerous posters for classical music concerts: Mozart, Beethoven, and of course hometown favorite Dvorak. Every church, concert hall, and outdoor venue must have been booked for concerts. And then there were plenty of modern music concerts advertised as well: Madonna, Leonard Cohen, and on and on. Surely there must have been a music festival going on that weekend--nope, just business as usual in this very musical city.

After our exploration of Western Prague we returned to the 6th district for dinner with Klara's sister, Karo (also a Rice volleyball player), and brother-in-law at a converted abbey that now serves traditional Czech cuisine. I had roasted leg of rabbit on garlic creamed spinach--delicious!--and, of course, hand crafted beer. We wound down with a few more beers at a nearby beer garden and then called it a night.

Saturday we headed over to the East side of the river and walked around all day. We had lunch at Klara's parents' restaurant (Anna Bar--highly recommended!), where I had garlic soup and Czech goulash--so good!. Our next stop was Old Town, where we witnessed the chiming of the really, really, really ridiculously cool astronomical clock. En route to Vysehrad, we passed many beautiful towers, churches, theaters, concert halls, and other buildings--I'm so fortunate to have had a tour guide who knew where to go!

Vysehrad was another cool castle with great views over the city and a cool basilica (St. Peter & St. Paul). After paying our respects to Dvorak in the cemetery, we hung out on a bench along the castle walls and just enjoyed the nice weather for a while. We then relocated to a cafe with a black tie pianist who played everything from Beethoven sonatas to oldies. It was nice to be out of the direct sun for a while so we lingered before making our way to dinner.

In a major departure from meaty Czech cuisine we dined at Prague's best vegetarian restaurant. The food was phenomenal (I had bulgur risotto with chili tofu and peanut sauce.) but unfortunately Karo couldn't join us--because she was going into labor! We cut the evening short and returned to the apartment to await news--which came around 1:30 AM--of the birth. Congratulations to the entire family and no need to thank me for my services--I'm sure the baby would have come eventually even if I hadn't been there.

After a full weekend of Czech food, beer, walking tourism, and friends, and after instigating the birth of Klara's nephew, there was nothing left to do but return to Lausanne--but not before buying a bottle of Slivovice in honor of my Czechoslovakian classmate, Martin. Here's to you, Martin (Na zdravi!), I'm sorry we couldn't meet on this trip but I assure you that your compatriots gave me an excellent introduction to your beautiful country.

While I was waiting to board my flight back to Geneva, the Prague airport speakers began blasting The Final Countdown. What a poetic bookend to a great weekend in such a musical city!

Pictures are in my facebook album.