Guinness is good for you

One of the exhibits on the Guinness Storehouse tour is a collection of the classic poster advertisements that the company has put out throughout the years. These are some of my favorites.



1932. According to the Guinness website, this ad contains historical product claims that are no longer endorsed by Guinness. Guinness is, in fact, probably not good for you. This poster is so classic though, and also slightly reminiscent of Russian propaganda posters that try to assure you that communism is awesome.



1937. Very seasonal. The man seems totally surprised and delighted to find in his stocking/sock something that he should supposedly be drinking every day anyway.



1950. Speaking of Russian propaganda posters...this one says "Drink Guinness / To Your Health". I am guessing that this ad did not actually run in the USSR.



1958. This is one of the few posters drawn by a female artist. Fun fact: the harp is the national symbol of Ireland. It is also the symbol of Guinness, however the Guinness harp faces to the right and the Irish harp faces to the left.

Pure Genius.

This past Monday was a bank holiday. I am still not quite sure what a bank holiday is, but I do know that I did not have to go to work and that was fantastic.

I am however still punching myself in the face for forgetting to grab my camera that morning, because Silke and I went to the Guinness storehouse and St. James's Gate brewery and did the self-guided tour. It is probably one of the most touristy things you can do in Dublin but thoroughly enjoyable. Here are some of my favorite photos that we took and I then pilfered.

The Oktoberfest Issue

Here are some fun pictures from Oktoberfest 2008.


This one is called "Oktoberfest Corn". Hot. I got cat calls from Italians and a drunk texter attached to my hip simply by looking like this. It almost called into question my typical "gin & tonic in the hand" bar look.



Oktoberfest gingerbread cookie hearts. Basically all of the other girls were wearing them and I was not to be excluded. They mostly have love messages written on them as they are supposed to be given to you by a boyfriend/girlfriend/lover/spouse. In our awkwardness ingenuity, Dana and I bought ones reading "Oktoberfest". I walked around for a full day looking like this:



Our cookie hearts came with furry animals attached. Kind of embarrassing looking at it now, but then again, I haven't been drinking beer since 9 am this morning.



This is a brezel. It is delicious.



Here it is again in relation to my upper body. Point of reference.



First Oktoberfest beers in the Spaten tent. And a little later . . .



"Sorry, Mom."



And then we ate some ox. I think. Also delicious.



Meanwhile we listened to the band. Rick Steves, our Germany swami in book form, calls this genre oompah music. Learn something new every day.



Doesn't it look glorious?



Oktoberfest Ferris Wheel. Among other rides there is also a roller-coaster, which Rick Steves advises against after you have been drinking. SWAMI.



Paulaner tent, looking good for liter number 3. And I am showing off my 4.5 hours of shame shirt, which I pretty much wanted to wear every day after the actual 4.5 hours of shame were over.



Prost (Cheers) at the Lowenbrau tent and an awkward camera angle.



By 9 pm the camera gets blurry and you are dancing on the table to the White Stripes' "Seven Nation Army" played by a German oompah music band, having shed 5 other layers of clothing.

Ein Prost!

We are back! This coming week will be tres busy with organizing pictures, posting, and running a million and one errands to get ready for Ireland! My brain has already turned the switch to thoughts of Guinness, but I will try to share pictures and stories of the Germany adventure as much as humanly possible.

BEERS

Deep thought of the day: The mundane chore of cleaning up one's room is greatly enhanced by a glass of Spaten beer. In addition, this beer is an excellent warm-up for tomorrow's ACCOUNTANTS GONE WILD festivities.

On a recent trip to Total Wine we checked out their beer selection, which in my opinion is extensive, although I am for sure not the beer connoisseur of America. What is extra awesome is that they sell individual bottles of beer, and you can create your own mix and match six-pack. This is one of those ideas I wish I had come up with first. If you are like me and cannot commit to an entire six-pack of wheat ginger ale blueberry hops beer or the like, but are curious to try it, well Total Wine gives you the opportunity to be the cautious daredevil that you are. Here is the Katya original six-pack:

1. Peroni (Italy) - I specifically remember drinking this beer in London with my dad at Covent Garden before we went to see Rigoletto at the Royal Opera House.

2. Spaten (Germany) - Used to order this at Dr. Dremo's before it closed. Sad.

3. Sam Adams Cherry Wheat Ale - Kelli pick. I was intrigued but now I am anxious.

4. Pilsner Urquell (Czech) - Mike pick. Assuming that the Czechs have good beer.

5. Pacifico (Mexico) - Kind of like a Corona? I have a lime ready to go.

6. Quilmes (Argentina) - High hopes for this one too.

Between Katya's original six-pack and Mike's original six-pack, our fridge might as well be the local Brickskeller/RFD on the block. And that's the way we like it.