Matt's birthday night

Yesterday was Matt’s Birthday. To be honest, not much happened at all. There was dinner with the parents, drinking, climbing, and then more drinking. Well, come to think of it, maybe a few things did happen that are worth mentioning so I will do that just for you who are reading this. Which as far as I know now, it is just the one person reading it. Er, Um, that would be Heather.
For dinner, Matt and I had the “Mixed Grill” at a local pub-turned-restaurant called “The Bulls Head”. The menu described it as 18 ounces of Yorkshire goodness grilled to perfection. What that meant was a slab of every kind of domesticated meat western cultures eat, all served together. Then because the plate was so full with meat they had to bring the veggies and the “chips” (that means French fries or freedom fries depending on your preference) in a side dish. I struggled to get through it all, but I was able to pack it in and move on. If there are people starving in the world it may single-handedly be due to the portion of meat served at this pub.

I mentioned this was a local pub-turned-restaurant. This brings me to an important part of British culture that is dying out. Over here, going to a pub is the thing to do for old and young alike. Last night we went back to the Tap and I saw people from 18 all the way up to 81 enjoying the same atmosphere. It is noticeable how many pubs have shut down since the last time I was here 3 years ago. I have seen at least 4, some of which have been in business for over a hundred years. According to Matt (and he would know), the tariff (tax) on beer has been increased dramatically. Now to get a good, proper ale poured from the tap costs about 3 quid 80 (translation: good beer costs about $5.00 on tap). For the locals, this means the beer is just too expensive in the pubs now. People have been buying the beer in the local grocery store and taking it home to drink. This is putting many pubs out of business. More importantly, this is changing one of the fundamental aspects of British culture, the pub life. Over here, it is not about drinking but about community in the pubs. Without the community, perhaps it may become more about drinking. That would be a sad state of affairs indeed.

Ok let’s take a moment to mourn the pubs then go on……

Enough of that. The first drink of the night for me, after about two sips, Matt showed me a cool game. This was a bad idea on his part. You flip the coaster up from the edge of the table then try to catch it immediately afterward. I was not doing too badly until I hit my very full glass of beer. On the upside, there was no one sitting in front of me to get wet or showered with glass. On the down side, I was without a beer and very much in need of something to quell the blazing fire of embarrassment within. I waited another two full rounds before I partook in the beer drinking again. It seems here when you say "I have had enough", that means "please buy me another drink". It is very difficult to tell the people you are out with, that you do not want to have any more beer.

For my friend Michelle, the beer connoisseur, you will be pleased to hear I found a beer that I can actually taste a uniqueness about it. On top of that, it is really good. Should you get the opportunity to try “Franziskarner”, a German beer, I highly recommend it.

While sitting out in front of the tap and our evening winding down, this dude decides to talk to us. He asks me if I am from Australia? That is a first for me. He joined in our conversation a bit, but really the only thing I got from what he was saying was that there was another pub up the road open much later. At this point, we were out of cash and in need of an ATM machine. Off we went into town to get some cash. That really means we walked 2 blocks up the road.

While they were getting cash, I decided to try my hand at climbing the building. Unfortunately, the stones were not real stones and just crumbled under my grip. Inspired, we walked across the street to another bank and the sides were much more stable. Matt and I scaled the building without much difficulty. This, of course, attracted the attention of two local people on their way to a pub. They decided to join us in the climbing goodness. After a bit more climbing on several buildings, we all meandered our way down to the pub. Turns out it was the same one our friend earlier had recommended. They had karaoke and food and all sorts of stuff. As we took a seat inside I saw the bartender from the last pub we were in sitting and having a drink. The only reason I remember Sam, the bartender, is because he was the one that had to clean up my mess of a spilt beer. Of course, when he offered to get me a drink, I reminded him of my mishap earlier and told him I had had enough drinking for the night. He said ok, he understood and returned shortly with a beer for me. I think he and I must have missed something in that exchange. Later, he tried to buy me another beer, but thankfully the bar had last call shortly before he got there.

It was amusing to watch Joel try to hit on Matt’s girlfriend right in front of Matt. She pretty much just ignored him. When he asked me what her name was, I told him. Thing is, I only spelled it out in British sign language. He found that much less amusing than I did.

It was not too long after that, we made our way home and to bed. Well, I guess I did have something to say after all. Don’t forget to send me a text message or call me. 011 44 7517038243

-dana