Lessons learned in restaurant

Well, we learned a lesson the hard way last night. We were out on our nightly walk to a restaurant and wanted to try a new one that said "Pizzeria" and "restaurant" outside. We figured they might have menus in English, which they did. It was what seemed to be a true Italian restaurant, not Tex/Italian. Even the lasagna tasted different from what we are used to, but it was o.k. Brianne liked her pizza w/mushrooms, ham, tomoatoes and herbs even though it was very thin and very different from pizza in the US. She has branched out some too. Brianne and Trent ordered freshly squeezed pineapple juice and I ordered Mango which was all good. When looking over the menu, we had figured out the price of the entrees in US$ and made appropriate choices, b/c there was a huge price range. However, we neglected to check the price of the juice, which was a huge mistake. When we got the bill, the total for the juice was the equivalent of $44 US$!!! It was well more than 1/2 of our total bill. The pineapple juice was $12 each and Brianne sucked down 2 of them quickly and my mango was $10. Lesson learned... check all prices!

My favorite restaurant has also denied our credit card both times and we used different cards. Our translator said they probably would just rather get cash. However, 2nights ago we were almost in hot water. We planned on using another card that we used without a problem earlier that day. We've been using a CC when we can so we have less of a chance of having to get more wired over here. Nice restaurants and grocery stores are the only places we have found them. When he refused the bill, we counted up every last bit of Gryvna that we had changed and it ended up being about $2 short including the tip. Guess he should have taken the CC! I'm just glad we didn't get hauled off for not being able to pay. Lesson learned...you can try CC, but have cash to back it up!

On another note, all restaurants here have TV's in the dining areas. I thought that was an American hangup. Most continually run what I would consider MTV at home. We don't watch it and I'm sure it can be very sensual and obscene at home, but I have been astounded by what they show on it here and in public places. Yesterday, I told Brianne that she needed to face away from the TV and when she sat down, I reminded her of it and asked her to move to the other side of the table to which she readily complied only to tell me, "Mom, look behind you, there's one over there too!" We try to eat looking down or at each other, but it is a constant bombardment! At least, I am thankful that I have a child who wants to shield her own eyes.