"You Had Me At KWAK..."
So the last time I had seen a Kwak served in the distinctive glass in it's miniature wooden holder was in Belgium.
It's a requirement when serving it properly.
By Belgian law.
Or tradition.
With 700 different beers - and particular glasses for each one - it can get confusing.
But
Oak Barrel Tavern in West Ashley does it right.
If you're heading to Gene's Haufbrau or crossing the street to Triangle Char or Mellow Mushroom, you might miss the small store front.
Seek it out.
You'll be glad you did for a change of pace. And taste.
And, speaking of Easter, it's time for me to dust off my two favorite "seasonal" shots.
The bunnies of course came from the internet.
I buy a chocolate bunny each year but keep forgetting to take pictures as I bite off the ears.
The other shot of a cancellation sign was taken on James Island about 12 years ago.
A church's annual Easter tradition ran into problems and could not be presented.
I love tradition.
Chocolate bunnies or reliving a beer drinking experience in Bruges, Belgium.
(Clicking on the pictures usually produces more detail. A shot taken from the internet does not always enlarge. My small collection of beer glasses includes a tall
yard of ale glass, a
half-yard, a
foot and a tiny
toe. Collect glasses responsibly.)
Labels: Belgium, Bruges, chocolate bunnies, glass for each beer type, Mellow Mushroom, Oak Barrel Tavern Triangle Char, Pearlz
Do you know "Tilt-Shift?"
Someone told me about an effect you can create with your photo called
"Tilt-Shift."Wow. It really does make objects look like toys or miniature models of everyday sights.
Well, an every day scene if you happen to be flying at 1,200 feet over the
Yorktown aircraft carrier at Patriot's Point.
You make the focus very "soft" above and below the area you want to appear model-like. Then you crank up the color saturation to almost cartoon level.
Hey, this actually works.
I am sure there are phone apps by now that do this automatically with pictures.
I experimented and did it "by hand" on my computer.
The
"round house" on Isle Of Palms is a good example of this visual manipulation.
A picture of the
Brugge, Belgium town square taken from a tall bell tower became a collection of tiny objects.
Little itty-bitty horses and carriages.
Wee restaurants with small tables and chairs and umbrellas.
Not-so-haughty waiters in this view.
Here's how it looks when you apply this effect to an actual miniature model town of a railroad setting in Atlanta in the former Underground.
Size does not always matter.
(Click on the photos for detail. Some taken with my
Canon S90. The rest with earlier Point and Shoot cameras. The BEST camera is the one you have with you. Thanks for viewing my blog.)
Labels: Atlanta's former Underground, Belgium, Brugges, Isle Of Palms, Patriot's Point, Round House, Tilt-shift effect, Yorktown aircraft carrier
Bicycles Rule ..... Over In Europe
I have read the
bike blog by E. David Moulton for several years.(Enjoy the fine novel he wrote
"Prodigal Child.")
Dave's from England so, a few weeks ago, when I saw this giant bicycle wheel monument on the banks of the Thames in London , I thought
"Wow. They REALLY like bikes here!"
No. Turns out that is
The London Eye, a Ferris wheel-type ride built by British Airways to offer tourists a soaring high up view from individual "flight" modules that hold 20-25 people each.
It costs 15 pounds sterling a head - about $30 US - and, of course, I rode it. I'm a tourist.
Another fellow blogger Geoff Marshall - also from Britain - will not be surprised to know I sampled many, many tasty pints of cask ales. Extensive research followed by
"Mind The Gap."
But, the sad fact is, both the bike and beer seems to be treasured more on "the continent."
Closest I got to being astride a bike was on an Amsterdam Museum exhibit where I pedaled and learned that more than half the population uses bikes for transportation.
It didn't take me long to find that more than 700 different beers are made in The Netherlands and Belgium and each requires its own special glass. Holy dishwasher.
We are starting to catch up with the rest of the beer-drinking world now that we have high gravity beers available here in Charleston, but a glass or two of 10% alcohol content beer - made by Trappist monks - gets your attention as you sit quietly in a 14th century courtyard.
Oh, and the food overseas is great too.
Labels: A'Dam Museum, Belgium, British Airways, high gravity beer, Holland, Prodigal Child, The London Eye
Travel note: August 26....
Well, yes, it WAS a Tuesday. And I was climbing up and down hundreds of steps in churches, bell towers and museums in Brugge. In Belgium.
After leaving Amsterdam I had gotten adventuresome and hopped off the train in Antwerp - instead of the planned route through Brussels - and then realized the Dutch conductor had mentioned several possible track numbers.
Ended up on a "local" that stopped at MANY picturesque and possibly even charming small towns along the way. The sun had set and it was very dark out.
Arrived in Brugge (in Flemish) or Bruges (in English) where a rail station person showed me the
"let your fingers do the walking" gesture with his hand when I asked how I might get downtown. Eventually found a cab driven by a NASCAR wannabe.
I had already been in Amsterdam for a few days before and a return trip was scheduled back there. Might have missed a museum. No, not likely. Had even found and explored a 4-story church hidden inside a canal-side private home.
I intend to get a copy of the
1969 movie and see if any of the sights look familiar.
Hey, they should, they date back to at least the 1400s.
Labels: 1400s, Antwerp, Belgium, Bruges, Brugge (Flemish), Dutch
A Travel Movie ....
My last visit to
England was back in the 1980s and the exchange rate was one pound for $2.64. Actually, right now is a little bit better.
I think it's time to go back to the United Kingdom for a visit .... and even pop over to Europe.
Well, it
IS very, very close and the dollar is slightly stronger against the Euro.
Individual countries still had their own money like Francs and Deutsch marks my last time there.
I was aware that
BENELUX stood for Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg - and I have never been there - so
Amsterdam was added to the list as was
Belgium.
They say the coffee is so good there, it's more popular than Starbucks. I plan to check out that claim. I enjoy a good brew that whets the appetite.
After seeing the movie
"In Bruges" a few months ago, Belgium was an obvious choice. In the film two London hit men hide out in this beautiful 16-17th century city for several weeks.
The movie is a Chamber of Commerce visual treat of art museums, canals and historic buildings.
There were a lot of guns and shootings and bodies falling from church towers but that was just movie magic amidst a tranquil setting.
So that's my travel plan.
Guess it's a good thing that I didn't just see
"Around The World In 80 Days."Labels: Belgium, BENELUX, Brugge (Flemish), deutschmark, England, In Bruges, London, Luxemburg, Starbucks, The Netherlands
So the last time I had seen a Kwak served in the distinctive glass in it's miniature wooden holder was in Belgium.
