Saturday, April 11, 2009

You might be tipping too much if..........

After spending a long exhausting day in Rudesheim, Deaner and I decided that we would just walk down to the American sports bar for a quick dinner. I know it is lame but Celebrity Apprentice was coming on at 9pm here and we have been waiting to see it all week! Anyways, when we walked into the restaurant there was one other couple in front of us waiting to be seated. The hostess sat them in the last booth by the large open window. This restaurant is not air conditioned and so a booth by the window is nice. Also, sitting by the window, one can enjoy almost this exact view! No big deal that we JUST missed the last good table. We weren't planning on staying too long anyways. However when our normal waitress spotted us waiting she practically ran over to us to seat us. She told us that she was so happy to see us and that she would give us a good seat by the window. I was a little confused about which good seat that she was going to be giving us since they were all full. She exchanged a few words with the hostess who had just sat the people in front of us and before I knew it, the hostess was asking the people she had just sat to GET UP AND MOVE!! I just stood there dumbfounded. The other couple was taken to a different table, seated, and we were ushered into the best seat in the house! As soon as the waitress left to get our beers Deaner and I looked at each other and both said "what just happened here"?? I said that I guessed we left WAY too big of a tip the first time we came in there because the 2nd time we came in the waitress greeted us by our first names! :) Oh well, giving us a seat like that earns a big tip in my book! And by a big tip, I am talking 2 Euros here. Tipping just isn't the same as in the States and a 2 Euro tip is considered very generous.

The menu at Your's Sports Bar was cracking me up tonight. I have never noticed it until tonight but on the inside cover there are a few tips for ordering. My first favorite is "If you don't know what to order, order something expensive. Better for you, better for us." The second favorite said "Please do not drink the water. Not that there is anything wrong with it but when you order it, we don't make any money on it"! Ha ha ha! I love it.

Tomorrow I will do a better job on my post. Deaner and I spent the day in a beautiful town on the Rhein. I have lots of pictures to post and lots of updates to give. I'm sure I will have plenty of time tomorrow to post because every single business in Wiesbaden will be closed. Easter Sunday is a serious holiday around here! :) I'm really going to be missing home tomorrow. This will be the first holiday that we are away from home. I am going to miss having an Easter basket and a big family dinner. I really wanted to get Deaner an Easter basket but I don't have many resources here and time is up. I'm sure we will be dining in the hotel restaurant tomorrow twice. Nice. Guess I'll be eating a nice big Easter PIZZA.

2 comments:

Susanne said...

At 28, the Easter Bunny may have decided to leave you off the list this year. I KNOW he has decided that your sister and brother are too old for Easter baskets. Plus, your brother only wanted Rolling Rock in his basket this year. Thus signals the end of an era.

Allison said...

yeah it was hard to get used to the tipping rules here. You know you are supposed to just round up to the nearest dollar and never leave the money lying on the table.

So, say your bill is 15.30 euro, you would hand the waitress a 20 and say "16 please". (in German, of course) This lets her know that you want her to keep 16 and give you back 4.

Apparently over-tipping makes Americans look foolish to Europeans! (that is what I have read, anyhow...)