To do or not to do...

LA4Bama · Mar 8, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
LOL! Good point! And you're right; it's there. It's there in Italy also...

I missed my train in (I think it was) Antwerp, Belgium, so I had time to kill until the next. Found the nearest bar on the far side of the train station and went inside. It was so plain on the outside but on the inside it was a high quality homage to the American West (old wooden bar, wood paneling, deserts, tortoises, cactus, bison skulls, bows and arrows, whips and rifles) crossed with some other vintage Americana like neon bar signs and early muscle cars. Now that alone would have been really cool, but as I got further in I could see that the few customers were all dressed in cowboy hats, boots, denim jackets, and even leather chaps. That was a big creepier, but still, everything was fine until I found out... they only served American beer!

day-day · Mar 8, 2017

LA4Bama said:
I missed my train in (I think it was) Antwerp, Belgium, so I had time to kill until the next. Found the nearest bar on the far side of the train station and went inside. It was so plain on the outside but on the inside it was a high quality homage to the American West (old wooden bar, wood paneling, deserts, tortoises, cactus, bison skulls, bows and arrows, whips and rifles) crossed with some other vintage Americana like neon bar signs and early muscle cars. Now that alone would have been really cool, but as I got further in I could see that the few customers were all dressed in cowboy hats, boots, denim jackets, and even leather chaps. That was a big creepier, but still, everything was fine until I found out... they only served American beer!

Creepy I reckon since you don't mention that they were wearing jeans or any other pants.:eek2:

Definitely not looking for American beer when in Europe.

TIDE-HSV · Mar 8, 2017

LA4Bama said:
I missed my train in (I think it was) Antwerp, Belgium, so I had time to kill until the next. Found the nearest bar on the far side of the train station and went inside. It was so plain on the outside but on the inside it was a high quality homage to the American West (old wooden bar, wood paneling, deserts, tortoises, cactus, bison skulls, bows and arrows, whips and rifles) crossed with some other vintage Americana like neon bar signs and early muscle cars. Now that alone would have been really cool, but as I got further in I could see that the few customers were all dressed in cowboy hats, boots, denim jackets, and even leather chaps. That was a big creepier, but still, everything was fine until I found out... they only served American beer!

Back in the mid-70s, we took the kids to northern Europe - Holland, north Germany, to visit a family we knew, then to Denmark and Norway. The Jutland peninsula is home to Legoland, so naturally we stopped overnight. They also had a replica western bar. Our server had spent a year here as an exchange student and spoke flawless English, most Danes being excellent linguists. Then, for dessert, we ordered apple pie a la mode. The bubble popped then. It came with sour cream instead of ice cream...

TIDE-HSV · Mar 8, 2017

day-day said:
Creepy I reckon since you don't mention that they were wearing jeans or any other pants.:eek2:

Definitely not looking for American beer when in Europe.

I've related this before, but, once, in Austria, in a restaurant, I struck up a conversation with a coffee importer from Berlin. He gave us a recommendation for Schloss (castle) Itter and we went there and stayed in the former cells, not realizing the history, that it was the site of the last battle of WWII, with the Wehrmacht and the US army fighting alongside against the SS troops to save the French government prisoners in the castle, which had been turned into a prison. Had no idea movies would be made about it, with one being made now. But, back to beer, Itter at the time was a designated R&R area for US Army troops. He exclaimed "Man kann da Budweiser Bier kaufen!" (You can buy Budweiser beer there!) I replied "Warum sollte ich Budweiser Bier hier kaufen?" (Why should I buy Budweiser beer here?" He looked offended and said "Budweiser Bier ist gutes Bier!" (Budweiser beer is good beer!) To each his own. I guess the grass is always greener. I would never buy American beer in Europe and I've drunk local beer from one end of Europe to the other...

crimson fan man · Mar 8, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
Back in the mid-70s, we took the kids to northern Europe - Holland, north Germany, to visit a family we knew, then to Denmark and Norway. The Jutland peninsula is home to Legoland, so naturally we stopped overnight. They also had a replica western bar. Our server had spent a year here as an exchange student and spoke flawless English, most Danes being excellent linguists. Then, for dessert, we ordered apple pie a la mode. The bubble popped then. It came with sour cream instead of ice cream...

