Down the hatch!

YoYo here...

We decided that it was time to really give absinthe a whirl. The photos below tell all...

First, the preparation by an experienced Czech national (later, an accommodating Scotsman did the honors). The sugar needs to be soaked in the absinthe prior to lighting it on fire.


The flame.




Okay, here we go then. We'll start with the one who has the most experience with alcohol.






Everything looks in order here. Let's move on to the more whimpy drinker and see what happens.










It was a very interesting evening. As I recall, we had 3 and a half absinthe shots each. Hoops doesn't recall the last half-shot, but she does recall the very large beer she drank as an absinthe chaser. I recall the walk home (most of it, anyway), but this part of her memory is blank. What was hilarious after we got home? Hoops decided to play the guitar and sing some gypsy-irish-punk folk songs. The only problem was that the guitar was drunk and wouldn't play in the right key. I tried to help, of course, but it mostly sounded like I was caterwauling. We visited the bar today to see if we could find my wayward scarf. No luck there but the staff at the bar were delighted to see us and were most insistent that we enjoy more absinthe. We declined as our stomaches roiled at the thought.