drinking

We Came We Saw We Crawled (In Rome)

~ randyaa ~ 3 Comments

Pub CrawlWhen Charles, Rachel and I visited Rome in 2005 the last thing I expected to do was drink until the sun came up.

That’s exactly what happened.

We stayed in the Yellow Hostel in the middle of Rome and, although we didn’t know it until the second night, we were bunking(in the same room not the same bed) with two Australian girls in town for the weekend from their Nanny jobs in Milan. Rachel quickly made friends and what do you know but they both had a thing for partying.  They told us about this pub crawl starting at the Spanish Steps they had heard of:  $25 for a t-shirt, a drink and deals at every bar/club and a night of spending time with people from all over the world drinking till we forget it happened!? Sweet, where do we sign?

We literally drank until the sun came up and we had to catch the bus to the airport to fly back to London. One of the girls didn’t come back with us. No news on how her night went, but since she went home with one of the guys on the crawl with us, you can draw your own conclusions…  Our reward for the night was a shirt that said ‘We came we saw we crawled’ that lasted about 5 washes and a hangover (on the Ryan Air plane) that you wouldn’t believe.

Seriously though, we had an awesome time and have some great stories to share. Getting kicked off city buses in the middle of nowhere, BJ contests  in the bar, drinking beer at the top of the Spanish steps, drunken German speak, drunken French speak. Good times.

That said, if you get a chance to pub crawl in Rome, Do it!

Mexican Moonshine

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Legend has it that some ancient man ‘discovered’ tequila when an Agave Plant got flash-fermented by a lightning bolt.

Outside Magazine recently ran an article in which the authors took a tequila tour in much the same fashion as a typical wine tour. Those of us living in the finger lakes know what that’s all about. No, it’s not about drinking as much as you can for free (you’re supposed to spit remember?). Wine tasting is all about finding the wines you really enjoy and refining your palette to enjoy those you don’t already.

I for one hate tequila. At least I hate the typical tequila shots you take. I’ve never understood what the excitement was all about. It always burned more than it tastes and the only part I enjoyed was the lime afterward.

From reading the article it sounds like tequila gets a really bad name. This is because most people (myself included) have only had bad fake tequila. As the article reads:

Tequila is made from a single species of agave, AGAVE TEQUILANA WEBER…and comes only from Jalisco – a Mexican state about the size of South Carolina.

Sounds a lot like Champagne doesn’t it? You can’t get the real flavor of good wine from trying Franzia Box wine and you can’t get the real flavor of good tequila by doing shots of Jose Cuervo at the bar. In fact no two tequilas are the same. Their flavor can range from caramel to apricot, anywhere in between and beyond.

To taste good tequila you need to hook up with Miguel the zucchini farmer and try some of his De la Sierra. You’ll have to get in line though, his home brew is a local favorite and he only makes about 20,000 liters a year.

After reading the article I definitely have a new respect for tequila and I would love to go on a tasting of my own. Anyone up for the trip?

Maybe they should make a wine that can be used as shots.

Mayor Duffy Drinks Beer!

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Rohrbachs Downtown BreweryThursday RohrBachs opened their new brewery downtown with a bang. They had a grand opening that included free beer and free food! The food was great and I will definitely be picking up some pierogies from The Pierogie Guy. The beer was, of course, excellent. One of my favorites is always the RohrBachs Scotch Ale which is what we had on tap at our wedding but they had many other excellent choices available such as Nate’s Pale Ale and their Vanilla Porter.

Mayor Bob DuffyTo christen the new downtown brewery Mayor Bob Duffy spoke at the event. It was surprising to see him there as there is trouble with passing the New York Budget this year because of all the scandal surrounding the governor. However; Duffy is taking the renovation of Rochester seriously and he took the reopening of a downtown Rohrbachs brewery personal. That he’s neighbors with the owner of Rohrbachs obviously has nothing to do with it.

Drunken Pumpkin '07

~ randyaa ~ 1 Comment

Some of the Pumpkins from Drunken Pumpken ‘07Saturday night was our first Drunken Pumpkin. What is a Drunken Pumpkin? well… It’s quite simple really. It involves getting Drunk and Carving Pumpkins. That’s it. It doesn’t sound like it would be a very good combination but really it’s the order that matters. As long as you carve the Pumpkin first you’re good to go. From what Amy says this is the 6th annual Drunken Pumpkin in which Nobody got ‘carved.’

Our First ‘Kit’ PumpkinRachel and I took home the “Most Like a Halloween Story” paper plate award for our “wind in the Willows” Pumpkin. Neither one of us had ever used a kit before which turned out to be slow but worth it. Lots of thin little intricate pieces but we did those first while the pumpkin was still in one piece and it all turned out well. I think if we go next year we’ll be trying for the “Fewest Cuts” award.

After the Pumpkin carving mayhem we played a little Wii which led to some crazy fun for all the guests. Greg had to keep reminding everyone to use the wrist strap so we didn’t “let Fly” and damage his beautiful new TV. We learned that the tall person has to stand on the right at their house because there’s a ceiling fan on the left with some nasty light fixtures and we learned that no matter how close you get to the TV Greg will still be nervous.

Great time by all who was there and maybe we’ll see you at Drunken Pumkin next year!

Spring is nature’s way of saying “Let’s party!”

~ randyaa ~ 2 Comments

Is anyone interested in participating in the MS Pub Crawl? It’s for a good cause AND its a reason to drink all day. What more of a reason to participate do you need?

from mspubcrawl.com:

WHO: Everyone is welcome to join the MS Pub Crawl. Please help us spread the word.
WHAT: The Pub Crawl is our way of getting people together and making money for a good cause. We’ll head down Monroe Ave stopping at the bars along the way, 10 in total (see the map). You can stop at every bar, or just the ones you choose. Travel with the group or go at your own pace. To participate you need an MSPubCrawl bracelet – available online; or at Jeremiahs, Oxfords, Spikes, Avenue Pub, O’Callaghans, and Woodys. The bracelet get’s you great food and drink specials.
WHEN & WHERE: Saturday, April 28th 2007. The Crawl goes all day. The first stop is Jeremiah’s from noon to 2pm – then we spend about an hour at each bar along Monroe Ave and end at Woody’s at around 10pm.
WHY: To support the National MS Society