I hope you took the time to correct them on their mistake!!

TIDE-HSV · Mar 8, 2017

crimson fan man said:
I hope you took the time to correct them on their mistake!!

You know, I'm not sure we did. We just scraped it off and had a good laugh...

TIDE-HSV · Mar 8, 2017

Another tale from the same trip involving restaurants. We crossed over to the city of Kristiansand on the southernmost tip of Norway from Jutland and were lucky to find a hotel because it was late. In the AM, there was the usual Norwegian breakfast smorgasbord. No server or manager spoke English or German. Well, Norway's expensive, even today, but that was 1974 and the dollar had crashed two years before, so everything was insanely expensive. We ordered from the table, not realizing that was the most expensive way to do it. The bill for the five of us was $57, a little under $300 today. I paid, but before we left, I vented my fury on the comments pad in the room. We traveled directly north up the Sedesdal, a little used route which wasn't even a road until the late '40s. Back then, you had to fill out where you intended to stay next. Well, we changed plans when the hotel was closed in the little hamlet we'd aimed for and stayed in the little crossroads of Bykle instead. We fell in love with it and stayed for five days. At the time, I spoke no Norwegian and the hotel proprietress spoke no English. However, she had had German troops garrisoned on her during the war and spoke fluent, if heavily accented, German. We had been there two days, when she burst into the dining room, shouting "Herr Self, Herr Self, Sie haben einen Anruf!" (Mr. Self, Mr. Self, you have a telephone call.) I was sure a family member had died. When I got to the phone, it was the manager of the hotel in Kristiansand, apologizing. He said he was sending a full refund check immediately. It arrived the next day. I think I started really liking Norwegians then...

day-day · Mar 9, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
I've related this before, but, once, in Austria, in a restaurant, I struck up a conversation with a coffee importer from Berlin. He gave us a recommendation for Schloss (castle) Itter and we went there and stayed in the former cells, not realizing the history, that it was the site of the last battle of WWII, with the Wehrmacht and the US army fighting alongside against the SS troops to save the French government prisoners in the castle, which had been turned into a prison. Had no idea movies would be made about it, with one being made now. But, back to beer, Itter at the time was a designated R&R area for US Army troops. He exclaimed "Man kann da Budweiser Bier kaufen!" (You can buy Budweiser beer there!) I replied "Warum sollte ich Budweiser Bier hier kaufen?" (Why should I buy Budweiser beer here?" He looked offended and said "Budweiser Bier ist gutes Bier!" (Budweiser beer is good beer!) To each his own. I guess the grass is always greener. I would never buy American beer in Europe and I've drunk local beer from one end of Europe to the other...

Was it Czech Budweiser or American Bud? There have been disputes over the name used by the Czech brewery and Anheuser-Busch. I think "Budweiser" belongs to the Czech's in Europe.

TIDE-HSV · Mar 9, 2017

day-day said:
Was it Czech Budweiser or American Bud? There have been disputes over the name used by the Czech brewery and Anheuser-Busch. I think "Budweiser" belongs to the Czech's in Europe.

It was US Bud. Remember this was an official R&R facility for US servicemen, so I presume imported especially for them. When I'd visit my daughter over there, we could get many American brands at the PX and commissary that couldn't be bought on the market. The coffee merchant knew it was American Bud at an R&R area and presumed I would be pleased. Oddly, we never saw a uniform while we were there. Actually, at the time, when I drank beer over there, I drank Pils. I drank a lot of Kalterersee wine, which comes from the south Tyrol, now part of Italy but German-speaking. It's from the Vernaccia grape and they produce a really good red. I spent about five days once in Linz, with friends, Huntsvillians, but originally from that area. They'd leave every morning to visit relatives and I'd get up about mid-morning and wander down to a little local cafe for brunch. I'd always order Leberkäse mit Ei darauf. Think a big veal baloney steak with a sunnyside up egg on top. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with liver or cheese. Add a big glass of deep red Kalterersee and that's an outstanding way to start the day...

cuda.1973 · Mar 9, 2017

crimsonaudio said:
Really seems to be based more on population density - NY state has one of the highest densities of hunters/sq mile of any state in the US.

