On, Wisconsin!

I made my first visit to the state of Wisconsin this past weekend!

We flew in to Milwaukee Friday afternoon and made the 1.5 hour drive to Madison.

                             

Dinner Friday night on State Street at an Afghani restaurant...

...followed by some beautiful piano music back at the house.

 Saturday was one full day.  It started out early at the largest farmers market in the country (on capital square)...which just happens to also have the best cheese in the country.

                               

Fried cheese - it was maybe the best thing I've ever had.



After spending an hour or so consuming all the fresh cheese samples I could, it was off to our next adventure:  a big tailgate put on by a bank - complete with a red carpet and all!

Somehow we both won little Buckeys!

                             

We didn't spend much time at the tailgate...we were just there long enough for some good food and drinks, and then it was off to Camp Randall Stadium for the football game (University of Wisconsin vs Purdue - 2:30 kickoff).

It was a sea of red for blocks around the stadium...

While the game itself was a blowout (62 - 17), Wisconsin has one of the best student sections ever.  They do the funniest (and longest) version of the wave I've ever seen, and after the 3rd quarter, they play 'Jump Around' and the whole stadium literally shakes with everyone jumping.  Here are links for a couple YouTube videos I took of the mayhem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5K3MYNIBA5Q

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCVvL_vwwuw

After the game, they have something called "5th Quarter" where the band goes down on the field and plays songs/dances around.  It probably doesn't sound that cool, but it really was fun to watch!



You would think that was already a full day, but we weren't finished yet.  After a chilly walk back to the house and some amazing homemade tomato soup (and more amazing cheese), we took off for the University of Wisconsin basketball game (8pm tipoff)!

We went back to the house long enough to watch K-State lose to OSU in the last seconds of the game, and then we went out for a night on the town (back to State Street).  We ended up at a little Irish pub called Brocach for a few drinks and really had a great time!

Sunday was a little more relaxed than Saturday.  We went to mass at a cute little (very little) chapel at Edgewood College, and then we got a tour of the campus, which just happens to be gorgeous and right next to a lake!

For lunch, we went back down to State Street (it's such a cool area - kind of like Aggieville in Manhattan only bigger and more international) and ate at Husnu's, which was really good Mediterranean food. 

I know the sign says Italian, but it definitely was not Italian food.  I mean, does that sign look Italian at all?

With only a few hours left before we had to hop on the Badger Bus for our ride back to the Milwaukee airport, we decided to just chill around the house - and listen to some more piano music, of course.

It really was a great weekend.  Short, but great.  We packed a lot in!  I can't wait to go back in Spring/Summer when it's warmer for some biking/lake activities!