I knew I forgot something!

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Ok so I was looking back over my photos and realised I had a bunch with no journal entry to post them by. It took a little work but I eventually worked out that neither of us had written anything for Thursday. So as not to generate unrealistic expectations I would like to ask you to disregard the fact that I was concerned about missing one day, it is most uncharacteristic behaviour for me, and I don't foresee many future concerns in similar situations.

I can assume that for Thursday breakfast we got up and had bagels. I was in touch with a friend, Stan (known to some as Trogdor) who was heading through town on his way to make business deals and such, so he stopped by and babysat Ju and myself through our first American beer tasting, an experience which I had been to nervous to take on on my own, having not heard great things. We went to a local brewery and a slightly manic bartender with a faint sheen of sweat on his forehead eloquently and rapidly talked us through the choices and insisted on bringing us a tasting tray of six different beers. For those back home I was pleasantly surprised to see they compared favourably with Monteith's or Mac's...nevertheless I think I'll hold off a little longer before buying a six pack of Budweisers, I'm not a masochist.

Anyways we spent a while wandering around downtown after that, and made our way to Vesuvio (definitely would be a favourite if we were ever to live here, as mentioned before, nasal waitress etc) where we pretended to be bohemian for a while before Stan headed home and we headed back to the hostel for a scheduled pub crawl. This was quite an odd experience.

First, we walked a few blocks to catch a bus halfway across town to a grubby little 'authentic' place for burritos...my family will be interested to note I've had to educate my palate while here and have finally developed an ability to eat beans. I'm not saying I enjoy them, certainly not! But I ate them, I hope you're all proud! So we payed 4 bucks for our burritos then walked what felt like 10 blocks to get a stamp from a club that was empty at that point.

Stamps applied, we walked another few blocks to a strange little bar with 1 dollar drinks where there were lots of people cheering on the dance floor, never quite worked out what at but it must've been fun. After a while there we went back to the Cat Club which was the original stamp stop, and certain members of our hostel partook in cage dancing while others stuck to the regular variety (no names named, Becky, Dave!) ;D We got kicked out at two, just when we felt the night was getting started, and crawled back into our beds after a cab ride back to the hostel, pretty inexpensive once the fare was shared.

Wow I remembered more than I thought! So anyway it was a great night, we hung out with a bunch of kids from the hostel and got to know a lot of people, some of whom we'll be catching up with later in the trip (For cage dancing lessons! Go Becky! Go Becky! Forgive me my dear!) And that was that!

Ju would like to add - a lovely time was had by all! (She thinks.) Although the drinks at the $1 drink place were nassty, they certainly ensured that dancing at the Cat Club went fluidly! This was the night that we formed our little United Nations tour group - you'll notice that these faces feature predominantly in our entries this week. And thanks to Stan for finding us entertaining rather than annoying as we skipped about town in the afternoon exclaiming over things like pedestrian crossings and questioning him closely on the behaviour of waitresses, the ettiquette of tipping and the cultural differences of americans from state to state.

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Photos

Do we look like hippies?
Having a drink with Stan at Vesuvio...it's not hippy, it's beat!! says Ju

Next stop, burritos!
Ju tucks in to her king size burrito...certainly a prerequisite before heading on any pub crawl

Enjoying the salubrious surroundings of Holy Cow
Ok so it wasn't the Ritz but we had fun! Apologies for the poor framing, Ju and I were both strangely photographically challenged on Thursday...Jenny, Ju, Becky and Karine

Comments

[Kevin]

Cultural differences eh?
Y'uns jus wait till ya get down south! With a Sammich, Coke, and some fried taters in a poke I will learns y'uns about da South and the War of Northern Aggression! Ok that was a bit over the top but you will see the difference once you get down here to Tennessee!