July 11, 2025 • 20 mins
HOW ABOUT A NICE FANCY EUROPEAN COCKTAIL? The Wine Yogi Kristal Alfonso is in to talk about her recent European vacation with looks a LOT like parts of the next Mandy Connell Adventure! More on that in a minute but check out her travel and cocktail blog here!
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Joining us now to talk about seasons and Europe and
fancy cocktails, fresh from her European vacation where they drove
around in a circle saying, look, kid's big ben just kidding.
They didn't go to London. The whynogy Chris Lafonso, good
to see.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You, my friend. I did you. I don't know that
second part, that's how are you.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I did learn how to say summi mussen, which is
excuse me, excuse me, because I kept running into people,
excuse summi mussen, sumy mussen.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
That was my I did get.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Now I must pronounce it differently because we said sumi mussin.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Well, I probably was slaughtering it. I mean, there's no
doubt in my mind.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
You also learned chat to Monte kuts I really quickly
when you live over there.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
What is that slowly? Please?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Oh? Well, now with Google Translate, it doesn't matter. Google
translates the game changer. So you just got back from
your European vacation and you had what we're gonna call
the Cocktail of Summer for the Mandy Connell Show. Although
the Paloma I had at Sierra is haunting my dreams
right now because it was that.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Good the other night I had never I'm not much
for wine cocktails.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I love spritzer.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
In the summer I do too, and a little bit lighter,
you're not getting as much alcohol.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I do enjoy.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I do enjoy like a billini or mimosa, especially at
brunch and around the holidays, but just in the summertime. Yeah,
I'm just not much of a wine like wine cocktail.
So we're they're actually adding in some other type of
spirit or liqueur.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And so I just happened.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
We were sitting in one of the hottest days there
and I was there during the heat wave I guess
still going on. But we were visiting Alsatian town. So
we were in France, and we had just visited the
town that was used to model Beauty and the Beast
and then her Bell's House is actually from the live
(01:47):
action Bell's House is.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So I took a.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Picture of that because that's my favorite that's my favorite
animated movie.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It is Beauty and the Beast.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
And of course I was singing the whole time, and
I had a lot of French people looking at me
strange because well.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
You're American, I was, they accept nothing less.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I see it actually the French owner of one of
the wine places where I went and I tasted his wines.
He didn't speak any English, and my French was passable
enough that he was lovely. I actually had a great
experience with most of my language barrier issues, because I
theoretically can speak French, but if you don't do it,
you forget it and practice I can still read it,
(02:22):
but in.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Practice, see, I can read it too. But sentence structure
in French is where I got hung up. So I'm
sure my sentence structure is terrible because their sentence structure
is different than ours.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
And Paris was beautiful all those things, but we were
in this the second Alsatian town and it was just hot.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
There was no shade anywhere.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So we ended up stopping in this place just to
grab some lunch as we were kind of encouraged too,
and I was like, you know what, I'm going to
have that apparol spritzel spitzer with the local sparkling esling
and so it wasn't prosecco, and it was fantastic and
it was just exactly crashing exactly what I needed.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yes, I'm going to need another one of those.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Let's talk about aperaol for a minute, because I was
explaining it to Anthony earlier, and it is actually kind
of a bitter, and it has a slightly medicinal quality
to it, but not in a way that you go
hook that tastes like cough medicine. It just has the
only way I can think of it is and bitters
are used, yeah, so, and in old.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Fashion, So if you're kind of used to that wild
orange bitter note that you might find in certain types
of old fashion that really want to emphasize the orange.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's very comparable.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
And then they put a lot of other things in
there too, and it's very proprietary, but it's just a lovely, gorgeous,
bright orange.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
And they have their own glasses. I was given these glasses,
very nice from a liquor store front of mine.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Was given the glass and I'm sure with the five
finger discount.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
No, no, no, I put him up there and he's like, no,
I'm not going to charge you for those. I was
like thanks, But it was just it was so refreshing, absolutely,
because I was not about to order Savenyon blanc with
a helping.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
You in it. It's not too sweet. That's the thing
that's the big thing.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
It's not too sweet, it's just refreshing. It's a little
bit bracing, and it's a delicious summer cop.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
And it has club soda in it, which I really
like too, especially again with the heat of the day.
Heat is going to intensify alcohol. So even though you
have typically it's a two to three ratio two parts apparol,
three part persecco and then one part club soda, but
you could certainly like make it heavier handed on the
club soda, just again to make it lighter in terms
(04:25):
of your alcohol. And so yeah, it was just perfect.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You just mentioned putting a jalapino in savio blanc. So
I saw a story about this and I literally set
the link to Crystal and said, I am intrigued. And
it was a glass of sauvill al blanc was just
a slice of fresh jalapino in it. Well, I am
here to tell you she tested this out and it
(04:49):
is outstanding.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I actually had it for that because I think I
texted you right back. I said, oh, by the way,
I met Sip in the spring over here in Palisade
and I just had that because one of the wineries
that was pouring there. I had met that wine maker.
It's a brand new winery in Palisade and Terravin.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And I had met that team and he's like crystal
Cameric Khmer and.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
He was slicing these jalipinos and he's like, the secret
is you have to freeze the jalapino. And I was like, okay,
it's good to know. So I froze the valipino, sliced it.
