A chat with Tom the Beer Whisperer, take two! As explained at start of video this was the second effort at this chat, as the previous day we had too much of an echo in the video.
Also my first effort at Goggle Hangout so be kind!!
Thanks to Tom for his patience and for sharing his beer thoughts and experiences
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So we were lucky enough to have a 2 hour private tour with Marco from “Drugs Tour Amsterdam”, a tour group who are trying to give the low down on Amsterdam’s drug culture, both the myths and the reality. In fact I think they are the first, if only, tour group that offers this insight into the hot spots of the city including the Red Light District, and where topics include the history of Coffeeshops, what are the purpose of Heroin Users Rooms, how the police and other instutions help in the quality control and testing of illegal drugs, the religion of the Ayahuasca Church, a look at Absinthe and Van Gogh, and basic information of all the rest! Participants will also learn about the positive social implications and effective results in decreasing cannabis and hard drugs consumption of the Dutch drugs policy. The tour is informative, educational and fun. Marco, our guide, showed us around the centre of Amsterdam pointing out key landmarks and cultural reference points with regards drugs/alcohol/and the sex trade.
BOOK YOUR FREE TOUR TODAY, EMAIL: booking@drugstour.com
The History of the Red Light Zone
Amsterdam was born as a city as an international port, actually there was, with London actually with the British Empire, was one of the big empire that was going back and forth. Was born as a crossing ways and actually of course there are Sailors, with money started with prostitution.
You remember the church where we found where we met, this is called the Oude Kerk that means Old church and it has been built there in order to stop prostitution
It didn’t work!
(So prostitution was there first!)
Yes, yes the prostitute was here first and they try to make this church in order to bring some decent life and they failed totally
(So they had lots of randy priests running around the place?)
Now is came the best, on the 13th century they decided to make it legal and the prostitutes or the tenants had to go to the priest in order to have the extension from the sin for a certain period for example. You will be free of sin for one week, so for the week they could do everything because they were very catholic and of course they had to pay, yes we are talking about the Catholic Church.
(You kind of have to respect them for that, don’t you really!)
Actually I’m Italian so I have Catholicism in my vein and I hate it! Italy is a wonderful place with a big cancer inside that is called the city of Vatican. I love the pope but the church by itself is not good
(We understand. We are from Ireland so you don’t have to tell us, you don’t have to tell us!)
That’s true, actually I think that we are spoiled as well like you
Ok, ah yes, 13th century it become legal and actually this bring a new wave of using prostitution
First of all its not so bad the scene as in other countries
Here it’s normal, in fact here you can find during the Saturday morning, and the Sunday, and the Friday Saturday morning you can see even school that is passing by in the red-light because they have to spend one lesson about sexual stuff and so they check out the red lights, this within the cities, and they have to spend one lesson talking about drugs in the schools. So you can see sometimes the school
The fact that now its so clean and everything is perfect is because they started to show everything.
All these girls are self-employed, they pay about from 50 to 150 of rent for one day, 8 hours of window, and normally you pay from 50 to 70 euro for what they call Suck and fuck, I mean 15 minutes because they are very good in 15 minutes they are done!
Blowjob and a fuck normally with a brown (?). you have always to contract the price when you get in.
Suck and fuck maybe they are totally covered and you can not take pictures and there is a very intense security system. You see all these windows , at the back of the window there is a corridor that connects with other rooms. If they hear some scream, or she hit a hidden button, arise immediately Two or three giant men, they send you out.
In fact if you pay for the night sometimes you are yahh (drunk and angry), people like that and If they are sent out from here normally they finish in the canal!
(So do they have to pay a tax to the government?)
Yes of course. They pay taxes and actually taxes of marijuana, and taxes of prostitution are two big revenues, especially the Amsterdam city and that’s why these places are not closed. Because they makes a lot of money
There are girls that come here for making 6 to 8 months of prostitution and then they pay 5 years of university because if you think 50 minutes, lets have 3 clients per hour, 8 hours is 150 per 8 hours is already 1000 in a day
(And there is tax on this?)
Yes of course, but even taxes, because as you have costs. Ok you can say I have done ten customers, inside you have 30. Its like the coffee shop, the coffee shop as well, they pay taxes but there is no registry. And I will explain you later how it works. But in the register they can say I just sold one kilos of weed, in fact they sold 3 kilos. Because there is no register of whose coming they can sell whatever they want. But since its working good for the society….
(What do the ordinary Amsterdam people think of all this?)
Actually Its normal, its like a a sign on the corner, because its perfectly normal and its normal for example to have a neighbour that is a hooker
Here in fact, this thing I was telling you about that a drug user is not seen as a criminal. It works even for prostitutes. They are making maybe an uncomfortable job, but not a dirty job , like in all the other places. And With the systems, ok you have people who of course here there is lots of noise, people yahha, horny and back, but this way I don’t know how it is on your places but In Italy prostitution is not legal but you find hookers on the road. People who stop on the verge of the road have accident, have public disturbance and everything and this absolutely brings more criminality.
This way of course I think there are some of them are spoiled or exploited by some other people but almost 70% of the prostitutes here are here for their will not because they have been imported and forced to prostitution
(It’s the best of what you can do, I guess)
(What percentage are from the Netherlands?)
Actually from this point of view don’t really know because there is no registry, they have the guilds….but they give you no information
Some ideas in your country, Here are totally normal
(I guess with this kind of system, like with the shops closing, the situation can change very quickly, all the time?)
Yes, even the windows are under the supervision of the major that can reduce or enlarge the Red light district on his will, just enough that he just when a window finishes a license he doesn’t renew it. So in fact there was a lot more windows around here. Now if you go later will make a round when you come back one of my favourite spots because there are models
(Yeah, yeah, will I stop recording will I?)
You are married??????
Coffeeshops
Meanwhile I smoke a cigarette?
(Only cigarettes, those things will kill you, tobacco, that’s the worst!)
Yes I know but its one of the things I cannot quit, tobacco, weed and girls
Ok coffeeshops, I told you in 1976 the Netherlands decided to make this division
Hard drugs and Soft drugs and for the soft drugs they created these places that are called coffeeshops, you can in these places was and is allowed to consume and sell weed
While outside in the city is not absolutely allowed or permitted to sell or consume weed
Here In the centre of Amsterdam if you go around with a joint in the street they don’t tell you nothing because you are in the centre of duke
Just go in another place or just outside Amsterdam with a joint, if you cross the cops they stop you, they give you a fine because you are not a criminal you are doing something bad because it is for public nuisance but you are not a criminal they just give you a fine and adjourn
The coffeeshop, since they work outside the law, since cannabis is illegal and this is absolutely true, they work in this so called grey zone, that it means, grey zone, is a grey zone that is between legal and illegal , the police knows but don’t care.
There is a backdoor policy, I mean that of course they cannot buy weed from anybody because growing weed for selling is an offence and is a very big offence. If you can grow by yourself until upto 5 plants in your apartment and the 6th plant you could be arrested. Usually they take you away the plants and they let you go because anyway it is low priority
Weed and hashish seem not to make real damage to society, to other people they are not taking care
If you are talking about hard drugs they find you with a personal dose of hard drugs they take it away and they let you go. Hard dose, about 2 or 3 grams of cocaine or heroin they give you a fine, if you have more they can give you dealing charges
And actually how it works the coffeeshop
There are growers that actually usually connected to the hell angels or to smugglers that grow in apartment a huge number of plants and they sell it to the coffeeshop from the so called back door, this is the famous back door when they call they speak about the back door of a coffee shop it is this system. From the back door arrive a guy, that is called a runner with his bag full of weed, half a kilo of this, half a kilo of this and half a kilo of this
If you are a private you can go around the city with 5 grams of weed, top, without any problem
The coffeeshop can have a maximum of 500 grams in the place and the place related so even the place where the coffeeshop owner is living. So in fact sometimes when they want to close a coffeeshop they make a raid in the coffeeshop in the place of the guy and everything is related and if they find even one gram more, they’re done
Now in many cities outside Amsterdam they are required to be a resident In order to enter into a coffee shop
(Oh, Really?)
Yes, especially in the south because this is intended as a measure in order to stop the smuggling to Belgium, Germany and France
(So we couldn’t enter that place?)
No, no here in Amsterdam they don’t ask you. The minimum that you must be of legal age of 18
The coffeeshop runs with 5 golden rules. No hard drugs. No people under 18
Ehhhhhhhhhhhhh
(Ha. No more than 500 grams)
No more than 500 grams in total. No weapons, no I already told that
I’m certainly tired!
(Its ok, No alcohol)
No alcohol
There is a bar.There is the trick for example. There is a bar that has near a coffeeshop, together with the coffeeshop you are going into your bar and have your joint. Your beer, you Jägermeister or..
Actually there is a bar that I have seen that you can have joints as well
This is actually an exception to the rule because they can get a fine, if they come in and we still adhere to the European law that all the places are actually no smoking and you have to have a place for smoking area
There are some bars that don’t give a shit. Sometimes you have to chip in 10 cents in order so when they come they get the fine they already have the ……
And If they fail in any of these 5 rules, the premises is closed immediately. No mercy about that
In fact this is another thing that makes this thing work, you have boundaries in which you can do whatever you want
Just step outside these boundaries they are going to beat you very hard
(Kind of like self-policing then, they know…)
Exactly, but for example even for drug addicts, junkies of heroin some people that are in a certain state that they are really very addicted, old, this kind of stuff. They have no money they (the government) normally give house, and some money for living and the drug and the Heroin for the daily dose. If they are caught in doing something illegal but even if they, I don’t know, sleeping on the street or this kind of stuff, they lose all their privileges
This way they are actually motivated, motivating them in order to behave
(A set of rules, follow them!)
