Blitzey's world tour of Irish pubs!

Blitzkrieger

I went to Brussels with the lads a few weeks ago and had a ball, but I swear it turned me into an alcoholic. When Sunday rolled around, after two days of heavy drinking, we were feeling ill all day. My hands were shaking too, but as soon as we hit the beer (at about 11pm) we all started feeling better. On reflection it was probably a mistake to drink all night and nearly miss the plane the next morning.

My second European capital in as many months, and I've seen **** all. I'm not terribly impressed by tourist sights anyway. We saw the Grand Platz* (god knows what it was in French) at about 3am while switching pubs, and while it looked stunning at night, I couldn't look very long without risking terminal boredom. Half the lads went to see 'Mini Europe' and weren't impressed. The rest of us stayed in the pub to watch West Ham V United and weren't impressed. We had a good old walk around the city and were bored senseless by many fine examples of architecture, along with several big **** off statues. What was impressive was the Rue des Bouchers . Loads of restaurants of all shapes and sizes, offering all types of food. We ate very well for €15 a head, but some of the places looked like they'd charge €150 for a glass of water.

If you go to Brussels, and want to go drinking, I wouldn't recommend any of the 'trendy pubs'. You'll pay €4 for a 20cl glass of beer. If you don't want to go drinking, the atmosphere was great, there was some nice paintings on the wall (don't ask me what they were), and you can meet some interesting people in there.# We found some nice 'non-trendy' places in the city center too, mainly by looking for dingy looking pubs. We went to few clubs over there too, and while they weren't complete **** holes full of underage kids like Prague, they weren't very good either. The music was okay, the lighting was okay, etc.

What pissed me off (no pun intended) about the clubs, was the toilets. In both Prague and Brussels, every pub/club we went to had wide-open restrooms. You'd be standing at the urinal with your knob out, and a load of women would walk right past the door. You'd feel like waving it at them. It seems to be the norm on the continent, but it freaks me out. You can usually see right into the women's toilets too, but since you've usually assumed the "middle distance stare" long before getting to the toilets, and it's all cubicles anyway, it doesn't freak me out as much as the men's. The lads said the club we were in on Saturday night even had a window between the men's and women's, though mysteriously I didn't see it on any my three visits. Wtf was that for? The first toilet that had a door, that had a door that wasn't right next to the women's and they go put in a window. Perhaps for any perverts who might feel cheated?
I also hate the way they charge you for going to the toilet in the clubs, and some of the pubs too. They charge you for the beer going in, and going out. There was a cover charge on the door of the clubs, so you'd think they'd make enough money from that. Should have pissed on the money before giving it to them. To add insult to injury, on Saturday night, there was a nice girl about my own age taking the money, who I probably would have tried to chat up if I met her outside in the club. What would I say in the jacks? "Hello luv! You've just seen my knob out while I've taken a long piss, and I've just handed you some wet coins because it takes ****ing ages to dry your hands with that blower, fancy a royde?

Whenever the Irish go abroad, we always say we're not going to any Irish pubs, but I'm cured of that now. It's always a good first stop to ask what the good clubs are, and make sure you don't miss any important matches (saw the all-Ireland final in the James Joyce in Prague). The prices in the Irish pubs are usualy inflated, but in Brussels it didn't seem noticeable. On the plus side, you can be assured the staff, and most of the customers speak english. The barman will have seen a thousand groups like yours before and will usually have what you want. Tourists always seem to gather there, so you can ask what's worth seeing in the city. There's also usually a few women who for some unknown reason seem to like the Irish. The bottom line is, I've always enjoyed myself in Irish pubs abroad. So much so, I'd like to anounce I'm on a world tour of Irish pubs, with extended rest-stops in Ireland.



* If you're gay, paradise is down the street to the right of Grand Platz. If you're not gay, don't go there.
# Not that kind of interesting. This wasn't to the right of Grand Platz.

Wook

as i have said many times before , 'don't stay in brussels' move out and visit 'Brugge, Ghent or Antwerp' Brussels is just a over priced ugly city.

The other cities you can easily reach with taking the train for an hour or so. They are cheaper, more friendlier and nicer!

acid

i've been to brussels twice and enjoyed it both times, although it's nothing special.

i cant say i found brussels overpriced, i've been to plenty of places that were a LOT more expensive.

as for the toilets........ well continental europeans just don't have the warped attitude to nudity that we irish have. its unlikely they would even bother staring thru an open door into a toilet while walking past.
when i was in college there was always a huge queue for the ladies on busy nights so lots of them would use the mens - cant say it ever "freaked me out".
the service charge ensures that the facilities are clean and have plenty of toilet rolls, well worth it if you need a dump, and afaik its not compulsory.

i dont see the point of going into an irish pub while abroad, unless there's football on. i usually avoid them and go somewhere where i can meet some local people.