Late Summer BBQs

Well, I think this may have been one of the last really beautiful weekends in Frankfurt. It was a gorgeous Sunday afternoon, temperatures in the mid-70s with bright sunny skies. A perfect day for a BBQ and a birthday celebration.

After a rather raucous Friday night with Francesca, her new boyfriend, a couple of her friends, Nick, John and Christine (John's girlfriend's sister, confused yet??) which culminated in pasta being cooked at 2:30 am for a late night snack (have I mentioned that I love having Italians over for drinks??), everyone ended up invited to a celebrate the end of summer BBQ on Sunday.

So of course, after many burger patties had been made, John, my trusty fire starter appeared quarter to 4pm. Then 4pm arrived, then 4:10, then 4:20 and no other guests had shown up. John looked at me and said:

"You didn't invite any Germans, did you?"

To which I replied, "No, why do you ask?"

And he said, "No wonder no one is on time. The Americans never want to be the first one at the party and the Italians are guaranteed to show up at least an hour late!"

And he was right. Doug showed up next followed by Francesca and the rest of her friends at around 5pm. Almost exactly an hour late. Inside each cliche is a grain of truth. We had a great time though, good food, good wine and great company. It was a pretty perfect way to finish off the summer.

Not that the end of warm weather means I won't be BBQing any more. I am from Chicago after all, BBQ season is every season.