So in this way many of the junkies actually have an active social life, they have a job, they pay the taxes, and some people that they meet, they are kind and normal people and from a point of view this is incredible, its quite a miracle because really heroin is one of the most destructive drugs ever seen, well now there is even worse but………..
Treatment centres for heroin users AND Ayahuasca
And this place is are the first source for help and treatment for heroin user. They have a very high percentage of people that are recovering without falling back
(Are people sleeping up there?)
There are rest room, they cannot sleep overnight because it’s not a hostel, but there are hostels all around the city even for junkies that they have to go here in order for their stuff and then for sleeping they have to go, for example, near the central station
(If something bad happens, I mean, there is medical help?)
There is residence of medical, there is, actually the lady on the first floor that is the one that is handling and sending the people to this room was an ex addict.That After 25 years of addiction She give up and she recovered completely, went to a community in the south of the Netherlands, and came back and she started to volunteer here, and now is 5 years.
(Can I bring that back to the first, eh The church of Acahuasca (Ayahuasca!))
Ayahuasca!
(Sorry I am …)
Ayahuasca, it was difficult for me, its an Inca word!
(So many people say that it’s a pretty good way of getting off heroin and hard drugs, because it’s a shock to the system, I mean I don’t know…..)
Absolutely, there are many people use it but this is not related to the religion because the religion is one thing you do all this kind of stuff
(Yeah I’m just wondering if that idea has been…)
No not yet, they are using a methadone programme in order to escalate it but lately they…
(Because some countries are thinking of that, I know Brazil and America…)
Yes but there is the problem of mental state, usually an addict is not mentally free, in order to have this kind of psychedelic experience you must have an inner balance that is powerful, this is why actually they don’t, ok I want to do Ayahuasca and you are making the rite of two month. It’s the priest that decides when you are ready because he sees you, about yeah, now you are ready, even if you have a problem because many people really they solve the problem during this trip
Actually it’s a sort of very similar to the Rite of the coming of age of the Indians of the Incas of America, that you do this very intense experience that makes you know yourself very well, and actually I think this is the real trick in the Ayahuasca, I mean that you have self-knowledge, and actually I can tell you……….
(A self-humility maybe is it?)
More than humility, you know more, you can except your limits, and honestly everybody takes drugs , me as the first person that has smoked and I did lots of ecstasy , amphetamine, and lot of things in the past because I was not comfortable with my limits , with my, that part of myself I didn’t like it. And the trip, sometimes if its done in a proper way can help you like that
The Ayahuasca treatment that you are talking about is actually is more shocking, and this is why it’s still controversial because it really like if your ice bucket in the face of ……….
(It is a kind of shock thing)
Yes exactly but there is a risk that ok, he give up with heroin, but he give even with social life
In fact psychedelics, some class of psychedelics, LSD, morning glory or Hawaiian baby woodrose that are hallucinogenic seeds and Ayahuasca must be treated very, very carefully
Because if you do the wrong steps you are fucked. Totally!
Be Careful!
They was conning you in an incredible way, even now if you go around there back and forth you will hear someone with their lips…..coke, and this kind of stuff. My suggestion is never take this kind of stuff because they always con you. You can get for coke a lidocaine that actually is an aesthetic, very similar, the same. If you try that, the cocaine is an aesthetic, you do like this (rub into your gums, etc) your mouth will disappear. The same with lidocaine but it doesn’t do nothing.
And there is, I’m going to show you, (rummages through his bag)
Ok, These are one of the most famous pills sold for ecstasy, you see there is an S. They are triangle, they are fake because they are, this one (aspirin) and they are sold even now.
For doing that, you see that because these (the aspirin) are giving by the police, so I can show you the lidocaine as well
This is lidocaine, its used by dentists, for anesthetising your mouth, and is sold as coke. If you are lucky, because if you are lucky you just get this stuff it doesn’t really harms you too much.
If you are unlucky you can……………
(So how much would one of those (lidocaine) be then, if they were selling them?)
10 euro, 12 euro
(ok, wow, for tourists they can have a field day)
1.5 euro expense euro and there are 15 pills inside, so let’s make a calculation. Yeah, there are people here who make a living just coning the tourists
(That would be an easy kind of thing to do, I suppose!)
(Sure everyone is out of their mind!)
(Lot of tourists coming here, I would feel, I mean I see a lot of people walking around completely spaced out!)
(Like do people fall into the canal, on a regular basis?)
Yes, Mostly Tourist and because they are doing psychedelics
I work in a smart shop during the day, and we sell Truffles, psychedelic truffles, these one gives you a lot of hallucination and believe me, and i that strongly believe that 80% of the people who fall in the canal because of these mushrooms
(And do a lot of people die in the canal?)
Not dying but getting bad diseases because actually its not clean this water, you can have from Rats, leptospirosis. Surely for skin disease you can have liver hepatitis. You come inside healthy you came out very, very ill!
(So that stats are good obviously, you are going to show us some impressive stats)
Yes exactly, because checkout, this is In the USA and in the Netherlands
People that used Once or more cannabis or cocaine once in their life
(for cannabis) In the US 14% in the Netherlands 22%
This is half and we are talking about residents that tried at least once
For cocaine 13% against 3 .4
This at least means that this policy keeps away the people that are not really intending to making drugs, starting with the drugs because here you have so many opportunities and alternatives you dont want to take the ecstasy. There are many alternatives that can boost you up, you don’t want to take the heroin. There is a a crouton (?) that has the same affects and is totally legal. And it is Not addictive
This policy gives the people the choice and actually they are making an even a big education in schools about the dangers of drugs. It is very unlikely that someone goes on cocaine, on ecstasy
As you can see even that its working
Check this out. In Europe.This is the number of problematics of drug users in the EU
Actually, The uk are on top
Safety
Here (junkies) have places where to go, you cannot see it. Walk around freely, you are not scared about someone comes up with a Syringe. Besides that, check out everywhere you look there is a camera. For one camera that you see, there is three that you don’t see So here this is the safest place in Europe, After London……………….
Absinthe
(What is Thujone, you mentioned that before ?)
Thujone, yes, Is a active component Of absinthe
(Is it the name of the molecule or something …?)
It’s the name of the substance. Taken out from the worm wood plant that is distilled and it’s a psychoactive component that open your mind, and in high quantities, gives you hallucination.
When he was doing absinthe, whoever was doing absinthe, in the old times, I mean the 17thcentury, 18th century the distillation was not perfect and was producing another elements that was connecting with your brain cells and was making the stopping with each other, stopping the connection with each other, and stopping the synapses
These are some of the paintings that has been Inspired by absinthe. This is one of the most famous, called the Muse
In fact I make electronic music, when I was making a bottle of absinthe I was making an album in one night. Maybe it was shit but I loved it!
(Yeah, yeah, you had a Lot of energy)
What do the Dutch think?
This is how the Dutch think about the period of danger of drug. They make a scale of 9 points for personal damage and 7 points for damage to society
As we can see Alcohol is the worst, it’s very wide, it’s used by everybody. There is no emphasising and no education about that.
And check out the less problematic is the mushrooms, but that is 6 scale for the society problem because When you are eating mushrooms, the trouffles, you make noise.
Alcohol is the first, heroin and cocaine, and then you have methadone,
Cocaine, tobacco, and these things I don’t know antidepressant stuff
(It kind of makes sense, I think that list makes sense)
Lsd, and this one no personal harm
(Really I would have though,LSD you’d get a bad trip and…)
Mental
This is to show this is working, and this is why these are legal here and while in all over Europe they are not legal and the alcohol which is the worst is legal everywhere.
Its actually Bullshit from my point of view. If the countries just put some more alcohol education, because alcohol is wonderful like any kind of substance it is done in a certain way and the right way it’s a great thing. But if you abuse it then have lots of problems and actually there are lots of deaths for alcohol, not a single death for weed, not directly related. There are Some accidents, car accidents and this kind of stuff, some people, for example, fall into the canal, people here during the winter they got stoned they fall asleep, freeze to death. And these are related, but not directly related, and this is why its free, and that’s all………..
(Can I ask is there any negatives. Anybody rallying against this in Holland, in the Netherlands, is there any groups that are against all this…..?)
Yes because there are always people that wont like the fact that you have the freedom to do whatever you want. But they are shot down by the results because believe me when they started to apply this policy and did a social study on it. Because its not enough that you divide the market, you have to take care of the people that will anyway will do hard drugs no matter what because they will do it anyway. You can put them in jail and they are going to get the drugs in the jail. You can make them fine and they are going to steal, and besides that with all this kind of stuff there is more crime
(But what about the Local residents?)
