I needed to get out of the house last night - to go sukkah hopping - to check out the latest and the greatest ones around town. I actually didn't see anything that spectacular. The city erected a very gaudy one built of lightbulbs which was a crowded spectacle. Hubby was going to accompany me on my outing and then frustrated by his overcrowded closet, said -fuck it, he's not going anywhere. I decided what the heck, I'll go on my own, rather than grow old and moldy waiting for my loved ones to join me. After viewing the one at city hall, I went to my friend's sister's house in Rehavia - a posh neighborhood in Jerusalem. She had this big makeshift sukkah - with two sections - one for eating and one for sleeping. Hardly any tinsel just lots of palm fronds for the roof. The walls were covered with Indian sheets/material and on the floor were carpets and futons. The place looked like a middle eastern bordello. It was actually so very lovely it was hard to leave. I felt I was off in a tropical island hut drinking warm Carlsberg and eating caramel Hershey kisses, a new import from New York. What could be better. My friends were talking about people they knew who had just recently died. It got spooky. Then they got prophetic. "This place is going to see real upheaval this year. Every Jew is going to leave the US/Diaspora and come here. This is the place to be." I did't quite get what they were getting at. Was the Messiah about to come? Were they smoking too much pot? My friend left her sister's place to bring her kids back where her kids had some original ideas for sukkah decorations, plastic power rangers and the like. We went out to see what Jerusalem's only Irish pub was like only to be highly disappointed. I ordered Irish Coffee - "sorry, we don't serve hot drinks here." "HOT DRINKS!? IT's COFFEE WITH IRISH WHISKY INSIDE." I tried to explain but she didn't understand, while the Chieftains' music blared in the background. The bartender offered me Bailey's Irish cream instead which she served to me in a big glass, about 2 tablespoons worth. My friend's frozen margarita tasted like cotton candy. What a disappointment save for the Irish music.
Friday, October 01, 2004
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2 comments:
The consistent thing about Irish theme pubs is that they are a disappointment! What you need is a non-theme pub in Ireland!
Years ago I went to an English pub in Jerusalem with an Irish girl. She got upset as all the beer was cold instead of room temperature. Eventually she got them to open a new delivery and give her a bottle of beer from that. Needless to say the waitress was more than confused. On the flip side Israelis in the States get upset that you can't buy cans of soda in restaurants, only from the machine.
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