Saturday 7 August 2010

"Fermentation may have been a greater discovery than fire..."

Family,

And a good Saturday morning to you all from across the Pond after a FABULOUS FRIDAY in the Mother Country. Yesterday was, simply put, EVERYTHING I thought it could be. What did we do yesterday, do you ask? Team Taylor (no - not the one that owns a BBQ joint in Denver) made a repeat visit to the Mecca of all things liquid bread: THE GREAT BRITISH BEER FESTIVAL!!!! In a word - WOW...So seriously, the day started off GREAT, as we met a certain Welshman (he will remain anonymous due to the nature of this corporate function, but let's call him, oh, I don't know...O-vino...) for a "proper Friday English breakfast" at the Wollseley.

So this place was UBER POSH PUMA, and it was AWESOME. The interior was something out of a Bond movie, and the coffee was served in real China - so cool! And the best part, Sammy put down FRIED DUCK EGGS OVER HAGGIS & FRIED BREAD! Seriously - there is no better eatin' the the world (except the OPH in the Queen City, of course), and we CHOWED DOWN. We left there about 11:30, catching the Tube for the featured event of the day at Earl's Court. And let me tell you, dear readership, it DID NOT disappoint.

Picture 450 ales from around Britain, 99% of which you have NEVER heard of. Picture a posse of 8 donkeys wandering around for EIGHT HOURS within these hallowed walls, consuming 3rd pints of anything and everything. Picture Sam Taylor playing a bar game where he thought he'd won a pint glass because he's bowled a strike, only to find out that there were just NINE PINS at the end of the lane, meaning he needed one more pin for a win. Not realizing this, however, Taylor jokingly chucked the ball down the lane and it skipped over all the pins. The result? Sammy got a consolation prize instead - a tap cover. O-vino had the right idea - I'm going to make it my beltbuckle. Make way for the Dam Buster baby!!!!

There were some AMAZING brews and some utter DONKEY TRASH. The best drink of the day was New Calendonian's "Mexican Bandit," followed by "Blond Bombshell" and then "Deception." Other honorable mentions were Titanic Brewing's "Iceberg," Marston's "Forty-Niner," Without a doubt the worst I tried all day was the Fox Grizzly (like drinking battery acid - wait, like drinking WARM, FLAT battery acid), and the worst for Perfect Pumpkin was DEFINITELY some bat shit from Italy that tasted like PURE FORMALDIHYDE. WOW - we summarily dumped BOTH of those out.

It should be noted that, at one point in the evening, the girls got into toffee vodka shots. However, they all held up like true warriors. And honestly - who doesn't love those cowgirl hats?
Food within was GREAT, as we took down some nice Cornish pasties and even some PIG SCRATCHIN'S!!!!!! Translation - PORK RINDS!!!!! Warf - I couldn't help but think of Big Monday and Big Wednesday our Freshman year, me taking down a bag of Pork Rinds every night on that white chair (which dad later stole from the dumpster - details...).

Dinner last night was...well, where else? THE DOOT, BABY!!!! Lamb Tikka Pathia. It was SO GOOD, and a perfect ending to the day.

BTW - if you guys want a GREAT laugh, PLEASE go to YouTube and check out "iPhone4 vs. HTC Evo." It's the one that's about 3:29, with 2 "Hello Kitty" looking figures - PRICELESS. It is just HILARIOUS.

Okay, Sammy's need a shower because he looks like he's been shot out of a cannon. We've got another BIG DAY in front of us!

Okay, that's all the news that's fit to print. Chat tomorrow!

Love,
Sam and Jenny & Staci and Steve

1 comment:

  1. Old School Cool7 August 2010 at 21:41

    Dude...sounds awesome. Tell Staci her team beat mine today so 1-1 in the series but go easy on her. Stinkees fans really are challenged to see the good in life so hopefully this weekend was religious with the GBBF! ;-)

    BTW...just got back from WWW's house. We all watched "The Poem". Still awesome!

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