As some members of this fine board know (one Rye and Coke probably knows and undoubtedly doesn't remember), I recently visited my hometown in Denmark. It was for a funeral and I was with family members, so, sadly, I couldn't really get my drink on and fuck some shit up as I used to back when I lived there but, at the very least, I got to visit two of the bars I used to haunt.
Well, I only got to drink in one of them.
My favorite dive, in which I spent a lot of my drinking time and most of my money, has now turned into a motherfucking Thai restaurant. Not that I have anything in particular against Thai food, I just hoped I'd get to sit on my usual barstool for one more time.
Anyway, the bar that remained a bar is called Sherlock Holmes Pub. It's pricey but it was the only bar in town that stayed open until 6am on weekends and 4am on weekdays, so it was where I went every time I couldn't stay at my dive after hours. For a while, a buddy of mine worked there, too, so I'd get a few free beers and drinks tossed in the mix. The best thing about it, though, was its smoking room. It wasn't a small cage made of glass, it wasn't a two-by-two prison cell where smokers get thrown in for five minutes until they get their "filthy" fix. No, sir, it was a small bar within the bar, with its own counter, beer taps, and liquor bottles (even a restroom). You could avoid the whining non-smokers all night long while getting drunk(er).
One early afternoon, I had a bit of time in town without the family members so, naturally, I went there. Walked into the smoking room and noticed the ashtrays were missing. Downtrodden, I returned to the main bar, climbed on a barstool, ordered a large draft beer, and asked the bartender about the smoking room. He talked to me for about 15 minutes - I had to interrupt to order a second beer - about how they seemingly got screwed by inspectors and whatnot. What I got from the story, the owners pissed somebody off and they decided that the smoking room had to go. And with smoking being the BIG EVIL nowadays, it didn't take them long to pull it off. Naturally, they claimed they did it to protect the employees from being exposed to second-hand smoke. The fact that every single member of the pub's staff smokes did not matter one fucking bit.
I only had forty-five minutes of family-free time, so I drank three beers. It was great sitting inside the bar, the only patron. It'd have been even better if I didn't have to go outside to chase my beer with a smoke.
I wish I had more drinking time while I was in Denmark, could have visited a couple more places I used to frequent. On the other hand, I dread to think what might have become of them. Perhaps, it's better to keep them in my memory as they used to be instead of having to drink away the monstrosities they've turned into.
Not sure what this piece is about; maybe, an homage to how things used to be (for me). More likely, a drunken nostalgia rumbling.
This is the pub's smoking room.
And this is what you see when you enter the pub.
Fallen Stronghols
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- benitobeast69
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Re: Fallen Stronghols
beautiful looking pub. was expexting a trashy fake british boozer but looks fantasticly homely.
Hangover cure: Rigorous sex, hydration, hot bath, then "go up for half an hour in an open aeroplane." - Kinglsey Amis
Re: Fallen Stronghols
Fake bastard, you didn`t even read DE`s marvelous short story. Just looking at the pictures...benitobeast69 wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 2:17 pmbeautiful looking pub. was expexting a trashy fake british boozer but looks fantasticly homely.
Drink!
- benitobeast69
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Re: Fallen Stronghols
i did indeed read it. the anti smokers league had entered his hometown pithforks and flaming torches in hand.oettinger wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 9:52 pmFake bastard, you didn`t even read DE`s marvelous short story. Just looking at the pictures...benitobeast69 wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 2:17 pmbeautiful looking pub. was expexting a trashy fake british boozer but looks fantasticly homely.
Hangover cure: Rigorous sex, hydration, hot bath, then "go up for half an hour in an open aeroplane." - Kinglsey Amis
- Badfellow
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Re: Fallen Stronghols
Lest the anti smokers league beware, for the smokers bare no slight of arms and- perhaps even more dangerously- the indomitable will to smoke if you got ‘em.benitobeast69 wrote: ↑Sat May 27, 2023 11:46 pm… the anti smokers league had entered his hometown pithforks and flaming torches in hand.
We shall smoke on the beaches, we shall smoke on the pub grounds, we shall smoke in the fields and in the streets, we shall smoke in the hills; we shall never surrender!
ພາສາລາວNONE GENUINE WITHOUT MY SIGNATUREພາສາລາວ
Re: Fallen Stronghols
Sorry for your loss DE. In the family, in your bars and in your ability to smoke in comfort.
Now you're ready for some anti-dry-otics!-BeerMakesMeSmarter
If worms had daggers, birds wouldn't fuck with them-Todd Snider
Blackout and be extraordinary-Absinthe of Malice
If worms had daggers, birds wouldn't fuck with them-Todd Snider
Blackout and be extraordinary-Absinthe of Malice
- Artful Drunktective
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Re: Fallen Stronghols
It's lovely. Nice furnishings too. I could spend many a lazy day in there. I love dark and cozy bars. From the looks of it, I'm compelled to order a dirty martini. With olives.
Even though I don't smoke anymore, it's ridiculous to not allow smoking in bars. It should be allowed establishment by establishment at least, like how some places have a liquor license and some don't. The bar could pay for a smoking permit or some crap like that so it can be allowed legally. And if the non-smokers don't want to sit in a smoke-fumigated bar, they can take their jerk-off pink lungs to another establishment that doesn't allow smoking just as smokers will choose to go to a smoking bar. Quite a simple solution.
I'm surprised that 'murricans aren't fighting for the right to smoke in bars. I mean, isn't that the way to making 'murrica great again? Freedom to do whatever suits us?
Even though I don't smoke anymore, it's ridiculous to not allow smoking in bars. It should be allowed establishment by establishment at least, like how some places have a liquor license and some don't. The bar could pay for a smoking permit or some crap like that so it can be allowed legally. And if the non-smokers don't want to sit in a smoke-fumigated bar, they can take their jerk-off pink lungs to another establishment that doesn't allow smoking just as smokers will choose to go to a smoking bar. Quite a simple solution.
I'm surprised that 'murricans aren't fighting for the right to smoke in bars. I mean, isn't that the way to making 'murrica great again? Freedom to do whatever suits us?
Okole maluna!
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Re: Fallen Stronghols
I quit smoking years ago. The cost was fucking retarded.
- benitobeast69
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Re: Fallen Stronghols
it still blows me away that there are bars in the US that can only serve beer...I thought the bar tender was taking the piss for a good 5-10 mins when i was over there and he couldn't do me a bourbon.Artful Drunktective wrote: ↑Fri Jun 09, 2023 5:17 amIt's lovely. Nice furnishings too. I could spend many a lazy day in there. I love dark and cozy bars. From the looks of it, I'm compelled to order a dirty martini. With olives.
Even though I don't smoke anymore, it's ridiculous to not allow smoking in bars. It should be allowed establishment by establishment at least, like how some places have a liquor license and some don't. The bar could pay for a smoking permit or some crap like that so it can be allowed legally. And if the non-smokers don't want to sit in a smoke-fumigated bar, they can take their jerk-off pink lungs to another establishment that doesn't allow smoking just as smokers will choose to go to a smoking bar. Quite a simple solution.
I'm surprised that 'murricans aren't fighting for the right to smoke in bars. I mean, isn't that the way to making 'murrica great again? Freedom to do whatever suits us?
Hangover cure: Rigorous sex, hydration, hot bath, then "go up for half an hour in an open aeroplane." - Kinglsey Amis