Sunday, February 17, 2008

The Pub

Thanks for your lovely comments about the theme of my novel, they've really boosted my confidence. I've now added the short summary to my website and I'm hoping to extend it as the draft evolves.

So far The Ours and I have had a quiet weekend, only leaving the flat to shop for essentials. About a month ago we decided to avoid the pub until our holiday to save a bit of money and to slim down. Apart from the odd glass of wine with my meal I've been dry as a bar on Good Friday.

But why avoid the pub altogether you might ask. Can't you just have a soft drink?

Unfortunately Dublin pubs charge astronomical prices for soft drinks, often the same price as a pint of beer - 5.00 euro. More often then not it's from the soda syphon so the mark ups are spectacular. Like it wasn't annoying enough to be the designated driver amongst drunks! Tap water is free (but I'm sure they're thinking of ways to charge for that too) but a little boring on a night out.

Anyway it's just too hard for me to watch my friends tuck into their tasty pints. Collapsing with laughter at weak jokes and repeating yourself is entertaining when you've had a few but it just doesn't cut it when you're sober. Every Irish person I know who is teetotal is very...eccentric. Perhaps being exposed to the same rambling conversation several times a night will do that to you.

But it's Xavier's birthday party today, The Ours' friend from work. He's Spanish and has promised a huge spread of paella and other lovely Spanish delicacies. I might be able to turn down an invite to the pub but food trumps all, feck the diet.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mmmmmmmm - paella! Well, you've got to have treats! Enjoy :-)

The pub thing - I'm with you on the prices! And the times when I've wanted a soft drink here, I've asked for an orange, thinking I'd get a still drink, only to end up with a sickly fizzy one. Is that the norm?

Yvonne said...

Jen, those nasty fizzy orange drinks, yuk! The norm unfortunately. I think you might have to ask for fresh orange juice (and get concentrate, but at least it isn't that fizzy stuff)

Alix said...

Oh yum, have a lovely time.

The prices in Dublin pubs are shocking, even worse than London. I did get a bit addicted to Bulmers (?) when we visited though.

Yvonne said...

Alix, Bulmers is my favourite drink, delicious.

Beccy said...

Yum, that Spanish food sounds delish!