The local residents in the area are mostly tourists, not tourists, mostly expats
For the locals actually they have no problem, and besides Amsterdam is one city
The Netherlands is totally different, they are in the south more open, in the north, closed, and very racist, and in fact there is no coffeeshop in every city. Because If the major doesn’t want it, the people doesn’t want it, no coffee shop in the cit.y
But the majority of the Dutch doesn’t give a shit about weed because they are so used (to it)
Everyone smoking, drunk and having a party, and this is strange but it works
In fact, there are for example, In the bars where they sell alcohol there are about 1000 calls a of the police a month, we are about 2 calls a month in the coffeeshops because anyway cannabis can is a drug that makes you more relaxed while alcohol makes you urgh!
Talking about governments, UK and the United States are against and criticising this kind of policy a lot
But here in Europe they are starting to be a change of thinking I mean they are starting to get used to the idea that weed and hashish are not so dangerous as they can think.
That they really are the First steps to the hard drugs If you don’t separate the market
In the US, Colorado, Florida and California and Washington now they can sell weed. Colorado made in one month of Selling weed as many taxes as doing taxes in the city for commercial premises. One month AND they went to the school,I mean just think about that!
The market. The legal market there are some kind of substances that are not harmful so its stupid that they are illegal but not from a point of view from an objective point of view, because if you make the alcohol legal that is very dangerous, you make….Why the weed that is not so dangerous
The Tour
(How long have you been doing this tour?)
This now 6 months, and im doing research for 3 months because now we are expanding.
And they give me some materials and I started to expand it and in fact even now its still a growing creature. We are asking for permission from the police and the government In order to have access to more information and to some person, for example we would like to make an interview and make it on paper in order to make it available to our tours, for the drug users Injection room people for example or somebody from the ayahuasca, but in order to do that we need some permission because actually as we really want to do the stuff in the correct way
We have a private tour that as you can see you can ask everything and we can make a different and we have on Friday a fixed tour that is free on a tip basis
We have a group that is just more casual we talk about the coffee shop
A group that is just drinkers, we talk about the absinthes, the hangover information and so on
Actually I can tell you I am very proud of this small creature that is growing
We are telling people how is the real stuff here
(The reality)
Because believe me there are lots of myths about this city, and some are true!
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Full article here
So off on another League of Ireland ground-hop, into Dublin this time to see Bohemians in Phibsboro, and make it 7 out of the 20 completed, to tick off on the LOI list!
Phibsborough, or Phibsboro, is a mixed commercial and residential neighbourhood in North Dublin hugging the The Royal Canal. A typical red-brick terrace area, with the odd Victorian style looking pub and the always busy Doyle’s Corner thoroughfare.
A good key land mark is St Peter’s Church, a nice church that dates back to 1862, the National Botanic Gardens are situated in nearby Glasnevin, and the vast Phoenix park with Dublin zoo not far off too. And if you fancy some Gaelic sports, then Croke Park is also within walking distance.
The area is a nice mix of locals, people working in the city, and students who attend the DIT or are training in the Mater Hospital. As a result the area is well built up, has all the amenities you would expect from a smallish town, and is served by a good supply of decent pubs.
Notable residents include actor Michael Gambon, of Harry Potter fame or Shakespearean thespian, depends on your age I guess, Éamon de Valera, former Taoiseach and President of Ireland and also James Joyce spent a while here in his early formative years.
Easily reachable by a whole swathe of Dublin Buses, the area will also soon be linked to the city centre via the Luas Cross City Line network, of course one could walk from O Connell Street which could take you about 30 minutes or less.
Pub watch (and Cafe’s!)
Seventy Four Talbot bar
Address: 74 Talbot St, Dublin 1
First bar of the day, just off the train and thirsty, hopped in to Seventy Four Talbot Bar, on ……surprise surprise….Talbot Street. Up until very recently this used to be Mother Kellys bar, a decent bar that was always quite popular and always busy, so I was interested to see what the new guys had done. They have done a good refurbishment, and it looks the part alright, but I wonder does it have any character as now it looks like an identikit Dublin bar with all the wooden floors and polished furniture. As it was still early there weren’t many customers, ordered a Smithwicks, which went down well, then quickly left as I went off to get my hair cut, as I so often do when I’m home (its really expensive to do in Switzerland!)
Pint was decent, staff friendly, place looks smart, clean and good. Will return when busier to get a better feel for the new place, but looks promising.
The Confession Box
Address: 88 Marlborough Street, Dublin,
http://c11407968.wixsite.com/ryan
Next up was the Confession Box, a pub that the brother recommended, and is considered one of the best pubs in the Northside. A lovely looking frontage, while inside it had a pretty decent early afternoon crowd in, a bit packed in a smallish intimate bar, I guess that’s why they call it the confession box, that and also cause its not too far from St. Mary’s Pro- Cathedral! Horse racing on, boisterous enough crowd, pints a flowing, doing some good trade.
Apparently it was Irish revolutionary, Micheal Collins, favourite watering hole. And this also ties in with the name, as many of Collins men during the War of Independence would receive confession here from the priests of “The Pro”, after some of their heroic deeds in the fight for independence, but I do wonder was Collins much of a drinker. I am a drinker and so ordered a Smithwicks, but I probably should have ordered a Guinness as I read later they do one of the best pints in Dublin, but truth be told I wasn’t in the mood for the black stuff on the day.
Established in 1795, as it says on one of its doors, it is an old pub with a variety of different names and owners since then. The bar is quite tiny, and we were lucky we got seats, but there is an upstairs as well.
There is a great deal of memorabilia and old photos adorning the walls of the pub featuring a lot from the 1916 Rising, the War of Independence, and Dublin in the rare old times, amongst other stuff. They do sell T Shirts and key rings, which to be honest is a little naff and don’t look worth getting, I mean its an ordinary pub at the end of the day, not Disneyland!
I liked this bar, was small and comfy. The pub had a nice mix of locals and tourists, and I am sure if we had stayed longer we would have got into conversation with some of its clientele. The service was fine, and the pint good. Will be back for sure and hopefully next time will try to catch some of the live music that they are renowned for putting on, all for my sins!
Fusciardi’s Cafe
Address: 27 Marlborough Street, Dublin 1
Was pretty hungry at this stage as we had skipped breakfast so we decided to have some fish n chips in Fusciardi’s Cafe just up the road from the Confession Box.
An Italian chipper where you can sit down, they serve food fast and the place is well known for serving great food, especially the fish n chips, for over 80 years now to Dubs and people hoping to get a quick bite as they head up to catch their bus/train home to the country! It has a very relaxed setting and people eat away minding to their own business.
Was busy enough, service friendly, the fish n chips were fine as expected, got well fed, stomach lined and ready for more beer. Like most Irish people, we LOVE our little Italian chippers. Result.
The Metro Bar
Address: 155 Parnell St, Dublin D1
Popped in to the Metro for a pint, and it was a very fast pint, as I had to start making a move on to Dalymount. Nice interior, ordered a Tennent’s Lager which was fine.
Is a sports bar so had a lot of sporting memorabilia dotted around the place.
Small midday crowd, good service, decent pint and that was that.
Bang Bang Cafe
Address: 59A Leinster St North,
Phibsborough,Dublin 7
I was due to meet Daniel who is a Strategic Planner for Bohemians, and meet him at his place of work which was his Bang Bang Cafe and Delicatessen not too far off from Dalymount itself.
After a few twists and turns we eventually found it tucked away at the end of a side street. We were surprised to see such a cafe hidden away from the main street in a quiet residential area.
Daniel set up the place with his sister in 2015, looking to open something new in an off street location where people could come and go, enjoy their coffee and food with chill out tunes and friendly vibes all in a relaxing environment. Also important was that any products on sale should be, if possible, local.
Bang Bang Cafe takes its name from a well known Dublin character. During the 1950’s and 60’s, Thomas Dudley, acted out the life of a cowboy on the streets of Dublin. “Bang Bang” he went at bus and tram passengers, playing with his gun, ie a big church key that he used to carry round with him. It was all fun and games as many used to actively participate in the high jinks and return fire and play dead on the city streets. What great craic it must have been to see a whole street turned into the Wild West all due to the imagination and humour of one eccentric, Bang Bang.
He was immortalised in The Dubliner’s song The Mero which included the line “Bang Bang shoots the buses with his golden key”.
Despite given so much joy to ordinary Dubs, Bang Bang himself had not the best start in life. Both parents died when he was young so he spent a lot of his early life in an orphanage.
He passed away in 1981, aged 74, in a Home for the Blind run by the Rosminian Fathers in Drumcondra and was buried in an unmarked grave in the grounds of St Joseph’s Cemetery.
The fact he was buried in an unmarked grave troubled Daniel, so much so that he decided to set up a GoFundMe account to get a decent burial place for one of Dublin’s characters. With the help of the cafe, over a hundred ordinary Dubliners donated to the cause and raised enough money to erect a plaque at the grave of Bang Bang. On the 28th of August 2017, the plaque was unveiled by the Lord Mayor of Dublin, Mícheál Mac Donncha, on the site of Bang Bang’s unmarked grave. A fitting tribute to Thomas Dudley and hats off to the Bang Bang Cafe for the lovely gesture and for keeping the story alive.
(on a side note: wonder do people remember the Diceman who entertained my generation on the streets of Dublin, wonder has he got a memorial?)
Was great to chat to Daniel about Bohs, and his cafe. Only had a coffee but can definitely say that the place was buzzing and I must say it had a better atmosphere going on than a lot of the bars I had visited that day, excellent.There are also many books on art, politics and football available to have a gander, and they also sell retro clothes and all sorts of nick nacks.
