Miscellaneous Forum

Probably the Greenwich Inn in (guess where) Greenwich, Southeast London. I played some great gigs there with some amazing musicians and if I couldn't make it home, the "guvnor's" wife would put me to bed upstairs, make me a big breakfast next morning and start feeding me drink again. Much missed and thanks for everything Gordy and Lyn.

I didn't expect you to reply quite as quickly as that Fergy so it must have been good. Quite often the ones you remember are the ones you want to forget. I'm not sure if it still operates or not but there was a place called Franco's Bar on Santorini which had the most amazing views. Looking out over the Caldera at sunset sipping a cocktail is something I'll always remember. Nearer to home I recently visited some old haunts and wish I hadn't. I should have just kept the memories.

No immediate answer, but I'lll enjoy thinking about it.

I would choose Castle Zaman in taba to return to time and time again...great food...amazing place...nice staff...wonderfull memories!

I have been to Santorini and there were some great bars but I don't remember the names of any of them. I was with locals and just sort of followed them. I don't specifically remember a Franco's.

Never heard of Castle Zaman before Kirsty but I see it's in the Sinai so it sounds quite a place. You could probably do with a drink there now I reckon after the loss of your dog. Sorry to hear about that.

Just remembering you were there is a start Fergy.

After some prevarication, which has made me think of Glasgow (Nico's & Rogano), Aberdeen (Kirkgate), Ho Chi Minh City (Rex Hotel - rooftop bar), Prie Universiteto (Vilnius), The Artful Dodger (Westhampton Beach), A la Mort Subite (Brussels) & the IN Hotel's rooftop bar (Belgrade) I have decided on... Chez Yvan in Toulouse. I've forgotten the real name, but it was always Chez Yvan. Yvan was a former prop forward. Cafe was on a small square right by the River Garonne. Plenty cheap or good eating places nearby. An easy stagger home. Even remember the waiter - René. No, I'm not making that up.

That's quite a list Iain. I'm going to have to write all these down. I've been to some of the places but none of the bars. My next trip abroad is in September to Italy and I shall be going to Bergamo and Lake Como. Anybody been there and if so any gems I should visit?

Definitely "U sedmi Švábů" - a medieal tavern in Prague. We've been there 6 times in 3 years. The atmosphere is great and the staff is super friendly. The owner meanwhile knows me and my friends by name and always greets us with a hug and a free mead. :)

Correction. I have been to La Morte Subite in Brussels and a fine place it is too.

You can't beat a place that values you're custom Elena. That always goes down a long way with me.

Sounds like a place to add to my list Elena...A glass of mead is hard to come by here

the watering has become an ocean, too many ,one in every country visited. Now looking for new ones to feel comfy and sheds some more liquid. Cheers

Wow! You would not think this to be a difficult question.......d:o/ I'll stick to the two I really hated to give up. Both are closed now. The first was called simply The Corner Bar, and it was on the corner of Front Street and Lahainaluna Road, in Lahaina on Maui. It was a local bar with a lot of memories attached. I have a scar on my forehead from a size 21 pool stick......... The other one was a place in the L.A. 'hood, a Belizian restaurant/bar/poolhall/social club...., that was a bit of a home for a while. I still have the NO GAMBLING sign and a size 21 pool stick from there. (No, not the same one) There are others but, I would need a couple of days to write them all down.......d:o)

When I was living in Matsuyama, Japan, I often used to visit the numerous summer rooftop beer gardens. Buffet meals and all you can drink for a very reasonable price. I had some fantastic evenings there with friends.

There are three I actually miss. In Cambridge, MA, my old haunt, Toad. Tiny place, fantastic live music every night, and I love the bartenders. It used to be the favorite place for MIT professors and other ridiculously smart people (the graffiti in the bathrooms was math), and a small, very international group who worked at a nearby translation company (including me). I've heard it's since been taken over by undergrads, though, and the last time I went by there was a line waiting outside. It's really that small. In Edinburgh, the Jolly Judge. No idea whether it's still the cozy, kind of run-down place it was in 1991, would love to see. My study spot of choice, with black current snakebites. In Binghamton, NY, the Lost Dog Cafe, a hipster place before the word existed. It used to be in a converted auto repair shop, had excellent weird coffees and cheap but really good sandwiches, and things like open mic nights and poetry readings. Just right for a grad student in comparative literature. No idea whether it's still there, and never going back to Binghamton, so it'll remain a fond memory.

