I settled on the $9.99 lunch combo, 3 ribs and the choice of one other meat and two sids. Unsurprisingly, the burnt ends were much better than Bigg's serves at Allen Fieldhouse. They are among the best I have had. The ribs were meaty and tender - not quite as good as the burnt ends, but still above average. The corn on the cob was just OK, but the fries were also very good. Wither made fresh, or darn near the same.

But they added new self serve pop machines that weren't going over very well. Unlike the old easy to use machines, these have a touch screen that isn't intuitive and have just one dispenser. I finally figured them out and helped other customers, but I could see someone disliking them enough that they might not return.
 

This meal was very good, from the arepas & empanadas we had as appetizers to the carne asada and pollo adobado entrees, the food was all good. I need to return to this restaurant soon.

Linda and I had supper at Happy Banzai, a Japanese Steakhouse in Shawnee. The performance at the teppanyaki style grill was typical of other area restaurant, though the chef did have one trick that we hadn't seen before. The food was fine, near outstanding or poor. The prices are very reasonable. Several dollars cheaper than competing local restaurants.

I was blown away by the food. The smoking and dry rub add a lot of flavor to the meats. These may not be for everyone, but if you like a lot of flavor in your meat, The Rub is the place to go. The burnt ends were as good as I have ever had, the ribs were about average, and the smoked meat loaf is a nice alternative. The cheesy corn didn't do much for me, but the fresh cut fires and onion straws were very good.

Linda likes milder flavors and wasn't as excited with this meal as I was, but I will be back soon!

Don't get me wrong. There was nothing wrong with the food, but the menu is short and the items I tried are not worth driving out of your way.

My second meal was a revisit of a more impressive neighborhood joint. Specks Bar and Grill began as the Seabrook Tavern in 1957. It has changed hands a few times, but is now operated by the daughter of the original owners. This was St. Patrick's Day and they brought a small free serving of corned beef and cabbage, which wasn't bad. 

But the standbys are much better. Speck's Bomber hot dog is an all beef hot dog on a bun, smothers in swiss cheese, jalapeno peppers, sauerkraut and onions. It is a great, messy sandwich, available in a quarter pound for $4.39 or a half pound for $8.79.

Speck's 1/4 pound Bomber hot dog

I love the menu at Free State. It is creative, interesting and makes the dishes sound great. Linda and fish & chips, which is only $8.95, while I had the bourbon Barrel strip steak for $18.95. I usually order my steak medium rare, hoping to get a medium. More often than not, it is even more done, but the steak at Free State was a true medium rare.

In the grand scheme of things it wasn't that big a deal. I paid the penalty and we took a flight a couple of hours later, but it was stressful at the time.

With our arriving at Paris Charles De Gaulle Airport on Monday and flying out the next morning, I had booked a hotel in the airport - the Ibis Paris CDG Terminal hotel. We were able to walk to the hotel from baggage pickup. The Ibis finally broke our pattern of each hotel getting nicer than the one before. It was clean and fine, but the room was tiny. So small that you couldn't sit straight on the toilet.

After freshening up, we walked back downstairs and only about 50 yards to the train station where we caught the RER B suburban city train into Paris.

We spent the evening exploring the 5th Arrondissement, also known as the Latin Quarter. I had liked what I had seen of this area on previous visits, Rather a major meal, we snacked - first on crepes from a sidewalk creperie, then fondue at the Flagrant Delice. 

We found a couple of interesting churches. One was closed, but the Église Saint-Séverin (Church of Saint-Séverin) was open. It was a little past sundown and their were few lights, but the interior of this church was gorgeous. The sound of singing from a service being conducted in a side chapel added to the wonderful atmosphere.

We finally walked along the bank of the La Seine and repeated the river cruise from our previous trip to Paris.

It was getting late and we caught one of the last trains back to the airport. Well, most of the way to the airport. It turned out that due to construction, the late night trains do not go all the way and you transfer to a shuttle bus for the last of the route.

fondue at the Flagrant Delice
 

Church of Saint-Séverin

We also toured the National Museum of Science and Technology "Leonardo da Vinci," with its great section devoted to Leonardo's inventions. There are many of his sketches and models of his inventions.