I got a nice, beautiful French Laire Valley savignon blanc,
hundred percent savignon blanc, and that's what I made for you.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
It changes. First of all, the savignon blanc she brought
was perfect. It had very floral notes in it, but
it wasn't sweet. It was just a nice crisp finish.
But you put that one slice of valipino and they're in,
it changes everything.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
It really brings out the green notes. Yeah blanc. Yeah,
if you like a little bit of zing, that's what
it is. It's just zing.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
It's not heat, it's not uncomfortable, it's just zing and freshness.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
That was amazing. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. It was lovely.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
It was a very hot day in palis Too at
that particular Winefest and that was absolutely perfect.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So I have to question, Oh, hi, Mandy got me
going teeing up at apparol sprits. Now, well, I have
one in my grubby little hand right here, so there
you go. I think it's funny when people say Europe
is fancy.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Lol, it's really.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Gross, says this texter. I could not disagree with you more.
I really Europe is different. It's different all and there
are parts. I mean, I will be honest.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I was telling Mandy because I did do the Mandy
Connell I kind of feel like the Advon team. I
did the cruise unbeknownst to me because when I picked
this one, I picked a base off of dates. It
just worked out perfect. I did the castles on the Rhine,
and when I came in, I was like, do you
know why there's so many castles on the Rhine? And
it spout the robber barons, But you learn that actually
(06:42):
on the tour and there is a part of the
Rhine River where you're just I mean, you cannot go
thirty seconds.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
With fancy swing a dead cat without hitting a castle.
There are castles there. You have a castle. You have
a castle.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
It was like Oprah came through there and just gave
everybody a castle. And most of them have been just desroid.
The one along the Rhine that hasn't been destroyed was
right outside of a town called Braboch and it sits
off on top of this hill. They were all just
most of them were destroyed either before World War two
or as part of daylight bombing. But the amazing thing
(07:15):
about it was, you know, we finished up in Amsterdam,
and unbeknownst to me, this year is Amsterdam's seven hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of existence, and so the weekend we
happened to be there, they were closing down different streets
and if the bike game is real in Amsterdam, everybody
tells you, they warn you be careful of the bikes.
Oh my gosh, that was insane. That was insane. I
don't know how the people now.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
And most of the roads and in a canal, so
if you think you can you recognize that, Okay, our
hotel is probably a mild was really.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Good about that. Though Google Maps was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
We used to when I was there. We didn't have
Google Maps, we didn't have cell phones.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
We popped that little earbud in Google Maps. Led us everywhere,
so we never got lost. We did a walking tour
of it and everything. But what Amsterdam was probably the
dirtiest city.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Just because of the because of the.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Parties, but it was because of the party and also
because of the drug tourists and homeless issues that Amsterdam
grapples with. Sunday morning, when we did our walking tour
with our via tour guide, they were finally starting to
clean it up. I think like when we got there
on a Friday, they're just like, it's the weekend party
and we're not going to really mess with it. Sunday
(08:25):
morning they were cleaning everything up, so it was completely
different by Sunday evening.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
So and then we left on Monday.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
But it definitely I loved the whole experience of being
on the cruise ship and.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
How well they took care of us.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
It was so nice that they did my laundry multiple
times because when we got there because it was hot
and in Paris. We spent three and a half days
in Paris, walking all over Paris. Had an amazing time there,
but the uh and yet the very first place I
sat down at was cafe I like call it Cafe Bougie,
(09:01):
but it was buci. I'm pronouncing it bougie. And I
had champagne by the glass, so I had to have
three glasses because I rarely get champagne by the glass
that they're pouring it at my table, and I was
just like, this is amazing. And I only had escargo,
so I kind of feel like it balanced out. But
the uh that Holy Paris, I think maybe still a
holdover from the Olympics, was extremely clean, whereas in past
(09:25):
times that I've been there, like Paul and Tony, my
husband's son, they were just shocked. They were like, I
expected a lot worse. I expect you to be more
like Amsterdam.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I've never been to Paris when it wasn't pouring down
rain and I'm not kidding, I mean pouring down ring.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Paris.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
We had seventy degree weather, like seventy degrees.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Because they are very smug about not having air conditioning
in France.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
And it was perfect. Our room, hotel room did our
hotel was amazing. And then but after walking all over
those still like I needed to do laundry. And then
we went to Bosle, so we took the Swiss rail
train to.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Basle, which is so lovely. Isn't it. It was really hot?
Oh no way, oh.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yes, And I don't think that that particular cabin got
the message that was really hot outside. So when we
finally got there and it was too expensive to do
my laundry at the basel Marriout we stayed at, so
I was.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Like, well, I know I get laundry on Unit World.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Ship.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
So but as soon as we roll in, like my
son needs me, we need sight to dauntry. That's my
first day I did laundry, and then after that they
did my laundry for me and it was amazing, delightful.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Somebody has a follow up question, Mandy, is the Jilapinos
still frozen going in the wine?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I mean ideally, like I drive up from Colorado Springs,
so I kept it on ice, so it was it
was not by the time I threw it.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
In, but it was still slightly frozen. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I want to talk about very quickly the rest of
your trip, because news flash, after Crystal went on this trip,
we announced well, I told her, oh my gosh, that's
the next Mandy Connell adventure. Only we're not going in
the middle of summer because I have made a solemn
vowed to never go back to Europe in the summer again,
much like I'd added never go back to Japan in
the middle of summer again. So we're going in October
(11:04):
of twenty twenty six. And the reason I say it
like that is this, you have plenty of time to
make payments on this trip. It is going to be spectacular.