I was going to say someone had never been to PA or MI. Schools pretty much close, on the first day of deer season.

A buddy's wife was from upstate NY. Her family had lots of farm/rural property. She claims they would paint "COW", on the side of their milk cows. Seems it cut down finding them flat on the ground, come Monday morning. (So she claimed.)

cuda.1973 · Mar 9, 2017

Speaking of PA...............just a bit o/t..............

During the last election, I heard PA being described as 3 states: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Alabama.

I have lived in all 3.

And the real Alabama.

The people in their Alabama sound funny, when they talk. Just like the other 2 states, now that I think about it.

You can ask them what they think about anything, and eventually it turns into a discussion about the first day of deer season.

Bamaro · Mar 10, 2017

T-H, please share pics once you get them.

TIDE-HSV · Mar 10, 2017

cuda.1973 said:
Speaking of PA...............just a bit o/t..............

During the last election, I heard PA being described as 3 states: Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Alabama.

I have lived in all 3.

And the real Alabama.

The people in their Alabama sound funny, when they talk. Just like the other 2 states, now that I think about it.

You can ask them what they think about anything, and eventually it turns into a discussion about the first day of deer season.

I would agree that middle PA resembles a red state in more ways than one, including hunting. I've never lived there but my late BIL was from there and I'm familiar with it. The same can be said of upstate New York. However, the population in NYC, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia bring down the percentage as a whole. The whole "cow" phenomenon is what drove me to quit deer hunting finally - just too many people who don't know what they're doing. My decision started forming when I was standing in a local sporting goods store when the clerk asked a hunter if had any luck. His reply was that all he got was a couple of "sound shots."

Bama Reb · Mar 10, 2017

TIDE-HSV said:
It was US Bud. Remember this was an official R&R facility for US servicemen, so I presume imported especially for them. When I'd visit my daughter over there, we could get many American brands at the PX and commissary that couldn't be bought on the market. The coffee merchant knew it was American Bud at an R&R area and presumed I would be pleased. Oddly, we never saw a uniform while we were there. Actually, at the time, when I drank beer over there, I drank Pils. I drank a lot of Kalterersee wine, which comes from the south Tyrol, now part of Italy but German-speaking. It's from the Vernaccia grape and they produce a really good red. I spent about five days once in Linz, with friends, Huntsvillians, but originally from that area. They'd leave every morning to visit relatives and I'd get up about mid-morning and wander down to a little local cafe for brunch. I'd always order Leberkäse mit Ei darauf. Think a big veal baloney steak with a sunnyside up egg on top. Despite the name, it has nothing to do with liver or cheese. Add a big glass of deep red Kalterersee and that's an outstanding way to start the day...

I was in Vietnam when the first shipments of Budweiser started arriving. Iirc, it was due to a massive petition by the US troops that an American beer (preferably Bud) be provided for our consumption. Until then, it was mainly Black Label or other off name beers. Even then, it was 3.2 (%) beer, and to signify that, the cans were printed upside down. But man, with that good American beer, we had a good old time!

TIDE-HSV · Mar 10, 2017

Bama Reb said:
I was in Vietnam when the first shipments of Budweiser started arriving. Iirc, it was due to a massive petition by the US troops that an American beer (preferably Bud) be provided for our consumption. Until then, it was mainly Black Label or other off name beers. Even then, it was 3.2 (%) beer, and to signify that, the cans were printed upside down. But man, with that good American beer, we had a good old time!

At Schloss Itter, they had the Bud, but I don't remember drinking anything but Pilsner Urquell. Despite it's Germanic name ("Pilsener spring or source"), it was and still is brewed, since the mid-1800s, in the now Czech town of Pilsen. It was in Bohemia and part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire back then. I could drink Bud back home. I also drank a lot of local beers over there. We used to stay at a little hotel, Waldhotel Unspunnen, in the little hamlet of Unspunnen, outside Interlaken, Switzerland. The Rugenbräu brewery was right across the street, down at bit. When we drank draft beer at the little bar, we were literally getting beer from across the street...

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