Last night was great, but as I said, I don't remember a lot of the evening. Karol said it was the drunkest he'd seen me since our teenage days, and Storm counted seven falls within five minutes, but apart from some little cuts on my hand I feel great. Today will definitely be our last day as Karol's flight is tomorrow (from Slovakia, which we never found time to check out).
We got wired into the beers from about one p.m. and were pretty drunk pretty early. It's so much fun to sit around on a sunny afternoon with people you have already made fun memories with in a cool bar where the staff all know your name because you've practically been paying their wages for the last week. We met some Kiwis that had just arrived and they joined our afternoon drinking session. It was such a fun day and quite special because Karol, Dan, Storm and I knew it would be our last day together. Even in my afternoon drunkenness, I was able to reflect on how much fun this week had been and how much I enjoyed the alcohol-induced, hedonistic side of life. Especially after almost four years of "professional life" in Korea where I was reluctant to party much or drink a lot on weekends for fear of the consequences during the working week. It's nice to be on vacation!
We took early evening siestas and dragged ourselves up in time for the infamous Jaeger Train. A Jaeger Train is a basically a long line of Jaeger-bombs. And in case you don't know, a Jaeger-bomb is a shot of Jaegermeister alcohol in a glass of red bull energy drink. It's the kind of drink that gets your night off to a kickstart. I've heard many bars provide Jaeger-trains. They line up eight or nine glasses of red bull, balance a shot of Jaegermeister between the glasses, then tip the first shot into the first red bull. As the first shot tipples into the first glass, it hits the next shot, which falls and hits the next shot and so on, until they have all fallen, leaving ready-to-drink Jaeger-bombs for the customers. If the shots have been lined up properly and all goes well, their is a domino effect as the shots fall into the red bull and everyone applauds when the end of the "train" is reached.
Retox Party Hostel take their Jaeger-train very seriously. Once a week, they sell tickets to the guests (one ticket = five Jaeger-bombs!) and then set up the train to the size demanded by the number of tickets sold. On the night we did it, tonight, there were 237 Jaeger-bombs lined up. Why the number wasn't a multiple of five, I don't know (perhaps extra in case of breakage). And how long it must have taken the staff, who were usually as drunk as the guests, to set it up, I can only guess, but the sight was very impressive indeed. And the three trains set up side by side all dropped smoothly without a hitch to the amazement of all the guests which had come to watch. Following that expedition we all drank five Jaeger-bombs each washed down with cold draft beer. And still, it was only 8pm.
Needless to say, tonight was as fun and messy as the last few, but had an attached nostalgia as we all knew we were leaving tomorrow. We bought and sneaked more whiskey into the bars later and did some drinking in the street with a cool American marine who was staying at the hostel. Everyone was in top form and had fun mixing with the friendly Hungarian locals. The wee hours took the boys off in different directions and I spend time with a lovely girl who works at the hostel and who I'd been trying to hook up with since arriving. Definitely a great last night in a city which I have grown to love despite seeing almost none of.
We got wired into the beers from about one p.m. and were pretty drunk pretty early. It's so much fun to sit around on a sunny afternoon with people you have already made fun memories with in a cool bar where the staff all know your name because you've practically been paying their wages for the last week. We met some Kiwis that had just arrived and they joined our afternoon drinking session. It was such a fun day and quite special because Karol, Dan, Storm and I knew it would be our last day together. Even in my afternoon drunkenness, I was able to reflect on how much fun this week had been and how much I enjoyed the alcohol-induced, hedonistic side of life. Especially after almost four years of "professional life" in Korea where I was reluctant to party much or drink a lot on weekends for fear of the consequences during the working week. It's nice to be on vacation!
We took early evening siestas and dragged ourselves up in time for the infamous Jaeger Train. A Jaeger Train is a basically a long line of Jaeger-bombs. And in case you don't know, a Jaeger-bomb is a shot of Jaegermeister alcohol in a glass of red bull energy drink. It's the kind of drink that gets your night off to a kickstart. I've heard many bars provide Jaeger-trains. They line up eight or nine glasses of red bull, balance a shot of Jaegermeister between the glasses, then tip the first shot into the first red bull. As the first shot tipples into the first glass, it hits the next shot, which falls and hits the next shot and so on, until they have all fallen, leaving ready-to-drink Jaeger-bombs for the customers. If the shots have been lined up properly and all goes well, their is a domino effect as the shots fall into the red bull and everyone applauds when the end of the "train" is reached.
Retox Party Hostel take their Jaeger-train very seriously. Once a week, they sell tickets to the guests (one ticket = five Jaeger-bombs!) and then set up the train to the size demanded by the number of tickets sold. On the night we did it, tonight, there were 237 Jaeger-bombs lined up. Why the number wasn't a multiple of five, I don't know (perhaps extra in case of breakage). And how long it must have taken the staff, who were usually as drunk as the guests, to set it up, I can only guess, but the sight was very impressive indeed. And the three trains set up side by side all dropped smoothly without a hitch to the amazement of all the guests which had come to watch. Following that expedition we all drank five Jaeger-bombs each washed down with cold draft beer. And still, it was only 8pm.
Needless to say, tonight was as fun and messy as the last few, but had an attached nostalgia as we all knew we were leaving tomorrow. We bought and sneaked more whiskey into the bars later and did some drinking in the street with a cool American marine who was staying at the hostel. Everyone was in top form and had fun mixing with the friendly Hungarian locals. The wee hours took the boys off in different directions and I spend time with a lovely girl who works at the hostel and who I'd been trying to hook up with since arriving. Definitely a great last night in a city which I have grown to love despite seeing almost none of.
The Jaeger train.
Storm and Karol with our drinks.
And after the Jaegers comes whiskey.
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