We are going to be aboard the Emerald Don. But
I've already been to a bunch of these cities, so
I am super excited to take my husband and my
daughter because they have not been to any of these cities.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
But we're starting in Switzerland. We're starting in Zurich and
we're going to.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Lake Lucern and we're spending the night in Lake Lucerne,
which you've been to before.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Stern is beautiful. I've been there a couple times.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Before.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
We go to Vasel, Switzerland and hop on the Emerald
Don and then we are visiting. I don't want to
see which one of these you stopped at, so we
stop at. The first stop is in Freeburg, which is
like the capital of the Black Forest, which is stunningly beautiful.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Say, we did an excursion in the Black Forest. We
went to one of the the We went to the
world's largest cuckoo clock, and we met the guy that
builds him, and he's still he runs the whole place.
He gave us some cheery snaps when we arrive, of course,
and that's where we tasted black forest cake. That was
all fantastic, and I think that was like a separate excursion, right,
(12:06):
but I'm so glad.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
We did that. So that was. Yeah, that was a
beautiful tour.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Then we're going to Keel in Strasburg, which of Strasburg
has the you know, you can go to the Sound
of Music whatever, but there's so much other stuff in
Strasburg that I'd rather do.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
No, no, no, that's Salsburg.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Oh you're right, Strasburg's in France, and you're right. It's
a very Germanic styled and we did go there. I
did a walking tour of Strasburg as well. They beautiful city.
I had been there before as well, but we were
there on a Sunday morning, so everything was closed, so
you can't really do any shopping or wad tasting or anything.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
But yeah, it was a beautiful city.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Then we go to one of my favorite towns in Germany, Heidelberg.
There's a massive castle there. But now because of Crystal,
I have to find out about a vinegar tour.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yes, you need to do the vinegar tour because that was.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Are they famous for vinegar and Heidelberg? Is that a thing?
I know, it's not.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
This one's not in Heidelberg where the vinegar is. That's
like the morning that was our morning excursion that we did,
right and this place was just kind of in the.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Middle of Winbershine.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah, it was just in the middle of all these
vineyards and that's just what this particular family decided to
make and it's the most That vinegar was insanely delicious.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I'm so glad we did that vinegar tour. So then
we're going to Copeland's.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Copeland's is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Upper
Rine Valley.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Copelands unlike Strasbourg. So in Strasburg you're kind of when
you dock, it's not like the prettiest site, so they'll
probably put you on a bus to go into city,
whereas Copelanz you are right there in the city.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
And when I.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Got off and I was just doing my morning walk,
my steps in I ended up walking through like there's
this place where you can see where the Rhine meets
the Moselle River, and that's where I wanted to go.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
But they were having like a job fare for all
our high school.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Teenager students, German students that were all bebopping around and
so I'm just walking around taking all that, you know,
I'm looking at the they.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Had like the radio station.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
There and I'm out German and playing all this music
and stuff like this is awesome. But right there in
cope Blentz, they have part of the Berlin Wall. Oh nice,
and like most people are oblivious so that it's the
Berlin Wall, but it's like right there where the cruise
shipstock and you can easily, I mean you just get
off and you start walking around.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I loved cope Blentz, so it was beautiful.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Then we go to Cologne and do so nor Cologne.
Cologne has her heart. The church in Cologne has one
Crystal's heart, and I told her I'm like, go to Vienna.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
There's churches just like that, like everywhere crazy and it's funny.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Our whole trip, we went into four different Notre Dames. Yeah,
we went to the you know, the og on Il
de lasste in Paris. But then I saw one that
had been bombed and partially destroyed for the Battle of
Saint Low during the Normandy invasions, and so to see
that and like how they kind of dealt with it
because they never rebuilt a tower that was you know,
torn down them right, it's fantastic. But this the tower
(14:51):
in Cologne. When we happened to be there was a day,
a holy day in the Catholic Church, and so the
archbishop was in town, so they were holding all these masses.
So we had all these choir singing, you had all
these different parishes coming from around Central Europe to come
celebrate Mass, and the bells just started pealing.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
And so we have to go back to Colonne so
that we can go inside to see it, because that
is just an amazing feat of architecture.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And then we end up in Amsterdam, which I hope
is going to be all cleaned down the piety as
it was when I was there.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
And then we fly home. So that's our trip. We're
going on a different cruise line.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
We're going on the Emerald Dawn for no other reason
other than Unit World, which is who Christal went on
and who we've been on before. They change their policy
about group trips, so it's no reflection of that. But
Emerald is also a fabulous luxury trip because all of
these trips are luxury. I just want to let you
guys know if you want to go on this trip,
go to Mandyconnell trip dot com. That's Mandyconnell trip dot com.
(15:46):
We already have people booked on this trip from former trips,
so don't sleep on this. I don't know how many
cabins we have and it's going to be amazing and
I hope you guys can all go on vacation with us.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Like I said, I'm super excited to go back to Switzerland,
cannot wait to go back to e rectamand ten stars.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Would do again and probably will do again because we
already put down a.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Deposit teamn Since tell your story of the private chef.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh okay, yeah, so this is we're not doing this
on the man, Jill. You got thirty seconds. Hey, private
chef in Normandy.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
He's a British guy that my mom has a huge
crush on, and he was amazing and just just delightful.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Well, you tried to make reservations at his restaurant but
it was closed, which was closed.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And he what invited you guys over for a private lunch?
