Love from London: Why pubs still close at 11pm

by Iva Skoch on

Last year was supposed to reverse the long British tradition of closing all pubs at 11pm. This decision created a lot of controversy. Supporters claimed that allowing people to drink longer would prevent them from binge-drinking, while others claimed that people would drink even more.

I, personally, was psyched to hear that pubs would get all-night liquor licenses because there is almost nothing sadder than hearing the sound of that damn bell announcing last drink order when you are just starting to have a good time.

Since I am in London this week, I was curious to see how the 24-hour drinking laws changed the nightlife dynamic in London. I am here to report that virtually nothing has changed. Most pubs still close at 11pm. I asked a friend who lives here and she said that pubs must pay more money and benefits to their employees if they stay open past 11pm. That’s why most of them still close at 11pm.

At the same time, today’s Times had an article about alcohol consumption. It turns out that Britons are heavier drinkers than even the Russians, according to official data from the World Health Organization. These kinds of statistics are apparently making people review the 24-hour drinking laws.

Looks like that bell is not going away anytime soon.

Water for $42 per bottle. What is wrong with people!?

by Abha Malpani on

I’ve never understood people’s fuss over the water they drink when they go to hotels, let alone their willingness to pay for what is otherwise free in most western countries. When I’m out in cities where you can drink tap water, that’s what I ask for; when I have to buy mineral water, I ask for the cheapest.

Water is water is water. Having said that, I agree that sometimes the taste is distinct. For example, here in Madrid, mineral water Bezoya and Aquafina taste strange to me; I will drink them if I have to, but I avoid buying those brands — I don’t like water that tastes like something (it’s not supposed to taste like anything!), but otherwise I’m not fussed. The whole “tap water isn’t good for you” conundrum doesn’t phase me in any way.

It totally ruffles my feathers when I go to a posh hotel and people I go with actually have a preference of mineral water, so I would go absolutely bonkers if I went to Claridge’s Luxury Hotel in London and was given a water menu with 30 international brands to choose from. 30!

According to a recent article in the BBC: For the most refined palette there is fine artesian water from Japan at $30 a bottle and $40 a bottle, or Mahaolo from Hawaii, described on the menu as “rare deep sea water” that is “very old.” And Just Born Spring Drops from India is apparently “light and not aggressive,” at $42 per bottle.

WHAT!? THAT’S MORE EXPENSIVE THAN A GOOD BOTTLE OF WINE! And this stuff sells?

“We wouldn’t do this if there wasn’t a demand for it,” says the hotel’s public relations manager. Apparently guests not only ask for berg or glacial water, but water with no sodium content or water fortified with calcium and magnesium; they even specify the region from where they want the water! “People are so very, very careful about what they eat these days that it’s moved into water.”

Have I completely lost perspective here or do you find this as absurd as I do?

Cafes of Paris and Berlin go smoke-free

by Neil Woodburn on

One of my favorite things about traveling to Europe is hanging out in cafes all day and reading the paper. My least favorite thing about Europe is sitting in these same cafes and inhaling all that horrific secondhand smoke.

Well, I’m happy to report that this New Year’s Eve, just like the last couple, has brought with it more regional legislation prohibiting smoking in European pubs, cafes, and restaurants. This year the smoke-free axe fell in France and eight states in Germany. This means that all those legendary watering holes of Hemingway’s Paris and Isherwood’s Berlin will now be without that infamous haze in which various characters wiled away lifetimes of afternoons.

Personally, I couldn’t be more excited. Now if only the dollar would improve, I might actually be able to afford a smoke-free drink in one of these places.

Oh, and in case you want to risk it and light up, France is levying a 450 euro fine for the smoker and a 750 euro fine for the bar itself. So do everyone a favor, and don’t try it.

A ride on London’s ‘booze bus’

by Jerry Guo on

I knew London threw some pretty wild parties from my summer there, but do they really need an ambulance dedicated to treating the city’s drunks? The “Booze Bus” — or “Vomit Comet” — is a “drunks-only” ambulance that is dispatched during times of heavy drinking, “such as the World Cup, Gay Pride and the festive season,” according to the BBC. That seems like they’re just asking for trouble.

Of course, you could say the supply (of drunk people) is already there, and the good people manning these psuedo-ambulances are just meeting the demand (of driving aforementioned drunkards to the hospital). Or could you make the argument that having this “booze bus” makes people more likely to party hard and get out of control?

Here are some samplings from a random night on the bus:

  • “A scantily-clad 21-year-old woman lies motionless with one arm attached to a saline drip. She was found lying unconscious near a West End club …”
  • “Another seat is occupied by a 60-year-old man, found outside Holborn Tube station, whose silver hair is matted with a layer of thick, crimson blood.”
  • “And there was Sally, a 24-year-old accountant, who was struck by a glass … left a shard embedded in her forehead.”

Umm … ouch. I don’t know what else to say.

Another Reason why you Should (or Should Not) go to Prague

by Grant Martin on

These days, the word on Prague is out. Back in the nineties it used to be a beautiful Bohemian destination where you could get a good deal on accommodation, beer and souvenir fur hats against the backdrop of a magnificent castle overlooking the city. These perks still apply, its just that everyone knows about it, and they’re all here doing the same thing.

Of particular notice are the volume of young Westerners running around at night. You don’t see them much during the day, but once the sun goes down the percentage of Czech spoken on the street is slowly overtaken with British and American English.

With good reason. Considering the strength of the Pound Sterling and Euro over the Czech Crown, Westerners can drink an evening full of beer here for the same price that they could get a round in the UK. And drink they do. This chap was screaming like a lunatic before he came around the corner, saw us, and immediately went to sleep. Perhaps an apt metaphor for the current state of Prague.