There was a bar in Cedar Falls, Iowa that I'd love to go back to but only if all the people I knew back in the 70's were there too. It was a sandwich/bar place first with the BEST burgers I've ever had, and I remember a penniless art student from the U spending the summer painting this great mural on one wall in exchange for meals. We used to buy the guy beers if we had any extra change in our pockets. It changed hands and became a real bar (no more food) a few years later; had a killer jukebox, pool tables, a couple of pinball machines in various stares of disrepair, and fabulous floor-to-ceiling graffiti in the johns. LOL, one memorable night I had a weird run of good luck and owned one of those pool tables for hours, and I knew exactly what to do with one of pinball machines so it would give me a bunch of games for a quarter. You could land in there at almost any time of the day and run into someone you knew, and when our (my husband and my) best friend and best man at our wedding died in a car accident way back when, all of us who loved him held a post-funeral wake at 'our' bar. Nothin' special: sticky linoleum floors, ripped vinyl barstools and cheap beer in plastic cups but it was an awful lot of fun. They tore it down a long time ago, and I've been gone for 30 years but I still miss it.

You are right Fugu, there are some great places. Another place I often went to in Tokyo, and often took visitors to, was the yakitori places under the railway tracks in Yurakucho. Really basic, but good food, good beer, and a great atmosphere.

In Del Pilar St in Manila there used to be one called THE BLUE HAWAII that would open at noon, serve a special of the day and the girls would be dressed up in their Hawaii gear. Another old favourite of mine was run by a friends in Washington Sq, just after soi 22 in Sukhumvit, Bangkok. It was called the Texxan Bar or similar, and each day there was a special, and on Saturdays a free lunch for whoever walked in. Unfortunately the owner died maybe 3 years ago. R.I.P. George. Last year i discovered a great British Bar,THE OLDE BELL, very near Tai Pae Gate in Chiang Mai, the owner was British and had a good selection of beers. The attraction of this place was the all-you-can-eat-buffets every night for 100 baht. So i guess you know that i like my food!!!

Hi The bar at the Sani Pass Chalets in Lesotho, which is the highest pub in Africa that's open to the public (the actual highest is at a diamond mine en route, which unsurprisingly doesn't encourage visitors, but as my husband's done work there, he's had the privilege of whetting his whistle there) and commands a jaw dropping view out over the Drakensberg into South Africa below. Happily at that altitude (2874m), keeping the local Maluti beer icy cold isn't an issue! I also grew very fond of the Hell Hunt in Tallinn, which served the most exquisite cider which tasted like the ditilled essence of autumn, and became our refuge of choice when the temperature dropped below -10C! Since it's been going for over 350 years, it's fair to assume that it's doing quite a lot right, and it's somewhere that I'd like to think that I'd return to someday. Regards Cathy

I can endorse the Hell Hunt in Tallinn Cathy

Cheers, Malcolm! ;)

And despite its less than encouraging name (which makes it sound like a biker's haunt) - it actually means 'Gentle Wolf' in Estonian.

Thanks for that snippet of information Cathy. The name does sound a bit offputting doesn't it? but it's certainly a warm and welcoming place on a snowy winters day. Elena 77 tells us about a medieval inn in Prague. Did you ever go into Old Hansa in Tallinn?

Oh yes, we had a great mini meet there with travelchilli, who lives in Tallinn. Touristy - obviously a medieval restaurant - but extremely well done and with excellent food (which isn't always a given in such places)! I do think that one glass of mead is enough, though!

I agree with all those comments. You have to go in there though don't you?

The Hillgate in London, Notting Hill to be exact. I actually found this here on VT. I stumbled in there my first day there and spent a great deal of time there. I felt so at home. Vesuvio in San Francisco. Kerouac used to drink here and I swear he left part of his soul . It's made several travel guides but even with curious tourists invading at peak times it still hasnt lost it's local vibe.

@EasyMac='Yarrow Unvisited' and 'Yarrow Visited' by Wordsworth: "Be Yarrow stream unseen, unknown! It must, or we shall rue it: We have a vision of our own; Ah! why should we undo it? The treasured dreams of times long past, We'll keep them, winsome Marrow! For when we'er there, although 'tis fair, 'Twill be another Yarrow!"

>Vesuvio in San Francisco Have pulled up a barstool there too, Scott!