Germany

I just got back from a 13-day trip to Germany. Rather than bore you with the whole trip story at once I'll add to this thread with pictures and comments as long as there seems to be interest.

To start, I noticed that bars sometimes had signs in the window indicating they sold absinthe. This surprised me as I thought that absinthe was a hallucinogenic long since banned in first world countries. When I went to Nicaragua a couple years ago I was advised I could get some there, but alas came up empty, as even that country evidently had recently banned it.

In Berlin I was having dinner with a bunch of other Internet gaming affiliates and brought up the topic. I turned out the restaurant had some so I and another person on the Wizard team ordered glasses. Here are some pictures.





I took these in the interests of having "before" and "after" pictures, in the event it turned into quite the experience. However, it didn't. What I drank I'm quite sure was just very strong alcohol with a minty flavor. The other person at the table who took the absinthe challenge agreed, saying she felt it was just very strong alcohol but no more than what you might get with two shots of vodka. In other words -- no big deal.

Days later I went into a Berlin liquor store and they had a small shelf behind the counter of absinthe. The saleswoman seemed to say, in very broken English, that it was indeed just very strong alcohol. It was sold in rather small fancy looking bottles.

So, that is my rather boring absinthe story. Stay tuned for lots more Germany pictures.

I think it requires a certain thing. I dunno why, but "wormwood" keeps popping into my head. If memory serves, there was a sort of stand in absinthe, and then the real deal. The real deal is the hard to find stuff. I'm sure Fleastiff will set us all straight on this.

Looking forward to the report. Germany is the one foreign place I'd consider going, as the Nurburgring is on my bucket list. I'll be tuned in to this one.

Was it the wormwood absinthe, or typical
faux absinth. According to the Absinthe
Society, most on the market have no
wormwood at all.

http://www.wormwoodsociety.org/index.php/absinthe-reviews/faux-absinthe

Quote: Face

I think it requires a certain thing. I dunno why, but "wormwood" keeps popping into my head. If memory serves, there was a sort of stand in absinthe, and then the real deal. The real deal is the hard to find stuff. I'm sure Fleastiff will set us all straight on this.

Looking forward to the report. Germany is the one foreign place I'd consider going, as the Nurburgring is on my bucket list. I'll be tuned in to this one.

My link above says it is was made from the wormwood plant back in the day. I don't know if that produced a hallucinogenic feeling or if it was just exaggerated through the years. I'm sure Paco can shed some light on it.

Germany is definitely an interesting place. Very interesting people too. The German stereotypes have a lot of truth to them.

I expect a full review of the flights :)

Quote: Wizard

The German stereotypes have a lot of truth to them.

That they love beer, soccer and sausage? Or
they're abrupt, direct, to the point a-holes.

Quote: Evenbob

Was it the wormwood absinthe, or typical
faux absinth. According to the Absinthe
Society, most on the market have no
wormwood at all.

I don't know. I never even saw the bottle in the restaurant. At the fancy liquor store in Berlin I could have seen the labels but I'm sure they would have been in German and wouldn't have done me any good.

That was an interesting link you gave. Makes me think that the hallucinogenic aspect is mostly urban legend.

Quote: Wizard

That was an interesting link you gave. Makes me think that the hallucinogenic aspect is mostly urban legend.

Nothing is more dangerous than an urban legend about somebody else's behavior. The mad sex-crazed life of pot smokers, the cocaine-crazed Negro brain and Southern white women, etc.

The English served tea at four; The French served Absinthe at five (also known as the Green Hour). Today young ladies of refinement wear green chokers, green wrist bands, green ear rings, green dodads, etc. to announce that they do indeed partake of absinthe despite the largely imaginary risks of past versions. Wormwood plant, wormwood barrels, wormwood scrubs prison... oh go get stuffed, bathtub gin in NYC was the most dangerous alcoholic beverage ever served anywhere in the world. Absinthe was popular because of the pomp and circumstance involved. Grog was served aboard ship under guarded escort, otherwise it wasn't all that much of a deal. Same thing with Absinthe... actresses, ladies of the night drank Absinthe, young girls who wanted to be ladies of the evening drank Absinthe, dancers who wore long scarfs too close to their boyfriend's motorcars drank Absinthe. Why just anybody who was anybody partook of Absinthe, only fat elderly women drank Cointreau. In other words, Absinthe had a good publicity agent whereas those in Italy who took a lemon based aperatif at five in the afternoon has no pizazz and no one getting rich on it.

So at Clubs nowadays, sweet young things wear green. The Dressed to the Nines Society sells green doodads. The San Francisco and Los Angeles versions of the Edwardian Ball each feature absinthe oriented doodads. Prominently displayed hip flasks will contain it, because, like anything else, there is money in being au courant.

Quote: Wizard

Germany is definitely an interesting place. Very interesting people too. The German stereotypes have a lot of truth to them.

Most stereotypes do, which is why they become stereotypes.

Did you notice much of the cars over there? I have heard Audi and BMW are not nearly the prestige there as they are here and you have Mercedes as taxis.

Quote: AZDuffman

Did you notice much of the cars over there? I have heard Audi and BMW are not nearly the prestige there as they are here and you have Mercedes as taxis.

Yes, Audi, BMW, and Mercedes are pretty ordinary cars over there, especially the low-end models. On my trip to the Berlin airport going home I rode in a nice sharp Mercedes cab. Pretty cheap ride too, from central Berlin to Tegel wait out on the edge of town was only 19 Euros, and tipping cab drivers is not expected. The more economy car there seems to be the Opel and VW. You see some Japanese cars but almost never an American car.

I got to drive on the autobahn while there but unfortunately it was in an Opel that didn't go more than about 80 MPH so I was confined to the slow lane except when passing. Speaking of passing, it is a big fine on the Autobahn to pass on the right. This law I applaud as it keeps each lane a nice consistent speed without the stop and go you get on American highways caused by jerks weaving from lane to lane, making everybody else slow down to let them in.