Thursday 22 January 2009

Four People Walk into a Bar....

...and then walk out again because it's too busy, making the quiz hard to do (without the aid of a table to lean on) and more importantly, meaning less sandwich potential.

Lynne and Neil had travelled all the way from South America for the occasion, so it seemed a shame to waste the evening in the flourescent blue, slow moving dinginess of Wetherspoons across the road. We decided to make a token effort at a bit more pub crawling.

Outside, on the streets of York, the wind was howling as rain lashed down in a whole heap of wintery miserableness. This was a night which required a visit to a proper pub with a proper fire, complete with merry dancing flames to warm us from the outside in. This was the night we were going to the Red Lion, which does have a fire. But we didn't sit near it.

Pub Number 45: The Red Lion
When this pub is full of people, it is cosy in an old fashioned proper pub kind of way, filled with a warm atmosphere. Unfortunately, it wasn't filled with people, which made it a rather quiet, less than cosy pub to warm our cockles on this cold winter's night. Still, it was Wednesday, so you wouldn't expect it to be heaving and it is a nice traditional old fashioned pub. Used to be quite expensive, but I suspect it was just ahead of it's time in terms of prices, meaning that it charges similar prices to anywhere else nowadays. Oh, and the toilets used to smell of Irn Bru.

Pub Number 46: Five Lions

Neil: Five Lions?
Paul: Can't we just go to the Blue Bell?
Lynne: What about the Terrace and Golden Fleece?
All: OK

We walk outside into the cold and rain

Leanne: Let's just go to the Five Lions. It's closer.
All: OK.

Paul's reluctance to visit the Five Lions stems from a night on the beer and karaoke there a few years ago. On this night, as we walked through the door, therefore doubling the number of people in the bar, it was an entirely different atmosphere. Football on the TV (but not intrusively so) and a quiz machine by the bar means that it has something for everyone. It was a bit cold.

We probably won't go back.

Pub Number 47: The Spread Eagle
This pub welcomed us with open arms, in spite of the fact that shortly after selling us lager (Fosters or Carling only on this occasion, much to Neil's disdain) they closed the doors and the curtains to give it that authentic 'lock-in' feel. They even offered us the chance to purchase extra beer following the apparent closure of the place (it's hard to tell nowadays, what with all the late licensing laws blurring the line between 'lock-in' and legal opening hours.) Neil was the only one brave enough to visit the toilet after briefly contemplating popping home (just across the road) to use the facilities. Apparently they were minging.

It was a bit cold, unless you were sitting in the 'hot seat' which Paul was. After leisurely finishing our pints, we approached the exit with trepidation.... and breathed a sigh of relief to find that we weren't locked in after all.

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