Will definitely like to check it out again, even if I am not a big coffee drinker, but I must try their Brunch Burgers as I have read that they are legendary, and I do like me burgers!
Long Island Bar (Joxer Daly’s)
Address: 103 Dorset Street Upper, Dublin 1
Ventured up to Dorset street to check out two pubs, Glynns and the Long Island Bar.
Not a bad crowd in, nice enough bar, settled down to try a new beer, ordered a Dublin Blue Lager from the Beer Factory, who ever they are. Bar man did a great job on the pint and it looked fantastic. Good news is it also tasted great, definitely a beer to check out again in the future. They should do a Mayo version just for the laugh!
Good pub, good service, and nice pints. Simples.
Glynns pub (The Wellington House)
Address: 100 Dorset Street, Dublin 1
http://glynnswellingtonhouse.com/
At the corner we went into Glynns and this time I went back to the old reliable, a pint of Smithwicks. This bar had a good friendly and relaxed atmosphere going on, also interesting to watch some Polish fellas play pool very badly, and the pints were great and served well.
Lovely decor inside with a lot of famous pictures and photos of Irish musicians of the present and the past. Another good pub to add to the long list of decent Dublin boozers.
The Hut (Mohan’s)
Address: 159 Phibsborough Road, Dublin 7
We decided to have one last pint in a new pub for us, just before we headed into the ground. Having already been in Doyles before, on the corner, which is a great pre match boozer, we decided to try somewhere new, so to The Hut with its inviting exterior. The Hut is a family owned traditional Victorian bar on Dublin’s North side.
Also decided to try for the first time the Hop House 13 Lager which wasn’t anything extraordinary from Guinness.
Apparently The Hut got its name from the hut-style dwellings the locals lived in when the bar opened its doors way back about 150 years ago. Not sure about that but what I do know is that it is a nice pub, with a lovely traditional interior, has good service and decent pints, all well and good…
The Members Bar/the Phoenix Bar
Address: Bohemians F.C, Dalymount Park, Phibsborough,
Dublin 7
http://bohemianfc.com/?page_id=83
The beauty of Dalymount is that it has not one, not two, but three bars for supporters to wet their whistle, the Members’ Bar, the Phoenix Bar and the Jackie Jameson Bar. Not a lot of LOI clubs can even manage the one so thats a great venture for the club to offer fans on matchdays, top notch stuff there!
The main bar – the Members’ Bar – is open every Friday and Saturday evening, as well as every Sunday from 12pm. It also open early on Bohs match-nights and for other televised sporting events.
The Phoenix Bar and Jackie Jameson Bar are open on match-nights and available to hire as function rooms.
Even though its called a Members bar it seems anyone can walk between it and the Phoenix bar with ease. Not much difference between the two, as they were both packed to the rafters with supporters having the beer and the craic. Good atmosphere brewing in both bars for the game.
Didn’t get into the Jackie Jameson bar but then I am not that important as it is mainly for VIP’s and Guests of Honour.
Ordered the Bohemian craft beer, which was rank, disgusting. But then went for the Five Lamps Dublin Lager which was excellent, a nice find. The Five lamps was so good I will definitely be checking it on next time I am home.
Tickets into the ground cost €15.00, and that includes the game, least you dont manage to actually leave the goddamn bar!!!
Arena/Stadium: Dalymount Park
Location: Phibsborough,
Dublin 7
Capacity: 4,300
Manager: Keith Long
Founded: 1890
Leagues: League of Ireland Premier Division
Honours
• League of Ireland/Premier Division: 11 (Last 2009)
• FAI Cup: 7 (Last 2008)
lynn@bohemians.ie
Nicknames: Bohs, The Gypsies, The People’s Club
Bohemian Football Club, the Bohs, is a professional football club from the Northside of Dublin. They were founded by a bunch of students, way back in 1890 at the Phoenix Park Gate Lodge beside the North Circular Road entrance.
One of the founding members of the League of Ireland in 1921, Bohemians are the oldest League of Ireland club in continuous existence, and are also only one of two clubs (St Pats) that have never been relegated from the top flight.
It didn’t take long for the club to win its first title, winning its first league title in 1924. And more early success followed as the club won four more titles and two FAI cups by the 1930’s. But that was in the good old days of amateur football, and so with the advent of professionalism and the club unable to sign players as an amateur club, they went 34 seasons without anything at all. They finally went professional in 1969, and broke their barren spell in 1975 winning their sixth title, and another one in 1978 with two FAI Cup wins thrown in for good measure. Another trophy-less spell came until the noughties when they won four league titles and two more FAI Cups, making Bohs the third most successful club in League of Ireland football history, having won the League of Ireland title 11 times and the FAI Cup 7 times.
European wise they have had not much success, but they did eliminate Aberdeen from the UEFA Cup in August 2000. In the next round they came up against Kaiserslautern of Germany and although they lost the tie, they did beat their more illustrious opponent away. Its not often that a LOI team can beat both a German and British team in one season. They also beat Rangers 3-2 at home in 1984 in the Uefa Cup, in a very bad tempered game both on and off the pitch. Of course they also got a 4-0 away hammering from the mighty Total Network Solutions to lose the tie 4-1, which was pretty embarrassing at the time. A game I was at, and am still in shock about.
Bohemians played their first games in the Phoenix Park’s Polo Grounds, after that they played in numerous different locations, in Jones Road, Old Belvedere, Glasnevin, but it wasnt until 1901 that they decided on Dalymount Park, in the neighbourhood of Phibsborough, where they have stayed ever since. It has been said that this is how they got their name….Bohemians and the nickname of the “Gypsies”….with all the wandering around looking for a ground to call home.
A lot of Irish international games were played there before the national team moved to Landsdowne Road in the early 1990’s. Many memorable Irish games were played out to a packed Dalymount, 45,000 people cheering on. A 3-0 thrashing of the Soviet Union in 1974 one famous night where “The Dalymount Roar” was in full effect. Pelé, Beckenbauer, Zidane, Van Basten, Charlton and Best, all the greats have lined out here in what many people call the “spiritual home of Irish football”
Dodgy land deals done during the era of the Celtic Tiger put the club in debt and on the brink of collapse, with its members selling the ground not once but twice to developers but with nothing to show for it. But in March 2015 Dublin City Council announced that it would purchase Dalymount park for €3.8 million, thus wiping out the clubs debt.The Council plans to demolish and rebuild the old ground on a phased basis at a cost of €20 million, into a new modern ground with a total capacity of about 8000, and to groundshare it with local rivals Shelbourne. This all comes at a good time as the stadium, loved by the Irish footballing community and all, is in terrible disrepair at the moment, as on big match days only two of the stands are used, making a lot of the ground look bare. The Jodi Stand is the main stand in Dalymount, and this is where the Bohs singing section are located at the far left of the stand.
Their club colours are red and black, which they adopted at the 4th AGM in October 1893.
As Bohs’ fan base is mainly drawn from the northside of Dublin their supporters share a bitter rivalry with Southside club, Shamrock Rovers.
To the game
Bohemians 3-2 St Pats
22.09.2017 Dalymount
2 ‘Ismahil Akinade (Bohs)
3’ Christy Fagan (Pats)
16’Daniel Corcoran (Bohs)
52 ‘Daniel Corcoran (Bohs)
65’ Conan Byrne (Pats)
Attendance: 2,543
Barely had time to settle in my seat when Bohs went one nil up, In just the second minute, Paddy Kavanagh down the left, passed across to Ismahil Akinade who headed home at the back post. A well worked goal and a great start to the game.
But if you thought that was quick, then the equaliser was even quicker, Pats were right back in the contest, just one minute later when a long ball from Barker on the right was latched onto by Christy Fagan who with great effort slid the ball under the Bohs keeper to equalise.
Fagan was getting a lot of luck down the right, in the first half especially, while at the other end Akinade was causing the Pats defence all sorts of problems what with his lanky frame and decent ball control for a tall fella!
The game turned on its head when in the 15 minute Gavin Peers got tangled up with Akinade’s big legs and gave away a penalty. Was it a penalty? I am not so sure but Dinny Corcoran converted to give the home side a deserving 2-1 lead. And to makes matters worse for Pats, Peers was also sent off with a straight red card. A huge amount of excitement in a jam packed first twenty minutes, scintillating stuff.
Keith Ward was a lively wire too who went close on a number of occasions, a nice free just over from 25 yards out, and long rage effort that was oh so close but for a finger tip save from the Pats keeper.
Not long into the second half, Dinny Corcoran scored again. This time he slotted home from a loose ball to give the Bohs a two goal lead. It was a pity I missed it as I was still making my way from the bar, damn it.
On the 65 minute Conan Byrne got himself some space on the right (where it was happening all the time for Pats), cut inside and scored a decent goal, to give pats some hope.
Pats had one more chance when Conan Byrne, that man again, had a great chance to get an equaliser when his stretching shot came off the crossbar, unlucky, but I don’t think Bohs deserved to lose this game.