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Sent me an email and he's like, hey, you want
to come over for lunch? And I mean it was pricey,
but it was totally worth it and we're now friends.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
So yeah, yeah, reps, We're going to do it again.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
All right, So go to Mandy connell trip dot com,
get yourself some hot frozen jalapenos, drop them in a
glass and saw on you holk or have an apparol
sprints this weekend and celebrate summer. Yes, because it is here.
Alrighty you ready to play?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (16:52):
And now it's time for the most exciting segment on
the radio of it's kind in the world of the day.
All right, So we've had some real groaners in the
dad joke department over the last couple, well the last week.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yes, So what is today? God? What kind of car
does a Jedi drive?
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Shut up.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
That Jetta. I was gonna say to Yoda, Ah, get
a Toyyo toy Yoda? Stop it? All right?
Speaker 1 (17:30):
What is our word of the day? Please a verbad
g a Dad, not gaddad gad to gad something.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yes, it's goad.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I'm gonna say, make fun of kind of rib a
little bit, give him a little.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Give him a little guff. He think all of what
she said, but none of it.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Okay, Uh, I'm gonna I'm gonna guess it's to guess.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Oh, to move restlessly or aimlessly from one place to another?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Is that where gadfly comes from? Maybe I don't know. Okay,
here's our tribute question. This is so easy. I'm gonna
be very disappointed if we don't all get the answer.
Who voices the titular character in the twenty twenty two
Disney Pixar film light Year, an origin story for the
fictional astronaut Buzz light Year from.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
The toy Strm in America Chris Evans.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Chris Evans because Tim Allen was too conservative for Disney anyway,
all right, win, yogi me?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
What is our jeopardy? Catino? Even know why I play
this game? Do you want to play a game? Let's
play a game. Let's do it.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Okay, so we're actually going to play D and D.
Guess it's time to select the DM.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
This person man Crystal Mandy, here's the dungeon master correct.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
On a monopoly board, A question mark marks the three
spaces labeled this.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Crystal, Crystal? What is chance? That is great?
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Dang it. If you lose your last territory in this game,
you're eliminated.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
What's risk? Correct? Hate that game too?
Speaker 4 (19:02):
And is it stratag go?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Do you to play that game?
Speaker 4 (19:07):
That don't The pieces that don't move are the bombs
and this The object of the game is to capture
your opponents.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
I have no idea. I've never played that game. Capture
the is it the flag? Crystal? What is the flat?
Crystal said her name? The point? Correct?
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Is that three? One?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
That's two? Two to two?
Speaker 4 (19:27):
You get sixty seconds to guess your teammates sketch in
this game?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Oh man? Rock paper scissors? Ready? And oh no, we
got to do three? What do three? Ready?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Three?
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I did it wrong again? One more time? In Crystal
one one?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Dude?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Three? There we go? Who won me? Okay?
Speaker 4 (19:47):
What is it?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
What's the I forgot the question? Remember?
Speaker 1 (19:53):
What is pictionary? I really did forget the question and
they did thirty seconds. You're about to lose between him
asking it and Rock paper scissoring wrong later on my part.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So that you account, I should get an extra point
or quarter point or something for that. Okay, she screwed
up paper scissors. Probably, I can't even argue with that point.
That's actually quite right.
Joining us now to talk about seasons and Europe and
fancy cocktails, fresh from her European vacation where they drove
around in a circle saying, look, kid's big ben just kidding.
They didn't go to London. The whynogy Chris Lafonso, good
to see.
Speaker 2 (00:14):
You, my friend. I did you. I don't know that
second part, that's how are you.
Speaker 1 (00:19):
I did learn how to say summi mussen, which is
excuse me, excuse me, because I kept running into people,
excuse summi mussen, sumy mussen.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
That was my I did get.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Now I must pronounce it differently because we said sumi mussin.
Speaker 1 (00:30):
Well, I probably was slaughtering it. I mean, there's no
doubt in my mind.
Speaker 4 (00:33):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (00:34):
You also learned chat to Monte kuts I really quickly
when you live over there.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
What is that slowly? Please?
Speaker 1 (00:39):
Oh? Well, now with Google Translate, it doesn't matter. Google
translates the game changer. So you just got back from
your European vacation and you had what we're gonna call
the Cocktail of Summer for the Mandy Connell Show. Although
the Paloma I had at Sierra is haunting my dreams
right now because it was that.
Speaker 3 (00:58):
Good the other night I had never I'm not much
for wine cocktails.
Speaker 2 (01:03):
I love spritzer.
Speaker 1 (01:03):
In the summer I do too, and a little bit lighter,
you're not getting as much alcohol.
Speaker 2 (01:07):
I do enjoy.
Speaker 3 (01:09):
I do enjoy like a billini or mimosa, especially at
brunch and around the holidays, but just in the summertime. Yeah,
I'm just not much of a wine like wine cocktail.
So we're they're actually adding in some other type of
spirit or liqueur.
Speaker 2 (01:23):
And so I just happened.
Speaker 3 (01:26):
We were sitting in one of the hottest days there
and I was there during the heat wave I guess
still going on. But we were visiting Alsatian town. So
we were in France, and we had just visited the
town that was used to model Beauty and the Beast
and then her Bell's House is actually from the live
(01:47):
action Bell's House is.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
So I took a.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Picture of that because that's my favorite that's my favorite
animated movie.
