Dallas

Yes...we have arrived in Dallas after a veeeeeeeery long delay....as we arrived in Florence at 7am we were told that our flight had been cancelled and everyone would be re-routed.....we were re-routed to Munich then to Chicago and then landed in Dallas at 2am....instead of a flight from Florence to Frankfurt and then a direct flight from Frankfurt to Dallas arriving at 2PM (a 12hr delay)....anyway...we arrived safe and sound and I guess that is what is most important......

Kim and I chose a hotel in Grapevine as we thought it would be convenient to get to all of our destinations.....the first day we opened a bank account with Wells Fargo in Southlake, very good service, we can only recommend them and then we went to look at a few houses....the places are stunning and I think we will have a hard time making a decision....that is also why my parents will fly over with Sofia as soon as they receive their passports back from Napoli....I guess they also want to give their 50c....hahaha.

While we were in the Grapevine/ Southlake area we tried some yummie food places....one night we ended up going to a wine bar in Grapevine called Umbra, met some nice people and then ended up having dinner with them at the French Bistro across the road.

Deep Fried Calamari and Cheese Platter at the French Bistro

Americans are very open and friendly....they just start chatting to you and either you hit it off with them.....or not.....but we ended up having a good night out and I am sure we will have many more.

During our stay, we also looked at houses on the Timarron golf-course....and hence we thought we would pop into the golf-course and find out about membership (well in fact Kim has had contact with Timarron via email and mentioned that we would pop in). So one afternoon we popped in to see Holly and she showed us the facilities; gym, golf-course, clubhouse and even places where they have events such as Tango night or Easter-hunt....really amazing....at the end she also invited us to have a lunch and of course we took her up on her offer....some delicious food.....I had the ceviche and Kim had the burger....we were both very happy with our choices....let me share some pics....

Ceviche

Burger

The next day we were on our way to Austin (more about that in my next blog)....we were meeting our friends for lunch at some famous steakhouse downtown Austin....so we left early. On our way back from Austin, we decided we had to try this real Texas burger....a fast-food place called "Whataburger".....and I must say Kim and I were impressed...it was much better than we expected and definitely a place that we would go to again.....

Whataburger

Last but not least.....when we were back in Southlake and before Kim departed to go to the ship we also wanted to try briskets in "our" area....and hence we tried a place called Meat U Anywhere....of course we tired the briskets...and then we added some pulled pork, some potato salad and some coleslaw....the food was very yummie...and one orders by the pound...so you can order 1/2 pound or 1/4 pound or whatever you desire....I will most definitely introduce my parents to this place...great food.....fast food....Texas food.....yummie...let me share a pic....(I must say, the pic is not doing justice to the food though)

 

Meat U Anywhere food

So yes, Kim and I had a few good days in the Southlake area (as well as Austin) and Kim is returning to the ship now and I will wait for mom, dad and Sofia to arrive to show them some houses.....I am so excited....and yes, during the waiting time I will be studying for my MBA GMAT entrance exam...which is bloody difficult.....You might be wondering...hmmm.....why is there only pictures of food....well because we did not do much sight-seeing just eating and looking at houses....and as mentioned...Austin blog is still to come....for now though...cheers from me....we chat soon.....