On Saturday afternoon I went over to the Story Bridge Hotel with my friends Ian and Ellen to have a few pints in celebration of Australia Day! This was after we had just finished up 3 games of bowling, American ten pin, in which Ian kicked our butts in game one, felt confident going into game 2, put a $20 wager on the game with a double or nothing clause if there was a game 3 with me, and then proceeded to fall apart right in front of my eyes. His first score was 133 then his combined score for the next two games was 130. So after collecting my $40 in winnings from him and hearing him say that it wasn't so much losing to me as it was losing to an American we headed out in a taxi to the Story Bridge Hotel. Ian is a Scot directly from Edinburgh. He speaks with such a thick accent I can only understand about 50% of what he is saying. Think of the janitor character on the Simpsons, crank up his accent by about 25% and then you have a good idea of what Ian talks like. His girlfriend, Ellen, is from Ireland and although she has a very strong brogue I can understand her much better.
The Story Bridge Hotel is famous, or infamous depending on how you look at it, for having one of the biggest parties of the year on Australia Day. Since Australia Day fell on a Saturday this was like the 4th of July and St. Patricks Day wrapped up into one. Every Aussie citizen was out showing their patriotic pride and in the true Aussie manner this meant they were to drink more pints than one person should have within a 24 hour period! The Story Bridge Hotel isn't even a hotel! Its a pub
. A huge pub with several floors and an outdoor space right on the Brisbane River. When we got there in the late afternoon there was a line of about 30 people waiting to get in. The line moved fast and as soon as we entered we looked at each other with that look like 'what is going on here?'. The scene was one from my days back in UMASS. The pub was packed to the brim, people were carrying around pitches of beer like they were 8 oz glasses and from the looks on most peoples faces they were there from the opening bell at 11:00 am. We did manage to secure a good spot outside along a railing and met a guy named Ron and his girlfriend. Ron is an infantry soldier in the Australian Army. About 30 minutes later 6 or so of his army mates showed up. They looked like they had been celebrating Australia Day for 2 days! Again each had his own pitcher, drinking it like water, and most either had their faces painted or were wearing some sort of Australian flag on some part of their body. The main chant for the day in which EVERY person of the pub joined in was 'Aussie Aussie Aussie' (yelled by 1 person) followed by 'Oy, Oy, Oy' (yelled by everyone). Then 'Aussie, Aussie' 'Oy, Oy' and finally 'Aussie' with one very loud 'Oy'. This seemed to give the patrons of the Story Bridge Hotel a common bond that can only be known if you are truly from the land down under.
. A huge pub with several floors and an outdoor space right on the Brisbane River. When we got there in the late afternoon there was a line of about 30 people waiting to get in. The line moved fast and as soon as we entered we looked at each other with that look like 'what is going on here?'. The scene was one from my days back in UMASS. The pub was packed to the brim, people were carrying around pitches of beer like they were 8 oz glasses and from the looks on most peoples faces they were there from the opening bell at 11:00 am. We did manage to secure a good spot outside along a railing and met a guy named Ron and his girlfriend. Ron is an infantry soldier in the Australian Army. About 30 minutes later 6 or so of his army mates showed up. They looked like they had been celebrating Australia Day for 2 days! Again each had his own pitcher, drinking it like water, and most either had their faces painted or were wearing some sort of Australian flag on some part of their body. The main chant for the day in which EVERY person of the pub joined in was 'Aussie Aussie Aussie' (yelled by 1 person) followed by 'Oy, Oy, Oy' (yelled by everyone). Then 'Aussie, Aussie' 'Oy, Oy' and finally 'Aussie' with one very loud 'Oy'. This seemed to give the patrons of the Story Bridge Hotel a common bond that can only be known if you are truly from the land down under.Funny side note.... in asking what I thought would be a simple question that day on what the Australian National Anthem was I got three different answers from people I had asked and no one could agree 1oo%. I was told it was 'Waltzing Matilda'-and if it wasn't it should be, 'Advance Australia Fair' - which is the national anthem, and 'God Save the Queen' - which hasn't been their anthem since Australia declared its independence.
1 comment:
I like the blonds, nice job.
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