Speaker 2 (01:52):
It is Beauty and the Beast.
Speaker 3 (01:53):
And of course I was singing the whole time, and
I had a lot of French people looking at me
strange because well.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
You're American, I was, they accept nothing less.
Speaker 3 (02:01):
I see it actually the French owner of one of
the wine places where I went and I tasted his wines.
He didn't speak any English, and my French was passable
enough that he was lovely. I actually had a great
experience with most of my language barrier issues, because I
theoretically can speak French, but if you don't do it,
you forget it and practice I can still read it,
(02:22):
but in.
Speaker 1 (02:22):
Practice, see, I can read it too. But sentence structure
in French is where I got hung up. So I'm
sure my sentence structure is terrible because their sentence structure
is different than ours.
Speaker 3 (02:31):
And Paris was beautiful all those things, but we were
in this the second Alsatian town and it was just hot.
Speaker 2 (02:38):
There was no shade anywhere.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
So we ended up stopping in this place just to
grab some lunch as we were kind of encouraged too,
and I was like, you know what, I'm going to
have that apparol spritzel spitzer with the local sparkling esling
and so it wasn't prosecco, and it was fantastic and
it was just exactly crashing exactly what I needed.
Speaker 2 (02:55):
Yes, I'm going to need another one of those.
Speaker 1 (02:57):
Let's talk about aperaol for a minute, because I was
explaining it to Anthony earlier, and it is actually kind
of a bitter, and it has a slightly medicinal quality
to it, but not in a way that you go
hook that tastes like cough medicine. It just has the
only way I can think of it is and bitters
are used, yeah, so, and in old.
Speaker 3 (03:18):
Fashion, So if you're kind of used to that wild
orange bitter note that you might find in certain types
of old fashion that really want to emphasize the orange.
Speaker 2 (03:27):
It's very comparable.
Speaker 3 (03:28):
And then they put a lot of other things in
there too, and it's very proprietary, but it's just a lovely, gorgeous,
bright orange.
Speaker 2 (03:35):
And they have their own glasses. I was given these glasses,
very nice from a liquor store front of mine.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
Was given the glass and I'm sure with the five
finger discount.
Speaker 3 (03:45):
No, no, no, I put him up there and he's like, no,
I'm not going to charge you for those. I was
like thanks, But it was just it was so refreshing, absolutely,
because I was not about to order Savenyon blanc with
a helping.
Speaker 2 (03:56):
You in it. It's not too sweet. That's the thing
that's the big thing.
Speaker 1 (03:59):
It's not too sweet, it's just refreshing. It's a little
bit bracing, and it's a delicious summer cop.
Speaker 3 (04:04):
And it has club soda in it, which I really
like too, especially again with the heat of the day.
Heat is going to intensify alcohol. So even though you
have typically it's a two to three ratio two parts apparol,
three part persecco and then one part club soda, but
you could certainly like make it heavier handed on the
club soda, just again to make it lighter in terms
(04:25):
of your alcohol. And so yeah, it was just perfect.
Speaker 1 (04:28):
You just mentioned putting a jalapino in savio blanc. So
I saw a story about this and I literally set
the link to Crystal and said, I am intrigued. And
it was a glass of sauvill al blanc was just
a slice of fresh jalapino in it. Well, I am
here to tell you she tested this out and it
(04:49):
is outstanding.
Speaker 3 (04:50):
I actually had it for that because I think I
texted you right back. I said, oh, by the way,
I met Sip in the spring over here in Palisade
and I just had that because one of the wineries
that was pouring there. I had met that wine maker.
It's a brand new winery in Palisade and Terravin.
Speaker 2 (05:07):
And I had met that team and he's like crystal
Cameric Khmer and.
Speaker 3 (05:11):
He was slicing these jalipinos and he's like, the secret
is you have to freeze the jalapino. And I was like, okay,
it's good to know. So I froze the valipino, sliced it.
I got a nice, beautiful French Laire Valley savignon blanc,
hundred percent savignon blanc, and that's what I made for you.
Speaker 1 (05:27):
It changes. First of all, the savignon blanc she brought
was perfect. It had very floral notes in it, but
it wasn't sweet. It was just a nice crisp finish.
But you put that one slice of valipino and they're in,
it changes everything.
Speaker 2 (05:40):
It really brings out the green notes. Yeah blanc. Yeah,
if you like a little bit of zing, that's what
it is. It's just zing.
Speaker 1 (05:45):
It's not heat, it's not uncomfortable, it's just zing and freshness.
Speaker 2 (05:50):
That was amazing. Yeah, I really enjoyed it. It was lovely.
Speaker 3 (05:53):
It was a very hot day in palis Too at
that particular Winefest and that was absolutely perfect.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
So I have to question, Oh, hi, Mandy got me
going teeing up at apparol sprits. Now, well, I have
one in my grubby little hand right here, so there
you go. I think it's funny when people say Europe
is fancy.
Speaker 2 (06:10):
Lol, it's really.
Speaker 1 (06:11):
Gross, says this texter. I could not disagree with you more.
I really Europe is different. It's different all and there
are parts. I mean, I will be honest.