In the evening, we went to La Rinascente, one of Milan's most prestigious department stores. It was right next to the Duomo and we enjoyed drinks and snacks on the rooftop bar facing the cathedral. It was a bit cool, but we were under a blank, sharing a love seat. It was a lovely time.

La Rinascente rooftop bar

We continued by train and arrived in Milan, Italy a little after noon. For the first time during the trip, we did not stay at a central location, but stayed at a suburban hotel. The Acca Palace had a good reputation anc was only 100 yards from a Metro stop. It was the most expensive place we stayed during the trip and we had the largest room that I have had in Europe.

We spent the afternoon and evening near the Piazza del Duomo, visiting the Duomo di Milano (Milan Cathedral), Galleria Vittorio Emanuele II, and the the Castello Sforzesco (Sforza Castle).

The highlight of this day was the roof of the Duomo di Milano. 

We had a great supper at the Al Conte Ugolino, a seafood restaurant in the Hotel Nuovo, near the Piazza.

Linda on the roof of the Duomo di Milano

Still, the location was great and we walked to many attractions including the Verona Arena, Church of St. Fermo, Casa di Giulietta (Juliet's House), the Piazza delle Erbe, Church of Santa Anastasia, and the Teatro Romano (Roman Theater) & Museo Archeologico (Archaeological Museum).

The Verona Arena is a Roman amphitheater which was was completed in 30 AD. It is the third largest in Italy.

The Roman Theatre Archaeological Museum was one of the best finds on our whole trip. The combination of the hillside, Roman ruins and setting sun were beautiful.

At lunch, I tried horse meat for the first time. It is a typical meat in Verona. The meat had a distinct taste that I have a hard time describing - there was a slightly musty taste, like some stronger cheeses have.

Chiesa di Santa Anastasia

We finished the day with a Gondola Ride and more exploration of the region near our hotel.

Today's lunch was at the abcQuadri, the cafe operated by the one star Michelin restaurant, Ristorante Quadri. 

Supper was at Osteria Ae Sconte. At the time I researched Osteria Ae Sconte, it was ranked #1 out of nearly 800 restaurants listed in Venice (It is currently #20). It was a very nice meal, followed by a walk to the Rialto Bridge.

In the evening we had a spectacular meal at the Ristorante A Beccafico, followed by a chamber music concert by concert by Interpreti Veneziani in the former Chiesa di San Vidal (Church of St. Vitalis) . The concert included Le Quattro Stagioni and Concerto for viola, cello, strings and harpsichord RV. 531 by Vivaldi, and Concerto Grosso for 2 violins, cello, strings and harpsichord op. 6 n. 12 by Arcangelo Corelli. Vivaldi was from Venice.

Review and a link to the Venice portion of the trip report.

We filled the balance of the day with tons of walking, exploring a park, two museums, the Real Jardín Botanico de Madrid (Royal Botanical Garden) and downtown Madrid. We concluded the day with tapas at a couple of bars.

Review and a link to the Madrid portion of the trip report.

During our layover in Dallas, we found a very nice restaurant in Terminal A. A restaurant where we will eat again on future trips - Pappadeaux Seafood Kitchen. Linda had fried catfish and shrimp with a large, loaded baked potato. It was a great meal for $22.68. I had an $8.99 crawfish bisque and $15.99 fried oysters and French fries. Though the serving was large, I thought the bisque was a little pricey. Otherwise, the meal was reasonable for the nice restaurant they were served in.

Pappadeaux is located down its own escalator and has a large attractive space. It does not feel like an airport restaurant. Here is our review and a link to the start of my trip report.

The lunch menu provides several entrees for $7 combined with the choice of coconut soup or side salad with ginger dressing. The dressing was good, but not as impressive as the dressing at Pho 2 in Olathe. I liked the Pad Prik (lean slices of meat with red & green bell peppers, onions, garlic and straw mushrooms in a spicy hot pepper sauce), but would have liked it to have been a bit spicier.