The BEST Night So Far

As I type, we are sitting at an outdoor Burger King, with a view of the lake, watching football and blogging (computer split screen)! Because our hotel internet leaves much to be desired, our housing agent told us we could use the BK wireless internet as long as we bought a meal. Guess what - no problem! This is our second visit to Burger King and we've already hit the McDonald's once (Cissy - I was thinking of you in Paris the entire time). We're scared off by the prices here, and because we have to eat EVERY meal out until we get an apartment, sometimes we choose the "chipper chicken" (anyone a Father of the Bride fan???). Back to my point... we're the happiest we've been since our arrival. I just asked Ryan what he thought the temperature was, thinking I'd explain part of what makes this so pleasant, and he said "perfect." That about sums it up. Besides, the only English channel we've watched since last Friday is CNN, and it's not the American CNN, it's the version that comes on when America sleeps. I know about the French tennis star that's coming out of retirement, the African runner whose gender is being questioned, etc. If I watch it really late, I might catch Larry King. The result? I've never been so happy to watch football in my life! Google "slingbox" to understand how we're watching American TV. Leave it to Ryan to figure this out before we left. Best $200 we ever spent (especially considering we would have spent that much on dinner tonight, if not for "il Whopper").

Brian - to answer your question about tipping... waiters don't live off tips here and so it's not expected. If you left 10%, they'll love you. If you're like us, and on Sunday gave the taxi driver $10 on a $20 cab ride, you'll get looked at like you're crazy. Usually (we're told) people just round up and leave the change. Even if your tab is large.

Be thinking of us on Monday... at about 11:00 am your time we'll be visiting an apartment we REALLY want. It's not the picture we posted (with the great view) but it's in that same building. Because it's on the ground level, and the view of the lake is obscured by a very large tree, it's in our budget! The kitchen is new (and big by Lugano's standards), the bathroom is old but very livable, and there are lots of windows. It's in the neighborhood we want and we're afraid we're not going to find anything like it. Problem - it's the same land lady who posted the apartment we wanted for $1,950, and today, told our agent that those are just the pictures from the apartment we want. That apartment is still $2,500. A classic bait and switch. The new place we want is posted for $2,050, but the price she told us was $2,200. So, the fear is that she holds to the $2,200, in which case we'll walk away. It's just $150, but a) that's over our budget, and b) it's the principle of the whole thing. We've decided that if she disputes the online price (which is clearly an attempt to gouge us), we're walking away, especially considering we'd have to trust her enough to rent from her for the next two years. But we REALLY like it, so just send you're positive house vibes our way. Either that or $150 monthly until September 2011.

PS - Just kidding mom - don't send money.

PPS - go LSU!


This isn't the best picture, but it gives you an idea... it's one big living room with a long terrace. See those big branches? They belong to the tree which makes this apartment possible. Long live the tree!