Was impressed, very impressed, with Keith Ward who was pretty awesome in the central of midfield, creating opportunities any chance he had and also linking up well with the front two. he was also very unlucky not to score with some fantastic shots that were close. Along side him in midfield, Fuad Sule also caught the eye. A really small compact player who can pass well, and gets himself about the park, excellent. I really hope Bohs keep onto these two for next season, as with the front two of Dinny Corcoran and Ismahil Akinade they have the making of a serious team. I guess that’s what Keith Long is doing. He is a manager I have rated in the past and I guess it is taking him time to get things to gel with Bohs. But he would really want to push on for next season, now that he is in his third and a bit season…..but I expect good things for next season……roll on 2018!
As for Pats, well they are a two person team, Conan Byrne and Christy Fagan, and that’s about it for them.
Interview
Short chat with Daniel Lambert, a Strategic Planner with Bohemian Football Club Limited (and also co-owner of the Bang Bang Cafe)
email: daniel@bohemians.ie
Daniel Lambert is my name and I look after a lot of the strategic planning for bohemian football club.
They call Bohemians, I see on the advertisement, the peoples club, can you explain that please?
Yeah, basically I suppose soccer has been, in recent years, football or soccer has been associated with owners, individuals, corporations and Bohs is the complete opposite of that. For 127 nearly 128 years we have been owned by a couple of hundred ordinary men and women, in Dublin, so it’s the peoples club in the true sense. Someone like Everton used the phrase when it actually doesn’t hold true, the club is literally owned by ordinary people, and its ran for their enjoyment and to be passed onto another group of people.
And what ways have the club reached out to the ordinary people?
Oh we do a whole litany of things, you may have seen earlier this week we were selected, 12 LOI clubs applied for youth funding in a project called More than a Club and that’s a reflection on how good clubs are integrating into the local community. Ourselves and cork were selected, yesterday is was announced
We do walk in football with mentally challenged people, walk in football with older people, we do a programme in Mountjoy prison to try and help people refrain from reoffending when they emerge from prison, there is actually a group, our club president, is over a prison in the Netherlands right now, tonight, a group of ex-prisoners in Mountjoy are playing with a group of bohs players over there
We do a whole range of things, we have a project for school completion and….
So what about yourself, how long have you been supporting Bohs….?
I was brought since I was a baby….so 30 years.
so you had no choice then
No, no choice at all!
Best season all those years?
For me actually the best season was probably last season! As a fan I suppose I was unusual in that I was on the board for a lot of the years, we had severe trouble and I actually realised in retrospect that the Fenlon years and the other years where we won a lot of trophies behind the scenes were the worst years the club had ever had. And id hand them all back if I could and not have almost destroyed the club.
I think that last year there really was a sense of togetherness, Dalymount was saved, we had a group of honest players on the pitch and we didn’t win anything but for me the feeling around the club is better than its ever been.
So was that serious then, really?
Absolutely. The club blew a serious amount of money in a very short space of time for trophies that really don’t mean anything if you talk about preserving your club that was passed down, that was put in severe jeopardy for trophies over a very short space of time.
then I guess the general consensus is that Keith Long is doing a good job?
Amazing job, yeah, in fairness, Keith’s done a great job and I suppose for Keith he has come to Bohs at a time everyone is fully aware of the situation and what we are trying to do and he has been giving an awful lot of leeway that perhaps other managers weren’t in the past and that’s a good thing. People are realistic about where we are, what our budget is and they know we are not going to win the league, and when you put a group of players on the pitch like Keith has who just have effort and honesty about them, it’s hard not to applaud them
(so this season so far, your more or less mid table, your safe aren’t you?)
Yes, I think we are more or less safe. It would be nice to win tonight, you know Pats were one of the clubs that wanted to go for the ten team league, so id love to see pats go down, and we weren’t in favour of it obviously, yeah so I hope we win tonight and I think we will finish mid table.
your cult hero of the club, all those years?
Tony O’Connell
for what reason then?
Well he built the Jodi stand, he is the honorary life president, played for the club, and he stuck around. Tony will be here tonight, and Tony, in those years we were stuck for money, the first person up to write a check or to try to get people together was Tony. And that’s a man in his late seventies. So fair play to him.
so tonight’s game then, st pats, shud be a good game, their real pressing teams
Id say both teams to score
a draw maybe
I think so, one all, or two all either way, pats usually come to Dalymount looking to not concede first so they can’t do that tonight, and our home form has been atrocious, so I think both teams will score and then 2-1, two all or one all.
any players to look out for tonight that maybe general fans wouldn’t know about, under the radar
For us, Fuad, I mean Fuad will be going to England by the looks of things, he is a phenomenon player, he came from Pats under 19’s
definitely then going to score tonight so!
I think he is our best player
its worth a fiver
And of course, wardy after the hat trick up in Drogheda.
and the atmosphere tonight, what should we expect?
The atmosphere will be good. Dalymount is difficult in that , you know we are fully aware that the ground has two sides realistically, so you are creating noise on two sides which isn’t ideal, but Bohs n Pats its one of the better atmospheres, I think you will be pleasantly surprised, obviously us and rovers isn’t comparable to any other game we play, so this ranks up there with one of the better atmospheres
is it difficult to get punters in all the time?
Not anymore no, we turned a huge corner, that the perception of bohs, and its something we have worked on very hard, the perception of bohs has changed massively, when you go in there tonight, you will see there will be quite a lot of tourists, quite a lot of girls, and the kind of demographic at bohs games has shifted quite a lot in the last few years. we haven’t lost anyone, we have just added on a new group of people.
I see you are linking up with other teams as well, you have FC United…
Fc United, we have good links with st pauli in hamburg
really, wow
yeah its something we have really tried to press home
will there be a sparkling of German and……
yeah you will see it here, there will be german, French, Spanish, they will be drinking the bohs craft ale, there will be hipsters everywhere
you have three bars
So The one in the middle is the members bar, generally older demographic in there, mainly bohs members, the bar on the far left is the phoenix walking in that’s generally our singing section, there is a jukebox in there, lots of pictures of past gigs in Dalymount, the one on the far right isn’t open to the public that’s our sponsors bar, it opens up after the game.
will I see Johnny Logan tonight?
You might!
brush shiels?
You will see brush shiels,
You will see, who else will be here….
James Kavanagh is coming tonight, im picking james up in the jeep, you know james kavanagh, the snap chat celebrity
No, sorry
John Kavanaghs brother, McGregor’s coach. So james is coming to tonight and he is snapchatting the whole night
im just after realising the name of the bar (café)…..bang bang , you were in the news recently…
Yeah we got a gravestone made for bang bang, on rte news
bang bang?
Used to shoot a key around Dublin
it was only recently, what 2 or 3 weeks
2 weeks ago
I know you cant see this now obviously as we are speaking, but the idea behind this and its something we have tried to say to other clubs, happening more and more is with this picture obviously its red and black but beside that its everything you wouldn’t expect to see on a football poster, no crest, no footballer, and there is a woman in it and that’s done on purpose as very often the FAI try to market the league and they miss the point, they put up a player in a jersey and a kit, that only appeals to existing fans….
But you see this, first of all you are thinking what’s it about……..but it kind of draws you in….
questions, questions
Yeah and that’s something we have tried to bring across all our engagements with the public…
so what about shamrock rovers then? Ha ha
In what way
you get excited when they come this side of the city
yeah both of us do, like…..there are some good things going on about shamrock rovers, I think they miss the point in that we try to celebrate the fact that what they did in terms of a club is getting themselves a ground and coming out from that period of absolute madness that they were in, should be commended as a club. Id have nothing against them as a football club
When we play them I want to beat them, do I like them…..no I don’t.
But I do think for us, been able to stay in Dalymount is massive.
Tallaght is a nice stadium, but there is no soul to it, it’s a sterile place, its on the periphery of the city
(its very windy, jesus right up the middle
I don’t like it. I met a guy here recently and he was a Spanish fella and he had come over, and he came to see us and rover in Dalymount, and he arrived on the Thursday and he got a Dublin bike and cycled out to Tallaght stadium to see it, and he said “I had left the city”
so what’s this place you have going on here the, it seems like a pretty cool place
It… what do we do,,,, we do food, records and clothes and coffee and
are you long open here?
Nearly two years
yeah, seems pretty busy, buzzing in there
A lot of it is football stuff. Me and my sister did it, her rule at the start was no politics, no football, so ….its full of bohs stuff…. And I climbed on top of that building last week and put a Palestinian flag on top last week
So that’s pretty much it, thanks very much …..and a prediction for tonight
Id go 2-1 bohs
And who is going to score the last goal
Dinny, to score
Dinny Corcoran, thanks very much
Overall, enjoyed my visit to Dalymount, as I always do. Its a smashing old style ground that can create a special kind of atmosphere in the Dublin air.
Was great to meet Daniel and get the low down on the club. He was right about Fuad, he is some player alright.
Enjoyed the bars in and around Phibsboro, was good to find some new decent boozers and some new beers to try out next time i am back in Dublin…..Five Lamps n Dublin Blue….
Dublin still the place for the craic….good pubs, great beers, football and the Liffey!!
Anyway, here is my day out in video form
Basel: Some history and culture, a bit of football and a good amount of beer!
Basel is a Swiss German speaking city in the northwest of Switzerland on the river Rhine. Basel has been a commercial hub and important cultural centre since the Renaissance and the Age of Enlightenment, and it has emerged over time as an important centre for the chemical and pharmaceutical industries of the world with major companies such as Roche, Novartis, Bayer, Ciba Specialty Chemicals, Abbot, etc all situated in the city.
