Confession Time: There was a point in my life when I avoided beer like the plague.  I’d had a taste in Grade 11, but it was disgusting and I had no interest in ever trying it again (I blame that on my mother who, in a moment of pure genius, told me to take a long drink and swish it around to get the full impact of taste – yuck).  When I was in university I drank fruity wines (then graduated to actual wines), and mixed drinks that involved tasty liquors/mixes instead of hard liquor/bland mixes.

And then I went to Belgium (otherwise known to me as the land of beer and chocolate).

It was in Belgium that I tasted Kriek (cherry beer) & peach beer.  And it was in Belgium that I drank my first full beer.  Okay, so maybe it was a raspberry beer, but it still tasted mostly like beer.  It was bought by one of our hosts, so I made a point to drink the whole thing.

And then I didn’t drink another beer for 7 years.

I drink beer now, but it’s only been for the past 2 years or so.  I started again when I realized that I’d be taking a trip to Germany (another land of beer and chocolate) and Ireland (the land of beer and potatoes).  Sadly, I was not very productive so I missed a few Germany beers.  I’d gladly miss the Beer+Fanta concoction again, but the Beer+Lemonade was especially good with schnitzel.

The point is that when I travel I like to eat the local foods and drink the local drinks.  There are few things I won’t eat*, so it only makes sense to expand my drinking tastes as well.  I want to go to an English pub and order a pint, I want to drink a full Guinness, and I want to go back to Germany for more schnitzel!  …and that Beer+Lemonade drink. 

Maybe those aren’t the most extravagant of wishes, but I like to keep my expectations low.  Besides, schnitzel.  ‘Nuff said. 

*I hate dill with a deathly passion, aniseed is a close second, and I refuse to eat veal on moral grounds.  Pretty much everything else is fair game unless it’s on an endangered list.