In Germany the Christmas Holiday is celebrated over a three day period. On Christmas Eve almost all stores and businesses close at 14:00 hrs (2 p.m. for you civilians) and traditionally it is that evening that the Christmas tree is set up and decorated by the adults and the presents are put out. Then the children are let into the room around 18:00 - 19:00 hrs (6-7 p.m.) to see what the "Christkind" (Baby Jesus) has brought them. Old St. Nick drops off little sweets or coal and a switch, if you have been bad, in your shoe or stocking on the 6th of December, St Nicholas Day. After the "Bescherung" (giving of gifts), very devout catholics attend midnight mass on the 24th. The 25th and 26th are the first and second Christmas Days, in my family we usually go out to lunch or dinner at a nice restaurant on the First Christmas Day. On the Second Christmas Day we usually have 3 or 4 friends over to celebrate and enjoy a Germanic take on a traditional American Turkey Dinner.
Now to the restaurant tip, this year as in the past 5 years we had a table reserved at the Hotel-Restaurant Reweschnier. It is a family favorite for special occasions and holidays, in fact we celebrated my Grandmother's 80th birthday here. The Reweschnier is located in the little village of Blaubach just outside of the town of Kusel in the county of the same name. Blaubach is roughly 25 Km north-west of Ramstein Air Base and 19 Km south-east of Smith Barracks, Baumholder Germany. The cuisine served at the Reweschnier spans the categories of International to Regional specialties. My dad opted for the traditional Christmas Goose leg with potato dumplings & red cabbage, my mom opted for the pan fried Wiener Schnitzel (breaded boneless pork cutlet) with french fries and salad from the buffet, and I chose the Pefferrahm Steak (New York Tip with green pepper cream sauce) with fried potatos with onions and bacon & a salad from the buffet as well. The meals were outstanding and I could not resist swiping a bite of goose with the crispy skin, it literally melted in my mouth. If I did not have an aversion to the side dishes I would have probably ordered the same as my dad. We shared a bottle of mineral water with the meal and each of us chose our wine favorites to accompany the meal. My personal favorite is a semi dry Portugieser Weissherbst, a light and fruity rose', a staple wine made in the Rhein-Hessen and Rheinland-Pfalz wine regions. The meal was rounded off with a bowl of mixed ice-cream for myself and my mom, my dad picked his favorite "Heisse Liebe" (Hot Love) vanilla ice-cream topped with warm raspberry's and sauce. As always the meal was outstanding!
The Reweschnier is also a very popular location for hosting conferences and weddings. The most famous wedding reception held there was that of Polish born German National Soccer Player Miroslav Klose. Klose started his soccer career with the SG Blaubach-Diedlkopf and is now a striker for the Italian Serie A (First League) team Lazio Rom. If you have an opportunity to dine at the Reweschnier make sure you also check out the Klose wedding pictures prominently on display in the lobby entrance area.
Guten Appetit (Enjoy Your meal!) and check out the pics and links below.
http://reweschnier.de/en/Home/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blauer_Portugieser
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miroslav_Klose
In the spirit of cronyism and the second part of my Blog name E.T.C. (Experiences Tips & Commentaries) I would like to call attention to: http://customerservicenumbers.com// , a site run by my best friend from College. He was instrumental in helping me get started with this whole Blogging thing; so, I felt it was only right for me to send a little love his way. This site is an awesome tool to get assistance and avoid the typical run-a-round of being transferred from one dept. to the next on an endless loop. I have been giving out the website for well over two years now and have gotten nothing but positive feedback. There is also a great blog link on the site which I am including below. So if you need help with a product or service, this is your number one resource to go to so you can talk directly with those who make the product or service in question.
http://www.customerservicenumbersblog.com/
The other day at the store I was talking to colleague (Microsoft Rep) about Apple vs Windows, oh I guess I forgot to mention that I work as a vendor rep in the military market selling Apple computers exclusively to members of the United States Military. So back to the friendly discussion we agreed to agree, that it's good that their are multiple solutions for different needs and that neither of us subscribe to the dogma of "Highlanderism" the belief that "Their Can Only Be ONE!" I wish I could take credit for the concept; but, I got it from the guys of the "Angry Mac Bastards" podcast. Warning massive foul language, not for the faint of ear. If you do not get the reference, time to rent or buy the movie "Highlander" starring Christopher Lambert and Sean Connery
So what does all of that have to do with Home Theater? Well the discussion ran its course and morphed into home audio, and having spent almost 22 year selling high end Home & Car Audio products I love every opportunity I get to talk about HiFi systems. My colleague being retired military, as so often is the case when having been stationed overseas, has a pretty nice set-up consisting of Adcom amps, Yamaha receiver, and Klipsch speakers. During the conversation he basically told me how he got into Home Theater and where, when and how he acquired the various components of his system. My own personal system is rather modest, based off a Kenwood receiver and JBL Control series speakers. Unfortunately I would probably have a system equal or better to his had I benefitted from better timing and had I been a little more flush with cash when the overseas Audio Photo Clubs went out of business. Regardless my system gets the job done despite the absence of a powered subwoofer.
Human nature being what it is, and suffering from the need to constantly improve and acquire new toys for ones hobby, you have to ask yourself what would the fantasy sound system look like? Then I remembered an interview I listened to with Jeremy R. Kipnis, who has probably assembled the Ultimate Home Theater System. The interview was conducted by Scott Wilkinson on episode 39 of the Home Theater Geeks podcast from the TWiT network. The Kipnis Studio Standard (KSS) is designed to show off what is possible and advertise the technical expertise of Kipnis Studios, whose core business is the installation and design of Home Theater Systems. The KSS features a screen in excess of 182 square feet, and a 8.8 & 12.12 (3 Snell Center Channels, 10 Murata Super-tweeters, 8 Snell Full Range Speaker Towers & 16 Eighteen inch Subwoofers) surround sound system powered by 96,000 watts from 56 McIntosh Tube Amps! The KSS was also the 2009 Guiness World record holder for: Most Technically Advanced Gaming Set-Up as the KSS features a Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii, XBOX 360 plus Apple & Windows computer gaming systems. The entire KSS can be controlled with an iPhone. Price Tag: $6 Million!
They say seeing is believing and I would love to hear this system one day as well! As always please be sure to check out the links below.
http://www.kipnis-studios.com/The_Kipnis_Studio_Standard/Kipnis_Home_Theaters.html
http://twit.tv/show/home-theater-geeks/39
http://angrymacbastards.blogspot.com/