There are settlement traces on the Rhine from the early La Tène period (5th century BC), but it wasn’t until the Romans established a centre here and built a castle that the city began to develop. The name of Basel is itself derived from the Roman word Basilius, meaning emperor. Basel was incorporated into Germania Superior in AD 83, and over time became a centre for trade, study and printing.
Basel is Switzerland’s third-most-populous city (after Zürich and Geneva) with about 175,000 inhabitants. Located where the Swiss, French and German borders meet.
Basel has a population of about 175,000, where about 35.5% of the population are resident foreign nationals, a lot who work in the many chemical and pharmaceutical industries dotted around the city. Also factor in that due to the close borders with both France and Germany, you can add another 120,000 commuters moving into the city for their daily work. All in all it is a busy city, but it has to be said most travel in this city and extended region is done via the excellent tram, train and bus network that is also well connected to France and Germany. Basel is also a very bicycle friendly city with many bike lanes and places to park a bike. You really dont notice much cars or trucks when walking around the city, which really is a great feeling.
Of course not far from the city centre (about 35 minutes by bus) is the EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg. The interesting thing about this airport is that there are two borders….one for France (where the airport actually lies on) and the other for Switzerland. In the old days before Schengen there was an immigration check point in the middle of the airport where one could border hop officially with stamps, etc if needed. But be careful, the border police can still do customs checks on its various borders, just in case you are trying to enter Switzerland with a van load of dodgy TV’s or mutton or whatever.
Basel calls itself the Cultural Capital of Switzerland which is a bold claim it has to be said. The reason for this claim is many fold. One reason is the massive amount of galleries and museums all over the city, well over 50 or more, the highest concentration in the country. You have the internationally renowned museums such as Basel Art Museum, the Beyeler Foundation, Natural History Museum of Basel and the Museum of Cultures Basel, Caricature & Cartoon Museum Basel, Jewish Museum of Switzerland, Sports Museum of Switzerland, Museum of Contemporary Art, Kunstmuseum Basel (Art Museum Basel), amongst many more, too many to mention in fact, and a shit load of other museums dedicated to more contemporary “modern” art, as if you didn’t get enough, or otherwise known as horse shite to the man in the street!
The best thing about Basel for me is the sight of the river, the Rhine. The river cuts through the the city and its great on a hot summers day to hang out with a few friends having some cans of beers by the banks of the great river. Refreshing.
I also strongly recommend coming to the city for its annual carnival of the city (Basler Fasnacht), the biggest carnival in Switzerland and large crowds attend every year, but be aware its a four day event with the first day starting at 4 in the morning! It is on the Monday after Ash Wednesday and brings the city to a standstill celebrating on the streets of Basel in a big street parade that goes on forever, with music and costume and good fun.
Fun facts about Basel:
In 1938 Albert Hofmann, working for the Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, was the first to synthesize the psychedelic drug LSD.
The Roche Tower, designed by Herzog & de Meuron, is 41 floors and 178 metres (584 ft) high, opened in 2015 it has become the tallest building in Switzerland
Basel has Switzerland’s oldest university, the University of Basel, dating from 1460. Well known alumni and staff include Jacob Burckhardt, Friedrich Nietzsch, Erasmus,and Carl Gustav Jung.
Established in 1874, Zoo Basel, affectionaly called “Zolli” by the locals, is the oldest zoo in Switzerland, and with over 1.7 million visitors per year, it is the second most visited tourist attraction in Switzerland, and well worth a visit.
While FC Basel is well known to football fans across Europe, it is Roger Federer, a Basel native, who is the sporting darling of the city.
Pub watch
Paddy Reilly’s Irish Pub & Restaurant
Address: Steinentorstrasse 45, Basel 4051
Got off the tram near the centre of town and the best place really to start a beer crawl is in Paddy Reilly’s Irish pub.
This place does be heaving during Friday and Saturday nights, and can be more like a night club than a bar with a very young crowd, i.e a lot younger then me the old fella! But when its not packed to the rafters on a weekend night, it does normally have a very relaxed setting, always a good place to come in and have a good pint and chat with friends.
Typical decor you would expect from an Irish bar, a bit of traditional mixed in with the modern, all nice and respectable. A good long bar with plenty of space to sit at.
Friendly staff, chatty and efficient, and it seems all the staff are Irish as they do cater for a lot of British and Irish clientele.
Typical in an Irish bar, not a minute in the place and I’m already chatting to people, two strangers, but you know it really is true when they say that there are no strangers in an Irish pub, just friends you haven’t met yet, or something like that!
Good atmosphere in the place, a lot of sport on the various TV’s dotted around the pub, all relaxed and chilled…….just the way I like it
Apparently they do good food here, but feck that……..its the beer I am here for. Have the usual fare to drink, but some highlights on offer as well…..A Grimbergen was a surprise to see……but decided to go for a pint of Bodingtons as I had never tried it before. Pint was good, liked it and it went down well, if a little pricey, but heh this is Switzerland so….
So overall Paddy Reilly’s did the job and is recommended if you come to Basel.
Mr. Pickwick Pub
Address: Steinenvorstadt 13, Basel 4051
Mr Pickwick is your quintessential British pub, with plenty of beer available on tap, wooden decor with carpet, football (or at times Cricket) on the box and a smattering of ex pats all around. Located in the Steinenvorstadt, a pedestrian street where you will find a lot of snazzy bars and restaurants in the centre of Basel, albeit the more upmarket ones, that is the more expensive ones!
Mr Pickwick is a fine pub though, and it has a pretty decent selection of British and Irish beer both on tap and in bottle.
In summer one can sit outside and do some people watching. Also they open the large front doors which is great for letting in some cool Rhine air throughout the bar.
The pub grub here is meant to be good (their nachos, and fish n chips are popular dishes) and certainly what came out of the kitchen while I was there looked good, but as this is Switzerland I preferred to keep my money for a more refined liquid lunch. I went for Fullers Jack Frost, an English bitter that was fine. Staff were efficient, albeit a bit cold, but heh this is an English pub right! Anyway I do like Pickwicks, its a decent place and its always easy to find a seat and have a nice pint while planning what you will get up to in the night, a good starting point……even if its best not to look too closely at your bill, ouch! (Yes, I know, its Switzerland!)
Didi Offensive
Address: Erasmusplatz. 12, 4057
Didi Offensive is a football culture bar in Kleinbasel (little Basel) a little bit from the city centre. It is a great place to watch live football, as there are TV’s, big and small all over the place, twelve in fact. But its not only live football, the bar regularly organize events on football culture, have table quizzes, host photography exhibitions, and the decor itself is like a museum dedicated to all things got to do with the beautiful game.
The name, “Didi offensive”, is a nickname that refers to the defensive-oriented football that former FC Basel coach Claude “Didi” Andrey used, and where the FCB fans began to mockingly sing “Didi offensively, Shalalalala”
Anyway nice little bar, friendly bar man, loads of football on the tv, nearly overloaded with football didn’t know what game to watch……mostly German and Spanish league football for the time I was there. Had a local Ueli beer,a wheat beer which perfectly poured but just not my cup of tea actually. In fact they didn’t really have a good variety of beers on offer, just the two pumps if I remember correctly, but I do see they organise regular craft beer nights which is interesting.
Toilets were a double treat, do the business but also to marvel at all the cool old Pannini stickers stuck up around the gents, and to pee into a goals which gives a cheer when you finish, now that is cool. I also noticed John Aldridge staring at me when I was peeing!
I like this bar, had a good vibe and is definitely a great meeting place for football fans to hang out and watch the big game…………..cool bar.
The Fish Inn
Address: Clarastrasse 56, 4058
The Fish Inn is a traditional British style pub on Clarastrasse, a little bit out but really not that far from the city centre via the tram. It has the typical British style decor you’d expect and had a nice cozy atmosphere when I was there. A few people, but not to many were present, and the bar lady was friendly. The bar has a real homely atmosphere that I like, a good place to have a quiet pint and a good chat with a friend. Feels like a traditional “local” pub. I imagine in the winter this is a the perfect place to come to get out of the wind and the rain and have a hot whiskey and pint to warm the soul.
They do food, which is typical British food, and also offer takeaways, which is kind of cool, albeit looking at their menu it does all look a bit too pricey for me!
The owners have their dogs wandering around and there is a relaxed setting in the pub.
I was happy to see that they had Fullers London Pride, an English bitter that I really like. Less happy to report that the pint wasn’t great, a bad pint, which was a pity. Perhaps that was the luck of the draw, but anyhow I will check this place out again as its a good to get a pub where one can relax away from the hustle and bustle downtown.
Bar Rouge
Address: Messeplatz. 10, 4058
Went to this place if only because apparently its the highest bar in the whole of Switzerland, that’s what they advertise themselves, which is a load of bollix as I had a beer near the top of the Jungfrau, inside its mountain station, but there you go.
Entrance via lift to the top of the high rise building, to the 31st floor, Bar Rouge is a cocktail and lounge bar with a very modern and snazzy decor, looks good inside, very stylish, and can get a great panoramic view of the city, which looked pretty cool as day was turning to night. The bar itself looks fantastic, lots of activity going on from the bar staff making all varieties of cocktails, great chilled out ambiance inside everyone seems to be in good spirits. Except the bar manager who was having a bit of a row with one of his bar staff, a little bit unsavory to see, and he looked like a bit of a prick to be honest, all Gordon Ramsey. Looked like there was a mistake with a cocktail order, with the barman having to redo it again and also pay for the extra cost out of his own pocket, or at least that’s what it looked like. I didn’t see the big deal, sure its not like people really know what the fuck they are drinking in a cocktail anyway, and I know if he talked to me like that I’d tell him to do one. Anyway wasn’t nice to see…..
