Friday, January 19, 2007

CLOSING TIME
i have gone out every night this week and the policy of joints closing at 11pm - or earlier! - is really annoying me. How i long for the now-defunct open 24 hours cafe, Insomnia. i went there while i was a student but when i moved back here last April, it had closed?!

Monday night i met up with an acquaintance in city centre for a coffee. We were chased out at 8pm, however, because they were due to close. Tuesday evening Anna and i went to see, The Last King of Scotland (excellent film albeit a bit gruesome). Afterwards we went for dinner and (more) coffee to be shuffled out at 11pm as the cafe was due to close. Wednesday night i managed to make it out before closing time. Last night, however, my date and i were chased out of one pub leading us to seek refugee (of sorts) in Ashton Lane. After an hour in another bar, it was closing time. At midnight.

For all the drinking in this country, there really isn't a lot of time to enjoy it. And maybe that's why the British binge drink like they do: a desperate attempt to get as much booze in you before you're kicked out into the brutal rain and winds. Survival mechanism. i'm not entirely sure. i do know, however, that i miss going out with friends, to some hole-in-the-wall dive bar (i.e. Communist's Daughter in Toronto - how i love that jukebox!), and getting so lost in the conversation that before you know it, it's 2am but the liquor is still flowing. And if you're still keen to keep drinking at 2.30am, you can always head down the road to the after-hours joint, The Matador.

Glasgow would definitely benefit from a couple hole-in-the-wall dive bars with an awesome jukebox, extended drinking hours, 24-hour cafes, and after-hours booze halls. i smell a niche market...

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