Speaker 3 (06:21):
I was telling Mandy because I did do the Mandy
Connell I kind of feel like the Advon team. I
did the cruise unbeknownst to me because when I picked
this one, I picked a base off of dates. It
just worked out perfect. I did the castles on the Rhine,
and when I came in, I was like, do you
know why there's so many castles on the Rhine? And
it spout the robber barons, But you learn that actually
(06:42):
on the tour and there is a part of the
Rhine River where you're just I mean, you cannot go
thirty seconds.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
With fancy swing a dead cat without hitting a castle.
There are castles there. You have a castle. You have
a castle.
Speaker 3 (06:54):
It was like Oprah came through there and just gave
everybody a castle. And most of them have been just desroid.
The one along the Rhine that hasn't been destroyed was
right outside of a town called Braboch and it sits
off on top of this hill. They were all just
most of them were destroyed either before World War two
or as part of daylight bombing. But the amazing thing
(07:15):
about it was, you know, we finished up in Amsterdam,
and unbeknownst to me, this year is Amsterdam's seven hundred
and fiftieth anniversary of existence, and so the weekend we
happened to be there, they were closing down different streets
and if the bike game is real in Amsterdam, everybody
tells you, they warn you be careful of the bikes.
Oh my gosh, that was insane. That was insane. I
don't know how the people now.
Speaker 1 (07:35):
And most of the roads and in a canal, so
if you think you can you recognize that, Okay, our
hotel is probably a mild was really.
Speaker 3 (07:43):
Good about that. Though Google Maps was fantastic.
Speaker 1 (07:45):
We used to when I was there. We didn't have
Google Maps, we didn't have cell phones.
Speaker 3 (07:49):
We popped that little earbud in Google Maps. Led us everywhere,
so we never got lost. We did a walking tour
of it and everything. But what Amsterdam was probably the
dirtiest city.
Speaker 2 (08:01):
Just because of the because of the.
Speaker 3 (08:03):
Parties, but it was because of the party and also
because of the drug tourists and homeless issues that Amsterdam
grapples with. Sunday morning, when we did our walking tour
with our via tour guide, they were finally starting to
clean it up. I think like when we got there
on a Friday, they're just like, it's the weekend party
and we're not going to really mess with it. Sunday
(08:25):
morning they were cleaning everything up, so it was completely
different by Sunday evening.
Speaker 2 (08:31):
So and then we left on Monday.
Speaker 3 (08:32):
But it definitely I loved the whole experience of being
on the cruise ship and.
Speaker 2 (08:39):
How well they took care of us.
Speaker 3 (08:41):
It was so nice that they did my laundry multiple
times because when we got there because it was hot
and in Paris. We spent three and a half days
in Paris, walking all over Paris. Had an amazing time there,
but the uh and yet the very first place I
sat down at was cafe I like call it Cafe Bougie,
(09:01):
but it was buci. I'm pronouncing it bougie. And I
had champagne by the glass, so I had to have
three glasses because I rarely get champagne by the glass
that they're pouring it at my table, and I was
just like, this is amazing. And I only had escargo,
so I kind of feel like it balanced out. But
the uh that Holy Paris, I think maybe still a
holdover from the Olympics, was extremely clean, whereas in past
(09:25):
times that I've been there, like Paul and Tony, my
husband's son, they were just shocked. They were like, I
expected a lot worse. I expect you to be more
like Amsterdam.
Speaker 1 (09:32):
I've never been to Paris when it wasn't pouring down
rain and I'm not kidding, I mean pouring down ring.
Speaker 2 (09:38):
Paris.
Speaker 3 (09:39):
We had seventy degree weather, like seventy degrees.
Speaker 1 (09:42):
Because they are very smug about not having air conditioning
in France.
Speaker 3 (09:45):
And it was perfect. Our room, hotel room did our
hotel was amazing. And then but after walking all over
those still like I needed to do laundry. And then
we went to Bosle, so we took the Swiss rail
train to.
Speaker 2 (09:57):
Basle, which is so lovely. Isn't it. It was really hot?
Oh no way, oh.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
Yes, And I don't think that that particular cabin got
the message that was really hot outside. So when we
finally got there and it was too expensive to do
my laundry at the basel Marriout we stayed at, so
I was.
Speaker 2 (10:14):
Like, well, I know I get laundry on Unit World.
Speaker 4 (10:17):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (10:18):
Ship.
Speaker 3 (10:18):
So but as soon as we roll in, like my
son needs me, we need sight to dauntry. That's my
first day I did laundry, and then after that they
did my laundry for me and it was amazing, delightful.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
Somebody has a follow up question, Mandy, is the Jilapinos
still frozen going in the wine?
Speaker 2 (10:32):
Yes?
Speaker 3 (10:32):
I mean ideally, like I drive up from Colorado Springs,
so I kept it on ice, so it was it
was not by the time I threw it.
Speaker 2 (10:40):
In, but it was still slightly frozen. Yeah.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
I want to talk about very quickly the rest of
your trip, because news flash, after Crystal went on this trip,
we announced well, I told her, oh my gosh, that's
the next Mandy Connell adventure. Only we're not going in
the middle of summer because I have made a solemn
vowed to never go back to Europe in the summer again,
much like I'd added never go back to Japan in
the middle of summer again. So we're going in October
(11:04):
of twenty twenty six. And the reason I say it
like that is this, you have plenty of time to
make payments on this trip. It is going to be spectacular.
We are going to be aboard the Emerald Don. But
I've already been to a bunch of these cities, so
I am super excited to take my husband and my
daughter because they have not been to any of these cities.