As for me, I played it safe and went for a regular local beer. The cocktails were a bit pricey for my small wallet. I was served quickly and efficiently and with a friendly smile by Shangi (I looked it up via their website!), who I have to say was very good. Always nice to get good service.
Pint was fine, and I was nice and comfy sitting at the bar admiring the views both outside and at the excellent selection of drinks behind the bar.
Even in the toilets you can get a view of Basel where they have a glassed window overlooking the city landscape, but you need not worry as no one is likely to see you do your business that high up off the ground!
I did like it here, very relaxing, nice tempo to the place, music not too loud but in the background so it can be appreciated, and the bar was well lit. I bet they studied how to get the right moods via the perfect lightning, music tempo, etc……..it seems to work anyway. If it wasn’t for the price I’d like to return, alas maybe if i get a big win on the gee gees! Next time I will try a cocktail!
L’Unique
Address: Gerbergässlein 20, 4051
L’Unique is one of the more hip bars in the town. Cool because its decor is completely made up of rock music memorabilia all around the bar. This American style bar has quite an extensive collection on display, from signed platinum albums, guitars, rock suits, and rock art, a veritable feast for anyone interested in rock music.
The bar is located right down an alley way not far off the city centre, and can be difficult to find. If so, all you need to do is ask for the directions to the graffiti with all the rock stars, as right across from the bar is a brilliant street painting of various rock legends. It is a Basel highlight to take a photo of it as it really is that good!
Sat at the bar, ordered a regular beer (a Feldschlösschen lager) which was fine and nice. Half the time you are just staring at all the stuff on the walls……I noted a signed Kiss drum set on the ceiling, some Nirvana albums beside me and also a cool looking gorilla with a guitar!
Had a very good chat with the bar lady, Eleni, who was super cool and friendly to boot, who agreed with me that the Nirvana stuff was probably the best thing in the rock collection.
Bar has great service, and always has a good friendly atmosphere in the place. Even though it can be busy it is always easy to find a seat and a place to relax. Good vibes always, and as I am a metal head so yes this is one of my favourite bars in the city. Recommended!
Rio Bar
Address: Barfüsserplatz 12, 4051 Basel
Rio Bar, is a nice little bar in the city centre, great for meeting people before heading onto somewhere else where all sorts from the young and the old, the well to do and the not so mix and chat on small tables, or at the small bar. The bar is run by a stern looking Swiss lady, but once you get to know her, she is good fun and has a good sense of humour.
Has a good selection of spirits and aperitif’s on show, and not such a great selection of beer, really just the local stuff. I ordered a large glass of Ziegel Hof, a beer from Liestal just up the road from Basel. Was fine, in fact I had about three of them. Not strong and went down well. One of my favourite bars in the city, small and comfy and really a great place to wind down and relax after a tough day.
Baragraph
Address: Kohlenberg 10, Basel 4051
Baragraph is a small bar on a side street off the main square of Barfüsserplatz. Cosy bar with not a whole lot going on, but its good for a quick pint in quiet surroundings, more a chill out bar to relax and reflect. Has an interesting decor going on, all 70’s style or at least that’s what it looks to me on the untrained eye, all bright colours and lots of light, and the service is always friendly and chatty. I like this place, had a KonigPilsner, was fine in a bar that one can definitely while away a few hours. Also must add the beer is not as pricey here than in other establishments in the city.
Excalibar
Address: Kohlenberg 7, 4051
Topped the night off with a late pint in Excalibar, a late, very late, night bar that seems at least to me to have no closing time! Small bar, that can get crowded at times, but it really is the place to be to get that late night drink. Does have a juke box that bangs out the tunes, and the darts (the plastic version, not the real dart board) do keep punters amused over the hours. Had a quick pint, a Calanda lager, was fine.
Is an ok bar, with staff that could be friendlier, and not a great place to actually meet people as everyone tends to be pretty sloshed by the time they get here, but it does the business when one needs that late night drink and for that we should be thankful.
FC Basel
Stadium: St. Jakob-Park
Location: St. Jakobs-Strasse 395, 4052 Basel
Capacity: 38,512
Manager: Urs Fischer
Founded: 1893
Leagues: Swiss Super League
Honours:
Swiss Championships: 20 (Last 2017)
Swiss Cup: 13 (Last 2019)
info@fcb.ch
Nicknames: FCB, Bebbi, RotBlau
FC Basel 1893 (Fussball Club Basel 1893), are a Swiss football club based in Basel. They are one of the most successful clubs in Swiss football, having won the Swiss Super League 19 times, and well on their their way to winning their 20th, the second most for any Swiss club. (still a long way to go to catch the Grasshoppers with 27 titles!). Basel have also won the Swiss Cup 11 times.
On the 12th of November 1893 an advertisement appeared in the Basler newspaper requesting that anyone who wished to join a football team should meet up on the Wednesday at 8:15 in the Schuhmachern-Zunft restaurant. Roland Geldner placed the advert, later elected as the clubs first president. Eleven men attended the meeting and thus, Fussball Club Basel was founded on 15 November 1893. The club colours were decided from the first day on, red and blue, the “RotBlau”, taken from the local rowing club that a few of the early members were also involved with. Incidentally, Hans Gamper, an early club captain, went on to found FC Barcelona in Spain, while he was visiting his uncle in the Catalan city, and is the reason why both clubs share the same colours.
It took a while for the club to get going as they got their first trophy 40 years after their inauguration, winning the Swiss Cup in 1933 beating Grasshoppers 4-3, and in 1953 they finally won their first league title in 1953, beating Young Boys of Bern who came second.
It was really in the late 1960’s that FC Basel started to come into real prominence. Under the tutelage of Helmut Benthaus, winning the club’s first double in the 1966–67 season. From 1968 to 1970 they won the title two seasons in a row. At the early 70’s Basel again won two in a row back to back titles, 1971–72 and 1972 -73. Former player and Manager Helmut Benthaus stayed on with Basel as a boss for 17 years which is pretty amazing when you take into account modern day football and how sack happy chairman can be. In those years as manager he brought the title to Basel seven times and won two cups as well. Not bad from the German, who also won the Bundesliga in his home country with VfB Stuttgart in 1982.
In 1988 the unthinkable happened and Basel were relegated into the Nationalliga B, the second league. It took them a few years and several managers to get back to the top in 1994 under Claude Andrey (see “Didi Offensive” above!)
Christian Gross, yes THAT Christian Gross, ex Spurs manager and London Underground aficionado, became coach of Basel in July 1999 after a horrid time in London with Tottenham. Gross’ appointment happened at the same time as Basel started to get some serious financial backing. It was not long until Basel returned to the top. (At the moment, Pharma giant Novartis give the club roughly US$2.2 million a year to sponsor their shirt). Also a brand new spanking stadium, St. Jakob-Park, was built and finished in time for the 2001 season.
All these positive steps resulted in four Swiss championships, four Swiss Cups, and some very good runs in Europe under Gross. The championship win in 2001-2002 was their first for 22 years, also securing the cup, making it a nice double for the season. The good days were back!
One player that stood out at this time was Scott Chipperfield, the Aussie box to box player and all round terrier on the pitch. He is Basel’s all-time record holder of titles with the club, with seven Swiss Championships and six Swiss Cup honours. A player that probably could have had a stint with an English team but was loyal to Basel, and in my opinion a very much underrated player.
Basel have competed in European competition every season since 1999–2000, and had a bit of a voodoo over British teams, beating the likes of Chelsea, Man Utd, Liverpool, Celtic, Middlesbrough, Spurs and, em Glentoran, over the years, until this season where they got their arses spanked by Arsenal home and away in the CL.
They have been in the Champions League more times than any other Swiss club and are the only Swiss club to have ever qualified directly for the Champions League group stages. They also got to the last 16 in the CL three times, and got to a Europa League semi-finals in the 2012–13 season losing out 5-2 on aggregate to eventual winners Chelsea.
With all this European exposure it means that Basel is not only gaining invaluable experience but also doing nicely in revenue. Revenue that can improve the team and what we see is that Basel are clearly head and shoulders above every other team in Switzerland. This is borne out by the fact that FC Basel are currently looking to win their 8 league title in a row this season 2016-2017, flying ahead of the rest of the teams once again.
FC Basel play their home games at the 38,500 capacity St. Jakob-Park, the largest stadium in Switzerland and nicknamed “Joggeli” by the fans.The stadium has a restaurant and a sports bar, as well as a shopping centre and some apartments and office. It definitely doesnt look like a stadium when passing by, it is a bit drab to be honest. It is easy to get on match day via tram (Line 14) or bus (36, 37) from the city centre, or by train as the stadium also has its own stop. In 2016, the UEFA Europa League final was played at St. Jakob-Park between Liverpool and Seville, with many in the English press complaining of how small the attendance was for such a high profile game.
