I am the grillmaster

Well, not exactly... but I did manage to cook dinner on our "grill" last night. Consdering I was gone most of the summer, this was my first Basel grilling experience. It's quite a production. The previous Americans who lived in this flat left us the grill. They also left us a couple bags of "kohle", which looks nothing like the charcoal I'm used to using in the States. Keep in mind I went to the Dick Krumbiegel school of grilling, so I learned to grill the real way on a Weber with charcoal-- foget about the "convenience" of a gas grill. Anyway, I attempted to start a fire on Monday night, but quickly learned that either a) we didn't have enough charcoal, or b) the stuff we did have had been sitting outside for a year and was likely wet. After staring at the lame smoldering coals for a while and becoming quite frustrated, we decided to go to the Sports Club for dinner instead. So yesterday I went out to OBI, which is sort of like the Basel equivalent of Home Depot, to buy some coal and a grill brush which I used to scrape a few years of yuck off the grill rack. It is really strange-- grilling seems to be very different that what I'm used to-- none of that good grilling smell, and the fire takes FOREVER to get hot. But, after waiting patiently, we did have some good grilled sausages for dinner. I think the bottom line is that everything just takes longer in Basel (kind of like doing laundry).