Speaker 2 (11:23):
But we're starting in Switzerland. We're starting in Zurich and
we're going to.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Lake Lucern and we're spending the night in Lake Lucerne,
which you've been to before.
Speaker 2 (11:30):
Stern is beautiful. I've been there a couple times.
Speaker 4 (11:32):
Before.
Speaker 1 (11:32):
We go to Vasel, Switzerland and hop on the Emerald
Don and then we are visiting. I don't want to
see which one of these you stopped at, so we
stop at. The first stop is in Freeburg, which is
like the capital of the Black Forest, which is stunningly beautiful.
Speaker 3 (11:46):
Say, we did an excursion in the Black Forest. We
went to one of the the We went to the
world's largest cuckoo clock, and we met the guy that
builds him, and he's still he runs the whole place.
He gave us some cheery snaps when we arrive, of course,
and that's where we tasted black forest cake. That was
all fantastic, and I think that was like a separate excursion, right,
(12:06):
but I'm so glad.
Speaker 2 (12:07):
We did that. So that was. Yeah, that was a
beautiful tour.
Speaker 1 (12:10):
Then we're going to Keel in Strasburg, which of Strasburg
has the you know, you can go to the Sound
of Music whatever, but there's so much other stuff in
Strasburg that I'd rather do.
Speaker 2 (12:21):
No, no, no, that's Salsburg.
Speaker 3 (12:22):
Oh you're right, Strasburg's in France, and you're right. It's
a very Germanic styled and we did go there. I
did a walking tour of Strasburg as well. They beautiful city.
I had been there before as well, but we were
there on a Sunday morning, so everything was closed, so
you can't really do any shopping or wad tasting or anything.
Speaker 2 (12:40):
But yeah, it was a beautiful city.
Speaker 1 (12:42):
Then we go to one of my favorite towns in Germany, Heidelberg.
There's a massive castle there. But now because of Crystal,
I have to find out about a vinegar tour.
Speaker 3 (12:51):
Yes, you need to do the vinegar tour because that was.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Are they famous for vinegar and Heidelberg? Is that a thing?
I know, it's not.
Speaker 3 (12:56):
This one's not in Heidelberg where the vinegar is. That's
like the morning that was our morning excursion that we did,
right and this place was just kind of in the.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Middle of Winbershine.
Speaker 3 (13:06):
Yeah, it was just in the middle of all these
vineyards and that's just what this particular family decided to
make and it's the most That vinegar was insanely delicious.
Speaker 2 (13:17):
I'm so glad we did that vinegar tour. So then
we're going to Copeland's.
Speaker 1 (13:20):
Copeland's is a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the Upper
Rine Valley.
Speaker 3 (13:25):
Copelands unlike Strasbourg. So in Strasburg you're kind of when
you dock, it's not like the prettiest site, so they'll
probably put you on a bus to go into city,
whereas Copelanz you are right there in the city.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
And when I.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Got off and I was just doing my morning walk,
my steps in I ended up walking through like there's
this place where you can see where the Rhine meets
the Moselle River, and that's where I wanted to go.
Speaker 2 (13:48):
But they were having like a job fare for all
our high school.
Speaker 3 (13:50):
Teenager students, German students that were all bebopping around and
so I'm just walking around taking all that, you know,
I'm looking at the they.
Speaker 2 (13:58):
Had like the radio station.
Speaker 3 (13:59):
There and I'm out German and playing all this music
and stuff like this is awesome. But right there in
cope Blentz, they have part of the Berlin Wall. Oh nice,
and like most people are oblivious so that it's the
Berlin Wall, but it's like right there where the cruise
shipstock and you can easily, I mean you just get
off and you start walking around.
Speaker 2 (14:17):
I loved cope Blentz, so it was beautiful.
Speaker 1 (14:19):
Then we go to Cologne and do so nor Cologne.
Cologne has her heart. The church in Cologne has one
Crystal's heart, and I told her I'm like, go to Vienna.
Speaker 2 (14:26):
There's churches just like that, like everywhere crazy and it's funny.
Speaker 3 (14:31):
Our whole trip, we went into four different Notre Dames. Yeah,
we went to the you know, the og on Il
de lasste in Paris. But then I saw one that
had been bombed and partially destroyed for the Battle of
Saint Low during the Normandy invasions, and so to see
that and like how they kind of dealt with it
because they never rebuilt a tower that was you know,
torn down them right, it's fantastic. But this the tower
(14:51):
in Cologne. When we happened to be there was a day,
a holy day in the Catholic Church, and so the
archbishop was in town, so they were holding all these masses.
So we had all these choir singing, you had all
these different parishes coming from around Central Europe to come
celebrate Mass, and the bells just started pealing.
Speaker 2 (15:07):
Yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 3 (15:09):
And so we have to go back to Colonne so
that we can go inside to see it, because that
is just an amazing feat of architecture.
Speaker 1 (15:15):
And then we end up in Amsterdam, which I hope
is going to be all cleaned down the piety as
it was when I was there.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
And then we fly home. So that's our trip. We're
going on a different cruise line.
Speaker 1 (15:24):
We're going on the Emerald Dawn for no other reason
other than Unit World, which is who Christal went on
and who we've been on before. They change their policy
about group trips, so it's no reflection of that. But
Emerald is also a fabulous luxury trip because all of
these trips are luxury. I just want to let you
guys know if you want to go on this trip,
go to Mandyconnell trip dot com. That's Mandyconnell trip dot com.