What you will see in St. Jakob-Park is plenty of loyal and passionate local fans who have made a name for themselves not just in Switzerland but abroad as well for their great banner displays and pyro parties from the stands. And if you are lucky you might just also see tennis star, and Basel native, Roger Federer, officially FC Basel’s most famous fan!
As for rivals, I would say it has to be the two Zurich clubs, Grasshopper Club Zürich and FC Zürich, with FC Zürich the number one foe, mainly down to an incident in the last day of the 2005–06 season when FC Basel only needed a draw to clinch the title at home against FC Zürich, who had the cheek to spoil the party and score in the last minute to take the title. After the final whistle, players and fans from both teams started fighting on the pitch and in the stands. Since that day, fans from FC Zürich and FC Basel pretty much detest each other with a passion.
To the game
FC BASEL 4 – 0 FC LUGANO
04.02.2017 ST. JAKOB-PARK
2 ‘MOHAMED ELYOUNOUSSI
23’ MOHAMED ELYOUNOUSSI
36 ‘MOHAMED ELYOUNOUSSI
85’ MARC JANKO
Attendance: 23,439
Was pish easy for Basel.
Well taken hat trick from Mohamed Elyounoussi, the Norwegian (obviously!), who had scored all his three goals within 34 minutes! In fact I had just about taken my seat when he had scored the first goal in the second minute with a simple touch into an empty net. His second was a bit nicer on the eye, beating the defender and scoring from just inside the box. The third was a nice cross into the box, well met and headed past the goalkeeper.
It was always going to be an uphill struggle when Lugano got a man red carded, unfairly in my opinion, for a stray elbow that the Basel fairy made a meal off, but they are the breaks.
The veteran Marc Janko came on in the 78th minute and it wasn’t long before he scored, in the 85th minute, to make it 4-0 to Basel and wrap another dead easy win for the team.
Lugano had a few chances but the Basel goalkeeper, the Czech Vaclik, was alert to their rare forays. Truth be told they were muck and its easy to see why they are second from bottom of the league.
I was impressed by Steffen on the wing, always lively, and of course the hat-trick hero who took all his goals very well. Overall the game was boring as it really was so one-sided, even from the get go, and I hate looking at games that are a non contest. But Basel can only do whats put infront of them, so fair enough for them.
Have a look at the match highlights for yourself
Interview
Short chat with Dr. Daniele Ganser, a prominent Swiss historian, Journalist, energy and peace researcher and head of the Swiss Institute for Peace and Energy Research (SIPER), based in Basel. He teaches at the University of St. Gallen on the history and future of energy systems and at the University of Basel in the postgraduate study on conflict analysis on the global struggle for oil. His area of expertise is in the areas of global security, secret warfare, conflict analysis, peak oil and resource wars, economics and human rights and peace research. He has written many books covering his special topics, has appeared regularly on Russia Today and on Swiss TV, has given a TEDx lecture on “War and peace in the 21st century – the stories in our minds” in Budapest in 2016, and worked for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Switzerland.
Ganser certainly has some interesting points to make on 9/11 (the real reason for the war is the control of energy resources and has questions on that the third tower, WTC 7, that collapsed that day, and has some doubts that a plane had actually crashed into the Pentagon), on the need for oil (that the 2003 Iraq war a “classic resource war”) and false flag operations (Various activities of Operation Gladio)
Whatever you think of Ganser, just dont called him a conspiracy theorist. He doesn’t particularly like that! He had a fierce clash with Wikipedia over this issue when they more or less called him a conspiracy theorist while Ganser sees the word as a catch all term for the weird and the mad. This resulted in a mini edit war with supporters of Ganser dueling with the Wikipedia mafia on who decides whats what on Gansers page.
Instead, Ganser calls himself a peace researcher and historian who investigates covert warfare using scientific methods and basic historical questioning techniques.
Important Works
Illegal wars: How the NATO countries sabotage the UN. A chronicle from Cuba to Syria. Orell Füssli, Zurich 2016, ISBN 978-3-280-05631-8.
The book recalls that the United Nations Charter forbids Wars, and shows current examples of how this ban is disregarded by the NATO countries.
NATO Geheimarmenn in Europa. Orell Füssli, Zurich, 2008 ISBN 978-3-280-06106-0 .
“NATO Intelligence in Europe” in English. Ganser shows how manipulated terror and covert warfare were used in the cold war to discredit political opponents and create a climate of fear.
NATO’s secret armies. Operation Gladio and terrorism in Western Europe. Routledge, 2005 ISBN 0-7146-5607-0
The book addresses secret armies run by NATO and the CIA across mainland Europe, especially concentrating on Operation Gladio in Italy.
Website: www.Danieleganser.ch
Twitter @DanieleGanser Facebook
So overall, Basel isn’t a bad city for a short visit, can get expensive but even with that you can always grab a few cans and sit by the Rhine in the evening to chill out. Seeing FC Basel play is good fun, in a decent stadium, where the fans do create a good atmosphere at times. Basel well worth a groundhop and beer crawl, just save for it beforehand!
Sir Nigels (@SirNigels) has written for us a great behind the scenes look at the hectic life of bar-tending. The highs and the lows. Sir Nigels is currently finalizing the touches to his new book, “The World and the Ways of a Bartender” an insight in the mad and sometimes fun life of a regular barman.
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The view from behind the bar is a peculiar place, with the tools of our trade at our finger tips, the elixirs of goodwill bottled up around us, and onlookers peering in surrounding us.
The View from Behind the Bar
The view can be one of great joy and happiness. Cheers, good will, and celebration abound! We also see sadness, friction, break ups, tequila shots, and wedding parties. Everything and anything is possible to be seen from behind a bar. Ask any of us to tell a story and we may have too many to tell. Where should I start you say?
My view is one of great memories worth telling not for just the outlandish drunken silliness, the championship winning game, the famous or interesting people I have met, or not even the cheerleader party with midget performers. My view is more than that. I have watched human behavior for twenty years and studied it.
We are a strange bunch of animals I tell ya. I have served drinks to lots of different types of people from all over the world, cultures, religions, colors, creeds, and backgrounds. I may not travel the world, but the world travels to me. I’m known around the world through the people that have come to see me. Watching and learning this strange human behavior has given me a bit of a nuanced view on humans that only a bartender can understand. After eight to ten hours a day, 5 days a week, week after week babysitting humans you start to get an idea about how they work. We don’t come with instructions when were born, it just takes awhile to figure out what makes us tick.
Barlife
Every person has different life experiences and view points for different reasons. Over the years I have countless discussions about politics, race, guns, war, and peace with all sorts of people from behind the bar. These conversations were not always civil, but we got through them. I learned from them, I hope someone learned something from me.
Over time my view from behind the bar has constructively changed depending on my own life experiences and through the interesting and accomplished individuals that have nursed a glass of Cabernet, sucked down a Mind Eraser, or sipped on a fine single malt scotch.
Working at a bar is not always the exciting life you may see in the movies or at a club. I’ve had some great experiences with more people than I can remember. I’ve met sports stars, rock stars, and famous actors from television and movies. I deal with CEO’s, small business owners, artists, creatives, everyday people, and constantly over-run with egos. To be able to deal with all these wonderful and amazing people who just want, want, want from you constantly with out regard for your physical or mental well being can be trying. After long hours behind a bar my physical and mental anguish can be a bit taxing to my soul.At times people can be uplifting, generous, and thoughtful, but collectively they can tire me until all I would rather do is hide away and hibernate from the real world.
Bar tender of the year, 2014
Overwhelming is putting it mildly with my view from behind the bar It can be profitable with remarkable ease, but unfortunately also painfully fruitless with too much toil and brown nosing to say the least. I’ve also found myself able to work alone due to my stamina, expertise, and knowledge of my surroundings and regular guests that stop by for a tasty beverage.
I also work for a corporation with unforgiving mismanaging managers and cheap owners, which exacerbates the everyday problem of servicing the masses with the façade of trying to look perfect and in control at every step As we run out of liquor, napkins, spoons, lemons, or maybe the cooks just aren’t in control, we have to always at least pretend like we are in control when the world around us doesn’t feel like it. Our heads could be in a tailspin, but we have to be smiling and find some categorical solution for every task or problem that arises.
A bit of a chess game so to speak, a smart bartender is always looking several steps ahead of the one he is performing presently. Surprisingly, we succeed most of the time, but at times no matter how hard we try and smile to make you feel secure in your food and beverage choices we fail. Sometimes we fail miserably and still find a way to bull-shit our way out of our life predicament. Sometimes the only way out of our failure is to admit defeat and hope for pity on our pour souls.
Where it all happens
Alas, we survive to serve another drink, muddle fruit for a scratch margarita, or shake the crap out of the vodka you call a martini. Many of us do it because we love our jobs, and we do it with pride and self-righteousness despite our aching feet. We love people and feel their gratitude with the job we bring them. The view from behind the bar may not always be a bed of roses, but the memories of joy and happiness will bring a contentment to our souls and warm hearts to our guests.
Take a moment in the new year to thank your bartender for their services and always be generous for they may be raising a family and every bit of gratuitous love is always appreciated over the years. Much love and happiness form the view from behind the bar.
Sincerely,
@SirNigels
Just a reminder to check out @SirNigels and his twitter account for all bar related and alcohol fueled inquiries, and don’t forget to look out for his Upcoming Publication: “The World and the Ways of a Bartender”. Sure to be a great fun time read.
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