(15:46):
We already have people booked on this trip from former trips,
so don't sleep on this. I don't know how many
cabins we have and it's going to be amazing and
I hope you guys can all go on vacation with us.
Speaker 2 (15:55):
I'm really looking forward to it.
Speaker 1 (15:56):
Like I said, I'm super excited to go back to Switzerland,
cannot wait to go back to e rectamand ten stars.
Speaker 3 (16:03):
Would do again and probably will do again because we
already put down a.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
Deposit teamn Since tell your story of the private chef.
Speaker 2 (16:11):
Oh okay, yeah, so this is we're not doing this
on the man, Jill. You got thirty seconds. Hey, private
chef in Normandy.
Speaker 3 (16:18):
He's a British guy that my mom has a huge
crush on, and he was amazing and just just delightful.
Speaker 1 (16:23):
Well, you tried to make reservations at his restaurant but
it was closed, which was closed.
Speaker 2 (16:27):
And he what invited you guys over for a private lunch?
Speaker 3 (16:30):
Sent me an email and he's like, hey, you want
to come over for lunch? And I mean it was pricey,
but it was totally worth it and we're now friends.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
So yeah, yeah, reps, We're going to do it again.
Speaker 1 (16:38):
All right, So go to Mandy connell trip dot com,
get yourself some hot frozen jalapenos, drop them in a
glass and saw on you holk or have an apparol
sprints this weekend and celebrate summer. Yes, because it is here.
Alrighty you ready to play?
Speaker 2 (16:52):
Sure?
Speaker 1 (16:52):
And now it's time for the most exciting segment on
the radio of it's kind in the world of the day.
All right, So we've had some real groaners in the
dad joke department over the last couple, well the last week.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Yes, So what is today? God? What kind of car
does a Jedi drive?
Speaker 4 (17:15):
Shut up.
Speaker 2 (17:18):
That Jetta. I was gonna say to Yoda, Ah, get
a Toyyo toy Yoda? Stop it? All right?
Speaker 1 (17:30):
What is our word of the day? Please a verbad
g a Dad, not gaddad gad to gad something.
Speaker 2 (17:43):
Yes, it's goad.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
I'm gonna say, make fun of kind of rib a
little bit, give him a little.
Speaker 2 (17:48):
Give him a little guff. He think all of what
she said, but none of it.
Speaker 3 (17:52):
Okay, Uh, I'm gonna I'm gonna guess it's to guess.
Speaker 4 (17:57):
Oh, to move restlessly or aimlessly from one place to another?
Speaker 1 (18:02):
Is that where gadfly comes from? Maybe I don't know. Okay,
here's our tribute question. This is so easy. I'm gonna
be very disappointed if we don't all get the answer.
Who voices the titular character in the twenty twenty two
Disney Pixar film light Year, an origin story for the
fictional astronaut Buzz light Year from.
Speaker 4 (18:21):
The toy Strm in America Chris Evans.
Speaker 1 (18:25):
Chris Evans because Tim Allen was too conservative for Disney anyway,
all right, win, yogi me?
Speaker 2 (18:32):
What is our jeopardy? Catino? Even know why I play
this game? Do you want to play a game? Let's
play a game. Let's do it.
Speaker 4 (18:38):
Okay, so we're actually going to play D and D.
Guess it's time to select the DM.
Speaker 1 (18:43):
This person man Crystal Mandy, here's the dungeon master correct.
Speaker 4 (18:47):
On a monopoly board, A question mark marks the three
spaces labeled this.
Speaker 2 (18:52):
Crystal, Crystal? What is chance? That is great?
Speaker 4 (18:54):
Dang it. If you lose your last territory in this game,
you're eliminated.
Speaker 2 (18:59):
What's risk? Correct? Hate that game too?
Speaker 4 (19:02):
And is it stratag go?
Speaker 2 (19:06):
Do you to play that game?
Speaker 4 (19:07):
That don't The pieces that don't move are the bombs
and this The object of the game is to capture
your opponents.
Speaker 2 (19:15):
I have no idea. I've never played that game. Capture
the is it the flag? Crystal? What is the flat?
Crystal said her name? The point? Correct?
Speaker 4 (19:25):
Is that three? One?
Speaker 2 (19:26):
That's two? Two to two?
Speaker 4 (19:27):
You get sixty seconds to guess your teammates sketch in
this game?
Speaker 2 (19:32):
Oh man? Rock paper scissors? Ready? And oh no, we
got to do three? What do three? Ready?
Speaker 4 (19:40):
Three?
Speaker 3 (19:40):
Oh?
Speaker 2 (19:41):
I did it wrong again? One more time? In Crystal
one one?
Speaker 4 (19:44):
Dude?
Speaker 2 (19:45):
Three? There we go? Who won me? Okay?
Speaker 4 (19:47):
What is it?
Speaker 2 (19:48):
What's the I forgot the question? Remember?
Speaker 1 (19:53):
What is pictionary? I really did forget the question and
they did thirty seconds. You're about to lose between him
asking it and Rock paper scissoring wrong later on my part.
Speaker 3 (20:05):
So that you account, I should get an extra point
or quarter point or something for that. Okay, she screwed
up paper scissors. Probably, I can't even argue with that point.
That's actually quite right.
The Mandy Connell Podcast News
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.